{"id":1454109,"date":"2021-12-13T00:24:50","date_gmt":"2021-12-13T05:24:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?p=1454109"},"modified":"2021-12-13T00:24:51","modified_gmt":"2021-12-13T05:24:51","slug":"tom-cruises-character-jerry-maguire-based-on-big-name-nfl-agent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/tom-cruises-character-jerry-maguire-based-on-big-name-nfl-agent\/","title":{"rendered":"Tom Cruise\u2019s Character in \u2018Jerry Maguire\u2019 Was Based on a Big-Name NFL Agent"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you\u2019ll forgive the pun, Tom Cruise made nearly All the Right Moves<\/em> for more than a decade, beginning with the 1983 movie about a football<\/a> prodigy looking to college football as his escape from a rust-belt steel mill town. Ten or so major hits later, Cruise starred in Jerry Maguire<\/em>, another sports movie. It\u2019s one that premiered 25 years ago this week and owes a debt to Leigh Steinberg, one of the best-known and most successful agents<\/a> in football history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Jerry Maguire\u2019 continued an incredible run for actor Tom Cruise<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Actor Tom Cruise's character in ‘Jerry Maguire' is loosely based on Leigh Steinberg, one of the most successful agents in NFL history. | Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The lack of Academy Awards honors doesn\u2019t detract from the fact that Tom Cruise has appeared in some of Hollywood\u2019s biggest hits and played numerous memorable characters along the way, beginning with Risky Business<\/em> and All the Right Moves<\/em> in 1983. Top Gun, The Color of Money<\/em>, and Rain Man<\/em> followed soon afterward. Throw in Days of Thunder, A Few Good Men<\/em>, and The Firm<\/em>, and Cruise earned a well-deserved mulligan for Cocktail<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cruise\u2019s 1996 releases included the first installment of the Mission Impossible<\/em> franchise and a sports movie that the producers marketed brilliantly. Targeted commercials and other promotions led women to believe Jerry Maguire<\/em> was a love story between Cruise and Renee Zellweger. Meanwhile, the campaign aimed at men focused on Cuba Gooding Jr. playing a wide receiver who puts his next contract negotiation in the hands of a character that NFL agent Leigh Steinberg helped screenwriter Cameron Crowe bring to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The formula worked. The movie scored five Oscar nominations, though Cruise lost out on the best actor nod, and grossed triple its $50 million budget domestically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leigh Steinberg brought a wealth of knowledge to \u2018Jerry Maguire\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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