Leigh Steinberg
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Leigh William Steinberg (b. March 27, 1949 in Los Angeles, California) is a sports agent and well-known sports attorney. Clients include Myron Rolle, Matt Leinart, Ben Roethlisberger, Mark Brunell, Ricky Williams, Lennox Lewis, Steve Young, Troy Aikman, Bruce Smith, Eric Karros, Dusty Baker, Oscar de la Hoya, John Starks, Kordell Stewart, and Warren Moon.
Steinberg was admitted to the California State Bar in 1974 after earning his J.D. from Boalt Hall, UC Berkeley's law school, in 1973. He earned a B.A. in Political Science also from UC Berkeley in 1970.
Steinberg is often credited as the real life inspiration of the sports agent from the film Jerry Maguire. He was also a consultant on other films such as For Love of the Game, Any Given Sunday as well as the TV series Arliss. Steinberg is the President of Leigh Steinberg Sports & Entertainment which operates its main office in Newport Beach, California.
[edit] Biography
Leigh Steinberg is one of the country’s leading sports agents.[citation needed] During his 33-year career, Steinberg has represented hundreds of professional athletes in football, baseball, basketball, volleyball, golf, boxing and Olympic sports. His firm, Leigh Steinberg Sports & Entertainment, maintains a client roster that has many high profile names in sports. He has represented the No. 1 pick overall in the NFL draft a record eight times, a milestone unrivaled within the sports industry.
An accomplished speaker, Steinberg has traveled the world addressing topics ranging from sports and entertainment, to political and economic issues. In 1992, Steinberg helped lead a successful campaign to prevent the San Francisco Giants baseball club from relocating to Florida. For his efforts, then San Francisco Mayor Frank Jordan honored him by declaring “Leigh Steinberg Day” in the city of San Francisco soon after. In 1994, then Oakland Mayor Elihu Harris utilized Steinberg as a consultant in his successful bid to prevent the Oakland Athletics baseball club from relocating to Sacramento or San Jose. Steinberg also served as Co-Chairman of the “Save the Rams” committee in its unsuccessful attempt to keep the franchise from leaving Southern California and has been active in pursuits to attract a new football franchise to locate in Los Angeles. Steinberg has championed the cause of player safety, advocating the removal of Astroturf from stadiums and held symposia on concussions, which promote rule, equipment and diagnostic changes to better protect players. He has been featured on national television programs such as “60 Minutes,” “Larry King Live,” “The Today Show” and in magazines such as Business Week.
Steinberg was born and raised in Los Angeles where he attended Hamilton High School. He attended the University of California, Los Angeles for one year before transferring to the Berkeley campus. At Berkeley, he was elected President of the Associated Students of the University of California, the university's student government, and met his first client, Cal quarterback Steve Bartkowski while working as a dorm adviser. He subsequently attended Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law where he was intending to become a public defender when Bartkowski and he discussed his representation.
Steinberg’s firm, Leigh Steinberg Sports & Entertainment, maintains offices in Newport Beach, California.
