Andre Reed

story story this storytelling, storytelling. Uncle Smithy, Okay, alright, guys, who you're alright? So, um there's a guy that's been a good friend of mine. Um Andy, he's been asking me to play in this Turkey Bowl tournament flag football, And the first couple of weeks, first couple of years, I was like, bro, no, I cannot play competitive sports,

especially on football. So second year he's like, hey, I'm gonna ask So second year, no no. So he finally asked me this year and I was like, you know what, just the weekend? How many games? But he was like, look, you're gonna play three games and we make a championship. I was like, all right, let's do it right. So that's me dusting off my stuff, right, my cliques, gloves, all that stuff. Bro. I got out there and first of all, text the group is like, look, man, I'm

just gonna play, have some fun. We had a few practices, nothing big deal. Where was this? Where was it? It was? It was here in char I was here. You know, I played, he said, he said on airplane. So I just said, get on the airplane, just like, hey, come come with me, come with me. Think too hard, don't think your metaphor. Game was a little misleadal. So so we're playing here in Charlotte, and let me tell you something. First game, I'm playing quarterback. First of all I had

to do that was yapping. I'm like, bro, just chill. But that's not even the conversation. You want to know what the real thing is. Let me tell you something. I'm gonna start. I'm I'm gona get an end. End, I'm gonna give it a finished product. You wanna know what the finished product is? Please? I got two pooled hamstrings. You washed up, dog? I am. I have been limping, spin cycle. I have been limping since Saturday afternoon till day,

I have broken out all of my machines. I text my contact at Baltimore because I am looking for a normal tech through insurance workers and my new Game Ready because my old Game Ready is broken. Bro, I am hurt. Team. So now when I say her team, Bro, I I pulled both at line, like do this wasn't worth it if you blew both him? Yeah, it was definitely worth it. I'm never fucking playing football again. You still have answer. I played well. I played quarterback all that stop. I

played receiver. But Bro, Swiss army not. You don't understand. You know, y'all get joking, joke. You don't understand. When I sit down in a chair to use a bathroom, it hurts. I have to roll over to get up. I am sore. If I ever played football again, flag football organized, I have to train at least three or four months prior to. Oh god. But here's here's why I went out there and played as if I was

in shape to play football. Mine was still there. Body was there for a few players, Bro, for no there was alert. So here's how it went down. This is where it went all. Here's where the food's gaziness started. Here, here's where it all. Here's where the screws, Here's where the screws on the rims started to come under. So

we're playing quarterback. Those few passes, you know, good passing, bad pass We go out there and I'm playing receiver, catching around boom boom, I go crossing folks over too nothing. It's like, okay, all right, take a few plays off, series of two off, and this is where it all went to ship. The second game. The second game, I'm playing corner, playing while I was fever. Catch a few rounds and I'm like, cool, a little bit of h a little bit of it feels like a cramp. No,

the brother, that was no cramp. So I go ahead and try to play through it. My body, my mind's telling me yes, but my bids said hell no. Bro. My right hamstring titans, and I'm saying I'm gonna play through it. I played through it. You know what, My left hamstring said, joined the party. My left hand hamstring said stop. I said no, he said stop. I said no. The third time he said stop. Boy, I said okay, I was done. So you got a game and a half in. You got a game and a half in,

and both my hamstrings quad growing um lower back. My lower half is if there's an old movie. In that movie it's called Old Yellow, and I am he think, I take you round the back and blow my freaking brains. So I'm cuttings I need to know with like we're y'all in the huddle, and your like Steve, like, I hate to do this, but you gotta go to the sideline. No, no, no, no, nobody knew because my last play was the best play. I played all right. I played corner and stopped the guy.

But I realized you and you at least went out in the blazer. No no no, I realized. I said, no, we ain't gonna play no more. But he ain't catching his pass on so he was running. Luckily, thank goodness, the Lord was shining in his bright sun in the in the vision of me, so I recognized because I

can see through that. I was putting my hand up using my using my long index finger to block the sun trick, and then the ball goes through my fingers, so I'm able to see the ball receiving trick right there and pump return to trump return trick right and then he didn't see it, so he proceeds to die for the past. Now, I played corner in high school. So I proceed to allow as he's airborne, to guide him out of bound. Show if he does catch it,

it's incomplete. Yes, good job man, textbook. But bro, he almost towards me because he was not he was going to pass. Get run teeth, no safety help. It was all you. It was I was shut down. I shut him down. However, I was gonna make sure it was gonna be p I. But he wasn't catching his pass. And then you pulled on your jersey. Time to go. I didn't put all my jersey. No I didn't. No, No, here's what I did. Can't you can't let yourself do it. When he went out of bounds, I stayed out of bound.

Y'all got it. It's pointing this good. So now for for all the folks who tweet at Smitty, get your jersey, come out, come on back. Now you're hearing the type of protection you got. You got something, but you're just saying you ain't got I'll give you two or three place to three plays. And then after I get hit or I try to, and I run a lot of decoy routes. Boy, don't you better stop him. I'm not I'm not gonna go out there and blow my knees out for I'm gonna go out with a blaze of cord.

I want the picture. But Bro, when I tell you, I'm hurting. But here's what I figured out. I've been. I've been pellaton and bike riding so much. Quads are muscular, hamstrings fatigued. Bro, I am so duck. I believe if I play next year, I gotta train three four months ahead of time, training for no. But here's what I'm saying,

training while y'all laughing, and I get it. It's it's the part of But when you're playing and you tried to like the explosiveness of stop and go, if you haven't done that and four years, your body goes, what do you do? Stop doing this a long time? When we stop at this rate with this power. I was out there, Bro, I was fly too. I had my outfit at Jay's all. Oh, I was good. I took no damn Jay's also quick gloves off. I went through my whole catcher routine. Wasn't gonna drop a nothing, didn't

drop anything, but couldn't go anywhere either. It was remarkable and sad all at the same time because I'm sitting at home right. I was sitting at home yesterday. Bro I had to watch games either on the bed or in the couch to where I had to be in a good position because if Bro I was on my machines, I was sitting on ice ice up, son, hur did your team pick you up? For game three? Did y'all win it? Pick me up? He was out of permission. I packed up, and he took his toys and went home.

They had appreciate you all appreciate this is good, but I gotta go. I was done. Hey man, welcome to wash Field. It's okay. I just didn't have it anymore. The same thing. Whatever I tell you what, I won't do it again. A lot of coaching, a lot of coaching. The only way I'm playing if I called my trainer and do it, that's the only way I have. No I have z bro interest. Oh, I bet you know. And what's funny is I get people all the time and say, man, man, let's get out of and I

always say I don't. I don't feel like it like I don't. I don't feel like I have to prove anything. And I wasn't trying to prove anything. One cool thing is I got to play with Peyton, So it was out there playing it was cool, But it was like at the time I was going there, I was like, bro, I don't I'm not like I enjoyed. I enjoyed the people.

The first team, it was all right. Second team that we played against it was fun, right, but it was I just have forgotten how much time and routine and training that I put in, and I just it reminded me, and it said this. All these guys that sit on the couch say, oh, what's the big deal all you have to do. I'm here to tell you if you go from the couch, I don't care who you I kea Ashley furniture, uh Ethan Allen, all the good cheap couch or expensive couch. I guarantee you I don't care

what you used to be. I don't care what you say you are. If you have not done any football training prior to if you think you're gonna get your ass off the couch or the recliner and just go out there and go run around against some of these corners out in the league. Even as thirst right boy stuck you ain't doing it. I don't care what you

used to do at Clemson. You said you getting m No, you may catch the ball, but I'm gonna tell you the next day, you're gonna be hurting, because today I'm hurting. The only reason I was not limping in here. I'm gonna tell you I did treatment on myself four times. Yesterday. I was watching the game when the dude got hit. That just reminds me ice when the dude got tackled, that h wave, hippo Matt. I used everything that I didn't have, And now trying to order through workers comp

legally workers Camp. I'm getting all the contraptments that I need because I'm hurting you. File corkus come claiming it was bad. I ain't paying for it, not flex cheap. Who we got coming up on the Cut to It podcast, We've got Andre Reid inducted into the Hall of Fame. In Andre Reid and the Buffalo Bills went to four consecutive Super Bowls. Andre rinks eight in NFL history and total career receptions and fourteenth in NFL history and total career touchdown receptions. Andre Reid on the Cut to A

Podcast let's clear there, there's all there's this member. When I was playing with Baltimore with Carolina and we were heading in the halftime, and everybody thinks me and you were arguing, Oh I have seen that like viral clips. You know that. I get that one too, every ting and everybody is like, oh, They're like, oh, Steve, what's going there? Andre, who do you think? And they don't understand.

I was going against one of the corners. I was marking him and he was talking and you just happened to walk past me and Andre g a legend, and Andre like, don't let don't let that your fellow get it get in you now. And I'm like, so, Andre kind of like he knew I was ripped up. So he's like he he's trying to get me to go in the locker room. And I go on the locker room. He know I'm coming back out like like yes, And so he's and so me and him talking about and

I'm just like, man blankety blank blank blank black. And it's more of seeing my elder statesman, a dude that I respect. It looked up to watch going because here here here's what I gotta I gotta let you know, growing up in l A. You don't understand how much you crushed us as a l A kind of seeing l A r l A Raider Oakland Raider when both Jackson hurt his hip and we and you know, I'm in l A. So it's nine eight one, Yeah, it's

nine am, nine thirty. While I'm getting up, I had Jimmy Dean's turkey sausage with some some blue baby preserves and the English muffin and uh some pineapple Chastis saster Shasta horrible breakfast. But um man, I'm watching the Buffalo Bills crush Young Eve's heart because Bo Jackson is not playing, didn't play, and y'all murked us. That was supposed to be hard. That was supposed to be our year and our team. We're going out there to play, and you

guys just demolished this man. No vote, no Bo Jackson vote, didn't play. Uh. That is when Williams he was skinny Skinny number twenty two, Skinny Harvey Harvey. Williams is the running back who actually took over after that for a little bit. Yeah, man, I just remember that, and that's how that's that's uh you're talking about nostalgia, but that that's de Andre Reid that I see. So when I was playing, when I see Andre Reid on the sideline, and I'm going to get his team, and that's that's

the guy I see. So I'm just charged up, like it's like big brout, like it's it's it's uncle Dre. I gotta show up. It's Mr Read, I gotta show up, and I gotta come calie. I'm oh, and he and he did and he did. So it's it's it's really man so to get you on my podcast and just really to talk to you. Mm hmm. Man, It's just it's um, it's like I'm daydreaming and I and I don't want to open my eyes because I dreamt so many times of hoping to be close to being in a thousand yard club I played when I when I

played football, man, I had football cars. So call pickings Herman uh more, Andre Andre Read, Henry Ellert, the thous and yard club. That's what I wanted to be in. That's what I that's what I saw football last. I didn't see football as a financial path. I saw it as a path of the black heat men and heroes that I saw on the television because that was before we knew salaries. Man, I just wanted to be like those dudes. Man, I had a car collection. I had

my car collection. My tops had that steel ass chalk gum right, white powder on your damn face. All right, he's right as at ampm bro go to a MP and rode my BMX bike with some cars. Yeah right, Spike, Yeah, you open you open it up and say who I got in there? Who I got? Yeah? Excited? Yeah, you know,

Mike quit and Randall cutting him. It's funny that you say that, Steve, because to go back even you know, before I played, it was the same way with guys like Lyn Swan and and John Stalworth and guys like that. And you know, I was a big Pittsburgh Steeler fan growing up in high school, in college, and I wore eight eight in college because I wanted to be Lyn Swan. And what's cementing that was when Marvel leaving our head coach,

got inducted to the hall in two thousand one. Lin Swan was in that class and he gets up there and does his speech and I'm sitting in the audience. You know, I didn't retire until you know, I retired to a year before that, so I haven't been almost close to a year out. And he's doing his speech and he mentions me in his speech, and I turned around and looked at everybody else, like, who's he talking about?

M And I just was like, that was my moment that a guy that I idolized as a as a young kid, as a high school kid, in college and awards number and he mentioned me in his Hall of Fame speech. So that was it for me when I when that happened. So you know, I understand where you're coming from, because this game is generational. Guys leave, guys take over. Guys leave, guys take over, and you you look at the guys before you you idolize them, and guys now idolize you. You hope they do because we're

we're living in it. This is a different NFL players are totally different all the way from what they do to how they talk. Everything is different because social media has been a big influence on that. But the old school you can't get away from that. And I will always be old school when I talk. They talked about the greatest receivers of all time. Obviously Jerry and Chris, and you know, the guy I'm talking to definitely deserves

to be in that in that category. I talked about those guys because they did it for me, and that is that is the bottom line that will never change. Well, I would take it. I'll take it a step further. They didn't do it for me. Y'all would have standard right when I look, can I talk and I have an opportunity that y'all are the standard right. And and you know a little bit with the Earth thing man, I always looked at Earth, He's the standard. I looked

at irv is like, you know, the playmaker. And you know, even though we worked together we had a little tiff, it was like I've always respected Earth right, and not because he was a cowboy, but when you looked up,

he was the playmaker and he made plays right. And so that's why you know, it's funny as I you know in here I've talked about that and everybody I've shared like when I talk about the way I played, I played the I played the game for the standard in which I learned it from where it's slobber knocker, it's bald. Now the saying this this, this, this, this same uh, the same PTA meetings. Right, this ain't the team.

This ain't the team. M Uh you know the the YMC. Hey, this is this is when you go across middle Mel Blunt to blow you up. Donnie Shells had put you to sleep? Right, Ronnie a lot to give you that night night? Right? Give you ninety ninety Yes, Hey, Steve Atwater, make you change your whole perspective on how you looked at you become the Nigeria nightmare. Steve Atwater hit you you'd be just become Nigerian. You're doing some different type

of contemplating now, Huh. I never heard that one. Hey, when I see Christian Nacorey, I'm gonna tell him that one. I love cut to It and I love it even more when you download us and subscribe and you can follow us on social media too, Smithie where where at at cut to It on Instagram? What about Twitter? At cut to It? Facebook cut to It feature? And Steve Smith Sr. What about online? And you can follow us at cut to It podcast dot com where you can buy merch and you can subscribe to us wherever you

listen to podcasts. I got all my answers questions. Um yeah, I got all my questions answered. That's what I'm here for. A brother cut to a podcast dot com. I know there's so many stories, and we're gonna get into so much of that stuff. But our first segment really quick, we'll get into it's called get ice up Smith. Why don't you give them the first one? You went to Cookstown University D two. Cookstown used to be name something else. What is that name? Uh, it was before it was

a university. All I know is that Cookstown Teachers College. That's good, but that is incorrect, my friend, Okay, what is it? And you draft? You were drafted in the fourth round in m hm. They changed their name in three of That would indicate at some point you were there when they changed their name. Uh, you're gonna hit the cabinet back there. You're gonna knock off the wheaties. You're gonna hit you a little bit. I have no idea city. That's a good one. That's the first. That's

the first one. You stubbed me one Cookstown State College, nineteen July. No, don't don't ride with me now. It ain't no room on this bandwagon. You can't get on. Before that, it was Ritown, Teacher's College before Cookstown State. Okay, who's your hero and why? My dad? Definitely? Um. I think most people say their dad because that's where you get all your knowledge from. UM. My dad, you know, he passed away in nine during one of my games, UM,

passed away at home and during your game. During the game, it was a it was a Sunday game, four o'clock game. My mom and my two brothers came up to the game because it was a later game. My dad wanted to stay home because he had to get up for work the next morning. And actually it was just my one brother and oh yeah, he passed probably during the game when watching the game. My brother went to pick him up in the morning and the door was wide open. TV was on, and he kind of knew what was

going on. He kind of knew something wasn't right. And he walked in the door. He was laying on the floor, so he had he had passed probably that night. UM. And I remember him calling me crying and it was yeah. So I told the coach and I said, Coach, I gotta get home. My dad just passed last night. And they put me on a private jet and I got home before my mom got home, and when my mom saw me that she knew something something happened. So yeah,

it was pretty devastating. Man. He was fifty two years old. Mm and uh, like I said, he never missed the game. Rain, sleet, snow, hail, fire, The world could have been falling. My dad would have been there, so um, yeah that's what I Uh. It was crazy, crazy day, crazy time. Man. But he's proud. He's up there proud right now. Whoa, and let's let's hop into your journey, little bit. Andre. Where are you from.

What's the place you call home? Uh? Well, San Diego is my home, but I'm from Allentown, Pennsylvania, a little old town. Uh about an hour fifteen minutes from Philly. So, um, I used to go to a lot of Eagles games. Um, used to go a couple of Steelers games. Again. You know, you guys knew I was a Steelers fan growing up. Um, and are real just a blue collar town? I mean, I know maybe you guys live in blue collar towns. Allentown. You can't get no more blue collar than that. Bethram Steel.

They supplied of the steel in World War Two for for the Uh yeah, Bethram Steel there and they're still doing a lot of stuff, but just hard working people. Man. My mom and dad were just hard working. My mom worked in a factory, my dad was a construction worker. UM, and I learned everything from them about hard work and nothing's gonna be given to you unless you work for it. And I didn't. We didn't have I didn't have a lot. We didn't have a lot. But my dad taught me

those values. And that's what I tried to tell kids nowadays, that you're no matter where you are, what you do, you're gonna have to work for it. You are Hall of Fame career, You're part of a special Bills team and made four consecutive Super Bowls? What was so special about those teams accomplish that? And I I talked to Steve about this a couple of times. You know, people as the years go on, they don't say, well you lost four and they dwell on it. Now they say,

you guys went to four in a row. Maybe ten twelve years ago. I would hear that mostly, well you guys lost four, You did you did this and did that. I was like, well, what were you doing? You were watching me? Uh So I think the main thing that sticks out to me about those teams I was on is the togetherness and and I'm sure Steve can attest to this. Teams nowadays don't have that togetherness there together, but they don't have that's certain. Yeah, they don't have that.

And we had that and we had there's six other Hall of famers from that team and a coach owner and the GM. Regardless if you were to lost six of them. Something was going right up in Buffalo during all those years, and we believed in each other, whether we want or loss. We knew that you were held accountable every time you stepped on the field, and that's that's how you approached it. You did your job, but you were held accountable for everything you did, soond you

walk in that building. I don't think kids really here that they don't have. The kids nowadays don't have the accountability that they used to have. So what do you think is missing to where the teams don't have that level of camaraderie. Social media, that's one of them. In there was hardly computers. You couldn't you couldn't go to anywhere else and get the information. Um and the influence of everything has reshaped everything else. Even it's reshaped sports too.

What do you enjoy about watching with today's wild receivers? Is there anything you wish you could bring from your here to today's or maybe vice versa? What do you enjoy about today's wilde receivers? Didn't catching catching a harder balls? Like they ain't nothing? Now? Uh? That's ah, that's probably the most the thing that I noticed the most tight ends are catching a hundred fifteen balls. I mean targets that I mean, did they have targets when you came

to lead Steve like targets? Did they? Was that actually a statistic? No, it wasn't a stat I mean they would say it was targets, But they didn't like hold They didn't hold your feet to the fire like they do now. Your quarterback was Jim Kelly Andre You just called him the toughest individual you've ever met in your life. Twelve plus eighty three equals six. What was it like? And what did what did he mean to your career?

Hold on? I literally did the maths like you get this double digits in this singles digits like I love how you love integers? Right, He's like, that's not the math they got that new math in school. I gotta seven year old, but it ain't thing. Yeah, let me let me tell you, man, Jim was When I said he was the toughest dude, I definitely was. Was one of the toughest guys I've ever met. And this is not because of what he's been going through the last

sevent eight years of his life. I mean that didn't makes him tougher really, but he just he just had a knack for getting forty four other guys together, and he had a knack for always, you know, doing the right thing, even if it was bad. I mean, he always was one of those upbeat guys and you always knew that when he was in the huddle, that we

can get we can get this thing done. You know, are you getting a huddle sometimes and you're looking you look at the quarterback and you're like, I don't know about this one. You just look at it. Uh, maybe we should just go back to the sideline. I don't know. But he just he just didn't have that his face. He didn't have that in his face, and I think we always had a chance, regardless of what the situation was, and that kind of permeated with everybody um, regardless to

the situation. So that's that's what I mean by being a tough guy and being physically tough. You know, Jim was a big quarterback. I mean, he wasn't gonna run like a lot of these quarterbacks do now, but he just, uh, he knew how to get you up. He knew how to get you ready, how to get you ready for a game. And it was a pleasure to play with a guy like that, because I'd rather play with a guy like that that it doesn't have all the physical tools, but gets the job done with all the other little

things that he got. And you know, we want in a ten year span at that time, we want more games than any team in NFL history and a ten year span, So that that just goes to show you that, you know, he had a command of everything. Um, he knew what the deal was, and he relied on his you know, his playmakers. I mean, I had Thermat Thomas behind me, mean, jeez um, and we had a pretty

good offensive line at that time. I think we led the league in rushing and total offense for three straight years, so we were you're pretty pretty good locomotive going on for a while. So the thing. I'm in the Hall of Fame. There's no doubt about it because of him. I mean, obviously with God, you know, give me the ability, but you know, God had to find somebody who can throw me the ball too, and he was the guy. I've always wanted to ask you this, what made Don

beebe so unique? Mh fastest white boy I ever seen, No doubt about it. Um, I think he just worked within our offense. I mean, you can find any guy that can go straight and fly, but you know, Bebie was that guy that he could take some hits over the middle. He wasn't known for that. He was known to stretch in the field. And um, we had James Lofton on the other side, yep. I mean James Lofton was just the consummate pro learned a lot from him about the game, about about everything, and we just all

jailed together at that time. That's cool. I've always wanted to ask that because a lot of times, always I never connected the dots because man Don used to catch that fire from Ronnie lot every time. Oh yeah yeah, every time they was playing. Ronnie made sure he gave Bibe a tag man even when even when, uh when Ronnie went to the Jets. He had him on the side one time. Man, he tagged me one time, apologize

for it. Really, yeah, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Bro, I'm sorry that a Steve that definitely is not a right lot treat. Apologize. He's like, hey, Dre, you all right to do it. I was like, yeah, I'm trying to get my face back on the sidemnd. I'm alright, thanks for asking. Yeah, I gotta go, I gotta go sit down for a couple of plays. But all right, appreciate you, appreciate your give me some loved do Let's get down to do it. Hey, Gerard, why did you get that

T shirt? You mean this thing? Oh yes, I got it from cut to a podcast dot com where we have exclusive merchandise. Shout out to our guys at seven or four shot. But yeah, you can go on, buy you a T shirt, subscribe to us wherever you listen

to podcasts. This process for the whole time, I've always you know, um Back in February Februar Are two thousand two, I started working with a sports psychologist who worked with golfers mainly, and we start doing the visitization and UM daily weekly, monthly, short term, long term, and then lifetime goals. And one of my lifetime goes I've not marked off yet.

It's Hall of Fame, And um, I've already steered away from it because it's so subjective and it's a and you should and you should That's that's probably the most important thing for you for you now? Is that just God? But but I'm I know I'm doing that, but I also want to. I actually want to enjoy, no matter what the outcome is, the process, because I've steered away from it so much that I've almost set myself up for to believe that I'm not you know, I'm not this,

I'm not that. But more of anything, do your journey. Why was it special to be inducted in the process and the procedure that made it such a special moment for you and your family? That's a great question. I think it's it's been seven years now, and I think every year. Uh. And this is just aside from how they go about doing things, How the Hall of Fame

selectors and all that kind of stuff. Um, how they get to the point where they picked five guys that are the guys that they feel are worthy of induction and a bust and all that kind of stuff. And I always tell people they're like, well, who do you think should be? People ask me who do you think should be the next receiver going in? And I go, well, I can't really tell you the next one, but I can tell you about three or four guys have been waiting a while. They deserve mhm um. And the process.

It took me nine years and I retired number three, five and seven yards touchdown catches of all time and it took me nine years. So to your point, Steve, the first three or four years I was eligible, you know, you're just like, Okay, do you think of it? Yeah, this is my year no matter what my stats say this, then I'm a team this that. But it took me four years to figure out how they go about doing it. And I had to respect that whether the outcome was yes,

this is your year or it's not your year. You stepped out on the field, somebody had to somebody had to take somebody had to find you because you srupt and you you change games. That's what a Hall of Famer to me is, and you're in that category. You uh Tory halt all the receivers that are up now are just like when me Chris Tim Brown. You know, Jerry was in his own category, but me, Chris and Tim Brown for five years took votes from each other for five years. I go in Tim, I mean Chris

goes in thirteen, I go into fourteen. Tim Brown goes in fifteen. So that that that's the process that I that I'm trying to get at, is that they do this regardless of who's saying something for you or not. When all forty four of those guys get in the room, they're influenced by each other, regardless if that's the guy

I'm talking about or not. So the guy that's gonna be representing you not only has to convince the forty four other guys, he really has to convince himself that that's I'm in here because this is my guy, and everybody, every one of those guys, that's my guy I have. I'm on his behalf to make sure you guys go. Guys know why he should have a bronze bus that the last sixty tho years, no doubt about it. Everybody who's on the ballot, they don't put you on a

ballot if they don't think you're worthy of it. I don't care how many years you played and whatever. If you're not on it. If you're on the ballot, you're worth you should be a Hall of Famer. That's just my that's why we don't have votes. Mm hmmm. They sent me a ballot every year, who do you think? And I checked people off or whatever. That's not going to them writers, it's it's not gonna influence what they feel and how they go about presenting no matter what.

So right now, this is your first year eligibility, right, yeah, okay, so let me tell you just what you have. You got the holdovers. So you got Tori Hines, Ward, Uh, Reggie Wayne. These guys have been in it for a while, they've been in the finals for a while, and it's kind of like it's the same process that me, Tim and Chris Carter went through. So sooner or later, they're gonna have to start breaking these get breaking everybody up.

They're gonna have to start breaking everybody up. And then once one goes and boom boom, boom, boom boom, domino effect almost would be a domino effect. So and then I always look at it, you look at errors, right, you look at errors. When they get in that room, they're gonna look at what are they played in? What type of game wasn't in that error? And that's maybe maybe one guy thinks of it that way and maybe three other just think of it a different way. Whatever

it is. But they put all you guys, they're gonna put all you in a category, and they're gonna look at the error, and they're gonna look at numbers, are gonna look at play all. They're gonna look at all that stuff. But it's the one guy that says something that the other four guys or other five guys how many it is, doesn't say. So whoever is gonna be presenting you to the voters and the writers, he's got to be on his game and he's got to say

something about you that none of these other three guys got. Mhm. That's gonna be the difference you're gonna get in. But what can he say about you? The same guy said something about me nine years and rupt did you say the same thing every time? I mean, let's reshuffle to deck, bro, you know, I mean, like, did you say something year four that you didn't say? Oh, you're six or what what how did you go about doing that? The same movie script in every uh we saw this movie. I started, Hey,

I started writing stuff down, said he thank you. You start, you start, you started meeting? Hey, what we got this week? What we got this ship? No? No, no, no wait wait wait Andrew, you had to google your own state, You had to google your own stats? No no, So I think you know the it's such a it's it's a dumb it's a dumb excuse my my friends as the dumb ass process. It is because if you were an impactful player and you showed up every game and

you played, there should be no question. But that's not how they work. They don't work like that. In that room on Saturday morning, the day before Super Bowl. They don't work like that. I think it's gonna be you're you're you're gonna be going against those guys. That's the bottom line. When when you got that jacket to make it all worthwhile, then no doubt about it. Man. I wouldn't say it changed my life. It just it just put a stamp. It put the stamp of approve on

what I did. Everybody else can think this and think that whatever they wanted but this jacket means that you were great at something that a lot of people weren't a lot of people weren't great at m That's what it means. And it just ain't any old jacket. You ain't gonna go down here to north Room to get one of the facts, that's for sure. So once that

happens for you, will you be different, of course. But all the people around you, family friends, somebody had said something to you when you were in high school, somebody said something to you, and Pop Warner or whatever. That's that's the things you think about. That all flashed before my eyes the minute I got that call, m H. And it's it's a feeling that that I'll never ever

be able to describe for you. I mean, like really describe it, because at that moment, man, I just had like an out of body experience and it was and I mean I thought about a lot of people, thought about my dad because my my dad wasn't there. He wasn't there in triment that he wasn't there to see it. So those are the emotions you get. And I'm in aquarious. I'm a very emotional person anyway, So it um it really put in perspective, not only you as a player,

for you as a person. M you as a person. Man, that's the most important thing is what's in here. They can take a lot of things from me. They can't take that. That's hard to get from somebody, especially if they don't want to give it to you. It's hard to get M. So it's it's a and I sometimes when I'm alone, I think about it and believe it or not, just it tears me up because it is

there's something you dream about. You know, you're getting the they have the gold jacket lunch and and you're in a you're at the hall, You're in this room and there's no media. Nobody's allowed in this room. Not either. If a fly got in the room, they're kicking his ass out. And it's a room with the greatest players ever, a hundred of us in that room. And we just talked. And it's a it's beyond any fraternity you can imagine being in. So you you're I'm looking forward to you

being a part of our fraternity. Brother. Sure, Hey, you just sucked me up, man, picture didn't I felt like I was there it boys over here talking about right. I just put a glass on the on the door right there, and I just wanna listen. Yep, it's uh. I mean when you listen to Jim Brown talk, mhm, you can't help but listen to that man, and it's uh, it's a heck of an experience. Man, You'll never forget it the rest of your life. Next to your kids being born. It's a close second. Mhm. Did you guys

get that? It's a close second. Y I go, man, Andre appreciate you sharing that. I mean, that was that was a picture that I don't know that anyone else could paint, probably, but you to be able to elaborate on that, and I know I speak for Smithie. Um, that was really really cool. That was really cool. Yeah, I I appreciate you guys having me on I respect. Uh. You know Steve so much as a player as a person. Every time I see him, we always laugh about things.

I'm sure next time I see him gonna laugh about a few things. But he is a not only the consummate pro he was, but every time he stepped out on the field, you're you're gonna get your best from from eighty nine and he he showed that every single Sunday. Um he was a credit to the game, um, a credit to himself, his family, and again I can't wait for him to be like that. So they took an old picture and did that. I'm not trying to be funny,

but I'm just asking pretty. It's pretty, it's pretty good. Actually, this is the one you get. It's made a resin, so this will last forty thousand years, and the one in Canton is bronze, so it's like six eight thousand h So, you know, if you don't mind me ask you, where do you put that? Like? I mean, I know for the show you got it right there, but yeah,

putting I have downstairs. I put it on that just a mantle by itself, you know, not not calling you out, but you ever kind of walked down the hall and you know you're having a peek atam or no, not peek at them, but's like you you forgetty there and you know you think so you think it's a true like hey, hey, hey, oh no, that's just me, that's just me. Hey. You walk down the hall look at it and you go, who is that? You have to go back and you have to go back and look

again and make sure. But it's it's it's coming, brother, I mean my you know, guys like John Randall and and guys that already been in the hall three or four years before I was there. I just have to have patience. You know. Patience is a virtue. It's really hard. But Dad taught me that it's hard to have patience, especially in this world, to be a patient person, because everybody wants it right now, give that now, now, now, now. Now. Patience is a virtue, man, and when that patient that

pays off, it was all worth it. It's all worth it. You are a unique person. You are well worth it, you are competent, and most of all, your lovable. I'm Steve Smith Singer, I'm Gerald Little John and this is cut to It. Cut to It with Steve Smith Singior. That Is Me is a production of Cut to It LLC, Balto Creative Media, The Black Effect, and I Heart Radio. For more podcast from I Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to

your favorite shows from Cut to It. Executive producer Steve Smith, Singor co host Gerard Little John, talent and booking manager Joe Fusci, Social media team Wesley Robinson, and john Show from Balto Creative Media cut to It is produced by Brian Baltaschevic and Meredith Carter, with production assistance by Alex Lebrec Production Coordinator Taylor Robinson. Theme music by Alex Johnson, lyrics and vocals by Anthony Hamilton. You ain't heard about it, then we're about to let you know. It's all