LaDanian Tomlinson

this afternoon? Brother? I am doing fantastic, man? How about you? Why? Man? It's just man. Had a good had a good week, had a good weekend. Just try to get some had to get some cool downtime, had some time to just sit down and watch a movie. And I got a chance to watch Remember the Titans. And for me, Remember the Titans is my favorite, your favorite, your favorite football movie?

I love that, your favorite. It's my favorite. I say that one and maybe that and maybe any given Sunday, but definitely, definitely I think I may give the not to remember the times. It's it's special to me shine when we were when I was in high school, we had a field trip to go see Remember the Titans, so we were in the whole movie theater. So even even when you remember the very last play when they put Red back in the game, they do the they do the option play and he scores a touchdown like

all of us going crazy in it. So that one is probably why I say it is my favorite, because because it brings back memories for me. I loved the program. I saw that when I was when I was in whenever came out, I think high school man my dad went. So that was pretty cool. I like the The Longest Yard. That was good. I like that one. They got a couple of them, though. There's you like the newest one, of you like the old one. Um, I like the newest one, old the old one. So the remake I

like the old one was a little bit slow. You know what else is a slow movie? But everybody loves North Dallas for you, that's like an old school movie. That's a football movie as well. Um. But the only problem I have with like, what's my best football movie? Little Giants? There's one part that I loved. I love that one annexation Puerto Rico, right, and I love that one when um, what's his name, Johnny until there in the huddle, he never get the ball, He never get

the ball. We're gonna give it to John Johnny and Johnny Johnny Johnny. Right, So I like that one. But for me, I really don't like football movies, to be honest, because sometimes either you watch shows or movies, you gotta understand some of those movies sometimes take the one off story that just like comes out of nowhere that everybody's like, does that really happen? And people believe that that's how

it goes. Not accurate. It's what's the most accurate football movie there's there's not one, not even any giving Sunday. You didn't believe Bill Bellamy was a wide receiver. M that's a great question. L col J isn't running back? T was in it in any given Sunday. I think he was. I just here's what I say. They don't really portray it because even some of the craziest football stories, you don't hear them repeating themselves. So people think that that's how it goes all the time, like every school

gets the punishment, every school is cheating. That's not the case. And so and because we so much economics and financial so much as given to the colleges and everything is around football that they believe, you know, the dumb jocks scenario. It perpetuates some sterios, too many stereotypes. So that's why I don't like it. So if if if there was a movie and Steve Smith needed to be in it, who who would play Steve Smith? Off top of your head? Oh, oh, I'm kind of picky, So I don't know. You got

you gotta name one. I mean, obviously he's not athletic, but why not Denzel? If I don't if I'm gonna swing, if I'm gonna swing, if I'm swinging for the fences. Can you imagine Denzel Washington trying to do Steve Smith quotables? I think it'd be awesome. Actually, now that if you've seen this face, I believe it. I guarantee. All right anyway, Um, so let's move on. Yeah, I probably won't have Denzel

too serious. Hey, who's like us for today? Coming up on the cut to a podcast, We've got legendary running back La Dainian Tomlinson a K A L T, A five time pro bowler and two thousand six is m v P. LT played for the Chargers and the Jets and has had a statue in Canton since seen l T Well, l T, thanks so much for joining Cut to a podcast My pleasure. Man, it's it's uh, it's good to be on with you guys. Excited about it. He appreciate you. So hey, our first segment it's called

get Iced Up. Their random questions. Smitty has compiled super random, super random. You don't know that to be a follow up anything. So it's just our version of an icebreaker. So LT, get ready to get iced up Smitty, go ahead, all right, here you go, LT. Your favorite fruit druice drew pints of course. Okay, that's like ten pursue juice in there. So it's a whole bunch of all right, what is your favorite season and why? Like the season summer, winter, fall,

that that type of season. I had to I had to have it open ended because you never know what kind of guests we're gonna have and what the education is. Yeah, man, and I love basketball season. I don't know what we were talking about, but we appreciate it. Bro Uh Man, I love fall season for a couple of reasons. Um, you know, football guys have been defined as the guys of fall. Steve, you have heard that, and you know it's a certain smell in the air about fall. Like

for me. You know when you when you play football and play ball your whole life pretty much twenty plus years, like you do the same things over and over. You know, you have the same smell when it comes to a certain time of the year. You know, a certain field that you get in a certain time of year. Fall from me is always football season. All that smell, you know, comes back to me that field that I get. Even now, not the field anymore because I'm old now I'm not

playing anymore, but the smell. Sometimes I go outside in the grass, the way it smells in the fall, it reminds me of game day sometimes. And so that's one of the reasons. The other reason is I live in Texas, and y'all know it gets real hot in Texas, man, especially in the summertime. So right after the summer is what it's fall. And so it's perfect golfing season for old guy like me. Now I get to play a lot of golf in the fall. So fall is my

favorite season. Okay, what is the first thing you thought of this morning when you woke up. What I'm gonna feed my kids for breakfast in the full school? Okay, that's that's that's the first thing I thought about, because that's the first thing I do. Okay, So what did you feed him? Did you cook? Because I actually I fed my my, my, my one of my boys who was in school the rest of the too in college, one graduate college, ones in college. She's living on her own.

So what did you What did you make? Egg? Whites ed whites um, scrabbled with a little sausage in there, with some fruit on the side. My daughter loves toast. My son doesn't like bread, so one had toast one dinnit. What's funny? I And this is wasn't even time correctly, I was going backwards when my wife got up this morning, she gets up and we have this whole little dialogue. It's been going on since the virus has hit. My wife is making sure that everyone has their their vitamins.

So she's all in organic holistic West Coast, which is you know, vitamin c uh, you know, having so many and me in B and write him in D and uh and and she makes her own uh elderberry uh, and just all this stuff. And so so we do this thing where when she gives me vitamin C. Her name is Angie. So I say, I ain't taking vitamin C till I get that vitamin every morning. And she she literally she says, shere's your vitamins. I said, well, vitamins. I don't see no vitamins. And she rose eyes and

she gave me a kiss. I said, oh, those vitamins. Oh yeah, let me take them right and so but she gets up, and so I've had the blessing like you. Um, I have my oldest son, Peyton is twenty two, who's actually running our social media for cut to It social media manager. My daughter's nineteen years old, she's off of college and working. And then I have Boston, who's fifteen, and then Douce, who six, and so Deuce is still

sleep but I got up this morning. I made him a cheese omelet um hoasts and chicken sausage, and I was remembering that I have made breakfast for my kids, you know, obviously an off season, but now that I retire, I made breakfast for Peyton Bailey, and then I make it for Boston, and Boston is gonna be driving next year. And I kind of looked at him and said, you know, next year, you'll be driving, and I don't have the honor of getting up and make you breakfast anymore. He goes, well,

yeah you do. I said, no, you're driving yourself. No, I don't. If you could drive yourself, your own breakfast, make your own breakfast. I am not getting up at six o'clock because you know, to make breakfast. You it's you can't. Just you can't. You can't have bookers in your eyes and be making toasts like that's nasty. I hope you wipe your face first. Yeah, so just doing that, man, I just have, like you, I have the honor to just sit there man, and and make breakfast for my kids,

to sit there. Man. Then we hop up, we hoppen, get in the car, put the dog in the car, um because wife sleep and the dog, you know, whimper, and so just hopping the car and you know, and just do that. And it was just an honor show man. You you may remember, and I was thinking about that that probably this is the last year that I have the honor of making the breakfast because I get the sleepy and you're lucky but it is an honor, Steve. You're right, man, And you know I do the same

thing every morning. I get up and I made my kids breakfast before school. Is just kind of it's kind of what I do. And I remember my my dad doing those little things like that, um and so I don't know, it's like it becomes like a tradition, right, you know. And I think it's the appreciation that you see from your kids. Um. And then the other thing is helping out around the house. You know, now that I'm retired, being able to do things like that around

the house to help my wife out. You know, she don't have to get up all the time because I'm gonna be honest. You know, my kids right now their online class, they're not going to school, so they get up in their own computer. Well when when they have a question about their work, their school work, they're not coming to me, They're coming to their mall. So the least I can do is cook breakfast in the morning. Be the pe teacher though. I'm oh, yeah, I'll do that.

I'll do that. We're playing golf and enjoying them. So all right, last one, would you rather put a stop to war or end world hunger. Um, in world hunger. For people to be hungry, that's something that I can't stand by and watch. It's hard for me even to see, um, you know people you know saying you go to a store. There's people sometimes you see out there or the homeless

and they want something to eat. It's hard for me to go into that story and come out with what I have in my hand and I give them something like I just that always has gotten to me. One of the things that I do it at Thanksgiving time is I feed you know, families. Um, everything's given. So it's something that's always been on my heart. All right, we appreciate that man that was breakers there. That's that's that's the that's textbook right there to see me. But

I'm patting myself and yourself. So he gave us some bread crumbs, and I think it's going to lead us to some to some other stuff. You gave us some bread crumbs. Where are you from and the place you call your hometown? Wow? Where I consider you know where I'm from and my hometown to different places. So where I'm from it's actually a small country town. Marlon Rosebud and I say, Marlon and Rose Buds because that's where my parents originated from, you know, and so obviously I

originated from there as well. And so my mom was born and raised in a small town of Marlin, and my dad was born in small town and Rose But those two towns are about ten minutes from each other, right up the street, right small country towns, and so as a kid, I was raised um in those towns, running around on those those dirt roads and feeding pigs and you know, doing all those things. When I turned about I think it was about seven, I moved to Waco and for the rest of my life, I grew

up in Waco. So I considered Waco my hometown because that's where I went to high school, that's where I graduated, that's where I kind of made my name at I as you know. And so yeah that I was say, I'm from Marlin and Rosebud, but my hometown it's Waco. What would those experience like for you growing up? Yeah, well, early on I think it was, you know, it was real humble beginnings. You know, because when you think about small country towns, man, you know, everyone in the town,

they know you. Um, it's that whole mindset of you getting raised by village, right, you know, because your neighbor may discipline you sometimes if they see you doing something wrong, they're gonna die. Yes, Oh it's old school, no doubt about it. And so, um, you know, Wayco was more like you know it was, it was bigger, you know it was it was. It's a small city, but it was bigger. And so I hold on. Explain to us when you say humble beginnings. I'm a city boy, you know,

from so concrete Jungles is considered humble beginnings. Explain smith what is you know, Smithy but humble beginning, city folk? Right, you got a city folks, Steve, and then my boy Gerard, he's uh, I's from North Carolina, He's from X So his humble beginners. And you know my you know uh other boy and and and booking backstage Joe he's from Vegas and Nashville and he actually went to Long Beach State.

So his humble beginners a city too, right, So I don't I need to understand because right now you're slaying something in there said feeding pigs. Yeah, I see, I thought you. I thought you missed that those early years. Man, Um, you know, one through like I think from the time I was one through a problem about ten years old.

When I say humble beginners, I mean, you know, really like living the life of feeding pigs, going in the slop, you know, going into mud, pigs living a bunch of mud, and you know it's just a bunch of it's nasty out there, right, and so everything you eat now you save it, and that's what they eat. You go out there and you you feed the pigs. And then obviously where you think we get baking and pork chops and

all that stuff. Bro. So there was times, man. I remember my first time saying my my dad and my uncle's like, you know, slaughter or goat. Man, it almost traumatized me, dude, Like I remember the vision like it was yesterday. So me and my younger brother, my dad called us around to my uncle's house and we went around there and I saw the goat hanging up in the tree, and I'm thinking to myself, what are they

for to do with this goat? You know, you skipping over a lot of kiss Keep it simple, Steve, I have no idea. You asked the about humble beginners. Yeah, but I want you to walk me through these humble beginnings because you said it's traumatized. You went from their hanging from the I want to know, like, how did he say, Dany come on over there? Hey, boy, get over here. We're about to go over Uncle Luke house and we're about to get we're about to eat and

you're gonna work. Hey. It was like this, Uh my mom, my dad was already over there, and my mom comes to me and my brother and said, hey, your dad wants you over your uncle house. Y'all going to walk around there for what? He didn't tell me why? You just get over there? Yeah, you don't get Yeah, you know, because I know I know he's gonna ask why. And she probably popped them upside of the head too. I

told you by asking me why. Hey, So you know, we're going around there and the first thing I see, of course, is this goat in the treat and my dad and cools there standing around drinking beer of course, um and so old milwakee. Y'a don't know no about that mist it's two for one with a sticker. That's the cheap. That's that cheap next to the bag of cheap chips. We're acting a cigarette at the gas station. So you know what I'm talking about. Slightly, So Steve, I had to be about man. I had to be

about seven years old. And my dad comes over and he says, all right, I'm gonna show y'all what well we're gonna eat this goal tonight. But I'm gonna show y'all how we processing, how we're gonna kill it. We're gonna get the meat out and then we're gonna cook it later on. So this is what you're gonna eat tonight. This is how you survive. I'm seven years old, man, I'm like, Dad, don't kill that. Go. I'm like, Dad, don't do it, man, don't don't care to go. I

felt bad for the goal. You know, it's it's yelling. It's yelling like those type of experiences they never leave you. He didn't say nothing. He said wash this basically, and they went over and they they did at me in let me just say that, and I cried. I started crying, and my dad, you know, he he was just like this, this is what being a man is about. This is what being a man is about. Stop crying. I'm asking, But I assume you didn't eat that goat for dinner. I did not know, sir, I did. No, sir, I

did not eat that go I couldn't. You got a whooping for either, Yeah, I probably so. I don't remember the whooping. I just remember the goat probably got mad that you did. You didn't tough enough. And and he saw it. Not when he was doing it, because you cried, but he was also doing it. But then that afternoon he probably had in his mind, like me and you are, that boy better eat that goat. I saw him crying. He better suck up them tears and eat that goat.

If he don't eat that goal, he probably had a conversation with your mom. If he don't eat that goal, I'm telling hoping his ass and he going. We're going straight to his room from the from the dinner table to his room. He going to bed. And don't come up there and try to help him. Either don't and don't get him nothing else. I've been asked for no McDonald's cause we ain't got no McDonald's money, no chills, not at at that time McDonald's, please man, McDonald's was

there wasn't no McDonald's within thirty miles of us. That's so you didn't eat the go because you was traumatized. Yeah, I don't remember what I ate that night either, but I ain't eat that go May about eight. You know, I probably ate the vegetables. I'm sure we had like greens and mashed potatoes and you know all that good stuff. I probably ate the rest of that, but left to go a long, I've never eaten a goat mhm this day forward, I would never eat to go You know

some things, man, something's just as a kid. As I said, it traumatizes you. You know where you you won't you know, I didn't want to mess with any goats. But you know the crazy thing now, Like I'm a I'm a hunter, Like I love going hunting for deer as I call it buck. I love buck hunting. You know, I love hogs going hunting for hogs. But goats, I just you know, I leave him alone, man, Let I let him make it. We have to take a break and the morning a thing.

We gotta patient bills. 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. How to grown up your hometown, impact and shape your view on the world today. You know, there are certain things that you see when you're young that you don't realize. Things like, you know, the school that I went too and the Crosstown rival school. You know,

they they school was was better than ours. They were able to build a brand new school during my time in high school where we still had this old school on my side of town. They were able to build a brand new football stadium while I was in school where we played on the football field that we had to share with another high school. You know. And you don't realize these things until you get older and you

see the disparity sometimes in different communities. Um, but you know, when you're growing up, you you you you may do with what you have, as you guys know, you don't complain about none. You you know, you work for everything you you get, and you earn everything you get. But when you get older and you're able to see some of the disparities in these communities, it shapes you because

it makes you start a foundation. It makes you want to go back into these communities and provide scholarships to these kids that are you know, might not be able to go to college, or feed people that that need

dinners and can't feed themselves, things like that. And that's how it shaped me um And so I think that's the reason why I continue to be heavily involved in my community and try to uplift my community because I remember what it was like growing up there and even to the point where, you know, like the neighborhood obviously i'm in now, I see all these educational resources that are available for the for the children, the kids in

this area. But if I go to the south side of the the town South Dallas, I don't see any of these educational resources programs for for the kids. You know. That's what's to me, that's that's a shame, because it's still even when I was growing up, it was like that, and here it is twenty some years later, thirty years later, it's still the same way. You know, a lot of

disparities in our communities. You know, I think people would also put it on us athletes to say, well, why don't you get your athletic friends and want y'all just go ahead and put all your money together and go fix the problem. You know, I've we've heard that. I've heard that and and seen that obviously on social media as well. And they put the responsibility on athletes. But yet athletes are just like everybody else. Hell, they take

of our checks. We we pay taxes, and then the taxes are put in areas that sometimes don't even benefit the people who needed the most. It's not your owners to begin with, right, Well, you're about you're about product just because you've got you've got the resources. This it should take a collective, you know. It takes a collective when people really care. It takes a collective when those things impact those communities. Correct, they cross on over to

your side of the town. It set your front door. You think about the people that are in charge that make policies and legislation. Um, those people in power, they look like the people that are mostly home. Opiois right, you know, meaning when there was wrong war on crack or war on drugs. When that phrase came out, they

were talking about the black communities. And so it's hard for you to care about someone when you don't know them, when you can't see them as your brother, when you can't see them as, oh, that's my son or my daughter. It's hard for you to have sympathy for somebody like that when when you don't know them. And so my point is, for the longest, that's why we really need to change the whole system. Because the laws were set up in the beginning against us, against black folks and

people of color and brown people. It was set up against us. And so now as we go and try to change these legislations, people wonder, oh what you got, Why are everyone? Why are you trying to change policies and legislations. Well, because it never was for us. But now we actually have people that care about it, people that are in those positions of power, so that we can help everyone and minorities and help black and brown people.

It's a tough thing to talk about, no question about it, man, But we gotta be we gotta be real with ourselves. We gotta be honest with ourselves. Some of these things are happening is because there's no diversity in these different arenas. There's not enough diversity ownership level, president's level. That's why

a lot of this stuff has happened. In my opinion, I'm guessing people rarely ask you about you, right, Yeah, no, you're right, because it's all about the you know, the good stories, right um, the football stories, the juicy stories that makes people feel good. And sometimes the way you were raised and where you're from and how you grew

up that that doesn't make people feel good. A lot of times, it makes people feel guilty and it makes them you know, it makes them feel like they you know, maybe they did something wrong, which that it's not their fault, you know, and like there's no reason to be I try to tell people this all the time now, you know, like he can't be mad at at the culture today, Like I'm so proud of of what these young kids

are doing. But my high school was was pretty much it was like split down the middle of blacks and Mexicans, you know, like probably blacks, you know, forty percent Mexican and you know then the other right, So diversity, you know, is what we're seeing now, and that's why I'm proud because we have a lot more of our white athletes, brothers and sisters, you know, stepping up to support, you know, this social justice issue that we have going on. So

that's why I'm proud now. But it wasn't, as we know, it wasn't always like that because people felt ashame. They didn't want to get involved. They want to stay in their own little bubble, their own little world or community because they didn't have to deal with And it was like I was saying before when and you you mentioned it, Steve, they don't have to deal with it if it's not at the front door. And so that's what we've dealt with for a long time is oh, that's not affecting us,

so we don't really care about it. Well that's changing now and that's what I'm most proud of and and hopefully it continues to change for the sake of our children. Um, you know, because man, you know, it's it's been it's been a tough it's been a tough eight years. I'll say since twelve when all this social justice stuff started happening and this Black Lives Matter movement started happening. Man, it's been a tough eight years. Man. M. How early

did you start playing tackle football? Uh? Seven years old? I started playing? Yes, seven, Man, you start early here, you know you start early. Now. I begged my mom to let me play. I think at that time you can start at six. I want to say, you can start on the junior team. And so for it. For an entire year, I begged my mom to let me play. She would not let me play tackle. I played flag football. I first played flag when I turned five. I played

on the boys and girls club team. And I was cold, right, and so I went home. But you know that that's where you get the confidence to be like, I think I'm ready for tackle. So I went home, Mom, I'm ready for tackle. Can I play tackle? No, You're not playing tackle. You're gonna get hurt out there. And for a year, man, I begged her, and so finally when I turned seven, she let me play. And that was the first year I started playing. Now. What else did you play as a kid coming up or even in

the high school? Everything? Basketball, baseball, and track pretty much? Man, year around, I was, I was playing sports. Um, I stayed busy and active playings warts so whatever I could play, I played it. How was your high school for you, because, like you said, you were killing it at a young gage. So I'm I'm sure coming into high school even back then, not to the magnitude it is now for high school players. But you know, I know they treat I want to say,

treated you different in a bad way. But we all know that the the smart kid get treated differently, the sports um, the nerd, right, and and I just say, all that is you. I think it's different now today because I watched my kids and they all definitely they intermingled like he used to be a ranking. It was. It was a kind of segment. Yeah, it was, but in a good way. It was a ranking. Or like you had the people who are in rock and roll in golf, So you had that group like the golf crowd, yes.

Then you had the musical crowd, right, who loved playing music, you know, musicians and instruments. Then you have to urge,

right and it's nothing wrong with it. Then you had maybe the hygienic unhygienically clean, right you have, So it was it was the dirty crew compared to now like when my kids now when they have people over I'm like, it's all everyone hangs together, Like my daughter had an event at our house one time, and I'm going, it's some real squares something here and you're cool with that,

cool dude, Like it's not as clicky as it used. Yeah, like it was dudes walking around like these are some real l seven's up in here, right, And I just right, it just really like I was like, dangn things are different, right, and then you have the athletes, right, then you have to you have two pretty girls, right, and I just I mean all of that where you had it and now they're just they co mingle. I mean, everybody's everybody's

the same. And so that's why I said, like, how was it for you being a such a successful athlete going up in high school? I'm wondering, you know, being in a small town. I mean I'm imagining and I'm assuming you know that you know, you had a good game, and maybe you know, in the cafeteria because it was a small town, probably family members he until you did good. This time you get to you you get to Apple's houses.

Yeah no, no, my situation was different. So, um, after a great year, my mom, my grandmother gets sick and she's my grandmother's in Marlin. And so my mom, my mom comes to us and says, uh, guys, we need to move back to Marland. And you know, we're like what. Me and my younger brother My younger brothers three years younger than I, and so we're like, what, what do

you move back to? Marlon Wine. We've been in Waco this whole time, and so obviously we knew that grandma was sick and my mom wanted to move back to be closer tour. So my freshman year I went to Marland High School. That was the only year I went there. So my freshman year I go there and I made varsity in football, make Barson and basketball, make Barson in baseball, varsity track. This is three a high school now, you know, which is middle of of the role in Texas Texas football.

And after that year, I pretty much made a name for myself my freshman year, right, and maybe it was it actually was like that Steve in Marlon my freshman year. They're like, oh man, this kid is gonna be incredible, right, And so in the cafeteria, yeah, two apple sauces to two chocolate milks. You know what, I'm saying, because you know how it is. Yeah. Continue. So then, um, towards the end of the year, my mom comes back and says, we're going back to Wacome and so, man, the coaches

in Marlon went crazy. I mean, they were trying to get my mom a job to have me stay there. It was trying to do everything to keep me at that school. It didn't work. Mom said, now we're going back to Waco. So we went back to Waco the summer of my sophomore year. Guys, I walked into the football coach's office, le Roy Coleman, old school dude, right, he don't know me from from you know, not saying how you said, I don't know you from Adam Boy exactly. Him't HI don't know me, and so I get in.

I get in his office. We're talking and he said, someone one position you played. I said, coach, I play tail back and I play safety. He said, oh, I know you don't. He said, we got tailbacks. You're gonna play at fullback. Hey, Steve, that was the first time I got humble as a kid. That thought. He was, you know, the best thing smoking This man told me

you're not gonna play tailbacker. You're gonna play fullback. And so I had a decision to make at that time, the first time I've ever been told no that I can't play the position I want to, I said, Man, I actually thought about not playing football. I thought about just saying, man, I'm gonna play baseball and basketball. Went home, had a conversation with my mom. She said, you're not You're not quitting football. She said, you're the one that's

been since you were six. You said, this is what you love to do, and you want to go to the NFL. So you're not quitting. You're gonna stick it out and you're gonna play the position that man's asking you to play. I said, yes, ma'am. You know. So for the next two years, guys, my sophomore in junior year, I played fullback an outside line backer. I was blocking for like these little scat backs, like guys look like spros. Right, Look he's so hot, saying scat back. He said, sat back.

But that ain't really what he said, Yeah, man, it was. It was rough. And then my senior year coach called me in the office the summer my senior year and he said, son, you have done everything that we asked you to do over these last two years. He says, your show. Now. He said, you're gonna be the running back. And from there, man, I took off first game six touchdowns, you know, at the end of the year yards thirty

nine touchdowns and the rest is history. Wow. So tell us about your very unique senior year, though it's for home front. Yeah. So, uh, you know my mom, as you guys probably know now, she has she has in tendencee of moving around a little bit. So right before my senior year, my mom comes and says, hey, we're gonna we're gonna move to Dallas. There's an opportunity, you know, for my stepdad to go up there and work. We're

gonna leave Waco. And I had a conversation. Now I'm seventeen at that time, I had a conversation with my mom. I said, Mom, listen, I said, if I go to Dallas now, I have no chance of getting a scholarship, no chance. I hadn't been offered at that point going into my senior I had no offers, no schools really talking to me, right. And so I told her, I said, if you take me out now, I said, I'm not I'm not going to college, I won't have a chance,

and she trusted me. She left, she moved to Dallas and she left me and I stayed with a family friend. And after that first game, I told y'all, I scored six touchdowns. TCU came that next week and offered me a full scholarship. Wow. Yeah, that's and that's when everything kind of started, you know, it started to take off in terms of recruiting. How did you ended up picking TCU because there had to be some other schools in the mix with what made you see like you as

a college you want to put them on a map? Yeah, man, I just felt sense a loyalty to them. You know, they were the first team. I felt like that really believed in my talent. First team of offer this scholarship first want to show up in my school like hey kid, we want you. And then I just felt like I wanted to play early. I wanted to play my freshman year. I didn't want to go on red shirt. And so TCU were telling me you're gonna play like you you're

good enough. You're gonna come in here and you're gonna play day one. And you know, all these schools they tell you. Oh, yeah, you're gonna be able to play. You're gonna have a chance to play. But you know, a lot of times they're lying for some reason. I believe I believe tc you know, I believe them, and but you know, it came true. I played in every single game from the time my first my first year, my freshman year, first game I rolled out there, I played,

you know, and so it worked out. I felt like that was the perfect place for me. Also, I was still close to my mom. Remember I said, my mom moved to the Dallas TCU was in Fort Worth, so that was like a twenty minute drive over to my mom's house. So I can still go to family dinners, you know, my mom go over there and watch clothes and and my mom can come to all my games and stuff. It just felt like the right place for me. I think it's about that time. Just take a little breather,

good good, getting down to do it. 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 fourth shot. But yeah, you can go on, buy you a T shirt, Subscribe to us where if you

listen to podcasts, I'm gonna ask this question. I know there, I think I know the response that I get, but I have to ask in this way because it's also you're from the Big Three and that Big three, and and for those who don't know what the Big Three is, some of the most decorated, some of the most consistent, some of the superstars you see today in the league in Hall of Fame are from the Big Three and

the Big Three. In this ranking order, California's number one, Texas show asked, and number three is North Carolina and North Carolina. Listen, North Carolina aiming on the barbecue top three anyway, Carolina, obviously you're going to TCU. However you put yourself on the map. I really remember we're from the same draft class. I remember we played in the Shrine game together. Well I played mostly he did not. He he just kind of showed up. He was there.

I don't remember if we know I played, I played a scene, I played in the senior ball you played in. So we were at some events together our senior year. I think it was, yeah, I think that was was that the premier It might have been the College award. It was the college award deal. And I just all the scouts like being all over him, and and I was, you know, I was just a you know, frail little thing from uh from Utah. And I just remember sitting back going, I wonder what it's like, What did I

do to you? I didn't do anything. I just more I was just like, I wonder what it's like to be those guys right now. That was my first time really getting attention, you know, because my senior year, I was up for the Hysmanously Steve and I were playing in the same division, but we didn't get a lot of attention in our division. And the only reason why I got attention because I was up with the hisman.

And but but if you remember Steve, before the season, they had me projected as as like a third round running back. They had Duced McCallister in front of me, Lamont Jordan in front of me, They had Travis Henry in front of me. They had all these guys in front of me. Anthony Thomas had a train. I had to I had to, just like you, I had to kind of grind it out and improve to him that I was the best. Yeah, you did, and you proved to them. However, I also looking on the outside in,

it looked like it was a hell of a rhyme. Right, I can't complain about it. You got more free stuff from the outside looking in, watching the guy in the green room going to New York, watching that you get the call and everybody crying. You know, is that just TV magic? Are we getting the best moment of when you got drafted? Because there is a process from when you play your last game in college until the moment you you were drafted. There's a ton of stuff that

goes on that don't make the cameras. Yeah, I felt disrespected the whole time, to be honest with you, and it started. It started at the Heisman, and man, these things put chips on your shoulder that you never forget. So at the Heisman it was myself, was Chris Winky Florida State, Josh Hypel Oklahoma, and Drew Brees perduced all quarterbacks and myself. The one thing I remember is being basically shunned down and kind of Lee Corso. I remember we were on the elevator. Lee Corso gets on and

he talked. He says high to all the quarterbacks didn't say nothing to me. You know, it was just like who is this dude? You know that it started with that, like I just felt disrespected at the hidsman and then you carry that over too to combine. I remember getting on the plane and I was with the Cowboy coaches. The Cowboy coaches, we were on the same flight, and one of the coaches walked up to me and he said, hey, t you, you know, the only question you need to

answer is how fast are you? You know, we we we think you can be a pretty good running back, but we want to know how fast are you think you're gonna run? At least the four five? And I was like, oh yeah, I run, I run below fourth. Uh. And so you know, those questions were they were constant to me, you know, like being disrespected, people feeling like this guy don't belong here, you know. And so that

whole time I thought about those things. I thought about even even to the point, guys on draft day, if you go back and look at it, when they call my name with the fifth overall pick, who did they put the camera on David Terrell from Michigan. They put the camera on David Turelle they thought I was him, So you know, man, but you you just remember disrespect like that, and and you know that's that's why you have the chip on your shoulder. And it drove me

for a long time. We're hearing you say this, people would easily assume that I would say, and they go, okay, well, of course we're here from Steve. But these are the stories you're chippiness, your um, how angry you are, you feel disrespected? You just don't wake up feeling that way. There is it builds over time. And the reason I say it is you sitting there on the elevator at the Heisman and Lee Corso not speaking to you, and Lee can easily say, well, I didn't know what how overlooked?

How can you say that, fool? You are in college football, you do announcing, and there's only a handful of us that and we're only here for the Heisman and only the people, and I'm the only non quarterback and you know they got my mug on the Pathlet be at least right. He had to prep for this event that he was paid to be at. And so people sometimes will not acknowledge or they don't even know that all of this off has happened prior to you getting drafted.

All this stuff has happened like you. It's funny, you say, David Terrell. I have a David Terrell story for you that's funnier. I go to Dick Gerond was the head coach for a short period time Chicago Bears. Do you know on my trip to the Chicago Bears, did you know I wasn't even allowed to really meet with all the coaching staff because I wasn't considered a legitimate wide receiver. They flew my black ass to Chicago to talk to me about potentially drafting me, but not not as a

wide receiver. They had the I had. So who guess who was the assistant wide receiver coach who was in charge kind of walking me around Chicago, which was Todd Haley. He had just got the assistant job because he was another assistant with the Dallas Cowboys. So the real or the the the coach for the wide receivers wasn't even in town. How are you gonna have a potential recruit? And I didn't even get to position his possession? Coach ain't But you know who they drafted though? Yep, they

drafted David Terrell with the Chicago best. That's why all the motherfuckers got uh that's why all sunk in two years. Screwed that one up, screwed it up. I killed him. I had like foecasting for ninety six yards. I hit him for a slant from like ninety five yards. Second player the game till this day, Todd Haley has told me if they would have drafted met in the third rounders wide receiver, they will still have a job in Chicago. So he stay, I got the ass all fire. I

think the thing did for me. Then you know you appreciate more, you know what I mean, like the certain things that you like, Steve, Like your first Pro Bowl? How much did you appreciate that? You know, Like, I know, like my first Pro Bowl man being there, like Jerry Rice and Dreams Saying and all these guys, it just made it more sweeter, Like, yeah, y'all thought I wasn't good enough, but look at me now I'm at the Pro Bowl and so I'm fair to live it up.

I'm in Hawaii, you know, like it just made it so much sweeter. I'm sure it was the same for you, Steve, it did, I mean it's it's one of the it's one of the cool stories out did that. It's because I went to the Pro Bowl a few times. My son, Peyton Um. You know, Troy Palomo is a great dude, right, And Troy would play He didn't have kids at the time, so he would play with all the little kids on the beach playing football. But Troy had such a he

was so unique. Troy hit the it's not out of me one time and I got up and I was hot. He goes many Steve. You know, Troy had a soft spoken voice. They stay, how does Peyton? And I looked at him. I wanted to like, excuse me, but he was so sucere. He was like man's patent and it's it changed. And I was like, he's doing good. I don't even know why the hell. I answered in a nice he's doing good, man, thanks for asking. But but it was so cool because that's who he was. Right.

But I would have never got the opportunity to know about Troy Polamalu and how he was outside of it because of that uniqueness of going to the Pro Bowl, right, I mean, my rookie I went to the Pro Bowl two thousand one, and I got to you know, I got to see Ray Lewis, I got to see Rob Woodson.

But the cool thing is I also got to see uh, one of my childhood idols when I was in college, Jermaine Lewis for the Baltimore Ravens, a pump returner man and that what was called he was cold man, and so got to got to see him, Shannon Sharp and all these people that now I know. But when you're growing up and you're trying to and you're trying to live it, man, you sell yourself so short because you've been so short so much that there's times that you

subconsciously believe it. You know, Man, I've been wanting to ask you this forever. Bro explain the touchdown celebration. How did you come up with that? And what was it? Yeah? It was basically a finger roll. And so basketball was my second favorite sport. You know. I love to play basketball even still to this day. Um, And when you think about the guys, the first drill you learn in basketball, the first shot is a layup. You learn how to do a layup. It's the easiest drill. Is the first

basic fundamental you learning basketball. And so when you start to get good at the lay up, what do you do you start the finger roll? Do you get a little bit fancy? So in essence, every time I scored, now I only did this standing up. So if you notice only finger roll, then when I went in standing up. So basically I was saying as easy as a finger roll. I always described it like a play is a painting. Each play, you know you basically you know, you create,

you create this this great painting during the play. If it results in a touchdown, then who has to sign the painting? The of course I do. And so that's how I used to sign my painting at the end of a touchdown. Figure Row you played with JR. Saying for a couple of seasons, you know, I know how how much you love Junior and talked about him, but what was what was that experience to have him as a teammate and it's being such a young player, uh yourself, man,

it was the best thing for me JR. I mean, you know, I was able to come into a locker room with no pressure, like no pressure really having to lead in terms of communication or anything like that. I can just sit there and watch this all pro, all world guy who was a superstar on and off the field. And so that's what I did, honestly, for that first year, I just watched Junior a lot. You know, I would I would ask him so many questions. I know he thought at the time, like, man, this kid is all

on me. Won't he just stop asking me stuff? But he was. He was the open book, you know I were. Remember he used to get in the cold tub every single day. And you know, coming out of college, you don't know. I didn't know about the cold tub. At least I don't know if you did, Steve, coming out of college, you didn't have no cold Yeah, yeah, we didn't either, So I didn't know about no cold tub. I I asked him one time, I said, why do you why do you get in the cold tub every day?

He said, this is rejuvenate my legs, And he broke it down to me, how what it does for you? From that from that day, for when he told me that I was getting to the cold tub every single day too, I asked him, um, who does his massages? You know, everything that I can think of. I even

asked him, worshould I proposed to my wife? You know, he was one of a kind, and I learned so much that I think probably one of the most important things is when you become the face of a franchise is how to deal with all that stuff, how to deal with the media, how to deal with your teammates, how to deal with being the you know, the in the public eye and the community, all that kind of stuff. And when I became the franchise, the face of the franchise,

I learned it from Junior. Everything that I did I kind of got from Junior because I was able to see him and go through. So this last segment is called the Deep three LT and so basically the whole point of this is to go, like we've said before, to go beyond who you were on the field. Steve, why don't you hit him with the first question? My first one. We're here in North Carolina, been here almost twenty years now, and there's someone that lives here, UM

that you're very familiar with, Marty Schottenheimer. What does Marty Schottenheimer meant to you on the personal level? Man? Marty was Marty was one of a kind man. And the relationship that um he and I had um was was beyond the football field and went beyond the football field. He was more like a father figure for myself. Man, and and and and cut to it. Honestly, man, it's I work with you and you know we're from the two thousand one draft class. But um, from Afar, I've

always uh admired you. Um you know we we we're co workers, were friends, classmates. UM, but I've always admired everything about you. Um you know how you conduct your app manure that I feel the same way, brother, and I appreciate you all having me on. Um. He was driving, he was not able. We were not able to get a clear connection, so we weren't able to do the dep three. Um. However, he did promise to come back on the show, and so we might do Deep six

or Deep ten whatever. Um, you know, maybe we can guilt him into giving us some more great stories. His storytelling was unbelievable. That's the that's the biggest one. Yeah. So, I mean just just down to how he could remember, you know, what is what his dad was doing, what his mom said to him, and even how it smelled, the smell of the grass, how what what fall reminds him of what smell takes you back somewhere. This is

probably a funny, funny response. But um, I've been married to my my lovely wife, my better half, almost twenty years, and in every relationship there are some things that are kind of you know, you try to avoid. And what's interesting is, um, my wife loved pork chops. Bro, I hated pork chops, don't I know? But I ate work for like four years. One day we're in the grocery store, me and my wife, and she was getting some pork chops. I said, babe, she said, yeah, I soun don't really

like pork jobs. She said, why didn't you tell me? I was like, because you like them, Bro, I hate pork chops. I've always hated pork chops. And why do I hate pork chops? It takes me back. But here's here's the part of you know, this is child abuse now. But my mom would not allowed me to get up from the table until I ate the liver, and so how as here's the child abuse. So I I smelled

and I was like, this is not pork chops. She said, shut up, boy, your food and so I wasn't eating it, and so she said, you ain't getting from the table until you eat. So my stubborn self. Now my brother Ray, My brother Ray, he snuck down and through the pork chops at the bottom of the trash like he ug up the trash throw them in there. I ain't doing that because well not, I just wasn't if I get caught, I wasn't eating. So I moved a plate and I fell asleep on the dinner table. Do you know how

my mama woke me up with the next morning? No, she woked me up by mid sleep. I was drooling on the table and everything. I was in full sleep mode. She woke me up by slapping me in the back of the head and told me to go to bed. Bro that hurt my feelings, don't But I ain't no damn port and I don't eat por chops. To this day, I have not touched a chop or pork in a

long time. We all have things when we're a little kid that it resonates with us, and I think sometimes till the day we die, because it is whether I don't want to use her, traumatized or whatever it is wound, it is embedded than us. And for me, I don't like portos and it's something silly to wear even in my rage. I was tiptoeing around it in the pork

chops section, going, how do I say, only like pork chops? Bro, I struggle eating them pork chops for four years, and then she's like being a good husband instead, right, And but here's the crazy part. She would make pork chops. And then when I when I was playing, she would only make pork chops when I was away, when I was traveling because with DA's leaving, so we'll have pork chops. And I mean we don't. You know, I don't really

eat a lot of pork. I tried not to. I was raised kind of after that, kind of that time. You know, we didn't really eat a lot of pork because I mean it just go look up a pig. A pig does not uh, it doesn't sweat, has no sweat glands. So everything it eats, it lays in. The toxics is in its in the meat. So that's why pork because of that. So yeah, but it may sound silly, and like your smell that takes you back is pork jobs. That's you know what, And I'm forty one years old.

You put an I don't sounds I'm good smid My Brother, No Thanks. Cut to It with Steve 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 and booking manager Joe Fusci,

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