Super agent, Leigh Steinberg, recently chatted with Man School, a weekly podcast dedicated to men’s interesting, exciting, and difficult personal experiences. In the show, which is hosted by Caleb Bacon, Steinberg discussed a number of issues, including football concussions, starting his new reality show, and the future of in-stadium technology. Additionally, he addressed the power of clients serving as role models off the field, his battle with sobriety, and the re-launch of Steinberg Sports and Entertainment.
Below are some high-level points from the conversation with Caleb. If you would like to listen to the 45-minute podcast, check it out here.
1) If there were any doubts about who the ‘Real Life Jerry Maguire’ was, Leigh addressed that early in the discussion with Caleb. Cameron Crowe, the Director of Jerry Maguire, followed Leigh to various Super Bowl parties, traveled with him to a few games, and heard countless stories from the industry veteran prior to filming in the early 1990s. The eventual goal was for Crowe to create a character resembling that of a sports agent.
2) Steinberg’s father had two core values that he lives by: “treasure relationships, especially family” and “make a positive difference in the world and help people who couldn’t help themselves.”
3) Leigh has always wanted to affect the world with change — “I could go back home to my dad and tell him I made a zillion dollars, and he wouldn’t be impressed. If I set up ‘Kicks for Critters’ at the San Diego Zoo that helped endangered species, he was exultant.”
4) On players’ second careers… “It is a business at one level, but athletes need to be focused on their second career from the beginning because they might have short lives.”
5) On athletes’ charitable foundations/causes eventually coming alive… “It is unbelievably rewarding to stand in a room where recipients of Warren Moon’s scholarships that take young people to a college education rise one by one. Soon, the whole room is standing of people who are now going to school who couldn’t have afforded it otherwise.”
6) Steinberg discussed the possible future of in-stadium technology, suggesting that all seats might be accompanied with flat screens, which would include your fantasy team/stats along with the summary of bets for that days’ games. He also touched on the possibility of fan-fan interactions through the embedded flat screen.
7) On football concussions… “Between grade school, high school, college, and the professional ranks, offensive/defensive linemen might have 10,000-plus sub-concussive hits, none of which were diagnosed, none of which were logged, but the aggregate, in terms of damage, is worse than three knockout blows.”
“When there’s a problem in the world, and you’re looking for ‘them’ or ‘they’ to solve it, you can wait forever. My dad would look at me and say, ‘The ‘they’ is you, son’. The whole point is to have a sense of optimism about whatever the difficulty is and go ahead and make a difference.”