The real Jerry Maguire, and a city that keeps getting back up
At 77 and 16 years sober, super-agent Leigh Steinberg has $4 billion in contracts, a bankruptcy and a long climb back behind him and he sees his own comeback story in the Los Angeles.
Good morning! We start with a story bigger than a box score. Eric Lambkins II sat down with Leigh Steinberg — the agent who inspired Jerry Maguire — for a remarkable profile of loss, recovery and a Los Angeles about to take center stage. Then to the diamond, where the Angels walked it off and the Dodgers stumbled in Philly. Let’s get into it.
🚨 HEADLINES
🏈 The comeback. Leigh Steinberg — the real Jerry Maguire — on falling, climbing back and the city hosting the world — Eric Lambkins II in Newport Beach.
⚾ Walk-off. Jo Adell homered and got plunked as the Angels edged the Cardinals — Jack Haslett at Angel Stadium.
⚾ Stumble in Philly. The Phillies handed the Dodgers a 10-7 loss to open the series — see the TST Images gallery.
🏀 No mercy. The Aces rolled a shorthanded Tempo in their first trip to Canada — Derek Hegna at Coca-Cola Coliseum.
⚾ Not enough. Two solo shots couldn’t save the Padres in their opener at Atlanta — Eric Evelhoch at Truist Park.
📋 SCOREBOARD — MONDAY
⚾ MLB: Angels 3, Cardinals 2 (walk-off) · Phillies 10, Dodgers 7 · Braves 3, Padres 2
🏀 WNBA: Aces 109, Tempo 83
🏈 THE REAL JERRY MAGUIRE
From his Newport Beach office above the Pacific, Leigh Steinberg tells Eric Lambkins II a story Hollywood could only approximate. The agent who inspired Jerry Maguire negotiated more than $4 billion in contracts, repped eight No. 1 overall NFL picks and 12 Hall of Famers, and helped his clients raise nearly $1.3 billion for charity. Then came the fall — bankruptcy, DUIs, a lapsed NFLPA certification, a bank selling off his memorabilia while he was in rehab. Now 77 and more than 16 years sober, with a new book called “The Comeback,” Steinberg frames his life around a single question: not whether adversity comes, but how you respond. And he sees that same question being answered by his hometown, a city staring down an unprecedented three-year run — the World Cup, the 2027 Super Bowl at SoFi and the 2028 Olympics. A profile about resilience, redemption, and a place that keeps getting back up.
GO DEEPER
› Eric Lambkins II: Inside the life of Leigh Steinberg, the real Jerry Maguire (The Sporting Tribune)
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⚾ ADELL WALKS THE ANGELS OFF
The Angels found a way to end the night in a dogpile. Jo Adell homered and took one for the team — literally, getting hit by a pitch in a pivotal spot — as the Angels walked off the Cardinals 3-2 at the Big A. It’s the kind of tight, scrappy win that keeps a middling club in the fight coming out of the break, and a welcome bounce-back after a lopsided weekend split with Detroit. The two sides go again tonight in Anaheim.
GO DEEPER
› Adell homers and gets hit by pitch in the Angels’ walk-off win (The Sporting Tribune)
⚾ A RARE OFF NIGHT FOR THE DODGERS
Even the best team in baseball has clunkers. Fresh off taking two of three at Yankee Stadium, the Dodgers ran into a buzzsaw in Philadelphia, dropping the series opener 10-7 at Citizens Bank Park. The offense did its part; the pitching couldn’t hold the line. With a 12-game cushion in the NL West, a July loss barely registers — but it’s a reminder that the reinforcements can’t get healthy fast enough. The series continues tonight.
GO DEEPER
› Mookie Betts’ two homers not enough as Dodgers lose to Phillies (The Sporting Tribune)
📺 WATCHLIST — TUESDAY, JULY 21
⚾ MLB: Dodgers at Phillies — SportsNet LA — 3:40 p.m. PT
⚾ MLB: Padres at Braves — Padres TV — 4:15 p.m. PT
⚾ MLB: Cardinals at Angels — ABTV — 6:38 p.m. PT
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⚾ MLB: Cardinals at Angels — Angel Stadium — $9
🌴 TST TRIVIA
Leigh Steinberg’s life inspired the film “Jerry Maguire.” Which actor won an Academy Award for his role as the wide receiver who tells Maguire to “show me the money”?
Answer at the bottom.
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Trivia answer: Cuba Gooding Jr. He won the 1997 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor as Rod Tidwell in “Jerry Maguire.”
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