Jerome Bettis

T shirt. It's like your bulletproof vest. Good afternoon, Good morning, wherever you are listening to the cut to a podcast. I am Steve Smith Senior, Little John backstage, Joe say hello, hello everybody. Alright, So got a little banger going on, opening up and a couple of weeks ago last week. Whichever way you, whichever way you are listening, because you can download this podcast anytime anywhere. Uh, this may be a new episode for you, or this may be an

old episode for some other folks. So had the unique opportunity um to go to Montana and did some skin and yes, uh you know black man U brother on the slopes. Oh yes I was, and I enjoy skin because it's a place where I can be myself. I am all bumbled up. Nobody knows what color I am. I had. You know nothing of my appearance other than if I wear some flamboyant pants. I'm just a scared.

I saw several flamboyant people out there, which was we're on the ski slopes and you're in like a onesie that like your Olympic, Like you're in the Olympics, like you win to win the game. But I saw the dou fall. So look, your outfit didn't match a game. It wasn't good for his aero dynamics. Yeah, yeah, he looked good, but he didn't play good. So but one of the things that was really cool is I normally, because of my job with NFL Network, I normally travel

round trip. I probably take about twenty to thirty flights a year. Since COVID has happened, this is my second flight in ten months, and it was really interesting because it was for the first time in ten months, I felt somewhat back to normal. I got up, I had a desk, a nation, had to go through security, I had something that was prior ten months ago. It was just everyday occurrence. I get on airplane on Wednesday, go

Thursday night football. Depend on what time I'll leave. Friday, I may have another I go home back to Charlotte. I go somewhere else, uh to another game. But that was my normal routine. COVID stopped my normal routine. So I thought it was really cool that I experienced something normal. So my question to you, Gerard, is since COVID is hit, what have you been able to do that actually makes you feel like things are getting back to normal for you?

That's I've been waiting, and Joe, think of yours to player because you up next. I mean, that question is tough because right there, there is no more normal. So I'm talking about the bare bowls normal. I had told Joe. I had said, man, it's good just to be out going through security. The only thing was normal. What's normal for you may not be normal for someone may not be someone normal for someone else. Do ask him what's

normal for him. I'm just trying to, But but I'm That's what I'm saying there is that What my point is that there is no more normal right so normal for me is going home playing with my kids. But I was doing that prior to COVID. I got a chance to do that more right, so that that bring that resents me. But in terms that everything you're saying is you have not had that normal button maybe pushed for you yet. No, because there is no more normal

right like this, Well that's right. I I totally disagree with that statement. Is no more normal? We can agree to disagree. Here's why this virus has altered some things, but at the same time, it has not altered who we are and and so and I'm saying normal, don't mean that it was refreshing to me to actually get to do something that was kind of back to what I was used to. And I'm not talking about the traveling.

I'm just talking about just getting up finally with a destination that is not grocery store, bathroom, Uh, taking the kids school or dropping them off for you know, something like that. I'm just talking about, like, hey, the world has started to turn a little bit. And that's what I mean by normal. And so I think to some degree you haven't hit that button yet. That's what I'm just saying, Like we're we're just different opinion, right, But because I'll see that it's it's it's not really normal.

Right now and it's not. But I got I gotta you gotta go, you got a chance to break. I gotta slice. I got a slice of the normal pie that I'm being honest. Ten months ago, I didn't appreciate it. Yeah, I didn't going through security tess a whatever you know, Uh well I have t s a because I don't feel like stripping down, have to halfway uh you know, down to to whatever, right and they checking your cords and all this stuff. Like I I dropped my son off at school, I ran, I drove up to the

airport and I was like, huh wow. I was looking at things as if it was my first time here. It was. I was like, wow a gate. Oh, it's really the first time Steve's ever been excited going through security, like he was pumped up about He's like, I'm going

through security right now. It was that maybe that'll hit me like whenever you go back to a football game or a basketball game or something to where that's not part of normal life, right, So maybe that'll hit then, But for right now, like, no, I guess I really haven't had what you're talking about. I probably have happy slice of normal. So here's my challenge to you, friend, brother, try to find something in the next couple of weeks, you and that you and me and somebody where you

just get a little slice of normal. Maybe it's, you know, with all the protocols going bowling, or just something normal, like, bro, I've gotten so much. I want to say so much, but it probably is. We've gotten so much takeout food, but just to sit in a restaurant, right, I guess like man, I forgot about that. Okay, I'll give you one. When we uh, we all three of us had a

chance to kick back and watch the National Championship. Yeah, but that was probably the piece of normal because you know, you can't really gather amongst large groups, right, so for us to be able to last year, but that was what was what was last year normal, but that was normal this year we watched it in office. So going back to that question, you know, my normal right now it is this podcast because we've been doing it through COVID.

So my current normal is I work on guests all week long and then you know, we formulate questions and moving forward and then we come in here on Tuesdays. But getting back to the normalcy, you know, backstage Joe's nine to five gig because you know, Steve Smith don't be paying a whole bunch of money to do this podcast, so I gotta get another gig. So just going on. I'm just saying, like minimum being raised. We got a new man in the White House and it's going up.

That's all I'm saying. He's giving you a look like he wants you to move along. Okay, rewind Okay, so Steve pays well, but just in case I want to do something extra backstage, Joe's nine to five is like getting back to seeing my customers in my in my normal company. Um so, you know, talking to them and actually scheduling visits to jump on a plane to go see somebody, because that is exciting because you know, I remember, man, I don't want to go to work today. I don't

want to do this. But now it's like whoa, Like I'm excited to get out there and you're gonnaly do so much on Zoom, you know, jumping on a plane and going that face to face. You know, from a sales perspective, nothing beats getting there and sitting down with your customer or your client or your friend and being able to have that conversation so well, Um, who we

got coming up on the Cut to It Podcast. We've got Jerome the Bus Bettist induct into the Hall of Fame and he won a super Bowl with the Steelers, drafted by the Rams. One of the all time best running backs in the NFL history. Jerome Bettist on the Cut to It Podcast, Thanks for having me. Appreciate it. Guys, we appreciate you even more. Our first segment, it's called get iced Up. So, just like anything else, you gotta

get warmed up, you gotta get ready. But it's gott we do a play on words, and so just like Smithy's famous saying ice up, son, we gotta get your iced up. So it's a series of ice breakers. There may or may not be follow ups. You don't know what's coming, neither do I. So Smithie go ahead and give him the first one. What's your favorite comfort food? Favorite company? Potential chips? Probably okay with flavor? Um, I'm a Ruffles guy, Ruffles, sour cream barbar your favorite favor?

First chat a guy, I can tell you got that you got that tower three? Actually, I'm a salt and pepper. I bet you Okay? Moving on moving on all right with I said, we're taking shots off the gate. Yeah, this this is my guy. Oh, this is my guy. So we were pretty deep. Uh the you know, obviously with everything going on, travel has not been up the standard in which people are used to. So where's the last place you traveled? Pre COVID, pre COVID our last year pre code pre covid. We went to I'm kind

of think where we go. Um, yeah, you know you should open book test bro, It's it's no man, I'm trying to your's your life. But ship, you know, we went to um you I know I need I need that. Um. I mean you ain't pol like it was, you know hershey Parker's house. I mean, goodness, gracious it was damn man, I can't remember. So there's there's so he was in the Caribbean. In the Caribbean, just yea, I'm just I'm going I'm going with the Caribbean. So you got CT

and then you got co F Camember terrible. This is a legend. This is it's a leger. But he still can't remember the last time. I can't remember, right, he still came. Look he got three sports illustrated magazines on the back. But he don't know. In the last place he took a vacation, he tried to get that time. Yeah, me to find out right now, I'm get to the bottom of this. Is gonna bother him until he finds it. Day. Yeah, I'm on a zoom car. But I got a question

for you. We go vacation, vacation with the neighbors right before COVID. I'm talking about daughter. She's worse. You don't want to embarrass himself to his wife? This is amazing. I can't. I can't call my wife. I don't want to lose that. I want to preach she she can't even remember. That's how bad it was. He alright, you need another lifeline. I know, right, I need to call somebody else. I'm believing. There we go Turks and cakes. Okay, I was gonna pull the audiero Turks and cake coast Man,

it was all right. I mean, you don't remember that one. I didn't even remember that. That just helps my narrative of why I don't like the cribbian. Why oh yeah, yeah, you call the dinner's five hours. Don't we have a group beyond tim no worried? Everything is a little slower everything. When I'm on vacation. For dinner, I got a lot of worries my stomach. So, Jerome, what's your most important meal? Breakfast, lunch or dinner? Well, you know what, it's to two

different deals here. My my favorite meal is breakfast. My most important meal. Uh, it's probably lunch. Why lunch, because sometimes I don't get I don't get I don't eat breakfast because I'm moving. And then sometimes dinner is you know, you can have a big dinner sometimes, like when it's lunch, is really that one that that's a staple for Me's like if I don't have a good lunch, then I'm having a bad day. It's it's kind of one of those things. So I think lunch is the most important,

but it's not the favorite. Give me a Hall of fame, Jerome bettest breakfast probably pancakes, scrambled eggs with cheese, a little uh crispy bacon, uh and some hash brown That would be it. I'm winning. That's all you need, man. Sometimes pancakes like flapjacks or no, y'all, just yeah, just just the you know, the buttermilk pancakes. That's all I need. Silver dollars. Boom, We're good, regular dago. That's all you need.

That's it. Keep itself stupid. You gonna kiss kiss breakfast, alright, And I don't know how you gonna take this, but we're gonna ahead and do it. Uh, bust your greyhound bus tripping? Man, Come on, man, you know that. Come on, man, But you know you're old enough. So what was your first greyhound trip though? Because because you from you from Detroit and from and I know y'all wouldn't hop on the airplane, not in the de no plane. I don't know what airplane was. Man. Um my first, my first

grandhound trip. We went to Toronto. Um, and that was in in middle school. I was in middle school, so I was that was the first time, uh, jumping on, jumping on the greyhound going up there. And it was actually for school. It was a school school trip that they took us all up there, uh in middle school and it was it was yeah, I'll never forget it because I saw the the spaghetti factory for the first time.

I was like, man, I so we ate at the spaghetti factory and so I always remember that trip because I ate at the spaghetti factory and I was like, man, this is good. I remember that. It might have actually it might have been a bowling trip too, because as a kid I was I was a big bowler, and so we went all over the country bowling at that age. I know, I went to can the City, I went to all over the state of Michigan. I went to

um outside of Chicago, all those places bowling. At twelve years old, I was one of the top twelve year old kids in the country. So we were going all over the place bowling and everybody so did it, like a parent have to Yeah, yeah, parents, the parents, our parents, one of my parents would come usually on on every trip, and it was usually on the weekend, so we would leave, we would leave Friday after school and we would get back Sunday night. So it was never really that long.

So it was always you know, and and it was kind of like a tournament season at a certain time of the year that we would all we would do this after we would go through our leagues and all that kind of stuff, and then you do the state the state tournaments, and then you do all go all over the country for the for the big ones. All right, let's get let's get right into it. Man, that's that's it's cool. You know your favorite sports team growing up

that is Cowboys. Right. Well, well here's why though, I'm explain you right because it kind of leads back to my my last story. I bowled, right, so we bowed on the weekend. So I've never watched um college football and I didn't watch pro football. The only times I watched football was on Thanksgiving and the only two games to the teams that played with Dallas in the line right from Detroit. But we lost every every day Thanksgiving.

So I was always wonder why I was born with the team that was because I'm like, man, I'm not gonna cheer for this loser every everything given. So I was cheer for the Cowboys. And so my brother, who was the order mean he started he became a die hard Stealer fan, and I hated the Stealers. So in a bit of irony, I get to the to the Steelers and it was the team that I it the most, and the one player I hated the most of all was Franco Harris, and he became one of my closest friends.

And it was just kind of like when I when I got a chance and said I don't have dinner with him the first time. I said, Franco on one to truth, Man, I hated you when the Hittri come from because they used to beat the Cowboys and he was always the guy. He was the man. He would he I mean, it never failed. He would, you know, break our hearts. Man. And so I hated Franco um and so I told him, I said, Man, I never

liked you when I was a kid. Man And I said, I love you now, man, but I just couldn't stand you. So he laughed, He laughed about it. We had a great talk about it, but it was it was one of those I was a Dallas Cowboys fan. New House man Man. Man. Well, so obviously based off our conversation, Um, your other sports and I'm not really sure if I can really call him the sport? What is bowling? So you have you don't know if you can call it a sport? Stop that, man, that's wrong. Man. They bowl

all over the world. Man, that's terrible, terrible. You don't know if it's a sport. No, I got you. I just don't that nicking the sport. Yeah, they call it that a sport. So you're gonna just you're gonna you just count bowling. That's you really think I played back Manton, of course not. That's the banging on bowling. I wasn't banging on bullet I just don't know. Okay, Well, we have the you know what, man almost because drink beer

and you can have a pop belly. You don't have to look like an We have to take a break and the morning thing. We gotta pay some bills. You got checks. 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. Um, yeah, I got all my questions answered. That's what I'm here for, a brother, cut to a Podcast dot com. I think we know where you're from, but we like to ask where are you from in the place you call your hometown. I am from Detroit, Michigan. The d that's that's home,

always has been, always will be. That's home for me. And how had it growing up in Detroit, Michigan. Um, I mean it was challenging. What are you challenging? That's what I would say. What do you mean? How is the challenging? Particularly for you? It was challenging for me because of the environment that we were in. I mean we were you know, it was there was the late eighties, um, and so drugs was rampant. Crime was was rampant still is.

I mean if you go back in the inner city trade right now is still uh a difficult place to grow up. But but I will say that that, you know, it really helped me develop as a person. Uh. I grew thick skin really quick. I found out that, you know, we didn't have a lot of money. We had a lot of love in the house. But I realized that, you know, once I left, I realized as we were poor. When I was there, I thought we were we were we were all right because you know, the houses next

to us, everybody kind of had the same things. And you didn't realize that the house that we grew up to grew up at my either had a mortgage on it, and and when I signed, I bought the house and and realized that the house costs six dollars and my dad at thirty year mortgage, and it's like what, Um, But then you realized that we didn't we didn't have a whole lot, and so it was it was tough, but it was I wouldn't have have wanted it any

other way. We had a very close fan family. UM. And that's how we grew up and and that kind of made me the person I was that I became in terms of physical, tough uh, tough minded it came from growing up in Detroit. What everything you experienced, how did it shape your view on how you see the world today? And before you answer, I want to kind of not necessarily talk about the accolades, but you know, you go back and think about Detroit. How has it

shaped your life? How you see it today? Going through everything? Because going through what you've been through, there were times where you either responded, you withdrew or you rose up based on your Detroit DNA. What has shaped your molded you, that's carved you into the which I believe is a strong man. A prominent example someone that I've looked up to, and I really want to know, Like, I'm honored that you came on our podcast, but I can I care

about your NFL career. But I'm really intrigued and almost like this is a this is storybook time of the drone. Better is the man. So that's what I want to know about you? Is Detroit shaped you? And how you

see today? After a long, well traveled, decorated NFL and also decorated black Man, I'm gonna go back to my football beginning because not a lot of people, you know, some people know I didn't play football until high school because I was bold, and so I made a decision in eighth grade that I was going to pursue uh football because I wanted to get a scholarship. The only reason I played football was to get myself a chance to get a scholarship. So, um, I was a pretty

smart kid brought out. I was National Honor Society all that. But I had an older brother, older sister, and I knew if it if school was anything like me getting my school closed, I was gonna be last and I was gonna get left out right because I didn't get a lot of school closed because my older brother the sister, they got the first DIBs. So I said to myself, I need to give myself the best chance to get

to college. So I said, well, you know, maybe you know my my uncle who was a high school football coach, I thought I could play football. He said, man, you I think you can play. He had watch week in the neighborhood play one day. He thought I can play. So with that in mind, I said, okay, let me try to play football so I can try to get a scholarship. At this time, I'm I'm going into my freshman year. I'm about five ten, about five five nine, five ten, I'm about two hundred and twenty five, maybe

right in to fifteen. Yeah, right now, already, yeah, I was a big already you know on the on the health scale, that's you. You obese. No no, no, no no, no, I was. I was rock hard. I did. It was different. You weren't quite the shuttle bus no no, no no, he had no no no no. The bus then showed up, yet show up. I was an SUV at the point that I was, I was on twenty two to where they cleaned, where they cleaned. I was right. Kenny pay pay but we got a few of your gators and

all that. You know that. Um, So I made a decision that I was going to I was gonna play football. So I went to this high school on the other side of town to play my freshman year. And this was supposed to be a football powerhouse and all this, and so I'm my uncle saying, you want to go to the best, you know, So I went over to school. And going to going to the school, I had to live with my eye and uncle, and so I would during the week live with them and I would come

home on the weekends. Well, in doing that, I knew that I was I was putting a lot of people, you know, in these difficult situations. My uncle live with them. You know, they already had to two girls, they had a family, you know. So I'm I'm kind of like coming in on everybody's deal. My my mother and father tried to fact figure out how they can get me over here, how they can pick me up, all this kind of stuff. So I decided to go there, and

they backed me and going and I'll never forget. We had a rain day, so we had to go in the gym, and we went in the gym and we had just we were just doing cowstenics and and I'll never forget we had to get on the ground and we were doing the six inches or six inches right on this dud stuff, right, and we had to just do it. Remember it must have been five minutes straight, right. So and he they wanted to see who was gonna who's gonna break right, who's gonna put there, who's gonna

put it down? And I kept thinking to myself, I can't quit because I can't let everybody down, right, And this was in my head. If I quit, I'm letting everybody down. My uncle, my mom and dad, everybody sacrifices for me to be in this moment. I can't quit. And so that kind of you know steam road. And

then as I kept going, kept playing. After that year, I left that school, went back to my neighborhood school, and my sophomore year I played tight in and those are my sophomore year, um, and you know, was was just playing the game. Then I fell in love with the game. Um. Probably my junior year I played linebacker and fulled back and then things started to really uh,

you know, get get kind of bananas. But in that process I was always uh grinding, because I told myself, you know, I've got to give myself the best chance, So I gotta be the best I can be to give myself the best chance. And when then once I got in position to get scholarships, then it was okay, well where am I gonna go? Right? And then Notre Dame. I told you I didn't watch I didn't watch college football,

so I didn't know Notre Dame. I don't know what Notre Dame was, right, I'm like, I'm like Notre Dame and it's in Europe. Where am I? I'm not going on Notre Dame? What is that? I didn't know? Right? All I knew was University of Michigan because they you know, you would hear about the Michigan State because for that time. But I didn't know, you know, USC, Clemson. I didn't know all these schools. So everybody started recruiting me after after my kind of my junior year, I started to

get all this information and learn all this thing. So I was a newbie. And then when I did, I decided on Notre Dame because the the academics and the athletics, right, So for me, it wasn't I didn't think I could go in the NFL. I had no I did no dreams like you know, as a kid, I didn't dream of paying any NFL. I just want to get a scholarship. And then after my sophomore year, they said, well you can go to the NFL, and like, really, I'm so. I stayed another year and then Coach Hopes told me

it was time for me to leave. I went. I met with him after my junior year and I was scared as ever. I went met with him with my mom and dad and he told me said, son, you've done all you can do here Notre Dame. It's time for you. Wow. And I was thinking he was gonna tell me to stay and I was gonna be like, Okay, I'm staying. He told me it was time for me to go. So at that point everything kind of changed for me. So but but but the one thing when I got to Notre Dame, to go back to my

my upbringing. When I got to Notre Dame, it was that same situation like when my freshman year in high school, I got to her name and I said myself, I get to the school. Now you gotta understand, Detroit is about black. In my high school, we only had we had maybe two um kids that weren't black, and they

were Asian. We didn't have any white kids in our school, and we had four thousand kids in school, all black, right, And so the only only white people that I had communicated with was teachers and people at the grocery store stuff like. So I didn't know how to interact. I don't know how I would do and all this kind

of stuff. So I go to her name, and I was so nervous that I was gonna do something wrong because I was still rough around the edges and from Detroit, you know, you stood out, and and I was nervous that I was gonna get kicked out because you know, I'm gonna beat somebody up and say say something stupid. And so I was always kind of on my toes because I always told myself, I can't go back. There's

nothing to go back to. And I as always tell myself when there was that, when there was ever a situation I said, I would always say to myself, I can't go back. I can't go back. So I would think a court were act accordingly because I knew I wasn't like some of the other kids at at that school where you know their parents were done well, I couldn't go back. So I knew that this had to be this had to work, because there was no way I could go back with my tail between my legs,

uh to Detroit. So that kind of kept my mindset one way, right, stay out of trouble, Stay out of trouble, Stay out of trouble. And so now I get to the NFL and I kind of took that that mindset with me, right, I'm not gonna fail. I'm not going

to fail. I can't go back. I'm not doing anything stupid, and so that kind of became my moral compass as to how I went about the way um I did my business, but also how how I lived my life off the field, and so I was it was always that fear of failure, of letting my my mom and dad down, letting letting all the people with sacrifice up into this moment to get me here, letting them down.

So it was always that fear of that, and then once I got on the field, then it was the love of the game that propelled me going forward from there. But it was always a struggle for me because I never wanted to let mom and dad down, and they were my biggest supporters. My mom and dad went to every game I ever played in the NFL, home and away. They went to just about every game in college. I think they may have missed one or two games in college.

And my mom went to every high school I mean, so they were there physically with me through this and through the entire ride. So I was always conscious of not letting them down. And my dad told me when I was going off to college, I'll never forget if we're in the parking lot. And I said this at my Hall of Fame Sea he told me, he said he would just let me out to go to go to go, And they just brought me down from home

and I was coming in as a freshman. They unpacked my my stuff and and we were in the parking lot and needs to just talk about I don't have anything. I don't have much to give you, he said, but I got a good name. And he said, don't screw it up, right, And so I always remember that because I was always thinking that in my hand. So when he said that, it just it was like a knife that just went right into my hearts that said, hey, I'm not gonna let dad down, I'm not gonna let

my mom down. I'm gonna do whatever it takes for me to be successful. And so that was that was what propelled me on, and that was always my fuel when I was, you know, you know, feeling like I didn't want to do it or I wasn't I wasn't up to it. I always thought to myself, I can't feel I mean, we we we laughed about Detroit, and we shared, we shared some giggles there. But what went on on your side of town, in your neighborhood, because we know, you know, you weren't born with a silver

spoon in your mouth. So what were those things that you didn't want to go back to? Well, we had a crack house next to us. I mean at one point, you know, it got raided a couple of times. I mean, we it was it was, it was real, you know, I was I was in that world for a minute and had to had to make some tough choices and and the kind of you know, I was going down the wrong path and and starting to kind of get

with the bad some some bad guys. And it wasn't that they were so much bad It's just that what they were doing, um, wasn't what I needed to be doing, and so I had to kind of, you know, look at myself and to find out what I wanted to do, right, And so when I look back and look at Detroit, you know, it was it wasn't it was. The environment obviously was difficult and tough. But you know, every kid had to make a choice in that neighborhood in terms of, uh,

what direction they wanted to go. Most of the time, kids don't have to make choices, right, they just grow up the way they grow up. And you go where I was that you had to make a conscious choice. Am I going to go that way? Am I going to go that way? Am I gonna go this way? It was conscious choices that you had to make because there was repercussions to the decisions that you made. It wasn't like, um, the fairytale world that my kids grow up in and that they don't have to worry about

this or that. No, it was it was clear. There was a clear and present danger you know that you had to kind of manage, and so you had to to figure out where where it is you wanted to be on that spectrum. Around age fourteen, you're facing an uphill battle. In that uphill battle was a health issue. Not to date you, but fourteen years old, around six and you were diagnosed with asthma. Now, asthma back in the eighties were like a death sentence. They didn't really

know how. I mean, I had a cousin that died from my asthma attack. You would get people get asthma attacks and asthma tacks. I don't know if this is accurate saving, but I would say asthma tax in the black community was like equivalent to a gunshot wound. Two. I got diagnosed with with asthma when I was two years old, and my mom did not find out I had asthma until I was at the hospital and turning blue. Oh, So to your point, it was almost like the death sentence.

And also because when you were black, and let's be honest, living in the hood where you had roaches that that manifested a lot of germs. It was very common, it was very prevalent. So this happened a lot. To your point, Steve, expect in the eighties. Yeah, how did you work through that? Because asthma to day, I mean you could you know they give you a hailers. You know they have nebulizers treatment, but back in the day, I mean asthma, the closest

you got it wasn't no nebulizer. You got literally a pump and pray for where they had the nebulized with the expensive Yeah, exactly where I was that they didn't have nebulized, never nebulized until I got to college. It's like,

I'm not wearing existing. How difficult was it for you health wise to be such a athletic bowler, right, and and you know, and but I'm not I'm not saying that, but I'm saying it because if you had severe enough asthma was bowling hell jumping Jackson, you can break out and have an attack, an attack right at times nothing you can do. So so for me, it wasn't you know, when I was bowling, I was, I was fine. It

was always an air conditioned environment. So it was always a perfect environment that I was in when I was bowling. What I realized was humidity. Uh. And he was a factor for me in terms of ast me. But because I was in such perfect conditions, I never had to deal with it well. Once I went out for football my my freshman year, I was fourteen. That's when I

was diagnosed with asked me I fell out. We used to have to run quarters at the beginning of practice and I actually had to run the quarters, was running on and got dizzy, light headed, and actually boom was out with that with out. Then they rushed me to the spell trying to figure out what was wrong, and they realized that I was asthmatic at that point. So it wasn't until I started playing football until I found

out I was asthmatic. And then at that point, my mom um was asthmatic right, and so she was very conscious and understood it and everything. And I think that was the one blessing that I had, was that she was familiar with asthma. So she didn't, you know, say hey, that's it, You're done, that's the end of it. She said, listen, we can we can do this if you want to still do this, but we gotta do this a different way.

We got to manage it. So at back in the day they had this, they had peels for Theodore peels or whatever they need to call them, Theodore foreign or whatever it was. Did you have to take up one pill every day? And then you had the inhaler. Right. Now, that inhaler was very rare because nobody had one. But you write not like the trainers because in the right we didn't have trainers, right, we didn't have my cad coach.

He taped us up and he did it all my head and we didn't have like a trainer or age or anybody. It was just the coaches and my head coach. Right, So nobody knew about it that they didn't know anything about asthma. So my mom she was because she knew about it. She knew the dangers and the wrists involved, but she never told me about it. She was like, hey, listen, if you want to do it, I want you to go. You go for it. Um. And so what she would do. As a funny story, Um, we had a big game.

My high school was about ten or fifteen blocks from from my house, so it was really about five minute drive from the house. So every day my mom would watch practice. Because she was so nervous about me and the asthma, she wanted to keep an eye on me. She wanted literally have her eyes on me. She would always park on the out of the road where the track was at the back of the school and she could watch practice. Well, we were getting ready for a big game and one of the coaches said, I think

we gotta spy. There's spying on us trying to get our game playing right. And then and then coaches like, what are you talking about. He's like that car. I see that car all week, right, and I'm like, it's my mom's car. And I'm like, oh man, I was like, coach, no, I don't know that's not I don't think that's a spine. He was like, no, no, I said, I think that's my mother. And that was like, why is your mother

here every day? Right? I'm like, well, I'm as mad egg and that, and they were like, oh, we know that. But long story short, my mom used to come to press. He said, we'll just make sure to tell her to come inside and parking inside and so you know, she can come in, no problem. But she just didn't want to, you know, make a noise or anything. But as it turns out, it was very serious. But my mom was conscious of it, and so she kept me on top

of it. And once I understood what it was, then I informed my coaches and I explained everyone that there was gonna be some times that I was gonna be short winded some things like that, and I would need a little extra time or a playoff here there. And so my coach understood it because I literally passed out, so he understood how significant it was. So whenever I needed to take a break or or take a couple of plays off, that he understood it. So it was

never really a big problem. Then when I got to Notre Dame, it became a little bit of an issue early on because the coaches thought I was trying to get out of certain things when I really wasn't, you know. And and you know some of the conditioning drills, they think the area is trying to get out of these drills. That really wasn't as much as you know. So yeah, coach Hope much at either he was like he was on us like and so they always all that that that I was up to something because I may need

a blow here or there. But they gave it to me reluctantly. But it was it was always an issue early on. Hey we gotta take a quick break. We'll be right back. Good do it, good, do it. Let's getting down to do it. Good? Hey, Gerard, why did you get that T shirt? 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.

Let's talk ball and talking about a little bit of football. So obviously you were recruited and you want to notre dame. What were some of the other schools or just break down how the whole recruiting process went for you because you stated you didn't watch college football, you really watch professional football. You had no desire to play in the NFL like some some of these other people that us on the podcast right now, I didn't you know who grew up idolizing and wanting to play football. So you

go through the process. So take us through that process for for the recruiting owt of for you. So for me coming to high school, it was a unique situation. In my high school. We had four thousand kids in the high school. We had about twenty and twenty four kids on the football team. We nobody would we couldn't get any kids to play, so we literally had to play both ways. Everybody had to play both ways, and if you were really good, you played both ways without

a question. So I was an All American linebacker, uh and the All American fullback. And so in terms of being recruited, I was a number two linebacker in the country coming out and the number one fullback in the country. And I was actually a better linebacker than I was um fullback at the time, but John was I was short. I was only five by the time my senior year, I was five eleven, two forty to thirty eight, and

I ran a four eight at the Michigan camp. So everybody wanted me to play linebacker, right, Uh, Michigan, Michigan, everybody Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, UH Schools, Alabama, Clemson, all I wanted me to play linebacker. Now Miami, Notre Dame, Colorado, Tennessee, USC they wanted me to play fullback. And the reason, the only reason I wanted to play fullback was my high school coach. He coached Pepper Johnson, who was a

linebacker played for the New York Giants. So so then we went to my high school and Pepper was like six two six three, and he said, Jerome I'm gonna tell you this, He says, I know you got you know you want to play linebacker. I think you're too short to play linebacker in the NFL. And I'm like, okay, Like I think you're gonna be the best, a better fullback, right And I'm like okay. He's like, you'll be a prototypical fullback. You know you can catch the ball. You

could you know, you're really fast, you could run. He says, You'll be a dynamic fullback. The problem was, at that time, nobody in the country was running the fullback. Everybody it was either tailback. You like Michigan USC everybody was running the tailback. Nobody had, uh you know two and your thirty five pound running back that they were running. Everybody

was running, you know, a natural tailback. So I was nervous because I felt that if wherever I went, I was gonna be moved to linebacker because it really, you know, I put a guy that's talented at a position you're on't gonna give the ball to two times or ten times a year, so you won't do it. So lou Hopes, though, came in and he showed me his offense. His offense was really was designed around the fullback, so the fullback whenever they went through our receivers, the fullback became no

single back and ran plays we the screen. All the screen play passes went to the fullback. UM. There was running plays designed for the fullback because he kind of had a semi option. So it was like a marriage made in heaven for me to go to Neurre Dame because that system fit me the best. So as it as it turns out, it came down between Michigan, Notre Dame, and USC. I visited. Those are the three schools I visited.

I canceled on Tennessee, and I canceled on Colorado. UM, and I went out to USC and a funny story I'll tell you about that that that trip. But but I went out there and they had they had a guy named Lered Hope who was a fullback who had just got drafted in the second round. And at Michigan they had a fullback, UM that I just got drafted in the first round into the first round. So they were trying to show me. Hey, then Leary Horde was running back at Michigan. They said, hey, we're gonna play

you right, and we play Leeary Horde. Long story short, I just knew in my heart the right place for me to go was to note the name. And as it turns out, they were they were correct, and coach Hose promise that if I did come to nther name, he wouldn't recruit another fullback for another year and a half. And he kept he kept. Well, listen, let me let me tell you. Let me tell you my first experience with USC when I was when I was being recruited.

So I went out to visit USC. So I get out there and I'm you know, you gotta remember at this point, I'm five eleven, two forty thirty five. I mean I am, I'm put together. I'm pretty solid, right in terms of a high school football player. So I get to I get to the visit and it's, um, it's right in it's I think it's maybe December. So we get out there and they have a party, right, So they take me to this party and I see

I see this, um this grand Cherokee. Right, it's a red I'll never get a red Grand Cherokee with the gold inky rams. And I'm like, oh, I like lose this. That that was back in the back and so it was a guy on the back that had the hood, had to had the hatch back up, and I swear he looked like like loose. He just he was like ripped up. I was like, you can see every muscle on this. I was like, who is that? That was? I'm gonna tell you like this, he was a specimen.

He had a tank top on. Man, I saw every muscle that guy had and I was like what position he was? I was like who because I didn't, you know, I didn't watch him, so I didn't like know who he was. And the dude was like, that's you stay out. He just got drafted here, you're going to the league. And I was like, I never get. I was super confident everything, and I was like, that's what the linebackers look like. I was like all the trouble looking like in college. Oh, because I was like, man, this is

Mama had to rethink this. I gotta get and so I left there. I never forget. I'll never get seeing him, man. That was it was. It was. It was life changing because you know, I now I'm like, man, I'm I'm about to be in college, right. So it was a whole different, old, whole different world for me. But now fast forward, I get to know the dame, and our first game against USC is at USC and the game is so big that and and the rivalry is so important. Coach Holts, he made all of the freshmen take a

test on the history of this rivalry. And if we didn't pass it, we couldn't go. It was that significant. We had to know how it started. The whole deal means something, It meant, it meant something. So we knew as freshmen that this game, this is the only we gotta take a test that you kid me and and so this was the only game that we had to know. We went back to nineteen you know, it's they did not doing the six they played the first game new Rockney and his it's his wife that really made it happen.

You know, just all this stuff that we're learning about this game. And so if you you can imagine you're learning this stuff about it, you know it's important because they didn't. I didn't learn nothing from playing Michigan. I didn't have to learn nothing playing Stanford, but playing USC we had to know. And so it really established for us what it meant to play USC. Now my whole

time there. We never lost to him, and we had like an eight year run where we want eight years in a row, and we had some talented teams, but it didn't diminish the fact that we were going to play USC or USC was coming to playoffs. That was a huge game and it meant so much to everybody. And and like you said, when we got to l a Um, it was it was a big deal because at our hotels. I mean it was like, you know, we were rock stars. I mean it was. It was

an amazing turnout. Always uh at USC or when USC came to playoffs, it was always a huge game, all right, So last one and then we know you how to go obviously me playing and being a Baltimore Raven and you being a Pittsburgh Steeler man take us through that rivalry. That rivalry. You can watch it on you can watch it. And when I first got to Baltimore, they asked me to talk to you know, talk to I think the Pittsburgh is at and talked talked to the to the

newspaper and tell me what it is. And then once I experienced it, man, it's nothing like it, you know, just I mean, you you go look back, how Hines knocked out Ed Reid right, just all of that stuff. You describe the Baltimore Raven and Pittsburg blood Bath rivalry as they call it the a f C Black and Blue Division. That one was that was the game because it years I'll started because early on I had a unique perspective in that, you know, we we were beating

up on them before when Ray got there. So the Ray was a rookie, uh you know, all the way through I got a chance to see his progression, right, and early on we were we beat him no problem. And then they they they made a big jump, right, and then they became good. And so what happened was they got really good, really quick. Defensively, they they found that Marvin Lewis I think was the defensive coordinator. He kind of got them going and boomed all of a

sudden they ready to go. And so year in and year out, they they built the team to beat us because at the time we were, we were the big dog in the division. It was US. It was US Tennessee Jacksonville, Okay, and so Baltimore was was below man on the Totlem Poe and so it was between US and Tennessee. Really who were the the the top dogs, and so they were coming and once they arrived, they put everybody on notice. Right, It's like no, no, no no,

we were for real. And so when we started to play them, it became like it was already tough because they were the Cleveland you know, Browns, and then they came over, so there was always still that disdain because they were the Cleveland Browns and we that was our biggest ride. We hated the Browns. So when they moved, it's still we you know, the hatred moved with them, right, So so that's kind of how it. It was already there that dislike and then when they got good, then

it was like, oh okay. Then they had the swag. They came with the swag, right, and that was that was Ray and Ed bringing that that Florida uh you m swag right, And then they started talking ship and we're like, okay, little the little little up for I want to talk to yet okay, And then all of a sudden, then they started pounding us. We were like whoa. And then then that's when it hit another level in terms of when they could beat us consistently, and then

we could beat them, uh, consistently. Uh. And and each game you didn't know who was gonna win, right Uh. And so for instance, the year the year they won their first Super Bowl, we were the last team to beat them, you know what I'm saying. And it was like nobody else could beat them. We know how to beat them because you know, we they they were built to beat us, and we were built to beat them. And so every year going forward it was always a I mean a drag out, a blood bath. It was

a war. We knew you playing Baltimore. All right, let's put the big paths on. Let's get ready. It's gonna be physical. It's gonna be sixty minutes. And it don't matter who. If somebody is tending tending old or four and eight, it don't matter, right, you don't get the best shot and and and they don't get your best shot. And it has not changed a bit since that day, um, when when they stood up and said no more, no more, guys. Uh, and they start punching back. And it's been it's been

Haymakers ever since. Man. Well, we appreciate your time. Man, it's an honor to talk to you. Uh. You know, obviously in the the fraternity of football. Man, you're that guy. It's an honor to speak to you. Come on the on the podcast. Man, it's just it's great to to to to shoot the breeze with you. Man. Well, listen, I want to tell you this, and I never got a chance to tell you. Man. I've always watched you

because I've always loved your energy. But I love how you played because you you played as a big guy, you know what I mean. It's like for us at the running back position, we had the bravado, right because we played in the era where every team had a feature back. Right. If you didn't have a featureback, you weren't you. Weren't you, You were shipped. So so every team had a stud at the running back position, and there was an attitude that we exuded, right, So that

kind of went away. But when I saw you play, I just thought. I always thought to myself, Man, you would have made a hell of a tailback in that era because you could talk ship with the best of me, and you wasn't afraid to take a shot, and you was willing to give a shot, right, And I think that was the difference, um, And that's why it was so rare. It was refreshing because I had a teammate

like a hindes Ward who who had that mentality. And then the see you take that mentality of hinds had and you took it just a step forward because because you you would talk ship with it where hin he would laugh here talking a little bit, but he was you know, he would pound you. He started laughing right where you would pound him, and you let him know, Yeah, that was me. I'll be right back and so and I was because like what I used to always say is I mean, I see y'all in twenty four seconds,

I'll be right back at y'all. Right, And that was my mindset. I'll be talking like that. And so when I used to hear you talk and I was like, man, this guy he do it exactly what I would have there when we was pounding them. You mean, just let them know it's me. I've talked endlessly about. The man who influenced me the most in my football is my grandpa, my grandpa Frank and and my grandpa always told me, boy, if you're gonna play, don't be out there push footing

the round the right way, play the right way. This is how you play when a big hit happen. He said, if you want to play, Steven, this is what you're supposed to do. And so I always watched that. Now, when you fast forward into my career and I had the opportunity to become at Baltimore Raven, I'm now sitting in the office of Ozzy Newsom, who I'm just like,

Wowz Newsom, Hey, this is pretty cool. And then in the recruiting process they tell me why they want me to come here, and you know who they mentioned, who the Pittsburgh Steelers, because he said, we need a player like you other than a qual We've never had a offensive player that has that defensive mentality that plays offense other than the qualm. So we need a guy like

that that can play. We need a guy at a gones big stage when we play Pittsburgh Steelers and tell them and tell them in the newspaper, we're gonna smack you in the mouth, but we need you to show up and do it on the field. Right. I looked around like they got to be playing, not me. You want me to do that? You want me? I'm authorized I started off. Bro. How football was introduced to me was in the way of you gotta hit people. You either hit or you get hit in the way that

Jerome described the Baltimore and Pittsburgh rivalry. Yes, I love Baltimore as my football home, my second home, because I just love that mentality, that same mentality, the grimy mentality of growing up, of you earn your keep, you keep yourself in that city, of how you play. That city embraces you on how you play, not on what you give. You are a unique person, You are well worth it, You are competent, and most of all, your lovable. I'm Steve Smith Singer, Gerard Little John, and this is cut

to It. Cut to It with Steve Smith Singer. That Is Me is a production of Cut to It LLC, Baltol 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 Balta Chevitch and Meredith Carter, with production assistance by Alex Lebrek, production manager Sarah Pollock, Theme music by Alex Johnson, lyrics and vocals by Anthony Hamilton. You ain't heard about it, then we're about to let you. Now it's all Ris