Even now, five decades into his trailblazing career as a sports agent and powerbroker in NFL circles, Leigh Steinberg is still rolling with a can-do spirit and big visions.
Steinberg, 75, recently established a concussion foundation bearing his name that he hopes will be a difference-maker supporting emerging approaches in the medical community for the treatment of head injuries.
“It will raise awareness and be a clearinghouse for people to understand what the dangers are, as far as head injuries are concerned,” Steinberg told USA TODAY Sports of his foundation. “It will be a research tool for trying to find better solutions and more knowledge.”
It’s a noble cause. As much as the NFL has done in recent years with rules changes designed to take the head out of the game, policies that reduce contact during practices, concussion protocols and safer equipment – factors that contributed to the NFL reporting Thursday that through the end of the 2024 regular season it had the lowest concussion numbers for a campaign since the NFL began tracking data in 2015 – it remains a bruising sport where concussions happen.
Steinberg remains wary of risks to long-term health.
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“It’s one thing to know that football breaks down joints and someone who turns 45 and bends over to pick up their child will have aches and pains,” he said. “It’s another thing not to identify that child. In other words, you’re talking about the brain.”
That portrayal surely comes with shock value. Yet Steinberg’s concern is amplified whenever cases come to the forefront that reveal chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a neurodegenerative disease that experts link to repetitive head trauma.
In early January, the family of former Tennessee Titans tight end Frank Wycheck, who died at 52 in December 2023, announced that researchers at Boston University’s CTE Center confirmed that Wycheck’s brain tested positive for CTE.
In a statement, Deanna Wycheck Szabo said that she hoped the CTE diagnosis for her father would “bring awareness, increased intervention, education, and support for NFL alumni and their families related to CTE.”
Clearly, that aligns with the mission Steinberg – who along with Chris Cabott represents Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes – expresses for his foundation.
Although he gives the NFL credit for the cultural shift in addressing concussions that began well over a decade ago, he sounds determined to put energy into medical advances.
“For years, the thought was that once there was a traumatic brain injury, it just went down a slippery slope that led to Alzheimer’s, premature senility, Parkinson’s, CTE and depression,” Steinberg said. “Now there’s a process called rTMS (repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation), where, through the theory of neuroplasticity, they can actually rewire the brain. Get those connections back.
“That is stunning. And it’s the kind of medical breakthrough, treatment breakthrough, that is happening. So, this foundation will raise money to promote more research.”
Of course, Steinberg, who has represented a record eight No. 1 overall NFL draft picks during his career, isn’t a doctor. And, citing professional ethics, he would not comment on challenges and scrutiny that a former client, Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, has faced in recovery from multiple concussions since 2022, including another one this season.
Yet he doesn’t hesitate to hail the potential of stem cells, red light therapy and the use of hyperbaric oxygen chambers as treatment options. For his foundation, he said he is aligning with neurologists and other medical experts for an advisory board that will also include several retired players, including Hall of Famers Warren Moon (a longtime client) and Earl Campbell.
And the day before Super Bowl 59, Steinberg will host his 20th Brain Summit before his annual Super Bowl party. Steinberg’s party has long been a hot ticket on the social calendar during Super Bowl week as it typically attracts a mix of celebrities from the entertainment world and high-profile NFL figures. Now it appears his event (at the New Orleans Jazz Museum) will also serve as ample opportunity to get the word out about his foundation.
“This is not simply a pro football issue,” Steinberg said. “It’s a college football issue. A high school football issue. A soccer issue. A hockey issue. It’s anything that involves collision.”
No, this is hardly new ground for Steinberg, who has also rebounded from personal and professional challenges that include a divorce, bankruptcy, a split with former partner David Dunn and alcoholism – as he approaches the 15th anniversary of his sobriety.
More than 30 years ago, moved by concussions suffered by several of his clients – including high-profile cases that involved eventual Hall of Famers Troy Aikman and Steve Young – Steinberg held his first concussion seminar in Newport Beach, California.
Aikman, Young, Moon, Drew Bledsoe and Rob Johnson were among the attendees, “taking notes,” Steinberg recalled, “listening to neurologists talk about the risks and the state of knowledge at the time.”
A generation ago, that concussion seminar was cutting edge. And especially because it was organized by an agent, rather than the players union. It was before the discovery of CTE. Before a class-action lawsuit was filed by former players against the NFL in 2012, which led to a $1 billion settlement in 2015. Before the NFL Players Association became passionate about the issue, spearheaded by now-former executive director DeMaurice Smith. Before the league instituted concussion protocols and dozens of safety measures.
While Steinberg acknowledges that much has changed since his first concussion seminar in 1994, he said he is encouraged that more progress will occur “by relying on the best science.”
And he is hardly shy when it comes to preaching on the topic.
“I define the role of an agent not simply as putting dollars in the bank book of a player,” Steinberg said. “Part of the fiduciary responsibility is trying to ensure the long-term health of players, to think about what the quality of their lives will be when they retire.”
Which might ultimately fuel quite a legacy for a legendary agent.
Follow Jarrett Bell on X @JarrettBell.