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Q&A: Leigh Steinberg talks of his experiences in the sports agency industry

Former sports agent Leigh Steinberg, who attended UCLA from 1966-67, has had a storied career that included representation of eight different NFL No. 1 overall draft picks. (Courtesy of Leigh Steinberg)

By Kevin Bowman

Oct. 22, 2014 7:19 a.m.

In his 40 years as a sports agent, Leigh Steinberg has represented eight No. 1 overall NFL draft picks. His client list includes Troy Aikman, Drew Bledsoe, Steve Young, Warren Moon and Ben Roethlisberger, among others. Steinberg, who attended UCLA for the 1966-67 school year, is also considered the inspiration for the 1996 Tom Cruise film “Jerry Maguire.”

After Steinberg talked at UCLA with the Sports Law Federation and the Sports Business Association Monday, the Daily Bruin’s Kevin Bowman spoke with Steinberg about the changing sports agency industry, what goes into representing the top pick in a draft and how UCLA redshirt junior quarterback Brett Hundley’s decision last year to return for another season affected his draft stock.

Daily Bruin: How did you get into the sports agent business?

Leigh Steinberg: When I was in law school, I was a grad counselor in an undergraduate dorm and they moved the freshman football team into the dorm and one of the students was Steve Bartkowski. He ended up in 1975 being the very first pick in the first round of the NFL draft. I had got out of law school in 1973 and was still deciding on jobs and he asked me to represent him. So my first case was the first pick in the first round of the draft and we ended up – there was a World Football League competing against an NFL team and we got the largest rookie contract in NFL history.

So when we got back there, there were lights in the sky like for a movie premiere, a huge crowd pressed up against a police line and the first thing we heard was, ‘We interrupt “The Johnny Carson Show” to give you a special news bulletin. Steve Bartkowski, Leigh Steinberg just arrived at the Atlanta airport. We’re switching live for an in-depth interview.’ And that was the first time I saw the idol worship and veneration that athletes are getting.

DB: With the recent domestic violence issues in the NFL, have you noticed a premium being placed on character?

LS: More. The 2015 draft will be the character draft. Because teams simply can’t afford to make risky picks. It’s too devastating – the cap already creates a huge divide between starting players and their backups because starting players are paid higher and higher premiums and the backups tend to be rookies and aging veterans. So to lose a player to injury or behavior creates a massive drop off.

DB: I read that you were the inspiration to the movie “Jerry Maguire.” How close was that movie to your real life?

LS: Cameron Crowe followed me around from 1993 for a couple years. He went to the NFL draft in ’93 with me when Drew Bledsoe was picked. He went to the Bill Parcells press conference, he went to NFL league meetings, he went to a couple Super Bowl parties, went to pro scouting day at ‘SC, he went to games with me and I told him stories. Lots and lots of stories. … But I worked with the actors. I showed Cuba Gooding Jr. how to pretend he was a wide receiver at the Super Bowl with me.

DB: In some of these movies the stereotypical portrayal of sports agencies is as a cutthroat industry where agents just fight for larger contracts. Is there a side to the business that people may not know as much about?

LS: Yes. The popular perception of simply stacking dollars and bankbooks is only part of what the true responsibility of agents is. Part of it is to help athletes in a holistic way see their potential as role models – see how they can be involved in making a difference in the world and laying down roots. Part of it is preparing them for a second career.

So, the old stereotype of the broke athlete floundering through life no longer needs to be true. Three of the former football players that I have worked with now are minority owners of NFL teams. They’ve been able to be big business successes.

Another stereotype is just that these relationships are somehow cold, business relationships. Warren Moon and I went 23 years and he had me present him at the Hall of Fame. You sort of grow up together. I was in a number of the players’ weddings and they were in mine, so there’s that.

DB: UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley decided to return to school for this season and forgo the 2014 NFL Draft. How do you view that decision?

LS: Brett Hundley is going to be a franchise quarterback whenever he comes out of school. John Elway was 4-7 or 3-7 I think his last year. It’s not a function of whether his team wins every game. He doesn’t have control over that. Brett Hundley can’t block for himself. He doesn’t control every part of every game.

I think first of all the fact that he came back showed tremendous maturity and dedication so that’s a plus on the character standpoint. Second of all there’s no question that he has learned more this year and the likelihood is that some team is going to ask him to start the first year, because he’s very likely to go at the top of the first round so this will be invaluable experience for him.

DB: What advice do you have for students who are interested in a career as a sports agent?

LS: The competition is hyper intense. So it’s a field that needs more idealistic people with ethics, but also with an undeniable work ethic. Study as much business as possible in any form. Study psychology because understanding what motivates people and why they act the way they do and being able to listen and see what people’s real agenda is critical. And get an internship in any phase of sports with a team, a league, a conference, an athletic department, a player’s association, an agency, in sports television, any of the fields. Get an internship, try to get as many internships as possible so that you start to get that real life experience.

Compiled by Kevin Bowman, Bruin Sports senior staff.

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