When Josie Leinart first crossed paths with former NFL quarterback Matt Leinart at a barbecue more than a decade ago, the actress-turned-attorney had no idea who the one-time Heisman Trophy winner was and really didn’t want much to do with him.

Matt was persistent, though. After Josie declined overtures through a friend following that 2012 party, Matt tried again in 2013 when they saw each other at the same mutual acquaintance’s barbecue. Josie — dealing with the heartbreaking deaths of her father and grandmother — took another pass.

“I was just picking up the pieces at that point,” Josie, 35, recently told The Post. The friend, however, passed Josie’s digits along to Leinart anyway.

“I remember getting the phone call — I don’t even know why I picked up because it was an unknown number — but I picked up and I was so mad when he said his name. I was like, ‘I can’t believe she gave him my number even though I said not to.’ That was kind of the start of it, and I fought it til the bitter end.”

Now happily married for more than four years, the 39-year-old Leinart — a two-time national champ at USC who’s now a college football analyst at Fox Sports — has served as Josie’s source of support as she tackles the next chapter of her career as host of Stay Doubted’s new web series, “Women of the League.”

“This is actually the honest truth, not many people believe me when I say this,” Josie said. “When I met my husband, genuinely, I didn’t know squat about football. I really never watched it, I had no idea who he was — he was Joe Schmoe off the street to me.”

Featuring model and philanthropist Christen Harper, the fiancée of Lions quarterback Jared Goff; influencer Allison Kuch, the wife of Browns defensive end Isaac Rochell; digital creator Kym Jackson, the wife of Jets wide receiver Jeff Smith; and business owner Whitney Risner, the wife of Broncos offensive guard Dalton Risner, Josie moderates the wide-ranging discussions in the six-episode series that provides raw insight into what life as an NFL partner is truly like.

“We have really hard conversations about a lot of different things in this show,” said Josie, who starred in “The Mentalist.”

“One of my favorite episodes is the episode about finances. And I think that that’s something so many couples struggle with, and these women, me as well, we’re no different.”

Josie added how the show sheds “light on a more realistic view of these relationships and these families that are often so dramatized.”

Much like Josie, Harper — who announced her engagement to Goff, 28, in June — found the episode centered on finances “interesting,” noting the importance of having those “uncomfortable” conversations.

“I think, in general, that’s a really taboo topic for people to talk about, but especially when you’re dealing with these men that make a lot of money,” Harper told The Post, “and I think that’s going to be a very interesting episode and it was kind of uncomfortable, and I think it’s important, though… These conversations should trickle down into your friendships, checking in with your friends, and hopefully, these topics can strike up conversations because things are uncomfortable to talk about but those are the things that you need to talk about.”

In addition to finances, combatting outside noise and distractions was another hot topic amongst the group, according to Josie.

“[Kym] talks about feeling a need to protect her husband and to an extent, we all feel that. I think women do naturally, they are caretakers, whether it’s for their children, for their husband, for their home, but when your husband has such a public persona, you feel that need even more strongly,” said Josie, who shares two sons, Cayson, 2, and Cannon, 1, with Leinart.

Jackson’s words “really resonated” with Josie, who has often felt frustrated about the preconceived notions she’s heard about Leinart from outsiders over the years. Leinart was infamously pictured in a hot tub with four college-aged women and assisting another chugging out of a beer bong in 2008 when he was a quarterback for the Cardinals.

“I can’t tell you how many people told me not to date him,” Josie said, adding she’s seen the jacuzzi snap “a hundred times.”

“My husband and I have been together for almost 10 years, but in the last decade, how many times I get the comment, ‘Oh my God, he’s actually really nice,’ or ‘He’s actually funny,’ or ‘down to earth.’ It just always shocks me how people have this preconceived notion of someone because they read an article that someone wrote who doesn’t know him from Adam.”

“I have such a strong urge to scream from the rooftops, ‘This is the best guy ever, he’s the most wonderful man.’ … It bothers me to my core that people tear him and other people down.”

In fact, it was Leinart who helped Josie ready for her first-ever hosting role on “Women of the League.”

“He’s not a host, but he is in broadcasting and even though I was an actor, this is much more in the world of broadcasting and what he does, so I leaned on him so much for advice, just overall guidance, and I feel like we kind of worked together on it,” Josie said.

Not only did Josie converse with Leinart about “questions and ideas, and topics, and storylines,” but the former first-round draft pick offered the “Make It or Break It” alum perhaps one the best pieces of advice she received.

“He started out by telling me the most important thing that you can do in this role as a host is listen. Even if you get tripped up on a question, it’s not about you, it’s about them, and constantly bringing it back to them and really listening to what they have to say, not being in your head about the next question or who to follow up with or the next subplot,” she said.

With new episodes of “Women of the League” dropping every Tuesday for the next few weeks, Josie is excited for audiences to get to know Harper, Kuch, Jackson and Risner as they look to dismantle the stereotypes often associated with the partners of athletes.

“They are looked at as an accessory and not as someone who stands next to their partner but behind them, or someone who is just 100 percent supported and lives for this lifestyle… All four of them have risen above it and have made such names for themselves,” Josie said. “I was super empowered and inspired listening to their stories, so I hope other women can see that and feel the same way.”