Eddie Jackson

about to let you know. It's all a backstage. Hey, if anybody listens to this podcast, all of our listeners and you know, we all know about our quotes, and you know, Steve's always got a book, and we're always hearing things, and you know, very many of them are very profound and our guests and joyous. I said many. I gave you the upside. I just think you just get through. We just we just get to say how

we're feeling. And that's what what we love about this show is we get to hear things and see things, and we're share them with guests and sometime with each other. But um, you know, I was listening to some guys talk on on on a certain certain station, and um, one of the gentlemen that was talking said something to me that resonated with me, and I thought that I would ask you guys, even one of you've heard this before, ask you, guys, when I say this, where does it

take your mind? At? What's it makes you think? Because in my opinion, it can relate to business, parenting, um, relationships, sports, And it's really really simple quote and I'm gonna say it to you and when y'all jump in first. We can be demanding without being demeaning. What what? I saw your eyes go up to you when I said that? What? What? What hits you when you hear those words demanding without being demeaning? I mean, just just just initially walking through it.

It Basically you can still respect the person on the other end while still getting the results you possibly want. So I think that, you know, a lot of times there's always a a zero some type of mentality, especially now. Another reason why I've why I've taken a break from social media, UM, because there's always a this or that, there's a one side this side of your this, or you're that you know whatever, red blue liver is always that. So we're in this world where it's it's one of

the other. So sometimes we think that you can be um demanding and demeaning, you can be both and still get the result that you want. So it's one of those things. I just hear that and saying, yeah, you can two things can co exist at the same time. You know, that's a great answer. I'm sitting here like to challenge you with saying, and we're all, we're all we've all played some level of sports, some of us

longer than others, and a professional league than others. But you know, we've all done some kind of sports here. But when you think back, um, two coaches we've had, or you know, you know, I know tonight you're going to pick up your daughter from from a swim meet.

You know, how do you get the most out of someone, whether it be your daughter, whether it be a coworker, whether it be a teammate, Because a lot of times how we go at him is man, you were sorry last play, or hey me, you know that butterfly stroke was terrible. You're know how to get better? Isn't that? But some people? But it it depends on individual too, because that's why I said it's not zero some because some people respond to that, right, So, whether you're being

coached away or some people respond to it. But I'm just saying overall those two things can exist as long as it's delivered in the right tone my hearing you say that, or depending on the individual, depending on your age, m where you were, where you are raised geographically, and then how you were raised in that community, what the

true expectations were in your household. That sometimes just demanding something from someone can depend on their temperament, can be just as or more severe and come across to those individuals as demeaning mhm. And you can demean someone that maybe from that that's from an area where what you know, there are duck water goes off their back no matter what. That you can demand and demean and they're unshaken. So

it really just depends on their temperament. You know what I really believe, and I've said it before, you have we have to be extremely careful that we don't allow people's behavior to be witnessed or watched so critically that that results into leaving those individuals feeling devalued. It's okay to be the ending, right like if we got a deadline, So no, I mean, I mean, at some point in time, you you gotta meet a result, right like you gotta

we gotta cross the finish line. We gotta deliver this deliverable like whatever it is, so you can be demanding. I just think in the quote that Joe saying, you also don't necessarily have to be demeaning in the context of whatever relationship. Yeah, I'm not saying to me Bill Belichick just made but Bill Belichick maybe the meaning to someone that they're going to get the result of possibly winning a championship. I'm just saying that. I just think

where we are today. I think where we are today, there are some people being demanding, and I think people hide under the the notion of relationship. I think sometimes people because I'm you know, I'm I'm around my kids, Like you have two kids that was that are younger than mine, so you're interacting with them differently contexts different

context is different. But I got a twenty four year old tune to be one year old in a sixteen year old who's gonna be seventeen this year, And there are sometimes I'm literally scratching my head, going, man, this is like when I was seventeen, you couldn't do that, Right when I was twenty four, you couldn't like you cannot do and I'm not saying my kids are, but

I'm just saying other kids are. Subpar work. Yeah, subpar work was not always accepted, but now, well I gave it a try, so wouldn't you should be It was like agree participation ribbons, yes, right, and it's like it's okay to be demanding like And that's that's where I was going with this. I mean, because we all got all lathered up about this, because we all have so

many different experiences with that. Because I think if we all go back to our younger adulthood, in our childhood mostly has been demanded, mostly all of our coaches probably leaning towards the demeaning hall. Don't get me started on with right coaches. I mean, what did you call you? I can't, I don't want. We're gonna need to gotta ready for we gotta, we gotta eat, we gotta explicit right that bad Yeah? Yeah, like coaches trying to get him up out of there like some more did you

wasn't when you were playing basketball or football? Football? Because I see a basketball game, I'll cut you out too if I did. He say, you say, gosh, dang it, Gerard, like you to be okay on this play. If it was a basketball coach, I could understand. Was at the house one time. He hadn't played like two years. Tom touchball like two years. It looked like and yeah, that was likely. I'm not gonna lie. I looked at him, and once I warmed up, I was straight. But Horse,

that first shot it was bad. I can admit that. He said, black folks back. He said us back literally does the ball in two years. Here's the last question I had for that, though, Were you demanding or demeaning? I laughed, my damn. So he looked. I said I had, I had. I had a card. As soon as I played that card and touched basketball two years. He shot at new He shot the ball. It was a straight air ball, but it wasn't the white it was. It was so it was so bad. I was like, you said, so,

I can't remember what it was. I was shocked, though. I had a rebotal, quick relaxed, and weas were playing Horse. We were just like Horse. We were shooting like we were shooting, and we shot on the court. And I looked at I was like, it was bad. I'll take that. I'll take that. I just like, oh, my gosh, is she a brother man, want to welcome to cut to a podcast. The Jackson, a chef for Rising Star for the Food Network, also played a former NFL player. Right

attended the University of Arkansas. I think they got a football team some days, some years. I'm not sure. So we're gonna get into that right Actually, yeah, we're gonna get But we appreciate Eddie Jackson coming on the cut to a podcast. I like to switch up so so so Steve, you know where I'm at right now, you and you talk, Be careful, be careful, I get some tongue is come over there and run up in your hotel and the boys way outside your way class. Oh yeah,

they don't play around. Now, they don't play around. So is it? It's snowing out there right now? Now? I actually know what, man. It is beautiful right now. It's sunny, clear, snow capped mountains probably about thirty five degrees thirty degrees. Yeah, that's some good, that's what. Still that's still are too cold for me though I'm from Texas. It's cold, but yeah, it's good skiingamen. Man. We gonna get some ice breakers right now. So if you can have the answer to

any question. What would that question be? What came first? The chicken out the egg? What's your thesis on it? The egg? What? I don't know it just who laid it? Somebody? Things that make you go. I like that. That was very good man. Being a chef. What's your cheat day food? For me? Cheap day food for me is barbecue. I'm from Texas, so you know, I'm known as the barbecue but I do a little at everything. I'm a kind of a global chef. Take a little bit of this,

a little bit that from my travels. But for me, it's been in Texas. Man. When I want to cheat, I'm going give me some barbecue, some briskets, some ribs, some macaroni throwing down. Man, let's get right into it. Man. Where are you? You know, where are you from? In the place you call your hometown. So I was born in a small town in Georgia called Americus, Georgia, which is about two and a half hour south of Atlanta, But I grew up in Texas. I moved to Dallas

when I was about ten years old. So I grew up. I considered myself a Texas boy. Uh you know everything that I love school and you know, really homed in on my cooking and all that stuff kind of started in Texas. So I raised in Dallas and now I live in Houston. I've been in Houston by eight nine years now, So Texas is it for me? All right? So how would you describe you up bringing? Uh? For me? So, but I grew up in a in a household full of when I was younger, you know, I was about

you know, from one to ten. I was raised by my mom, right my dad was in the military and so I didn't I didn't really meet my dad until I was probably about eight or in between eight and ten. So you know, my mom had me at a really young age, so, you know, raised by a single, single parent. But the good thing about that was that I was in a small town back in Georgia. So this is where my grandmother's were, my uncle's, my uncle's, my cousin. So you know that old saying where it takes a community,

you know, village to to to raise the child. So that's really what it was, you know what I mean. So I was always with my grandmother's. I was always over to my aunt's house because my mother was really young and she was still trying to. She was basically still in school. My mom had me and she was sixteen, so she was still in school when I was one and two years old. And the time that I was

in was rough. You know what I mean. It ain't nothing to do there, you know, it ain't nothing to do that but get in trouble and so what again, engagement, That's what I was doing. I was getting in trouble left and right. Uh, you know to the point where my mom was like, man, care, Uh, you need to go be with your dad. You did, you need to

get some get right. So that's what happened. Um. You know when when moved with my dad after he got out the military, and I moved with my dad to Dallas, and uh, man, that's the best decision that my mom could have made. And that's the best thing that could have happened in my life because I tried my stuff that I was doing my mom. That first day I got the Dallas, I never forget I tried that with my dad. He punched me, squared my chest. He said that that meant that she was doing back home and

it ain't gonna cut it here. They ain't gonna fly here and that's the last time that my dad, you know, had to get on me. My dad big dude six six to you know to sixty military, you know, hardcore guy. So so you said he punched you, but what he did is he socked you. Yeah, he socked me. Put them on you. Yeah, that's the one with the tears. Don't actually come out for about three minutes. The first two millions and you can't. Oh no, Now, my dad was man, you know, what to think about it, and

then my dad was military. My dad was an amazing athlete as well. He was a McDonald All American. But you know, that's the thing, so to think about it was in the country, the mentality was different. So, you know, my dad had a child and he was, you know, a senior in high school. He had scholarship offering. He was a McDonald All American, you know, so he had scholarship offers from everywhere. But my grandfather was you know,

I didn't understand that education was so important. He made him go into the military so he'd be able to provide for you know, my dad took care of me even though he wasn't around. He would always send money and you know, I would talk to him all the time. I just didn't see him because you know, you know, he was all over the country, all over the world. Back then, technology was nothing compared to what it is today. Oh no, not at all. Man. I was born in

nineteen eighties, so you're talking seventy nine, seventy eight. Seventy nine is one. You know, my mom was pregnant, so my dad was my grandfather was like, you need to go to the minature. You need to start pro biding for this this child, not thinking, you know, going into college and getting an education. Who knows what could have happened. So now were your only child, You've got any siblings? No, I have siblings, but you know, from my my mom

and my dad, I'm the only one. My dad ended up ended up remarrying and having I got two brothers and a sister and from my dad's marriage, and my mom remarried and she has two daughters. But I'm the older. So you know, we haven't seen each other physically, right, even on zoom since pretty much when we you know

that one or two years that we played together. Yeah, and then now seeing you and and and admiring your career on on on television, it makes me go backwards right in my mind going, I never held a conversation Togo, do you like cooking? Right? And so you know it's it's one of those I just as being a former teammate or man. Take me down the journey of Eddie Jackson. How did you get how did you get here? Today? From your perspective, not the highlights of what you think

everybody else you think that everybody wants to hear. I want to hear your story. We want to hear your story of how you got there because playing in the NFL to cooking, Yeah, and a pretty damn good cook and TV present, pretty personality on Food Network. Yeah, the personality all that stuff. Now, I did hear that you scared of Bobby Flame, but we'll get into that little

bit later. Yeah, I heard what you'd be like, Hey, you know the food talking now talking talking, Bobby said, you don't want know smoke, no smoke, beat he said, He saide, listen, he said, he said, And I slap barbecue. So look real talk though. So the thing was is that so like I told you, I grew up in in in Georgia and ironically, both of my grandmothers on either side so my mom my mom's mom wasn't chef, and my dad's mom wasn't chef. Okay, you got You

can't just say grandma like we are you black? You better tell your grandma's name. You gotta tell identified which one because you know, you know, if it's who ever listening, say well, which grandma was you talking about? Because I actually have two grandmas that are both named Betty. Really, yeah, you gotta distinguish which one you're talking about. So I'm gonna tell you right now. These names I'm about to say is the most interesting in red Mon days. I'm

from North Carolina. You ain't said nothing slip to Knda. You're talking my dad's ball, my dad's ball, any Ruth Jackson? Ain't that bad? You kidding me? And then my mom mother, she's still alive. My dad's my dad's grandma, route Grandma Ruth. She passed away when I was a teenager. But Geraldine, Geraldine sounds like she was Naomi Gerdine sounds like she'll pop you. Oh man. She popped me with a with a pie roller one time. Oh snap, I got some weight behind it, made the thing in it popped it.

It rolls that gets that didn't pop. You don't get popped by power roller. You got hit with a power roller. You know, get switch, you don't get you get hit with a power roller. Oh yeah, oh yeah, that's that's one. That's one of those. You get to hit whatever they got handy. And that's what she had. The old school names like because you don't see you. People don't have those,

like you don't see someone named like Pernil anymore. No, but Pernell or Geraldine, like Geraldine looked, Geraldine sound like a grandma and she and based off her history, Try Geraldine if you want to. She whooped your ass so quick. You know she's gonna smell like being gay before you to meet. Yeah you know, yeah, you already know. But no. So my grandfather chefs. So I grew up in that household. I grew up. I grew up at a young age around food. Um, Like on both sides. Whenever I would

go to my mom's house, it was always sent around food. Um. You know, for any type of celebration, weddings, funerals, graduation, it was always the biggest traffic ganza around food because you know, the head of the household, my grandmother's they were chefs, like really good chefs. And so the first thing that I learned how to do was really cooked.

Before I even started into sports. I would, uh, I would cook with my grandmother, Geraldine, and she taught me how to make biscuits when I was five years old, like scratch made biscuits and make pies and stuff like that. Would make pies and Scratch made piecrusting, Scratch made cakes. So I was doing this when I was five and six years old. I didn't really get into sports until I really moved with my dad. So before I even got into sports, food was like my thing. I just

love food. And my grant, my dad's mother, Andy Ruth, she was actually a private chef for President Jimmy Carter. Jimmy Carter is from the small time that I'm from, Plains, Georgia, which is right next to America's that's where he's from. That's where he still lives today, and so she was his private chef for a while. So that's what that's what I was around, man, you know, for the first ten years of my life was food, food, food, food, food, And I always heard about my dad being this great athlete.

They like, man, you you know, they would see me running like, oh man, you got your dad in you. And I never knew. It wasn't any sports around. There wasn't no little league, It wasn't. It was a small country. Know, we were raised. We were raised on the dirt road. That was about it. Man. So when I moved my dad, when I really got into sports. But my dad wasn't. My dad is an amazing cook as well. He learned from his mother. So that was really what we would do. Man.

He got me in the football, got me in the basketball, got me in the track. Um. But we would always cook, always cook. Every Saturday, we would cook, you know, whether we were watching football, watching basketball. It was always sitting around cooking. That's all I ever did. All I ever did. And so when I got the arket, so I got a scholarships, arkis on I was. I was always cooked. I was a guy that was always cooking. So everybody would come to my house because they knew, you know

how it is when you're in college. You know, you even wroma new thles. But I was over there cooking home cooked meals. So you know, it was always packed. And my dad was like, looking, man, you sitting here cooking all this food. But these guys, you need to start selling plates. So I started selling five dollar plates to all my teammates and little to goat boxes. They were put in their orders at the beginning of the week, meat low fried, chicken, bake, spaghetti, I mean barbecue, and

I would. I had a whole setup man at grills, I had friars, and I was selling to my teammates. I'm trying to figure out how you got groceries. So now that explains you. Was he was hustling, trapping, trapping pace o the bend though. I would take that pair. I would take that pail, grint man and flip it about three or four times, making meat loaf. This dude was trapping meat loaf. Yeah, man, I was. I was

trapping meat loaf the window. 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 that's at? Cut to It on Instagram? What about Twitter? At cut to It? Facebook? Cut to It featuring Steve Smith singr. 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. Uh, yeah, I got all my questions answered. That's what I'm here for. A brother cut to a podcast dot com. What was your college experience? You know, based on the passion, based on understanding what you had to you know, endure, based on what coming out of this small town to play sports man, you go to Arkansas,

what's your expectations? So yeah, you know when I, like I told you, when I moved to Dallas is when I really got into sports and I really, uh really evolved as an athlete, you know when I moved to Texas. So coming out of high school, I was, I was. I was better at track than I was in football. I was a number one hurdling in the country, number one long jumper in the country, and I was number

five running back in the state of Texas. So I had offered to any school I wanted to go to, but Arkansas was the only school that would let me run track and play football. Uh. And so when I went to school that when I went to my visit there,

like I fell in love with it. At the time, they had one thirty two consecutive national Championships and track, and they had just come off of being Tennessee and well they should have went to the national championship, but Clint Sterner dropped the ball in Tennessee, recovered and end up going to the national championship instead of y'all. Y'all remember that play. So they were they were really good at both sports. So that's why I went, and man, I fell in love with the school. Um while I

was there. That the bond that I had with all of my teammates, it's still today my best friends today. All the guys that I went to school with. My guard daughters are you know, my my my best friend from college. Uh you know what I mean. My my my son's godfather is my best friend from college. So just that bond. Being in a small town, a real tight knit community. You know, the guys that we played with, we all hung out together every single day. It wasn't

a big city. So we created this unique bond while we were there, and it was beautiful. Man, I couldn't have planned it out any better. Man, it's so so many connections that I got from the University of Arkansas. You go undrafted, you didn't get drafted, you come you come to the Carolina Panthers. Yeah, what was that experience experience like for you? Well, it was funny because for me in college, I mean, I started my entire career in college and I was actually projected a third round pick.

My last year in college, I got rid of with injury. At the injury uh pull hamstrings. Uh. I had a messed up my ankle, a fraction of boning my ankle, and so even after coming out with all that stuff, I was still kind of a third or fourth round pick. But you know how it is, Steve, for some reason, I dropped it became a free agent, um, and I would never forget this conversation I had my dad. He was like, look, you know, you've had to work for everything that you you know, you've ever gotten, so this

isn't no different, you know. So when I went to Carolina and they had just brought in Chris Gamble, which was the first round pick, the first round pick, and I don't know if you remember, you know, we used to keep stats. So that first camp, like I laid all the dvs and all the stats, and that was what I was trying to do. And that's the only reason that I made the team. Yeah, I remember that year was actually I was coming off a huge injury. Was coming off of injury. Yeah, so I I had

to work. I had to work really really hard because I had to see. That's when I broke my ankle. So I had to kind of come out there and they were, you know, they were asking me to test Gamble as well, to see if he was that guy you're talking about, the guy that didn't talk. I didn't talk. I never mede nobody till this day. Like that man. Gam would not say a word, really, bro No, that was his mentality. Great dude, man just didn't He wasn't a talker. Even if he made a play, you would

see him get excited, but it wouldn't talk. Yeah, I wouldn't talk. Wouldn't talk. That was wrong with it, brother, slow. But I do remember, I do remember Eddie. Eddie was uh nothing he was he told that talk. Oh no, man, it was it was. I mean, I just was a hard one. I was. He was a hard work still a hard one. He was a hard worker. It didn't sound like it's a it's a past tense verb. It sounds like you still are a hard work. No, he's very much hard worker. But yeah, so Eddie, what's your

what's your what's your memories? Steve well already looked already had got the four one one on Steve because a friend of mine's uh Dante, you know Dante from Arkansas Wesley don't take Western with the Arkans are bluff pretty pretty pretty. He was with the razor Backs and then they transferred. So when I got there, he kind of took me on his wing and he was like, look at man. He was like, I'm telling you right now. He was like, okay, Moose gave me to run down

about Moose. And then he was like, but Steve, he was like, looking, man, whatever you do, Like, don't talk no, Mr Steve, because Steve don't play. Like when he gets bad, he's gonna take over. So I was like, I was like, I don't care about that, man, But I'm Eddie Jackson. I'm Eddie Jackson Jackson. She's talking about somebody I better pay you. How did that work out? Uh? How didn't work out well? When you finally game back? I'll never forget this one time man. We was we was in

practice and uh, I'm Eddie Jackson. What you heard a little like little like skin. Don't might care about a little curly man. You had called the ball on me one day, and you had called the ball on me one time and practice in the end zone and I could jump, you know, I I long jump ten and they and Jake had threw the ball all up and I went up for and man, I never forget. It was like a blur like just came out of nowhere

and was like a half a foot over me. And I was like, how the hell this little light still due? Mostly just mostly And then he was talking smack too. He was talking smack. I was like, okay, all right, all right, But now that was the first, the first real experience, because when I first got there, he was hurt. He was still kind of rehabbing and doing this thing. But this wasn't till I think you, I think you came back. You was out the first six weeks, I

think it was or something like that. Now I have been out in training, um yeah, training camp. They kind of let me rest because I you know, I still had that as scar tissue issues that I was still getting through. And I actually because you was rehapping with Drew Carter. Drew Carter had came in y'all was doing y'r stuff together. Man, So you go on the NFL. You played, You played for the Carolina Panthers, played for the Dolphins. Yeah, Patriots, red Skins. Watch the football team,

watching to football team. They might they might be the something else Wolverines or red red Wolves, whatever or don't don't give, don't don't give, don't give off their surprise names. What was your mentality from what you've experienced not being drafted, Yeah, having a really good camp and yet hanging on by a string, seeing the hypocrisy, oh the National Football League? Yeah, what were you thinking at that moment? So for me, man,

and I think everything is a blessing. So after I left Carolina that second year, I got released right after that last game that you know what it is, they's like fourth preseason game and that's when they do the last cut, and it was it was more of like a Rosster move, like you know, that's the year we had a bunch of linemen that went down. So yeah, that was that year. So they had to bring in a bunch of linemen and like I was on the Cup, they had like you know, Ken Lucas and then Gamble.

We had like some other veterans DBS, Dante Wesley, uh and so like they released me, I was, I was, I was the youngest guy, was the you know, the last guy that you know. So I got cut and so I went to went down with the Dolphins and played a couple of years. But it was the same thing. I was behind all these veterans, uh that was that was down there, um And so I was still playing

a lot to us when Nick Saban was there. So Nick brought me down there because he knew me from Arkansas and he was at LSU, so he probably down there. And I played a lot there and I learned a lot there from Nick Saban and all those, um, those veterans that was there. But my second year there and it felt like I was always playing catch up because then that free agent you know what I mean, always you have no leadway. So I was always playing catch up. And then my second year there is when I blew

my knee out. My second year and that was my contract year because I signed a two year deal. And that second year there with Miami was my best year that I that I had, uh, you know, in my three years I was in league. So it was the best year, best year I had by far. And and that's when Nick Saban decided to just walk out and leave and went to Alabama, you know what I mean. So we had a new coach come in and he didn't know me from painting. I had proved myself to Nick,

but he didn't know me. All he knew was I was a free agent, you know what I mean. And so I here I am with the town a c L N t L going in the off season. I'm like, well, here we go. And luckily, uh, Nick Saban put in the call of Bill Belichick, and Bill Belichick picked me up. While I mean while right before I had my surgery. He called it like, we don't care about the surgery. We just want you to do your rehab up here

and will sign him. So I mean that just you know, goes to say, you know, if you work hard and people see that, you still get opportunities. You know. So that's how it went from me. But after that knee injury, man, Steve, you know, I just wasn't the same man. I was a speed guy, athlete, type of guy, jump guy, um, and just after that injury, man, I just wasn't the same. It wasn't the same, So it was hard to kind of come back off of that. What was your psyche

after your stent with with all of those teams? What what was your psyche when it was towards the end. Always been a business type of guy. Always, you know, my entire family come. I come from a family and entrepreneurs, whether it be my grandfather, you know RZL how country is Their name is l Jackson. I've always been business minded, So I kind of looked at I always looked at

the NFL as as as a business um. And so I knew that, you know, being and I'm a free agent, got this injury, and back then, the technology ain't the same as it is now. Back then, no you know guys coming back in four or five six months. Back then, you know it was gonna take you a year to come back to take it. I don't care what the technology stays for a guy to feel yeah, you know

what I mean. So, if you already a free agent and you got an injury like that, like you know, chances of slim you're gonna be able to have a fruit for a long career unless something drastic happens where a bunch of guys go down and you get thrust into it and you do really well. So I started putting the plan together in my head. You know, I was like, look here, I'm gonna wait till I get vested,

you know what I mean. So I have that in my back, and then what I want to do is to start trying to transition myself into a career after football. So I waited and waited. You know, I went through the Patriots, and it got hurt when I was at the Patriots, after I got off, after I came back from my knee surgery, came back from knee surgery. That first game, we're playing the Coats, and I actually started that game. I actually started that game. Broke my wrists

the first game. I was like, you gotta be kidding. I was like, you know what, that's it. That's a sign. That's a sign. So I finished that season out. I had my four seasons. I'll leave my belt. And then that's when I really started looking and trying to transition out of football. Now, did you always know you were

gonna sponge your way back to get into the food industry. Yeah, So, I mean I got my degree in business, so I really knew that I wanted to do something in business, and I just didn't know that I could be make a fruital career out of food, you know what I mean. So once I officially retired, I went to the Red Skin, but I didn't really play. It was the passion was gone.

I had all these injuries. So I called my dad, you know, my dad's an og and I was like, look here, man, I was like, this football thing, I feel like, right now, I'm just chasing it. You know, I still love the game, but I'm chasing it. And if you're chasing it, it's kind of taking passion out of it. It's tough. Football is already tough enough mentally and physically, and then you add trying to put the circle,

yeah through the square peg. You know, depending on how big or how small the circle is and how big the square peg is, it can fit for a little bit, but eventually it just you know, it'll have homes. It just won't. It won't fit perfectly. So with that, I mean, you got business degree, whoop do you do right? And I do nothing right? Well, yeah, whoop do you do? You got to degree? You've played football for the last five or six years or you know, got no experience, nothing,

no experience. You talk to your dad, Yeah, what were those quiet moments like for you? Right in that and you hit it? Man, you hit it. You know, I'm telling my dad. You know, me and my dad. My dad's my best friend. So that's that's that's exact conversation that we had. You just had to bring that back up. You saw a grandmother. He was like, I don't look you have come into the sun. But no man, So uh, you know, me and my dad, we we talked about everything, man,

And so I asked him. I was like, look, I got this degree, but like, what am I gonna do with it? I was for the last basically call it five years. All I did was played football in the off season. I didn't do any you know, like now they have these programs you can do. Now you have to do it yourself, you know what you can do all these internal programs and all this stuff to try to find what you're into. So that's all I ever did. So I had nothing on my resume, you know. So

he's like, what did you love to do? And I was like food. He was like, that's what you need to do. You need to figure out a way to make both of them work. And so for the longer. It took me a year after I retired. It took me a year to to to be able to to to figure out what how I could pull that off. And like that first year, it was a struggle. Man, I was like, what in the hell and my doing?

Had no idea what I was doing. I was still cooking and like I was happy, but I wasn't making any money, wasn't making a wasn't making a drop, spending money, spending just spending money. But now that I look back on it, I don't think I was. I was spending money. But what I was doing because I didn't go to culinary school, when I tell you I would cook every day,

I didn't go to colinary school. But what I was doing was was teaching myself, you know what I mean, like teaching myself every day and I would try to do, you know, learn something new every day or cook something new every day. And that's what I did for a

full year. And then it was like a light. But I had ran into uh to Barus Tillman member Tavarius Hillman, Yes, and I ran into him and he was like you know, he was still playing for the Dolphins at the time, and he was like, oh, man, I'm having my baby shower. He's like, what you up to now? And I was like, oh, maybe I'm just trying to do this cooking thing. And I was like, well, look who who's cooking at the baby showing. He was like, oh with my wife at

the time. His wife was puff Daddy's uh uh stylus and she's like, oh, you know, she got some connect this. And I was like, man, look here, bro, let me do it for free. Just let me do it for free. He was like all right. So I was like, come to the house for free. Yeah. He said, if it's bad, it was for free. If it's good, if it's good, yeah, free right. Yeah, that's how it jumped off. And so I did that baby shower, and you know, they had everybody from former teammates that I hadn't seen in a

couple of years, you know, a few celebrities. O J. Simpson was there. I'm not even gonna go there. He walked and I was like, I thought him, look, you grabbed the chest again. I don't want to. Hey, this is two stories. This is true story. Uh. O J. Had walked up to the buffet table and his phone, really it was his phone. It was it was Snoop Dogg. Wait, wait wait, can we recap that? I just need to

take it back, was Jinny Juice always gets better. Let me tell you when you think, let me tell you some about old j I don't know none about old Jan. I can tell you this. The stories that come out on Jay, you cannot live. You can't even lie to make them back. He put them on Twitter. What are you talking about? Brow thousand nine? This was two thousand nine or ten, two thousand, two thousand and eight or two thousand nine. His ring tone was jin and Juice.

And he looked at me like as she said, excuse me, what hey, hey hey, little cater and p I have somebody extremely more important to talk to. It didn't ring on the course didn't rings rolling down, and then he excuse, excuse me, young man. Back he answered, he was like, hey, wait a yeah, excuse me you, young fella, because that's how the ogs always if young fella all the time. Young fellow. You don't know, that's my point, yeah, but

that's how that's how it jumped off man. And that was like that was how it jumped off for me to I could be able to kind of make some money, like you know, friends that were there and they started reaching out for different events and stuff like that. And that's how my catering company jumped off from that with their Miami Cut Cut, let's getting down to do. 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 by you t shirts subscribed to us whereever you listen to podcasts. So you started catering. I started catering company. I kind of wanted to open up a restaurant, but you know, people in my family had opened up restaurants, and like restaurants, they take a lot

out of you. Man. I wasn't trying to work seventy and eighty hours a week, so I was like, you know what, I'm gonna do a food truck because in Texas, you know, food trucks. Back then, food trucks were like the hot thing. But I was in Miami, so I bought a food truck. Was called the Caribbean grill. One of the first cuisines that I kind of mastered was

like Caribbean cuisine specifically, like Jamaican cuisine. And so I was doing like, uh like jerk chicken and you know, all these different, you know, crazy recipes that I would incorporate uh kind of these Caribbean flavors into. But it was like nobody was filling it down there in Miami. You know, Miami is like Vegas but with a beach, you know what I mean. So I was like, you know what, man, I gotta I gotta find my way

back to Texas. So I kind of had this plan, like a like a kind of like a two year plan to kind of work my way back to Texas. So that's what I did then for a year. And then what happened was so I had I would always have all this food left over from cater events or like you know, whether I went out on the weekend with the truck and like, you know, I didn't sell. So I had all this food left over, and the girl that I was dating at the time, she would take all this food to work, and I was like,

then just take it. Take it to your job. To take it to your job, and her boss at the time, I can't make this up. Her boss at the time, I was a huge fan of Mastership Gordon Ramsay, right, and so she would always take this food. So one day he told her, he's like, man, like Eddie kin cook Man, he needs to be on Mastership. She's like, Edie, don't watch that type of stuff. So he's like, let's sho He said, let's enter it, you know, enter him into the competition. So they did online and they never

told me about it. So I was at the gym working out one day a couple of weeks later, working out. Yeah, I'm not I'm just sitting down bro bro Eddie. That's one thing about Eddie. He was always in the weight room always. That was one thing about me. I was always walking through the wa But but the funny thing about it was he was pound for pound, probably the strongest person on the team, like grown man strength. Yeah. I got the call and loan you know, long serary

shop like man. I didn't do no application. Found out it was true, went down Audi Ship got on the show. So for the Mastership, for the Mastership audition, we had to go to basically like a convention Center, and it's like hundreds of hundreds of people. You know, they do it like regionally. So this one was in like South South Florida. So you know, if you had put in the application and they passed you through, like if you were in Georgia, you had to drive down there, you know.

So it's probably a good hundred two thousand people at this audition. And then so what they would do is that they would give you a give you a number, and like maybe like a section and a number, you know what I mean. So I may have been like section one, number twenty, so one through twenty and section whatever. You would go in this room and you had to bring You had to bring a dish that you could prepare in five minutes, right, so whether you cooked it at home and you had to reheat it or do

whatever you had to do in five minutes. So you had all these people that were you know, like fancy and doing all this stuff from baying and trying to dora all this fancy stuff. Well, look, I ain't know, you know, you know, at the time, I was just a good cook. So I made some gumbo. I literally made like some seafood gumbo, and I had it in the thermis, and I had a bowl, and you had all these people like with all these you know set up.

You know, one dude was in there with this lobster and this other dude had all this stuff with fire coming out of it. And they hit the timer and like, you know, people like scrambling. So I'm just sitting there and there five people and they walk around. It's like, what are you doing. I was like, you said I got five minutes, right, It was like, yeah, I waited

till four minutes. In thirty seconds, I opened up my thermits, poured that gumbo on the bowl and sliding and it's sliding in front of me, and I just stood there and then they walked around and take your food. They saw me do it, so I was like, this guy is very arrogant or he could he know what he's doing. They came around and takes that gumbo and they whispered to each other and they gave me a ticket and like going to the other side. And that's how that's

how that's how I saw this. I got on the show. Now was that Gordon Rams hit? That hit? That applause that's how you play, That's how you play. Yeah, so I get on the show. Man, I get on the show, fly to California, get on the show. And even when you get on the show, you're not actually on the show. They started with a hundred people, and then you all cook at the same time, and you have to cook uh like your signature dish. I hope they more than

five minutes. Ever forget what it was, but it's probably like fifteen to twenty minutes. And you have to cook your signature dish. And then this is when you actually meet Gordon Ramsey and uh Graham Elliott and Joe Barceiana. This is when you actually meet them and they take your food and then they move you on to the show. They only moved twenty people on, so don't there with

a hundred people. So you have to make your your dish that you know what you're knowing jamaking curry style meatballs were like this ginger sweet potato puree and like some fried garlic chips. So I made that and you know, they watched me cook it, and then you know, they taste it, and all three of them was like, you need to be on this show. So I got on

the show. I made I made the top twenty so it was Gordon as intense and at that standpoint, here's the thing, here's the thing, Like, I'm kind of like Steve, like you know, I don't like folks messing with me. So before I went on the show, I talked to my every each person has their own producer. I told my producer. I was like, look here, I haven't see the show. You know, at that time, I really wasn't. I really didn't watch the show. But when I knew it was gonna be on the show, I like caught

up and like started watching it. I was like, before I get on this show, one thing I'm gonna tell you. I was like, all that stuff that he does so demanding, not mean. Yeah, I was like, I was like it ain' I'm not doing that. And if you want, if you watched that season and I was on, he never never, never said anything Gordon didn't want that smoke. Didn't want that smoke. Man, when you talk to a segment producer, here's how he said it. So he he dolling that. Listen,

hey man, all that's that's Gordon to door. Y'all want to see Gordon get his ass up on this show. Don't talk, don't talk to me sideways if he wants to, because he definitely has that intensity, like as if he's like a head coach. I want this, but I ain't supposed to be here. So if he talked to me the way he talking to other he gonna see what kind of dB I used. A matter of fact, I'm here. I'm gonna here on the frank if that's what I thought Gordon Ramsey was like, and he is like that.

But man, the things that I learned from that man in that short amount I was there for about because I made it down to the top eight, so I was there for a long time. I did really well, so I was there for about three months. And the things that I learned from him, he's very knowledgeable and he's very personal as well. Like a lot of that stuff is more for show, you know what I mean? It is more. It was more for show, uh, don't get me wrong. And he went off on a couple

of people. But it comes from a place of passion, you know. I mean, it comes from a place of place of passion, like most coaches are. It comes from a pace of place of passion. And I learned I learned a lot from it to the point that when I left Master Chef, I was like, you know what, I think I can I think I can take this this food thing with TV a step further. So I

packed up UH and moved to Houston. The first thing that I did was is that I started working and mentoring kids at the y m c A that was in this community that I was in because I didn't know anybody, so like the quickest way for me to be a part of the community for people to know who I am, you know, because a lot of people had seen me on Master Chefs, Like, I gotta I gotta do something. So I started working with the kids at the y m c A and mentoring and coaching

them and doing some doing some training with them. So I did that for a year and a half, and then with that I started catering a lot of those events with my food truck. I had the Caribbean Grill, and I opened up a gym where I was aint in little athletes. But I had to I had to have the food truck connected to it. So I would train him and then I would take him out and I would, you know, give him something healthy to eat off on the food truck. This one day. Man, I

never forget it. I would had come back from a catering event and it was it was late, and I was tired, and I was I think that made like some ramen noodles or something. Man, it was like something quick. So I'm sitting on the couch watching Food Network. It's probably about eleven twelve o'clock at night, and this commercial comes up and it says, if you think you can be the next Guy Fieri, try out for Food Network Star.

And Guy Fieri had the reason he became gufarious because he won Food Network Star and that's how he kind of catapulted and became who he is. And I said, man, I can do that. Literally, I said I can do that. I grabbed my laptop, I went online, found the application, submitted the application. They called me a week later. I went down for the audition. But this time it was different than than the Mastership. This time it was cameras. So you had to like cook the same way you

had to cook your dish or whatever. You was known for it, but now you got cameras in front of you and you gotta be able and they're asking you questions, but you gotta be able to cook. And talk to the camera at the same time, but also be able to have your personality go, you know, shine through. And I was just I was a man, got nothing to lose, so I was cracking jokes and yeah, that are being myself. I think I had like dropped the spoon with stuff on.

I was like, well, it happens all the time. You can't tell me you never dropped the spoon at your house. I said something that was witty and and I got on the show. I got on the show and uh, it was only twenty people. It ain't like master show you got. This is like your real deal. This is like the crim Day, Like crim So people on this show. You know they got three and four restaurants. You know, they've been to culinary school. They you know, one guy

was James Beard. Uh, finalists. So but here I am, this formal football player that had a food that has a food truck, compete against people that you know, got three and four restaurants, James Beard, culinary school. But the

youngest with You're like I didn't give a damn. Like I was like, I'm supposed to be here and uh and I tell you what, Steve, be honest with you man, the only reason obviously I wanted the show, But the only reason that I wanted the show was because, uh football and the things that I had to go through with football, the elves and flows in my career, because in that show, it was the heart that in that show was probably the hardest thing that I've ever done,

because the stakes were so high at that point, like it was all or nothing for me, you know what I mean. So it would be weeks to where you know, it's like any other competition show. If you have a bad week, you're in the bottom, you have a chance of going home. So I started out guns blazing. I was in the top top two, top two, and it was about a good three weeks while I was in the bottom. But the thing about it was is that Bobby Flay, you know, it's all it's all about mentorship

and like teaching you. So it was the same thing like you know, whenever you would do something wrong, it's like, look, this is what you need to work on, and this is what you can improve on. This is where I think you can get better at it. So every time that I would find myself in the bottom, those critiques and criticism that they would give me. I would go back to my hotel room and like I would just like, you know, work on it. Well, that's how it was

for me. Man. I attribute that to sports, to where you know, you have a bad week, you get your great sheet and he's like, hey, this is what you did wrong, this is what you need to work on. And that's what I did man, weekend and week out to the point where I got down to like the final three, and then the final three it was all of that. Man. It was like, look you're gonna do. We're gonna give you. We're gonna shoot a show with

you and see what you got. Every all three of us, each one if you gonna have your on different show, and whichever one is the best, whichever one we think can be the most successful food network, that's who's gonna win. When I told you, I laid it all out there. And then that show I did it with Rachel Ray. It was a barbecue episode in uh in the middle of New York. Man, I was out there, I was cracking jokes. I would just be I would just being myself and it worked and I ended up winning Food

Network Star. And that was six years ago, and I've been with him ever since. Man, that's awesome. I mean, that's that's that's remarkable. Without revealing I've always had this question, Okay, you you beat Bobby Flay right in this show man, when those two chefs that go against each other, man, when they make these things up, do they give you

any time to like look at or ponder recipe Bobby? Yeah, or the show on the show like the challenge because sometimes that's why Bobby is the o g man, Bobby, I gotta mind you, Bobby is like the first person that was on food never like and he's also you know, been cooking for over thirty some years, so his knowledge

is bad. But what happens is obviously the people know what their dish is gonna be if they make it to to face Bobby play right, So once Bobby, once they tell Bobby they're gonna make like they're give him five minutes, just five minutes to kind of get his thoughts together. That's it. Like but still like, you know, some of these things like he's never heard of you know what I mean, and he has to think about it and a lot of time it's not authentic, but

it's his interpretation of it. He's gonna be delicious because he's not prepared, Like he doesn't not prepared. They doesn't know, like he literally doesn't. I asked the same thing, like, man, he gotta know. He's like no, now that we're friends, like many cool, I mean he's like, I get five minutes. I give myself five minutes to get my plan together and that's it. Like, do you still have the passion for cooking outside of being on the food network set?

I do. I mean I cook pretty much every day. Um, but for me, it's more because I travel a lot now. So when I come home, like I'm I'm feeding for like a home cooked meal. Because when I'm traveling, like right now, I'm in Utah, I'm gonna be here for a month. No not no, not, So when I get home, it's all about cooking for me. But I cook every day anyway. So now I mean in Houston, I own

a beer guarden food truck park. So now I have like I have like eight trucks, so I have different types of things from Columbia Fusion, the barbecue, craft burgers, and you know, so I'm cooking every day anyways. So when I get home, you know, it's I'm like I'm not I'm not cooking, man, I've been cooking all day. And what show you doing in Utah? Uh? Show called Halloween Wars. I did it last year. It brought me in last year. I was kind of like a judge host on it last year, and then so they brought

me back this year to be the actual hosting. You got all these shows, you own the food trucks. Now, what do you see cooking taking you in the next ten years? Yeah? So for me, I kind of fell in love with kind of hosting. So I see myself kind of continue doing this host thing. I really want to get to a point to where I'm doing more like um like daytime talk talk show that involves kind of like cooking and things like that. So that's my my next big goal. But right now I'm enjoying this

hosting stuff that I'm doing food never. I love it, man, just like it's just like just being myself, entertaining and you know, build to report with people contestants and laughing and joking and talking about food. So you can't beat that. I have a production company now called Pick six Productions. We just did a show. We did a show last year, the Beer Garden pick pick six, pick six production production.

Actually you're gonna call it, but no, man, So let's it like, we did a show last year at the Beer Garden called because King of Roads here And while I had all these trucks come from across Texas to compete to have a spot at my place, and I was part of my production company in partnership with another production company, we were the ones that put it on and it did really well. So what they were gonna

do another season of it this year? Man, in the in the food industry, especially on the Food Network, and and just overall when you're talking about cooking, and there's not a lot of men that are black men, men of color, right that are cooking. And also in this host steam roll right, So I keep doing that, man, Keep keep keep projecting that out of ownership, um, creativity, hosting, directing, just making sure that you're visible because when you look

at when you look at so many other guys. I watched, I watched the Food Network. I love cooking. I'm not even close to you. I just like dabbling in and being able to provide and like if I want to eat, I want to eat, but I also want to mess around and do some you know, do some stuff and try it. Man, it's just as proud to watch, just like man. Right more over there, toss so so steeve The thing real quick, man, before we get out of here. Is that one thing that keeps me going? And you

kind of touched on yourself. I remember growing up man, and like like a lot of other kids that look like me, and young men and women that look like me. It was always you know, you know, I was a big you know, Jerry Rice fan, Bo Jackson fan, and you know, all these different things. But now I have these kids that come up to me that don't even know I played football and they want to be like me being a chef on TV. I just think that's the coolest thing. And it just shows how times have changed.

It just lets me know that what I'm doing is the right path. With with the women, both of your grandmother's that taught you man, what did they think? What did they say about you today? What do you want to want to hear from them? Well? But one of the hardest things about, you know, being in position to him right now, is that my grandmother, my dad's mom, h Any Ruth, she passed away before she could see any of this because she would be so proud. She was.

You know, she has she has a cookbook that came out called any Ruth Family Cookbook. Uh, and so she would be extremely proud. Grandma Gerald Deane, she's that. I've actually had her on a couple of shows with me. Uh and it was to this day the highlight of my color in their career. You ever had my grandmother on show? But then she hit me up, Hey baby, you think we can make this jam nation wide? Trying to get you get the preserves out on the market. Hey,

she trying to She trying to trap out the window. Yeah, she trying to chop the preserves out the win. What kind of what kind of preserves or what flavors? Man? What you want? She got an apricot, she got strawberry, BlackBerry, blueberry, jawberry. Yeah, I like blue. I don't like apricot though, Apricot, apricot, marmalade. You never had gin had Gerald Dean preserved. Man, I'm trying to take you. Man, well, appreciate it. Man, Thanks for the time. All right. Now, 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 Gerard Little John and this is cut to It. Cut to It with the Smith Singer 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, Singer, co host Gerard Little John, talent in booking manager Joe Fusci, Social media team Wesley Robinson and John show from Balto Creative Media. Cut to It is produced by Brian Baltaschevitch 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 them about it, then we're about to let you know. It's all one