MARCUS SPEARS PART 1

a little swag on him from bad and Rouge. Louisiana went to uh Louisiana State University also known as l s U and a former defensive end Baltimore Raven and what it really loves to claim that star Dallas Cowboy. Welcome to the cut to a podcast. Marcus spears, what's some fella listens what and I'm impressed by yo Louisiana accent. That was that was? That was dope. Hey, when you run through it, when you run through a team twice a year every year for thirteen years, you gotta pick

up something. It was it was no limit ish. Yeah, we're doing this today? Is I gonna do it today? And it was facts. Was there was there a cap? I ain't got nothing to do with that. I ain't never played for the same. Okay, we'll put your mc hammerglasses back on. How about that it's got a glare. I don't I don't have to put ant on my glass. Year. Listen, we were about to start off. We like to start

off with some little ice breakers. Now I have to tell you your team sent uh, some dough some some dudes, and don't what they said. So here's what they said. They sent no political questions. So who did you vote for? Um? The insurrection? Are you against it? A ford? Uh? They listen to see sense of things that. I'm like, I'm not gonna ask him that. Who did you vote for? Were you on so secure? Were you? Were you on

us section eight? As a kid? I mean it was just it was mad at me all the time, because you know, I don't give a damn Steve. Her job is to protect me. My job is to do something. So she has to do um to justify justify that check. That's what you're saying. Huh. But I wasn't gonna ask who you vote for? I know better than that. Hey man, Listen, I don't give us. Bro let me not y'all gonna give me texts about thirty seconds. Here's the Here are the things that we don't we don't want to ask.

Like there's one that we were gonna ask that we can't even ask even because I'm scared they're not gonna add it out. They had to do with somebody. No, I can't Okay, people would not like me to ask you that. All right, all right, all right, all right, all right, I knew this was yes, I knew this was coming. I know you didn't I didn't know. Yeah,

I'm not gonna ask you. First of all, there's so many I would love to do a podcast were like ten or fifteen active or retire guys and just ask questions that we know darn well we can't answer, but just to ask, like why, just why you why? Not even not even an answer, I don't even even answer, just the question of why, just to get the reaction. Why did you think that was appropriate? Yeah? Like we at what point did you think that was appropriate? See?

That's the thing. That's the things man Like people get piste off because I'll be saying what I mean, bro, and I really don't think about repercussions. I'm right there with you, and it is what it is sometimes, bro Like something I realized that I worked for a company I understand to that six years in and I just realized that, yeah, you represent it's a while too. It's a metal while, to be honest with you. But but but also, man, I've become more censored in my age

because of my kids and my wife. Like that's why I have I've become a little bit more sensitive to things that I say, let's let's jump right into and instead of you know, we usually do icebreakers, but that that ice the one of the icebreakers was funny because we're not gonna we don't really care what your political views are because, let's be honest, a color of our skin.

People don't really care what we think anyway, as long as we pair our taxes and catch and jump and tackle and and and do the things that is supposed to do on the field. And if we don't do it on the field, they're gonna they're gonna call us, uh, the hard art anyway and keep it moving. So so

let's experience. But it is true. Let me let me ask you, what have you learned as an analyst that you wished you knew as a player that could benefit your benefit you as a player today, as a player today, Like if you can, if you know what you know now, you get to go back in time to benefit you because I I have some things and I'll let you

go first. That I'm realizing that it's some whoppers. Boy, I'm talking about whoppers, some like mythical stories that I'm just I'll just be I'm just be fuddled, honestly, demand the truth from people in authority position. Um, don't be fearful of losing a job or rub that folks the wrong way. The truth that r that's some pause, Okay, don't rub people the wrong way. Pause. Um, it's some folks in trouble. Don't worry about that. Get the truth. I know, I know, I gotta realize that. I I'll

tell you. I'm I'm still feeling my way through where I'm at right now because I know you can't feel you Listen, I'm gonna hang this damn phone, don't get oh see, look at you now, you've been asthley. You're mad at me for your words anything, I'm gonna get mad at you. You know me way better than that. No, man like, honestly, that's it. That's it, bro. I used to try to um just facilitate the easier versation. Sometimes they need to be hard, sometimes they need to be difficult.

Sometimes they pause, sometimes they need to be Um. You you gotta, you gotta just you gotta get to the to the bottom of it instead of saying, you know what, this person writes my check. But you gotta have the conversations and you can't. You can't subject yourself to you can get fired anyway. They're gonna. I've I've always jeez

heard me say this, You're gonna get fired. The question is when you're sitting alone after you're fired, you have the question of and the answer, and your body of work is the answer because I've heard guys say it, you're gonna get fired. So you can't either get fired doing it jee way, or you can get fired and then wish you would have said something or done some things, a non regrettable way of living, but not yoloing right,

not not not risking everything. Yeah, but but there's the question is right and not trying to question individuals men or women. Do you really know your authentic self? Because I know my authentic self. However, I would go back and maybe tweak how I articulated my authentic self, maybe taking maybe taken away, maybe taking away a few cuss words here and there. And if you backhands shining, I think as long as you can look at it in and will you slap somebody though that that's more than hindsight.

That's just a little bit of regret. I'm just being honest out a back hand if you brother time, but I wish everybody didn't go to the to the to the lengths that you win. I understand, I understand, but you know what I'm saying, like, but you acknowledge it. That's that's so, that's the that's yes. But I mean it wasn't technically unsolicitedy they asked I gave, so I thought it was Christmas. You know sometimes it's Christmas. Shall receive that cup back canneth over, man, I feel you, bro.

I just think a lot of times, man, where we at and honestly like, for as much as I like speak out about stuff, also be trying to meet people where they are, like that's that's a big part of it because you realize, like as a man sitting here with a fifteen and thirteen, and the nine year old obviously wouldn't do the same things I did when I

was twenty four. Hop yeah, right, hope not because you do got something I trying to steal a um, but but yeah, man, I just think I think if anything, and and to your points to me, I like what you said not regrettable because that's where you were at that time, But you also need to be mature enough and smart enough to have a different perspective years later and say, you know what, I should have did that different or if I would have been where I am now,

I would have handled that differently. The one thing I tell people, man, I'm not going to compromise on truth to me, like, you're not gonna get me in the room and get me to say something about Smitty and then go in another room and have a different story. If you're my guy, you my guy in the White House, you my guy in your house, you're my guy, and I'm around some people you don't like you know what

I'm saying. So I think that's you know, for me, that's probably to get back to the question you asked, I would probably just have really more conversations that that aired on the side of edgy and hoping that the person that I'm talking to realize where I'm coming from, as opposed to getting emotional about it and saying, well, I can't deal with this, dude. Yeah, yeah, the emotional the emotional part of us as athletes becomes lazy. And

I believe that's where the confrontation comes. And that's where I have to I have to use my own internal measuring stick of myself to say, am I being emotionally lazy and allowing someone to kind of get under my skin? And then I go I go in on them, and then I make it personal, and and and and then you happen to do it on television, and then it becomes it becomes you're racist or you have and I and I and I find it interested in us doing television.

The Young Cats calls lazy the Young Cats talking about shade. First of all, Young Punk, you gotta understand that the oak tree we are playing, you know, double digit years in the league, that has to have some good deep roots. You used talking about we're throwing shade. You forget, well, this oak tree is allowing you to be under this shade. We're watching film to knowing and and build our opinion about your game. Now, I tried not to do with some of the other guys, and I experienced, well, you

can't depend on the thirty seven year old. Well, if that thirty seven year old is really really good, that's h that that's the that's the young boy's fault. Yes, it's production and his fault. That guy gave him something a thirty seven that he didn't give some of these twenty seven year olds. Right, However, right, I look at the A. J. Brown thing right now, he keeps constantly going against the Tennessee Titan fans and just come out saying Tyreek Hill, Cheetah, come out. It ain't no way.

I don't know to h I'm gonna just be honest. There's nothing about two A currently right now that I've that has brought me to to the conclusion to go watch how accurate, inaccurate, how good? How bad? Two is? Two is? Two is like that. They're not a sponsor, so I can said to us, like Arby's right, you don't really know if Arby's has a, I don't have a has a. Good men you're bad because I just don't look at Arby's as a destination for me. Yeah, that's not the way you stop them go but them

curly fries, fire as hell facts, now some good sandwiches. Really, I just ye, you just we ain't going there first too, they're not on there. And so two is coach McDaniels looking forward to what he's gonna do, interested to see Cheetah. Is Mike Kasecki gonna continue to dominate because he didn't look dominant coming out in his rookie year under a uh them gaze. However a lot of people did I understand. I know, but I just got to show him that

my my, my football accurate. But too is not this player that I'm going And I wonder if he's accurate or not. You know how, you know how when you was you know how, you was in school and used to get your report card and you were scared because it's aid n A and then you had all the other grades. You thought the NA meant fl You thought it meant that because we was dumb, We was young, numb, and we was like, if the teacher don't give us a grade, we must be failing. Um, that's tour to me,

Like I'm not gonna get it. Excited about man Tyrek the practice with tour for six minutes, like to draw these conclusions and put it out there in the public forum. I hope his mentality is big enup my teammate and trying to build some confidence. He's trying to build some confidence. He's also trying to build up a podcast. He's also

trying to do this. He's trying to do. But one of the things that I heard that was extremely interesting to me, and I've been holding this too, is people are talking about his Hall of Fame legacy because of how early, how much success he had and now that the I would say, the sour taste of leaving a good team for more money, but then all of a sudden coming out and then finding out which I already

knew that the Chiefs actually offered him more money. However they the the way it was structured was a little bit different for a guy who's in his late twenties. And I'll just say this constructively. I like Cheetah. I think he's a fantastic football player. However, when I look at his game, he doesn't have the pH D and route running. Yeah, he runs a lot of uh, he runs a lot of crayon routes, be fast. What do I mean by that? It shot threw that up there

hoping you dunk it. I love you when you could dunk g um. I'm not That's what I'm here. What I mean by creon routes says they, you know, a real route runner can connect the dotss angle science, you know, science mathematics, being able to run the post corner and

and stop on a dime and get you change. Cheetah stop on Cheeta will stop on several domes, but it may not be a change and maybe a dollar just because he and he doesn't catch the ball when you talk about Hall of Fame, he doesn't catch the ball in the in the way of a receiver that's on his way to the Hall of Fame like a life fish geral. He has amazing runs, he does not have amazing catches. Well, let me tell you this, bro, you

can speak to that. As far as Hall of Fame, the way my NFL career countless set up, I ain't really I don't really know about all that. No, I just I just mean this is if I want to hear somebody critique it is you. I just I'm not. I'm not on him. I'm not. He's a hell of a player, but to move on for a couple of millions, millions of dollars when you're at a place where playing in Kansas City actually long term you can make more money because I don't see Miami planning deep into January February.

Good point, right, he is on South Beach though, Yeah, that's not that's not that's not like, get rid of that. It's cold as hell and can't see that. Listen, man, but you know, you know it's not cold. You know it's not. It's always a good temperature. And now on who you are, you might have a checking in the savings and days it might. It just kind of depends. Now I'll tell I'll tell him. I want them to cash and then deposit. Mind. I don't don't put no

hole on my money. It's mine. 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, Smithy 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 Singer, 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 Like, I understand what you're saying, Smithy about Tyrek. Um, I think too, man. Like the one thing about when you went let's say, when you went to the raven right, because he was a free agent. Though, that's what I'm saying. You went to the Ravens, but but you balled. Yeah, Like that's really what it boiled down to. Tarik will be fine, probably getting in the

Hall of Fame if he go do his thing. What you don't want the conversation to become just thinking everything around you was the reason you was like you were. That's and that's what I'm trying to say a little bit, right. I don't think everything around him, However, I think I do believe he grew because of everything around him. He was successful, successful because of everything around it. Because when you have bad quarterback play, bad bad quarterback play, it's

like a bad circuit breaker. You can have you can have the top of the line RENEI tankless water heater, the best of the best air condition. But if you got a circuit breaker that's built in the nineteen eighties, this this new technology is pop pop. It's just not gonna work. It's gonna work just for a little bit. And then so does it get too hot like it

is right now? Right now you got the house fan going, but it's pointing outside the window because you're trying to get the hot air out, or you got the house fan with the bowl of water underneath. That's say they're supposed to who being polled before. But here's the problem I have. It never worked. It was still hot air like it's sticking to the plastic. Stop moving, and then your grandma still make you sleep with that hot that's comforted on her bid. Grandma weighed it weighed like forty pounds.

Was the regular house, grandma? Why they was never hot or they had they had great they had great conditions. Here's what the elements. Here's what I learned as an adult. Here's what I learned as adult. They was hot. They just they were not going to turn down. Pride was not gonna let you. You're not gonna see me sweat and why and why is that? First? I want to say, get wins. Why is she not? Why was she not gonna do it? You ain't about to drive up mom?

That was late man, Exactly. It was so many things on the list. I my wife grew up with a grandparents, bro, and I was I was in She from Detroit, and I was in Detroit, man at a football camp. And that was the first opportunity that I had to meet her grandmother and grandfather. And we she lived, you know, grew up a rough area whatever. So we went to the house Smithy. I walked in. It was a hundred and fifty degree and I told I told, I told my wife at the time, girlfriend, I said, I can't

stay here alone. I was like, I can't stay here alone. I was like, we either got to go sit on the porch, and I can't. When it's cooler outside, you would rather sit under the shade tree, light up a black mouth. And I'm sitting at the dining table talking to her grand I am like, bro, like I'm playing in Miami at one pm on Sunday in August and I'm looking They're looking at me like something wrong, Like something wrong with you? Something wrong with me grandmother probably

like she's gonna marry this horrible sweat glands. I was almost broke up with him. I'll tell you, I'll tell you a bad I'll tell you a quick bad story and then we'll get into it. Um. Well, the first time I took my parents, my uh my kids to my grand grandma and grandpa house. Right, And this was like two thousand and thirteen, like right after the Super Bowl show. You know, we're living were living high the hog right. Bailey, my daughter, she's uh what I was.

Bailey baby was like two or three. Peyton was seven or eight, right, I'm but I remember. And we went over there and had to use uh, I had to use the bathroom. And my wife we had been married like to two years, two or three years, four years, and she had been over there, but it was all in passing. It was never like at a long period of time to where she had to use the bathroom. Oh. Man, one of the kids had to use the bathroom. And they went to the bathroom. My wife came back said, uh,

I flushed the doll. I said, oh, let me come show you. No, No, this is when we you where you wash your hands or there was a leaky falls and underneath had the bucket and had to rinse it and uh oh. I looked at me and she was I was like, yeah, so to me. About three months later, we're in the car and Peyton, who's brilliant, my oldest, he's super duper smart, Um says Daddy, this looks like grandma's house. I said, what do you mean. He says,

look like but we're watching TV. We're watching national geographics, We're watching something that's shows like kind of a third third World country shanties. He goes, yeah, grandma, your grandma's house looked like shanty. I looked at him and I said, yep, that's how Daddy left. I said, if you don't go to school, that's how you're gonna. But it was just the connecting of the dots, right, the idea. They had

no idea. Remember the TV and you got you gotta you gotta change the channel on the floor model TV with the plyers because you lost the cap off the and we didn't have that. We didn't Our TV wasn't that big. We had a smaller TV on the on top of the floor. Oh yeah, that's when you upgrade. That was then for as much as for as much as like being poor. Like when you get older, you you look into it. Man, I had fun. You had so much fun when we were broken. Yeah, Rich ain't

all that fun all the time. I disagree, and I ain't that. I ain't smith. You know, I'm not gonna I'm not gonna ever tell anybody like I love I love the conveniences. Yeah, I agree, right, but but I do disagree. Rich different riches compared to being poor. Oh yeah, well, I mean in context, I'm talking about full contact. I'm talking about full contact and like I had to watch my clothes. It's just a lot of little things. I saw my I saw my family every day. We was tight.

Like now I gotta fly people in and they expect me to like. So that's that's kind of stuff I'm talking about. You. I don't want to be far enough though. See me for being California living North Carolina. That was serious. They don't want to get on that. All right. Let's get into it, man, we we talked ball. Let's get into it. Man. Where are you from the place you

call your hometown from? Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Man South bed Rouge grew up born and raised UM raised in a single parent I was hold with my mom, but my dad was very involved, not the not the old conventional dad. They wasn't nowhere around. My pops played a big role in my life, especially when it kind of sports man. He kind of you know, he was that he was that authority figured but also like the teacher. UM. And my mom was the nurturer obviously, and and I lived

with her all the way up until eighth grade. Ninth grade, I moved with my dad. My mom felt like you need a male presents day and day out in your life. Moved with him. Went to high school. UM had went to Southern University Lab School, so I grew up on the hbc U campus. UM so that I was almost

like in a Richmond program in high school. Well, well, now it was so liaboratory schools is high schools that a lot of the teachers that graduate from that particular college, they'll come and do their teaching like to get in and then I mean you got veteran teachers as well. But but it's it's a part of the university system of Southern University. And UM it was a great experience. Uh.

Predominantly like nine point nine percent black. We had one white dude that na't Christopher Osencoff, who was exchange to that became our kicker, and he was phenomenal. I think it kicked like on the year from I think from Russia. I think it was from Russia. Um culture shot coach. Hey, I'm gonna tell you what else black women look like that? But he found out. He found out quick like you know,

he went from Cappuccino. Then it's funny. It's funny man because because we keep it touch me and Chris Keven touch over Facebook. Um. But anyway, yeah, he went back, Um married, I think he got one or two kids. Um, but we keep it in passing. Man. Huh did he marry sister? I don't think so, but I'm sure if he would have stayed here, you just you probably well. But now, man, Um, it was a great experience road

because I got both sides. And then when I went to college, obviously L s U being predominantly white and a funny story man, like growing up in bad Ruge, where I was from, I didn't I never have been on l s U campus and it was literally ten fifteen minutes away from where I grew up. But that was such a far like I thought that you could even go there, um because I not understanding the concept of football and recruiting and all of that stuff. But man at Ruge was good to me. Man Um, I

learned a lot growing up in the South. You know, you experienced the unfortunately ugly face the racism at times, but for the most part, man I had a great time um and and and to just learned a lot of lessons on how to like navigate through through different situations. Grew up in a like a family that you know, cousins and uncles and in and out of prison. Some did very well, uh, taking care of their family. So

I saw, I saw it all. But ultimately, bro like growing up in Baton Rouge, you get you get this idea that you want to become a big fish in that little pond, and you like, all right, let me let me it's two things you usually do. You usually go work at the chemical playing the next on and you worked there for the next thirty five for the years you retire, and then that generation and cycle continues. A lot of really good athletes come out of Louisiana.

So football is always something that's you know, big and getting getting us opportunities to go outside of the city. So for me, that's what I saw um and I I wanted to I wanted to play ball. I grew up doing it. My sister is actually my sports hero. She was a hooper, one of the top female basketball players in the country. So she motivated me a lot to play basket sports. What what what position did you

play in basketball as a young fella? Because you're, as we call you, big boneded Now I've been bon I know the three. I was young, I was young, I was young Barkley. Oh, okay, slew foot in Barkley or good foot in Barkley. I just don't don't get on the acting right now. No, I've heard you. The reason I asked this question is because when I go back at my memory, brank of the truth. I was a terrible basketball player, right aggressive you found too much. Actually,

I grew up in that showtime. So I storing a hundred mile hour passage. I'm trying to damn take something over that r I'm over there, no look right in the face. So I was the just messing up. I'm just trying to I'm trying to the combination of love. John Stockton, but idolize Magic Johnson. But the Clippers was my team and they sucked, So I was confused. I was confused. My whole basketball ideology was as backwards as you would say. I just didn't have man Annoy Benjamin

Danny Manny Showtime and John Stockton just confused. Hit the wrong. You wouldn't even looking at the right place. You wouldn't even looking at the right trying to hook I try to get No, don't, don't slight me. I was about problem. I was about five five and had a gross spurt to five nine. I was it. I got there. You probably should have been looking at John Sto. That's what I was right. Even got we posted on social media my muggy bowl had a muggall. You ain't had on malone.

That was a problem. I really don't like the blame. You ain't hand on malone, not alone. You don't went to the league. Listen, even if I had him alone, the way I was past the ball, Hell, he wasn't gonna catch it anyway I was. I was out there throwing. He said, I was out there throwing my homes. Yeah, you didn't go to You didn't go to football coach. The basketball coach said, you ain't make it. No you get you didn't get some of that aggressive this out

of you football. It worked out a little bit. Cut away, cut, let's getting down to do. Hey Gerard, why did you get that T shirt? You mean this thing? Oh? Yes, I got it from Cut to a podcast dot com where we have a school usive 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. Hey Marcus, With all those things that you mentioned before of growing up in the South, and you know, all the things that you learned, what was difficult, and then the things that you love. Of all those things, what are you most proud of growing up in the South? Um? My family, man, like I think you know, as the narratives pissed me off a lot because, like I said about my mom and

dad divorced but very active. Um, all my all my knowledge and wisdom comes from my grandmother and my uncle's even the ones that that didn't do the right thing all the time looking out community. Um, you know me and I just I'm so proud of of like my parents experienced racism, they experienced m being marginalized and all that, but they never gave me that out. Like they never gave me that out like don't don't don't go into

light thinking that you're starting from behind. Um, don't don't have this anger or it's vendetta against people until you get to know their character, no matter if they're white or black. And um, I think that's what I'm most proud of, bro, because when I when I actually got into the real world as a young adult, I wasn't naive to the things that that that go on, but also was like, man, I'm gonna give every person grace until they showed me who they are. And I live

by that, like even til the day. I live by like, I'm not gonna I'm not prejudging anybody based on anything, but as soon as you show me who you are, I'm either fade away or we can rock or we just acquaintances and we run into each other once in a while. So I think the perspective that they gave me, man, just just not being and looked still explained to me difficulties and stuff that I was gonna have to face. I had to when the police pull you all we're talk I had the white people stare at you when

you in department stores. Um, you know, always be visible all of that. Like I was conscious of that. Um. Unfortunately I gotta teach my son that. But but ultimately, my parents never gave me an out. My grandmother, grandfather

never gave me an out. Um, my uncle's you know, even the ones that I talked to from prison, even the ones that we're doing well, never like, look, man, like, whatever you wanna get accomplished in this life, even though being black may make it a little bit more difficult or a lot more difficult, if you get after it,

you can get it done. Um. And that's why, man, I that's why, honestly, like what I'm doing now, I refused to be different than than the person that I've been before I've been on TV, and I think that's what I'm proud of. Bro. Every everybody that I talked to, all of my boys, all of my friends, UM, they talk about authenticity because they know me. They like, oh, you'd be saying the same thing when we're in the liberal room clicking out. And I just want to keep

that man. And I'm a rid it roder pause, I'm a ride away. What is something that you enjoy the most doing television right now? Um? Probably the dialogue between players, man um, even when it's not like even when you're going after each other, different opinions, like it's important, it's you know, fans sometimes don't really understand the different when people have various opinions. They think that it's a it's it's it's staged, or that you guys are have a

personal thing. It's the personal things on television is based off what is said privately and then it's switched up publicly. But that's what get that side or you know, you kind of look at your your teammate in a different light, right, I feel you on that man, because you're not name calling or or name dropping anybody. But it's there's so many production meetings, there's so many emails that go go on that people are asking us, what do you want

to talk about? How did what's your perspective? What's your point of view? And then you'll say, I'll give me. You know, at some point, I'm gonna have the Miami game and someone's gonna ask me, right, well, what do you think? What what was your performance to its performance. What did you think if he comes out of there and just throws for ten for twelve five yards. I'm no, I don't have an opinion because that's not that's not

that's not opinion worth. Like if you're telling me you're gonna take the first overall pick and he you limit his throws and he barely gets past a hun and you have all this firepower and these thorough breads out on the team. Offensively, defensively, you got offensive gurru and you're out here having pedestrian like passes. Yeah, I have no opinion. Yeah it's mean, I think too. Man like you, you bring up a good point, bro, an opinion, that's not bigging up or or praising the guy. Ain't hating.

I hate that so much now, man like, bro, listen, I get dudes like you know, first of all, you gain respect the players. It's different from me and you like. The reality is when you walk in facilities and teams, everybody know who you are, They know your body and work for me. I gotta like, I gotta my my honesty is gonna continue to have dudes respect me, right because you you look up, you look up stat lions or you say why this guy talking about a dude a bad and he only got ten sacks in his career.

And you know all of that stuff, bro, Like I didn't put it in way more than ten thousand hours of football film notes looking at it, and you also understand Like for you and and and and me and guys in media, bro, I think it's important not only for us to respect these young cats and what they're doing, because we know how difficult it is, even though it may not be as much as as difficult as it

was when we was playing. We get acknowledged that. But it don't need to be You don't need to be here not all great, right, Like, That's the only thing I struggle with is I'm very particular, and I will tell anybody I'm working with, don't say he's great. No, third fourth year in the league, he can't be great. So how do both for this question? For both of you?

Markets with your knowledge you know, playing on defensive, lind Steve with your knowledge playing receiver, and your overall like like you said, your overall knowledge of football, putting in more than ten thousand that was worth of work. How do you how do you balance when you are honest about a guy with bearing the line of and not that you care, but the flat being oh that type

like you literally just broke down tyreck Hills game. Whether it is his route running or whether it is the way that he catches the ball some woman here, I'm not saying this Tyreko someone. He may when we run this, he may reply. But here, but here's why though. When I look at his HIGHLIGHTSNSE it's on ESPNFL network, he's catching the ball with his chest right, he's hopping and and and the reason I know he's doing that. And sometimes I feel like you're uncomfortable catching ball in your hands,

because I've done it. There's times I've caught the ball in my chest because I've been uncomfortable. I've been unsure. I haven't got a lot of passes, and I know, okay, this is my We've had ten plays. Is the first or second pass thrown to me? If I trick this off, I may not get a pass again. So I gotta make sure. Or I've been sitting around, I'm so cold, I ain't really got I ain't got that yet, right, So whether that so, whether that criticism is constructive non

constructive for me? What do I do is one of the things I try to do is I'll drop a little nuggets in front of the wife and depending on how her face looks, let's me know that's a little bit too harsh, right, She'll be like right, And so I'll try to do that. Or I'll say something to my boys, what you think, dad, you being a hater? Because my boys are old enough as millennials they consumed it like, all Dad, you're a hater, right, And so

I would do that. The other part that I do is, and I'm not afraid, man, I've called Willie mac Willie McGuinness, Hey, man, what's the TV start? Explain this to me? Right? So

I've tried to. I am a wide receiver. But what I do not like my producer choosed to do, and they've gave me the autonomy not to is I've learned and I have information that helps me understand what the defenses are doing, what the linebackers are will Dog Blitz of Mike Blitz, uh, you know, Ricky, oh my hall, Lucy, all the different lingos that have changed that I'm on top of it. Pause to understand that I can understand.

So when I'm talking and watching the game, letting the game talk to me and let me create my opinion to where I know what's going on. But I also and I used the word humble, now, I humble myself because you're not in humbling myself. Meaning if I call someone that has played the defensive position that I don't, and I have to one, I have to give them the respect to say, hey, I don't know everything, so can you teach me. I've called Joe Thomas a few

times and what's what's a what's the wrong arm? Like when the defensive end ord tackle wrongs on when they do this t e stuff and they're wrong garm? What does that mean? Actually? Like they got two arms? What

do you mean they used the wrong arm? Well, he's like, oh, when you take on the block away, when you take on the block inside versus when you're supposed to keep the integrity of of the run stop of the outside, and so understanding that him and they're giving me that information and then me utilizing it and they're not taking and but also taking this opportunity now to say, hey, I've called other coworkers and they schooled me and helped me because I know I personally cannot sit on television

without the ten thousand square foot view from another defensive player, because I want to be so well rounded when I talk on television that I'm not talking out of my out of my butt, but I'm talking the same way, out of the knowledge of the game, because I'm the air Quotes Register resident expert, and so I don't want to be the resident wide receiver expert like Dan on what you guys, He's always talking about quarterbacks and I've called myself. I looked up there in stats, right, and

I'm one. But the other thing, even though Dan was not a bona fide stellar quarterback, he does also know how a quarterback should look, what the how the eyes of the quarterback should look, how is body should look. So I even watch other networks, not to steal, but to gain some knowledge to look at and go how

can I apply this? How is this applicable to advancing my knowledge of the game as an analyst versus me just saying that player can't play or he ain't no good right right, we can acknowledge like when somebody play bad, but we what we what we should stay away from, in my opinion, is making that they overall arching um dukie career or like you play pro football. The dudes

across the line of scrimmage are really really good. Not there are some guys who are Yeah, I mean, but you're gonna have bad outings because let's let's let's come on now, let's be on there. There are some guys who have been with the same coach or the specially coach because they trust them, because they got their back, that aren't the best of the best. There are some guys who are we know what we know, dudes slide through. But I'm just talking about overall in the National Football

League or the NBA. The dude that never played gonna get your thirty at the Rex stup, you know what I'm say, And he got crossed over by a few of those dudes in the rec center. So it's for me, it's context, man. I think what Smith just said. It is important man being being able to humble yourself. Um, my uncle Phield used to tell me literally, I got an uncle nay Field, Philip Spears, and my grandfather's brother.

You just tell me all the time, the smartest man in the world know what they don't know, like and you can't be you can't be um so immature and not to not acknowledge that you are a unique person. You are well worth it, you are competent, and most of all, your lovable. I'm Steve Smith singor I'm Little John and this is cut to It. Cut to It with Steve Smith Senior. That Is Me is a production of Cut to It LLC, Balto Creative Media, The Black

Effect and I Heart Radio. For more podcast from I Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows from Cut to It. Executive producer Steve Smith, singer co host Gerard Little John, talent in booking manager Joe Fusci, Social media team Wesley Robinson and John Show from Balto Creative Media. Cut to It is produced by Brian Balta Chevitch and Meredith Carter, with production assistance by Alex Lebrek, Production Coordinator

Taylor Robinson. Theme music by Alex Johnson, lyrics and vocals by Anthony Hamilton.