The Agent: My 40-Year Career Making Deals and Changing the Game Author: Leigh Steinberg | Language: English | ISBN:
B00EGJ321U | Format: PDF
The Agent: My 40-Year Career Making Deals and Changing the Game Description
The real-life "Jerry Maguire," superagent Leigh Steinberg shares his personal stories on the rise, fall, and redemption of his game-changing career in the high-stakes world of professional sports
Leigh Steinberg is renowned as one of the greatest sports agents in history, representing such All-Pro clients as Troy Aikman, Bruce Smith, and Ben Roethlisberger. Over one particular seven-year stretch, Steinberg represented the top NFL Draft pick an unheard of six times. Director Cameron Crowe credits Steinberg as a primary inspiration for the titular character in Jerry Maguire, even hiring Steinberg as a consultant on the film. Lightyears ahead of his contemporaries, he expanded his players' reach into entertainment. Already the bestselling author of a business book on negotiation, the original superagent is now taking readers behind the closed doors of professional sports, recounting priceless stories, like how he negotiated a $26.5 million package for Steve Young—the biggest ever at the time—and how he passed on the chance to represent Peyton Manning.
Beginning with his early days as a student leader at Berkeley, Steinberg details his illustrious rise into pro sports fame, his decades of industry dominance, and how he overcame a series of high-profile struggles to regain his sobriety and launch his comeback. This riveting story takes readers inside the inner circle of top-notch agents and players through the visionary career of Leigh Steinberg, the pre-eminent superagent of our time.
- File Size: 3451 KB
- Print Length: 321 pages
- Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1250030420
- Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books (January 21, 2014)
- Sold by: Macmillan
- Language: English
- ASIN: B00EGJ321U
- Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray:
- Lending: Not Enabled
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #24,977 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #6
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Business & Money > Industries > Sports & Entertainment - #14
in Books > Business & Money > Industries & Professions > Sports & Entertainment - #31
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Sports > Biographies
- #6
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Business & Money > Industries > Sports & Entertainment - #14
in Books > Business & Money > Industries & Professions > Sports & Entertainment - #31
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Sports > Biographies
Leigh Steinberg's memoir and second book, "The Agent," details his rise to the pinnacle of the sports agent profession. We read about his life growing up in Los Angeles as the grandson of a well known Hollywood insider who ran Hillcrest Country Club. Leigh starts his memoir in Los Angeles, chronicling his life as a youngster, to his becoming student body president of Berkeley during a revolutionary era in the late 1960's.
In this revealing memoir, Leigh recounts stories burned in his mind that give a glimpse into the dizzying life he has led. At times, it feels a bit like "Forrest Gump," in the sense that Leigh consistently finds himself in the middle of Americana over the course of his life.
The odds of a human being born are akin to winning the lottery. The odds may not be ever in our favor of being born at all. The odds of being the dorm counselor to a future #1 NFL draft pick? Slim. The odds that player will choose you, an amateurish law student with no NFL negotiating experience, to represent them? Astronomical. Yet it happened. Leigh's first client was Cal quarterback Steve Bartkowski, the #1 pick in the 1975 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons. You read that right. Leigh happened to fall into sports representation because he was Bartkowski's RA. At the time, this seemed to be a fluke of epic proportions. We come to learn Leigh had ambitions of being a public defender or a politician. Not a sports agent.
It is truly remarkable to read Leigh's anecdotes about the sports representation field at that time and to see how much has changed in 40 years. There wasn't much of an NFL agent "industry" in 1975. Jameis Winston certainly will not be choosing his dorm counselor to be his agent next year.
The life story of sports agent Leigh Steinberg is fast- compelling- reading... with names he signed up as clients... as recognizable as headlines in the last forty years of sports sections. The look inside of the psyche of young All-American ballplayers... as well as millionaire-billionaire sports executives is almost hypnotic for true fans. The fact that Leigh also uses a never ending supply of "ME"... "ME"... "ME"... tends to get a tad burdensome at times... but as me and my old buddy Dizzy Dean like (d) to say... "It ain't bragging... if you could do it!" But Leigh should also keep in mind what my dear departed Mother used to say... "Rick, don't break your arm patting yourself on the back!"
Meanwhile back to the book. The writing style is in such a relaxed easy to read format... that I stopped about a third of the way through and looked to see who the "co-author" was... and when I saw it was Michael Arkush... I soon realized that I had read two of his other books... "The Fight of the Century: Ali vs. Frazier March 8, 1971"... and... "The Last Season: A Team in Search of Its Soul". So the "co-author" should get a lot of praise for converting this "made" for telling life story... into an enjoyable reading experience.
Leigh's childhood growing up in Los Angeles included loving the Brooklyn then Los Angeles Dodgers... and idolizing Sandy Koufax for his presence as a tremendous role model for all Jewish kids growing up playing and loving baseball... guys like Leigh and I... as I grew up at the same time... in the same place... with the same heroes as the author. Leigh's parents were always extremely supportive of their children and among other posts... his Dad became principal of Fairfax High... which coincidentally the basketball team I was on at North Hollywood High School...
The Agent: My 40-Year Career Making Deals and Changing the Game Preview
Link
Please Wait...