Leigh Steinberg knows more than most about how this week works. An NFL super agent who has represented eight No. 1 draft picks, and 62 overall in the first round, he has an eye for star quality as distinguished as any in the game.
Steinberg was with Troy Aikman when he landed at the Dallas Cowboys, before leading them to three Super Bowls. He also partnered with Steve Young for his Hall of Fame career.
And Steinberg – the inspiration for the movie Jerry Maguire – was sat with Patrick Mahomes in 2017 on the night the Kansas City Chiefs made him their quarterback of the future by trading up to the 10th pick from 26. It was a seismic move that changed the course of the game today.
Speaking to the Daily Mail about the draft and his life in the game, which he has chronicled in an enthralling new book – more on that later – Steinberg, 77, says that Mahomes had an allure that, even in college, made him stand out from the rest.
‘I looked at his arm strength and his ability to visualize the field and it is almost like he has X-ray vision,’ Steinberg recalls.
But if Steinberg could see that, why didn’t the NFL teams higher up on the board that year think the same?
Leigh Steinberg was sat with Patrick Mahomes the night Kansas City Chiefs drafted him
Mahomes, pictured with wife Brittany, has gone on to win three Super Bowls with the Chiefs
Steinberg recalled an ‘explosion of joy’ the moment the Chiefs picked Mahomes at No. 10
‘People underestimated him coming out of college because he played at Texas Tech and they would give up 50 points a game,’ he recalls. ‘So he was under pressure to score on every drive.
‘But if you project him into the NFL, that’s a different picture. He can do a three, five, seven-step drop under center. It was obvious. It was also clear with Steve Young and Troy Aikman and many other players. They have that special quality, which is the ability to compartmentalize the mind.
‘Even though they’ve thrown a couple of interceptions and the crowd is booing, they just elevate their level of play and take a team to a victory.’
Steinberg was sat with the Mahomes family at a country club in Tyler, Texas on the night of the draft. Patrick had decided he would be more comfortable with familiar faces around him than the green room in Philadelphia, at the heart of the action – much like this year’s anticipated first pick, Fernando Mendoza, who is set to celebrate with his family in Miami instead.
Asked to relive moments leading up to Mahomes’ name being called, Steinberg says: ‘Every minute seems like an hour, every second seems like a minute. But that’s what makes draft day my favorite day of the year.
‘The tension ratchets up and then there is this explosion of joy, there is nothing like it. If you’re not where the draft is and you’re at the players’ home, you’re surrounded by his childhood friends, aunts and uncles, the pastor. But Patrick is very grounded, he is not impacted by the swirl of events around him.
‘I knew he was going to be successful but not as quickly as he was. You could never predict then that a player in his second year, being MVP of the league and now, three Super Bowls.’
The Houston Texans and New Orleans Saints were also keen on Mahomes, Steinberg says in his book. There were also suggestions the Chiefs could have taken Deshaun Watson over Mahomes but clearly, Chiefs GM Brett Veach was on the right side of history with his decision on the night.
Steinberg has also chronicled his own redemption journey in his new book, ‘The Comeback’
Power agent Steinberg has spoken openly about his struggles with alcoholism 20 years ago
The images from that evening are even more striking given how things have panned out. Mahomes look sheepish as the room around him erupts. His childhood sweetheart Brittany, now his wife and mother of his three children, films the scenes on her iPhone.
His father, the former Major League Baseball pitcher Patrick Mahomes Sr, looks close to tears.
Three years after that night Steinberg, on behalf of Mahomes, and the Chiefs negotiated a record-breaking 10-year contract worth $503million.
‘It’s important if you’re negotiating to understand and put yourself in the heart and mind of the owner on the other side,’ Steinberg says of how he struck that deal. ‘How can you craft a win-win scenario where you’re accomplishing their goals at the same time you’re representing your player?
‘For the player, the secret for me is listening. I think the most important skill in life is the ability to draw another person out. Cut below the surface, understand their deepest anxieties and fears and their biggest hopes and dreams.’
Steinberg reflects in fascinating detail how he first heard about Mahomes from the wife of the mayor of Tyler in 2016 before his pitch to represent the young star was nearly derailed by a rowdy restaurant. He also shares tales from representing Aikman, Young and countless others in his new book. But it hasn’t been written for Steinberg to celebrate his successes.
It’s called ‘The Comeback’ because Steinberg also recounts in unflinching detail his battle with alcoholism around 20 years ago, as well as going bankrupt, before embarking on the road to redemption.
‘Life will have a way of setting us all back,’ he says. ‘It could be financially, it could be health, marital, substance abuse. So what do you do when that happens, when there is a crash and collapse? Can you find optimism, light at the end of the tunnel?
‘It’s agonizing, in a way, to understand how hard I fell. But on the other side there is excitement that the book will show people that it is possible to come back.’
Steinberg said that on draft night in 2017, he couldn’t have anticipated what Mahomes would do
In 2020, Mahomes signed a new 10-year, $500m Chiefs deal to usher in a new era of glory
In his own way, Mahomes is now channeling that spirit after tearing his ACL last year in a nightmare season for the Chiefs, who missed out on the playoffs.
He’s racing against the clock to recover in time for Week 1 of the 2026 season in early September but has teased a few looks of him appearing to be well ahead of schedule.
‘When you see the play on the field, it’s the tip of the iceberg compared to the self-discipline that goes into that,’ Steinberg said of the efforts Mahomes takes to look after himself. ‘You don’t want a player to rehab too quickly but I’m sure it’s going to be a successful process.’
But for now, attention for the Chiefs and Mahomes are locked in on draft week.
The only good thing about 2025’s poor season is that they hold the No. 9 pick on Thursday night, a huge opportunity to land a key puzzle piece in their rebuild.
