Gridiron great Champ Bailey has chosen his longtime agent and lawyer, Jack Reale, a partner at Drew Eckl & Farnham, to be his presenter when he's inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August.

“I am honored that Champ has chosen me,” Reale said. “It was truly a joy watching him grow and develop into the league's best defensive back, and I am proud to be here for the next step of his journey.”

Bailey, a cornerback for the Washington Redskins, Denver Broncos and New Orleans Saints, announced his retirement in 2014 after 15 seasons in the National Football League. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in February, in his first year of eligibility.

An All-American at the University of Georgia, Bailey was the seventh pick in the first round of the 1999 NFL draft. He played five seasons for the Redskins and then another 10 for the Broncos, after Reale helped negotiate his trade in 2004. Bailey was signed by the Saints in 2014, and, after foot injuries, subsequently announced his retirement.

Bailey started in all but three of the 215 games that he played in for the Redskins and the Broncos, and he amassed 908 tackles and 52 interceptions over his career. He's the only NFL cornerback selected for 12 Pro Bowl appearances.

Reale said he met Bailey from representing his older brother, Ron Bailey, who also played football for UGA. (He also represented their younger brother, Boss Bailey, who played five seasons in the NFL.) When Champ Bailey decided to forego his senior college year and enter the NFL draft he and his parents asked Reale to be his agent.

“It was an easy decision,” the lawyer said. “He's one of the best.”

Not many lawyers are sports agents while maintaining a busy defense litigation practice. Reale, who handles premises liability and general tort cases, got into the agenting business when his nephew, Tim Tanguay, a standout football player at Furman University, started getting contacted by pro scouts.  He helped his nephew ink a deal in 1982 with the now-defunct U.S. Football League. (Tanguay is now the CFO for Orangetheory Fitness.)

A couple of Tanguay's high school teammates also needed help with pro deals, Reale said, and then he represented some Georgia Tech football players. Through that, he met Bobby Ross, Tech's head football coach from 1987 to 1991 (who led the Yellow Jackets to an ACC championship in 1990) and became his lawyer. Over the years, he said, he's represented all the Tech football coaches except Chan Gaily.

Reale, who became the first licensed sports agent in Georgia, has represented hundreds of pro football players in contract negotiations with teams and for endorsements. But he said that he never allowed his agenting work to become the dominant piece of his practice.

“The fickle nature of the agent business makes it a bit unpredictable,” he said. “I've had fun with it and met some great people.”

His litigation practice also involves sports. Reale defends stadiums in premises and general liability claims, including State Farm Arena, Turner Field, Atlanta Motor Speedway, the Atlanta Hawks, the Atlanta Braves and the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

Reale said the thing he's most enjoyed about representing players is “seeing young guys mature and eventually figure it out. They start planning for the future and saving money so they can do what they want to do with the rest of their life after football because they're financially secure.” (Sometimes, he added, that means telling them what they “need to hear, not what they want to hear.”)  

Bailey fits that description, Reale said. The Hall of Famer has moved back to Atlanta with his family and become an entrepreneur.

Bailey heads a family business, Bailey Cos., made up of his siblings and cousins, which the new Hall of Famer told Forbes earlier this month has invested in apartment complexes, start-up companies, an e-sports arena and Lasso, a compression-sock maker. The company plans to launch a financial management service for athletes.

“He's doing good,” his longtime agent said.