Mike Garafolo

doing excellent. I've been waiting for this one. And so I was in the gym the other day and five eight about a hundred seventy pounds of soaking with So I ain't the biggest guy, but I got a couple of muscles whatever, and so you can live. Yeah. So so it was a leg day on Sunday, and hold on, hold on what what we want? Let what you do? Legs? Yea with weight? You're doing with bands? Non do no bands? Ways? Right, So I thought you was trying to You thought you're

trying to pour the apple bottoms. First off, you should never with a man talking about Apple bottoms that it was petr Apple Apple. I wish you would have discontinue both options anyway. So I'm working on legs with your bands, no with wights. Did you have ancho way? So I did not have on anko ways. I don't do none of this stuff y'all be doing. So who's the y'all? The people a the stable? Okay, okay, cool, alright, so alright, doing squad to doing leg press, all this stuff. So

I went heavy. He's doing all the selfie shots, selfish shot. Let me tell my story. I apologize. I apologize. So I don't do that stuff for show. I don't post

my workout. I don't do all that stuff. However, as I'm probably three quarters of the way through my workout, I see this guy who's probably don't know, five eleven, probably about two twenty something like that, and so he's doing all the show off the type workouts, right Like he's got the weighted vest and he's doing the pull ups and then inverts the dips on top of the smith machine. And then he's got um with a weighted vest, with a weighted vest, and he's doing push ups on

top of the dumbbells to balance himself. And he's got a videographer with him. So I'm like, all right, this is just odd, right, Like, he ain't a trainer, he's not on staff, he's just here with a videographer. So I'm just like, all right, dude, just doing the most but whatever. So I'm finishing up my works. Not to my knowledge, but he's probably I'm just asking. He's probably early to mid forties maybe, yeah, So he's and then he's ripped up, like I I ain't gonna do this,

he ripped up or whatever. So I was across machines from him. I was on the leg extension. I'm towards the end of my workout now, so I'm just trying to burn out. I'm trying to do lightweight how reps on lego Stensi'm just trying to burn out. And so he gets my attention. He's like, hey, you're gonna put some more weight on there, and I'm like, uh Na, said Brom, I'm doing how reps. I'm burning I'm about to get about here. Oh man, I'm just messing with you, bro,

I'm just messing with you. I'm like, I'm gonna be offended. I'm just telling you, like, that's what my workout was. So he's on the bench pressed right, so it's videographers on the way and I see him. I think he put on maybe to sixty five weight on two plates and probably had two to sixty five And so he puts his legs on the bench so you know how you can do it. Oh, but it don't stop there. So he puts his he puts he still has the

weight vest on. No, he took the weight vest on. Okay, so um, so his his videographers, you know, loading up like between sets because he had changed something out whatever, and so he puts his feet on the bench and then I'm thinking he's just like he's ripped up. So I'm thinking he's gonna he's gonna kill this whatever. Then I see him turn his grip and he goes underhand grip, underhand, underground, so he's underhand. So you know, typically your bench fresh

like this underhand to sixty five legs up. I'm like, this ain't gonna work out. This is not gonna work. And guess what happened. It didn't work. So my man who's been doing the most with the videographer why he's filming goes underhand grip and his right hand. I don't know what happened all of a sudden, shoot Ah asked me what I did? Oh hell no, I ain't helping him. I'm watching him, my man say, telling somebody to help him. I wouldn't have said that, you know, I said that

in my mind. I didn't say. You know what I said, Hey, my man, you matter one lighting up that way? So what actually what I did? I put the hoodie back over my head. I wouldn't locker room. I got my stuff and I dipped. You know what I wut to say? I walk past him stupid. Oh my bro, it costs you, Like my man jay Z said, it cost you nothing to pay me no more. You worried about what I got on my way? It was a brother too, Oh

yeah it was man. He had on He had on the Hogan tank top that goes you know, around your aun. There's two sixty five fall straight on your pack, Like, come on, bro, you know all this, you're doing all this? They got a videographer, So did they help him? The videographer, Yeah, he put his camera down and up the mountain was

like dangn But it wasn't me. I can tell you that now I would to stay and want because I'm like, Bro, you like you over here worried about everybody else flavor that cool aid, and you ain't worried about you know. Here's what it is. He worried about your flavor of the kool aid and he out here drinking crystal like that. What happened at two six five? So my man, I have no idea first time Sam, have no idea who he was. But that was tragic. Bro, I'm sorry. Oh

be did in RiPP his peck? Hope he didn't do anything like that. But the moral of this story is it pays to mind your business. Man your weight, son man weight. Who we got coming up on the Cut to A podcast. We've got Mike Garafolo. He's got over twenty years experience covering the NFL, works for the NFL Network, and the native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mike garre Folo on the Cut to It podcast, get iced up Smithy's versions of icebreakers. And you know him well enough that you

don't know what this man may throw at you. So there may or may not be a follow up, just depends on what he has Smitty, go ahead, give him first. All right, this is an easy one. It's all about Mike Gara, Folo. So if you fail the test, you failed yourself. I'm ready. All right. What was your first car you drove? Uh? I think it was you know or think? Why are you well? Because my mom had two cars and I'm trying, Oh my cos he had

two cars at two different times, and I'm trying to remember. Wait, but like literally the first car ever drove, like literally got behind the wheel of Uh, it was a it's a bad story already, Like you're getting me in trouble already, you get me in I mean, look, if if you illegally drive, we it's a recorder line. I don't want to, you know, I don't want I mean first car, first

car I had, I did not have license. I bought it for a hundred and sixty bucks and it was it was a Dodge something my mom used to let me drive for chron. So so here's my friend was Nobody knows this story? I mean nobody what two people know this story? Me and my Okay, there's one, two, three, four, five, eight people in here and the world. So, uh, he was banged up and I didn't have a license and never driven a car. And I'm like, bro, you can't

drive us home. You cannot drive us home. There's no way. You are like, you're not seeing straight. And so I said, we gotta leave the car here, we gotta get a cab. And he's like, no, because my parents will know that I was drunk underage. And so now I gotta get like, the car has to be home. I have to get home in the car. So I drove home. I mean, that's the short version. And I had never driven a car ever before in my life. There was a Plymouth. Um,

it was a disgusting brown plymouth. It well, it did no hatchback, no hatchback. Those has no hatchback. It was a four. It was a sedan. Uh And I drove it and I was I just like, I didn't try one time. I don't know why. I remember changing lanes in the middle of the bridge and I asked him. I was like, dude, I don't know how this works. I'm not looking at my mirrors. Can I change lanes

right now? He's like, yeah, you're good. And then I realized I listened to a guy that was incapacitated, and I heard, so I just look, we've all done stupid things when we were kids. I mean it was it was stupid and semi responsible because I was trying to get us home and get everybody safe and not in trouble and all that stuff. But I probably should have called the cab and let him deal with the consequence trying to make yourself at night. Everybody got to have

the team dead, except the team. Dad would have probably punished himself on that one. Because I shouldn't have drove. I never driven before, and I drove over over a bridge. I went from state to state. That's a federal case. Now. Rules don't lose things. How old were eight seventeen eighteen? Maybe I didn't drive. I'd have my license until I was eighteen. Um, so it's probably seventeen ish seventeen eighteen ish, Okay,

I like that all right? The last movie you went to at the theater before COVID nineteen, I have no earthly idea. I couldn't guess bas Park Persons. I was literally like, I can't even remember the last movie I saw, but I do because it was a black movie. Har you tught me? M hmmm, that's a good one. Um, remember that coming out. That's how bad it is now. You know, we talked about it was a great movie,

but I didn't see it. I don't. You know. Well, let me think about this, because the Oscar contenders this year, I think I saw them all at home. So Oscars twenty nineteen insider. That's why I heard him close his glasses, his glass case that he usually pops on. That's the glasses he uses. You know, he's really hunkering down. He's about to get into it. Was our first guest to ever google to get up questions. This is well, I want to get it right right, so best him and

he's googling right now. Green Book, green Book. I saw on a plane, Black Panther, I saw on a plane, Klansmen Plane, Bohemian Rhapsody, saw at home. I don't A Star is Born, I saw it. I'm trying to remember Roma the favor I have. Dude, I have no idea time. Yeah, well that's what I said this year I saw. I definitely saw them. I definitely did not go to the movies this year, right, because dude, I honestly don't know.

I have to alright, Uh so, where did you propose to your beautiful wife Jess the Big Apples ergus uh in the center ring, because um, that's where we went on our first date. And UM, you'll love this story. So I said, that's where she had told me, you know, don't do the stadium proposal. For some reason, she thought I was going to do a stadium proposal, which I never want to do. I just I don't listen, you want to do that, and that's romantic for you go crazy,

But I was never ever going to do that. So I was worried that and I didn't want to ask her at that point, be like, hey, remember when you said stadium proposal, What if I do it at a circus? Like I think you just didn't want the stadium thing. But I was afraid that she was gonna get mad at me if I did it in the middle of a public event. But the day that, UM, I asked her if we were like exclusive? We went to the circus that day, Um, the Saturday afternoon in the city. Whoa, whoa,

whoa what? So you you asked her? Are you exclusive? One? I mean, were you thinking about not being right? Are you? You were trying with my wife? Now? Hey, we exclusive? We're going well that's such an an African American question. But I had never had hold on. I had never hold on. I had never dated. I you know, I dated, but I was never in an exclusive relationship before my wife. Like I just the longest I dated a girl was like three months maybe, and we just had a dated.

We weren't we weren't exclusive. So I never really had a true, you know girlfriend. I was always sports work stuff. So I just really didn't you know, you know how old. Did Like, so you're twenty five years old, you're asking your girl we exclusive? Well it started with you like give her a paper. Yeah, so you're not. I mean the moral of the already here's I Like, I didn't know, so Mike, we we went to that circus. Then we

met my cousin for dinner in the city. She and her friends met us because she went to Fordham and they were around. I said, come join us for dinner and whatever. Um, And so she asked me when when Jess snuck away for a second, She's like, so are you too exclusive? And I was like, I don't know, Like what do I have to ask that or is that just kind of assumed? She's like, no, you gotta ask her, So I said, okay, So I asked her

on the way home. And to this day she thinks that I was copying out by saying, oh, my cousin asked me and then I didn't know. She's like, why couldn't you just ask me. I was like, because I didn't know, and I just saying, hey, by the way she mentioned it to me, that's a good question. Are we exclusive? Anyway? So that was that was the first. That was two thousand uh six, I believe, and then uh, two thousand nine, we got engaged and I said, I

want to do something special. So I contacted the guy at the Big Apple Circus because that's where we you know. I said, well, look, it's is a fitting that I would ask her to marry me in a place where I asked her were we exclusive? And um, but I tried to barter with him. Yes, uh, it's but it's not like it's not like Ringling Brothers used to be. It wasn't in a big arena. It's under a it's kind of an old fashioned circus where they have animals

and stuff. But it's it's it's more throwback type stuff. Um, like a juggler and so it's not they have like a type role. Yeah, they got a type rope guy jumps off to then I get traps and all this stuff. Um shocks. Yeah. And it's under it's under an actual tent. They put a big tent up in in Lincoln Center. Um. So I did a deal with the guy. I said, listen, here's the deal. Um, I'll tell you what. You let me do this. And I don't think I had to

do this deal. You let me do this. I will get s n Y, which is Sports Net New York. I'll get s n Y to do my weekly interview with Brandon Jacobs of the Giants from the Big Apple Circus. So you give me a little bit, I'll give you a little public dude. I know. Yeah. So we so it gets better. So we I proposed my wife knocked her socks off. She loved it, which was great. I

was relieved it was worried she wasn't gonna like it. Um. And then we set up a date like the following week for for Brandon, and Brandon confirms with me, yeah, we're good, We're good, We're good, and then bounce on me the more of the morning of the show, and um, yeah, I gotta get surgery on my tooth because he got his he got hit by Albert Haynesworth. They got into a fist fight during the game, and so he and

so the guy was pissed. Obviously he had promoted it. Uh, he got a letter from a fan that was pissed because her kids showed up in a Brandon Jacob's jersey. So then I had to arrange for like Brandon to send the kid a note and a video and all that. I mean it was worth and then we finally did it. We rescheduled and he showed up and we all did it, you know, and he was in the center ring. And so there's a lot that went into it, but it went well, three or four layers deepen all that. That's Jesus,

that's Mike Gus right there. I love miss and Mike Jesus. We actually we argue on television. But actually, like he pushes me, I'll push him. So were we really don't dislike each other. As much as I didn't think at all, you said as much, I didn't think at all. A few times I could uh thump you in your abom dropple a few times, But I mean, yeah, you know, especially on live TV, you watch a man just grasp of air? Is it? Is it NFL Network? Was it

like copra CoA? Just don't just a little though? So last one, if you had to choose one thing to eat for the rest of your life, what would that be? Mm hm, assuming all things are you know, we're not doing this based on health because if I, yeah, this is just you gotta eat something, that'd probably be pizza. Right. I like that? Now do I do I have one kind of pizza? Or can I vary the different kinds of pizza? I'm sure we're always living in a brother

So yeah, that's good. It gives me some variety. You could do a little veggie pizzas one day, do a little meat lovers the next day. You could like that meat lover. So I appreciate you coming on. We love to really just talk all sports, all the dynamics. So um growing up? Who is your team? Eagles? Yeah? Up for Eagles because I grew up in Philly, UM rooting for Buddy Ryan's team. And I still it's Sixers. Sixers not so much but Flyers and and Phillies. I'm still into.

You can't be a fan and I covered the Giants, and for some reason they found out the fans did I was from Philly, and it was an ongoing joke every year that you know, you're an Eagles fan, and you heard about it, and you brought it up on air a few times. Steve busted me and Colleen about it. Her It's true. She's still because she's not a reporter, so she could still be a fan. Me. I'm a reporter, so you know, it was my fandom. Here you go,

my here's where we crossed paths. My fandom started to taper off as I would every now and then cover the Eagles, which still allowed me to kind of be a fan because I wasn't, you know, entrenched with them. I just kind of helicopter ring because I was covering everything in Philly. Uh. The two thousand three UH championship game that you guys came in and punched that Eagles team in the mouth. And that's the last one that

I was upset about. And I said, you know what, I can't truth you renounced your fandom after that, true Philly f Yeah, I mean sort of. Yeah. That's probably the last game that I actually a rooting interest. The bottom of the bottom field, they will turn on their team. But did you notice how at first he tried to position and like, you know, I'm a professional. He's a journalist and I have you know, journalistic standards. He has

to not have a team. But it was really at the end of that game, I ain't mess with them no more, Taylor Phillies. We have to take a break and the morning a thing. We gotta pay some bills. You got checks. I love cut to It and I love it even more when you download us and subscribe and you can follow us on social media too, Smithie where where at? That's at? Cut to It on Instagram? What about Twitter? At? Cut to It? Facebook? Cut to

It featuring Steve Smith singr? What about online? And you can follow us at cut to It podcast dot com where you can buy merch and you can subscribe to us wherever you listen to podcasts. I got all my answer question Um yeah, I got all my questions answered. That's what I'm here for, a brother, cut to a podcast dot Com. Where are you from in a place you call your hometown? Uh? Well I'm from phil I

mean I used to walk to the Vet Veteran Stadium. Uh, the Phillies games were dollar general admission, so you could go to a game for a dollar in the middle of the yea and those were the cheapest seats and need sneak your way down obviously. Um. And then they went to the World Series and uh, the price went up to five dollars, which is a increase or is it? I never get that right, but regardless, it was an increase. That was a lot for a fourteen year old. Yeah.

So yeah, that's that's my neighborhood. I wouldn't change a thing about where and how I grew up. I loved growing up in the city. Uh, in a neighborhood that was tightly knit. I learned a lot of things on the on the streets and then the on the playground. Um, that you don't learn in school. That you have to learn life lessons. And I wouldn't ever change a thing.

Tell us like, what what did you learn in the streets? Uh? Well, when I say it that way, you start to think, like, you know the streets the streets, I knew what I knew what you meant, but I just I just took what you said row with it. I figured that cut you off at the past before you went. I knew you wasn't slanging dope. I just meant you said you learned stuff in the streets on the playground, Mike young jeezy, dear Pholo. Hey, what's what's your name? My name is Mike,

but they call me Mike. Mike. You got my cash. I'm not talking about that. I'm just talking about really. You know, it's sometimes people will say the streets and you know, as you know now, as parents, right, you can't have your kids hanging out with all kids because you know, some kids well pick up cursing, will pick up bad habits from mothers other places. So that's what I'm That's what I meant more as a parent perspective, not like, oh, you know, Mike garfolds of fugged like

none of that. Well, And this is something that I My daughters just turned three, so we're not there yet by any stretch, um, But this is something that I wrestled with because I learned a lot. The most that I learned in life was by doing dumb stuff, um and making mistakes. And so you know, I want to sit there and kind of tell my my daughter along the way to not make it. But I think you have to in life. Um, oh, they're gonna make it.

We were in break earlier today and my son Peyton is um one of the one of the UH staff was asking, Um, Sarah was asking how is how is Steve as a dad? And he was like, oh, sarcast He was like, oh, he was great, you know, but we're just talking about how parenting and my style and all that stuff. And he made some mistakes. But it's really cool now seeing him three kind of life is starting to evolve for him. But you gotta kind of

allow them. Yeah, but it's tough as like you don't want them to Like, I like scared for him to fall on his face, right, and I don't. I'm I'm scared to admit, like I worry, Like I'm like, man, you know, even just him dating people, I'm like, I gotta right, choose the right one, get a prenup, don't bring home. You know, just my mind just goes down the rabbit trail to the point of like if he brings a girl, if he ever brings a girl back over to the house, I'm literally like, I'm like, what's

she doing? What her parents do? What she lived? When you know, you know, what's her favorite color? All that stuff that I sabotage in my mind, like I ain't gonna like her. You're already going into my preconceived notion. Is she ain't good enough? Look at you, Dad, I'm so I'm so territorial, like you know, like to the point. It's like I told, look, if it ain't serious, don't bring the answer to the house, just straight up, you know, don't ask to come on a vacation. Hey can if

they last name Ae Smith, don't ask me. I don't care. So I get it. Bro, and your little girls three, I only got one. If we had if we had, if me and Age had another child and it was a daughter, run me over. Your daughter is a different man. And I'm right there with you. We got We're a month away from number two. We got to coming. Yeah, So Mikey, tell us about your family dynamic, how you're

growing My family dynamic? Uh. We were a family of five, older sister and a younger brother, all with extremely different interests, but we were we were still tight. I was really the only sports fan. My mother and I were the only sports fans. Now that's not true. My sister a little bit, but mostly my mother and me, Uh into sports in the family. Um, my brother and father not so much, which was weird, right, Like you're supposed to learn sports from your dad and all that stuff and

all those stereotypes. No, it's not not how it was in our family at all. And my brother was three years younger than me, my sister two years older. Uh. We had a My parents has celebrated their forty six wedding anniversary yesterday. Congratulation. Yeah, yeah, we have a tight family. Where where's your family's place of lorge? Uh? Well, nationality, which I don't that's the words the nationality or is it heritage is Italian? Uh. My great grandparents were born

in Italy. My grandparents were born here. Uh, and we've been both sides of the family been h Philly all the way. I don't know why they settled here or there. Excuse me. I'm up in North Jersey. Now. See that's the that's the fun part of it all is my sister moved when she got married, moved five doors away from my parents. My brother when he got married, moved across the playground. I moved to North Jersey. You'd think I moved to you know, Russia. The way that they reacted.

I mean, I'm only an hour and a half away, relaxed, We're not that far We're not that far away, um, but uh yeah, we're still we're still very technic. Founder. We're used to having you know, we'll have sports folks, but we want every aspect, every dynamic of sports. We've had Colleen on here, and now we have you, and and I love having you on here because it's a different perspective. Right. You love sports so much that you got involved into it. So take us down that road

of how your career began. You know, I knew my athletic ability was not going to take me to places where they actually pay me money to play the sports. So I think I made that determination earlier that I knew. I pretty much knew exactly what I wanted to do. Um, whether it was how did you know exactly what you want to do? Because I would watch the broadcast and and see what the reporters or announcers or analysts would bring to the table and say, yeah, I like that,

that's cool. I always love kind of putting on a show. When I was a kid, I kind of like the notion of what went into it and you know how these guys brought their information and um let it out on national TV. UM. So I kind of didn't know that. I like that, Yeah, I uh, you know, I appreciated it from afar UM. And then I got to college and my father, UH said to me, well, why don't

you check because everybody's doing internship. So I'm gonna get an internship here, an internship here and into that's okay. There was one for uh. They called them producers, but basically they were boarded were board ops and engineers who ran the board and answered the phones for w I p UH radio in Philly. We would answer the calls and get the calls. Were basically run the whole show. UM. And I answered the the ad they called me back.

I had an interview. I was a junior, was my second I was going to my second semester of my junior year what college at LaSalle University? And I just want I just I need you to do. I had to ref rush your memory on television. You just sir, yes, sir, I got you're letting your fans not here the important part. I have fans, yes, you have all. After this, there we go. That's what that's why I'm doing this? Um, the mess up thing. Ste We mess with each other

all the time. You know what Garl follow does really well? M m, that's why he kicked to he plays. Oh yeah, you're yelling at me. I get more fans every time you man. People take it so serious, You'll get I'll get a tweet. Man, How you let Steve Spend do that to you? I don't know, man, that was that was pretty bad. Why why to follow me? People take

that so serious? You'll have like with anything, like whether it's you and Steve or whether it's Steve when you on with any of the girls on Thursday night, Like that's always the poet responses. They don't like each other, like, yeah, man, relax, which is good and bad. You want you want people to be into it, but you don't want people to be too serious and recognize the joke for a joke. But we just mess with Like he literally will say, hey, I'm saying this, and I'll be we're being good. I'm like,

I'm like, I'm gonna say that was dumb. He's like, now some of it has been authentic. Bs, Like we got an argument on TV. That's so we're in the green room. Uh third, um, good morning football weekend. On a Sunday, Ryan Tenhill doesn't play well and he literally says, Integreen, this is now. Um you usually got in after me,

so well, just like five forty five. Now I've eaten my my, my, my breakfast, my waffles with my my sirul he comes in and he's like, oh my gosh, can you believe how this poor Why does he have a British accident? I don't know. And he's like and he says and he goes, my goes, they look like a high school team. Flipped my lid. I'm like what he's like high school team? Like all of damn practice they have. And then I was like, see that's what's the matter with your reporters had had the index fingers

you went in the media anymore? Oh yeah, I just took my myth piece out of my mouth. Like he's like, what what you know? What what? I'm like, that's bs. He's like, no, it's now you see how they play and said, yeah, I've seen some high school games, said I mentioned some Friday night games. They don't look that good. He's like, no, no, And what does he do? He doubles down, we're gonna air and said it, and I said the same thing, said and he all the second time.

I was gonna be less animated. I was hot. He thought you got it out in the ground. I was hot because I was like, Oh, you're gonna try meal TV too. Oh, it's just like some of the stories we have. But listen, don't don't think that I you say it like I expected that, Oh I get you in front of the cameras, and I wasn't. I wasn't saying it like it was a gotcha. I just meant as a former player, and then as a as an analyst,

I mean, as an insider. We have these conversations good and bad that goes from his journalistic point of view.

I'm part of that journalistic point of view, but also as a former player's point of view, and we kind of battle between the journalists information and how he takes it and and dissects it, and then how that comes across as a former player, in which why reporters and players sometimes have this friction right right, because reports like I have to tell I have to explain it like I'm talking to my eight year old grandmother, and the players like, first of all your eight dy o grandmother

isn't watching the game. Yeah, So it's it's always this dynamic that we go through. It's it's pretty interesting though. Well, so just to be clear, we're not gonna spend a ton of time. We'll go back and forth and all these things. Uh, but what I was saying was not even towards the players. By the way I was saying their offense, they weren't stretching the ball down the field. They were I don't even remember what team it was, but it was like there were no passes over ten

or fifteen yards. And I said that was like a high school offense. And we still got into it, and I was like, well, I'm not saying that they look like high school players and they're not playing hard. What I'm saying is you can't play that way and the hitting care we were we were into it by that, but I wasn't. I wasn't the only one though, wasn't.

I believe Mike rob may have backed you up. Yes, you has some backup, No, but it was Mike is different, and I'm learning not Mike is different, but I'm learning in TV the perspective of a beat writer or the perspective of an insider, and they're all about information and players were all about process. And when those two are on television, they don't operate the same way. They're literally it's like a different perspective. I don't mean the soundness in the mean way. And I'm not saying he's the

man or the female. I'm the man of female. It's literally Mars and Venus, husband and wife. It's just we don't see it the same. We literally see it totally opposite. Right, he sees us, he sees us all that cup is half full. I see is No, I'm still thirsty. Right, it's so different. So let me tell a Tannehill story, because that's that's another illustration of what you don't do. And Stevill, you know, Steve called ye out for it on national TV. So I'm at the Dolphins training camp

practice in the middle of July. It's like ninety degrees and human as all hell sons beaten down on me. I'm off camera while they're practicing it two in the afternoon for some reason, like it's I could do a morning practice or late afternoon where it's nice and cool, and Steve's somewhere else. I was actually in Canton. It

was how does fish grease? Okay, I say, you know, I'm talking about Tannehill, and I'm referring to the year before when Gaye had to back it down with this, with how much he fed Tannehill, how much he's allowing him to do with the line of scrimmage, and I'm saying, you know what, what what Gays did was was stripping all the way down, and now he wants to rebuild it because you gotta remember, this is a guy that's used to the way Peyton Manning did things. And I'm

telling you the Steve's yelling get him on camera. I want to see his face. Meanwhile, this sweat is just pouring down my face. I was enjoying the fact that I was off camera I'm dying, and now I come on camera. She fits in and looking horrendous, probably making it look even worse that like, oh, Steve's calling him out and now he's melting on camera, when really I

was just hot because of the heat. And he's like, don't you ever put Ryan Tannehill, Ryan Tannehill's name in the same sentence with Peyton Manning, And I said, no, I wasn't competing. I don't care, you don't How could you make And I'm heard about that for months and years. I think I'm still hearing about it. Yeah, how to work out for Adam Gayson? Ryan Tannehill? Hello? Is this thing? Hello? I didn't guess. I don't know how many times I gotta tell you. I'm not telling you that he was

going to play like Peyton Manning. I am telling you that Gates was used to a certain thing. It's listen. If anything, I was highlighting bad coaching right that he was expecting a certain level of Peyton Manning from a guy who wasn't Payton Manning. Hey the wail, Hey, is Adam Gates are really a good coach right now? Because he ain't doing Maybe we, maybe the Jets among others, should have seen the writing on the wall. How about that. That's a whole different conversation right now. I think it's

about that time. Just so I'll take a little breathe. Good, do it, good do it. Let's getting down to do it? Good? Hey, Gerard, why did you get that T shirt? You mean this thing? Oh? Yes, I got it from cut to a podcast dot com where we have exclusive merchandise shout out to our guys at seven or four shot. But yeah, you can go on, buy you a T shirt, subscribe to us wherever you listen to podcasts. I don't known to do this, but

all right, I was super excited. You're procited to have you on here because I love what you're doing, how you do it. Also give you an opportunity because you will tell us how it is, and I wanted you to tell us everything is involved. A lot of times people see us on television, they think one that the producers feed us all our information. Yeah, that is, and it's imagine having I mean, we've had dinners together where we're both talking to different sources on two teams that

are playing each other. He's talking to a source for maybe a coach somewhere, and then I'm talking to a player on the opposite team and they're discussing a lot

of different things and we're both talking. And I've learned I've learned from Mike how to get a little bit more comfortable and settling in my cell on having sources and dialogue and talking because I have been considered this very high strong player who doesn't have the ability to look neutral or think neutral, and you know, and I think before I became on TV, Michael was the same. Mike kind of saw me that same way. And as I he's got to know me. I am how strong,

I am intense. However, I studied my butt off and I work hard and I try and I am to some degree teachable and I try to learn. He's been one of those guys that I've learned from and at times, even in competition, have broken stories that the insiders usually get because I do go to training camps and talk and and I go to training camps and I decided to go to training camps and I go to the Combine.

I go to Combine extra day and a half, two days, and I'm in the I'm in the suite talking to general managers and coaches and so I've learned by rap sheet and Mike girl follow on how and what, and we've spent numbers evenings, Hey Mike, how do you do this? And you know, he's walking me through. So I've been really side to have him on to educate us on

what is really is. It's been Yeah, I mean it's been, Uh, We've we've learned a lot from each other and me probably more from Steve because you know, it's been good to have. And they asked us when we first started the show, you know, what are you most excited about? I said, I'll tell you right now. Um, it's a unique opportunity for me to work in the studio alongside uh two guys in Mike Rab and Steve Smith. Remember we were at dinner as at dinner at your favorite

stake place in Jersey. Um, And I said, because if I say something that doesn't pass the smell test, they're don't let me know. On on live TV, Steve more than Mike Rab. Mike tends to pull a few more punches because that's that's his personality. But he'll let me know at times too. Uh. But but you know that's that's been a good a good thing for me. Um, so let me I'll go to bat for him though. So yeah, well I don't know. Yeah, it goes both ways. So of course people come out and like, hey, it's

like my it's like my little brother. You know, I don't beat up on Mike. But but nobody don't come. Don't come to the family now the fishes, Well let me so, let me so, I answered the ad. They hired me w i P. And Now the point I was originally making was, you know, people went and did internships, UM, and I chased a different path. I was actually working while I was in college. UM, and I got better

experience because mine was hands on. A lot of these internships you were just doing stuff that wasn't hands on work. You were just kind of hovering it in the area. I I'm glad that I followed my father's advice because it allowed me to really start working in radio while I was still in in in uh in school. My first shift, I'll tell you this was New Year's Eve seven to midnight because nobody wanted that shift. I'm sorry,

I was actually seven to one am. So I was there for midnight and beyond the only person in the entire studio, not even a host because everything was on tape. UM, and nobody wanted that shift. And I'm the new guy. So I'm like, all right, cool, I guess I gotta take this ship. So I'm twenty years old and all my friends are out getting smashed, and I'm I'm working my first shift at w i P Radio. And here's so here's the funny part. Uh at midnight from from

eleven to one. Everything was on these reels, the old style reels that you had, you know, where you you get the tape going, you hit the button whatever, and uh, midnight comes and I hit the reel to start it right then, and I hear boom boom boom boom boom boom boom, like like right as I hit the button. And so this is two thousand into two thousand one. So my mind immediately was like, oh my god, it's y two k a year later like they thought it was.

But maybe they were wrong and it was actually two one, and oh my god, I just blew up the building right And it turns out it was the fireworks from nearby Penn's landing at that at midnight. But it's scared the Bejesus out of me. Um, But that I listened. I screwed up so many times in those early days and put some stuff on air and and had a bunch of dead air and learned along the way. Um. I was there for four years, almost four years, I think, uh.

And I started when I graduated college in two thousand two, two years into being at the radio, I said, well, I'm it's a slow Sunday I'm doing a show. I'm looking across the host and I said, I don't know if I want to do this. I said if, and if I did want to do this. I knew I wanted to be in sports media, but I said, if I do want to do this, the guys they put on the air former writers. So I gotta get out

and right and UM. I mentioned it to a couple of guys and they said, Hey, call this guy Rob Maddy, who is the AP sportswriter for all the Philadelphia Sports editor. He's the only full time guy who covers all the sports. He used to work here. Let him know that you know, you reached out and we told you to yet it. So I reached out to him. He says, come on up the Eagles training camp day one, UH, and I'll meet you and we'll talk. So I go, when I drive up Lehigh two hours, dravel the way up there

and meet him. UH. And it's through the course of conversation I learned that he was in my UH. He's from my neighborhood. Number one, Number two we went to my high school. And number three his brother was really good friends with my neighbor who had this channel and Philly called Prison. It was this premium channel that my father he didn't pay for it, but my neighbor did. And that's where all the home six years flyers Phillies

home games. So I go in my neighbor's house to go watch the game, even though those guys were older. And so once he found all this, he really took me under his wing and he allowed me to cover things. I mean, my first assignment was cover an Eagles training camp by myself. The first day, I think they made Lido Shepard available to the rookie first round pick um.

And so through through those two jobs and giving you the shortest version possible, I got recommended for the Star Ledger job in two thousand four to go cover the Giants. I went into the interview process thinking there's no way I'm getting this job. So I was loose, right because I didn't think I had a shot. And probably because I was loose, I interviewed, well, um, and you know

I can. I said I can do this, and I can do this, and I can do this, and I can do this, and then they hired me and I said, are you nuts? I can't do that? Now I gotta back it up you nutting shot you believed all that? Kidding me? Um, And I'll tell you what that was an education. First time living away from home in an area where I knew nobody, with Tom Coughlin as the new coach, trying to lay down a law and he's got no time to suffer fools in the media. The

players are hating him. The team was doing well with Kurt Warner, and they pull him and they put Eli in and everything went to crap. I mean that was that was. I learned more in that one year than I probably learned and you know, and so that that was pretty much my start, uh in sports media. It's amazing. You fast forward eighteen years later and we're in San

Francisco working me Colleen and and and and Mike. Only thing is the only thing we were missing was Mike rob And we're in San Facisco and we're walking around and I'm you know, I got my notepad and he has this notepad and we're just He's like, what are you watching? And we just went through the whole thing, like telling him what I watched and why I see this, and you know, why I'm looking for these things and and and it's funny we go back, right. I remember

going back because I used that. I use alive. I still save all my training camp notes as reference through that season. And me and Mike Jeez, we're sitting there talking. I'm like, bro, look at this, and he was like, what are you saying. I'm like, look at that corner, look at the say the receiver. He's like yeah, he's and typical Mike right, typical insider, beat writer, reporter. He's like, the receiver's pissed because he's not getting the ball. I'm like, no, bro,

why is he not getting the ball. He's like, I don't know why you remember this, Jeezy. We're watching and they were emphasizing, right, emphasizing throwing the ball deep down the field. So they're running double moves and Jimmy G doesn't throw the double move, he throws the check down. Why is that key? Why do you have to emphasize throwing the ball deep. It's like emphasizing your baker baking.

If you're a baker, you baker. If your quarterbacker has a seventy five million dollar contract, they emphasize throwing the ball deep. It's part of that's part of what you do, right or maybe or maybe it's something you don't do. So Mike, how did you how did you make the transition from writing from the Star Allegers and now where you are with NFL Network and being on their programming. Well,

I went to school for mass communication. What's interesting is, UH, at my school is a liberal art, liberal arts university at LaSalle and UM, you had to have a h a wide ranging UM curriculum, and so even outside of your major, you had to have a wide ranging thing and an inside your major, you couldn't just take one track.

You had to have all kinds of communication. That's what they made you do, which I hated at the time, but then I came to understand that communication is about different ways of actually communicating with people, so it's a smart way of doing things. UM and so I had to take public relations classes and advertising and scriptwriting and UH screenwriting like movie screenwriting, news writing. I took everything except for journalism. I didn't take journalism. I don't know

why I didn't take it. So what's interesting to me is I had all these video and audio production classes, and yet I wound up starting in my full time career doing the thing that I didn't take, which was journalism, which I had to learn on the job, um, which was which was fine. I mean those lessons you learned quickly are you don't learn them and you're just gonna be You're just gonna be eating up if you don't learn.

The first year goes by on the beat, and towards the end of the first year, the producer who had this roundtable show with all the writers, uh, he actually worked for the Giants. It was the Giants production and he said, hey, we do this show on MSG network called Giants Online. And said, yeah, I've seen it. Yeah it's great, and he goes, would you like to be on? And I said yeah, sure. He didn't get it. He didn't get to me until the next year. I did it.

Probably a couple of weeks into the next season. We do the show. I'm walking off and he's like staring at me and walking towards me, and I'm like, is he about to tell me you're never coming back? Like what's he And he goes, you're really good at this and I was like, oh, well, thank you, and he's like no, no, like really good at this. It's like, thank you, Joe, I appreciate it. I said, Frankly, this

is what I've am trained in. You should be surprised I could do the other thing at the writing like that. That's the one that that I actually had to learn on the job and figure out how to do as I went along. Um. So, a couple of years later, the Giants win the Super Bowl. That's another thing, by the way, I was really fortunate to cover a team that won two Super Bowls in four years, because that helps you. That thrust you, as a local beat writer

into the national spotlight and people notice your work. So I part of the I gotta give Tom Coffin and Eli Manning and everybody that won those two Super Bowls credit and thanks because that allowed me to kind of display some of my abilities along the way. Um. But after they win their first Super bowl S n Y who I mentioned earlier Sports Network, uh, Sports Network New York. UM, they would send out they were Jets, they had a

Jets affiliation, so they had a devoted Jets reporter. But every day they would send out a different reporter to the Giants, and that person didn't really know what was going on because they're not in the locker room. They're not following this stuff. One of those reporters, by the way, at one time was Scott Hanson, who actually did a really good job when you came out now now the NFL Red Zone host. Um, And so I pitched to them. I said, listen, um, why don't you have me do it.

I'm here every day, I've got a little bit of TV background. Let me audition. Um, I'll do your daily reports. You don't have to send a reporter out here every day. You don't have to pay for somebody's travel because I'm at every game. You just have to send a camera and producer. I said, so that'll save you money. I make a little my money myself, right, you know, but it'd be more convenient for you. And they said, well, thanks, but uh, we're we're good right about. Hold on, hold on,

this is great. About two months later, I get an email from a woman at s n Y, not the person that I talked to, a different woman, who says, hey, we were thinking uh idea, Oh yeah, oh yeah, we were fakingaking, you know maybe and like lay out in my whole case for why that we should do it. And you know what, I replied, I said, that's a

tremendous idea. I'd love to talk to you. And that was my early lesson that, particularly in TV, it's mostly important whose idea it is, and if you want to get done what you want to get done, sometimes you gotta pretend it wasn't your idea. And that's what I did, so I started to do a bunch of TV for them. I went after the Giants won their second Super Bowl. Uh, this is another long story. I'll give you a short version.

I went to USA Today for a year and then I jumped to Fox Fox Sports one launched in two thousand thirteen. I believe it was um and I was there for three years and then made the jump N I found that work and here we are now. Our last stepment is called Deep three, and banksically what deep three is is it's three questions in order to be at a deeper take on you, who you are as a person, not necessarily a reporter, but who you are as a person. So Smithie, go ahead and give him

the first question. So the first question is, when you are like old as dirt, nine to five years old, what do you want people to say about you as a as an insider, as a reporter or just Mike Mike garfollow Um, Well, we'll start with the first part. Um. I would say that I want them to say that, you know he was he was fair, you could trust him. UM. And if he if he made a mistake, he owned up to his mistake. UM. And uh, you know he was he wasn't always right, but he tried his hardest

to be UM. And then as as a person, you know I want to be he was a good family man, a good father, a good husband. Uh. They could say that my work on this earth will be complete. What do people not know about you? That I'm actually probably kind of a shy guy, a shy individual. My wife says it all. Yeah, my wife says that all the time. She's like, uh, we all thought you were kind of weird. I said, what do you mean? She's like, we didn't talk much. You asked a lot of questions, and you observed.

And that's the way I come like some people don't. Some people think that or have thought over the years that I'm not a nice person because I come off in a certain way. When I first beat somebody, I don't offer a lot. I kind of let them show their hand and then I kinda uh, you know, start to reveal my personality a little bit more. UM, and I sometimes rouse people the wrong way, and I've tried to kind of, uh do whatever I can offset that a bit. But yeah, I would say that that was

surprised a lot of people. What's your big goal not in work, in life? I listen, I to me, I I've kind of taken on this whole fatherhood thing, um with a you know, you're you're molding your child's life, but you're you're also they're here to teach you as much as you. You're here to teach them, if not, if not more of the other way. UM. And you start to see things in them that you realize about yourself, and you know you want to correct it in them.

It but really what you got corrected in yourself first and they will follow. UM. So I think that that's where I am right now with regard to parenthood and understanding what it's about. UM, if I could become a better person through parenthood, I know it'll go the other way to my children. And so I'd say that that's probably one of my bigger goals in life right now. Do you relate to NFL network in a similar way

to your NFL teammates. Mm hmmm, because it's different. I think so because with NFL team, the plan of NFL, you you see what it is, right, you see a guy lined up, you see a right guard that gets beat, who's having a tough day. You can't hide from it. There's no script, there's not there's not a producer who maybe turned on their own camera. It's it's there. In in TV, you can in sometimes and I want to say hide the negative way, but you can cut your

words shorter. You can maybe not talk or maybe you're talking in terms of performance, yeah, and not be not be included in that dialogue, right because I don't like the player or I don't feel comfortable talking about the content or the subject. In sports, you can, right. You you can't hide or change or remove yourself like if you have to, let's just say you know current right now, you gotta go against Aaron Donald. Nah, can't miss that one, right.

Your editor cannot your your producer can help you. The makeup person cannot give you makeup. They ain't on anti shine. Like you are in the trenches and you are solo. You got number from the Los Angeles Rams on your head, and it's just you right. In TV, I think it's you can support each other, uh, you know, kind of like what the coaches on the sideline, Hey do the best. And TV is such a different dynamic in which would you say you've built the strongest relationships AFL network or

playing in the league. M M, I think both. I think because I switched over the journalism, guys are asking you know, you know, how are you I'm still Steve No, but I'm not into the guy You're making you look bad. But I will say, hey, you know, we're gonna we're gonna be real. Now, We're not gonna sugarcoat it, but we're not going to put it out there to where um,

we're all embarrassed. Okay, So I I try to do that line where people know they're getting a real from me, but also can I've had general managers, I've had coaches tell me things. I'm like, is this this is great information? But are they telling me this to me to do with this? Yes? Are they yes? Are they testing me? Um? Like I've had some reporters who state this about a team and the team to call is called me and say,

why is that dude saying that? And I've had to say, hey, this team has called me and tell me this is not completely accurate. Boss, and my you are you okay with me going on there? Because I still have this in these individuals who are looking at me as as a holder of the information. They're saying that's not the complete truth. So do I moment do I lay that that reporter? I'll just say, hey, basically, Johnny, you're a liar because I spoke to that team and this is

what they told me. Or do I not saying thing? And the team now is there upset in me because I haven't said anything. So I've been at times caught in the middle and I've kind of something times. Luckily I haven't been on air, so I'm like, I ain't on air four weeks, it ain't right out. There was one time I was off air in July because we were moving and I wasn't I was not scheduled to

be on. We were in the rental and we I didn't say anything, and luckily I wasn't on the air, so I didn't have to really dispute the conver you know what was stated. But I was on the phone with with my boss, like, hey, this team is calling me saying this isn't correct. They're telling me they called me at on Thursday night at eleven pm saying blah blah blah. I'm like, oh, and so I get off

the phone with them at one am. At twelve am, Angie sleep, She's like a used to I'm like yep, and then I gotta call my boss talking to him. He's like, well, you know, so just kind of craziest. There's a lot of stories that I've heard. I'm like, I don't want to know. Yeah, don't tell me. I don't know what. I don't want to know where the bigger I don't even don't tell me nothing. I don't want to know his name, her name, his Nope, no, thank you, No, I'm not listening. 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 Gerald 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, Baltol Creative Media, The

Black Effect, and I Heart Radio. For more podcast from I Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio Apple Apple Podcast or wherever you listen to your favorite shows from Cut to It, Executive producer Steve Smith, SINGR co host Gerard little John, talent and booking manager Joe Fusci, Social media team Wesley Robinson and John Show from Balto Creative Media.

Cut to It is produced by Brian Baltaschevic and Meredith Carter, with production assistance by Alex Lebrek, Production manager Sarah Pollock, Theme music by Alex Johnson, lyrics and vocals by Anthony Hamilton. You ain't heard about it, then We're about to let you know. It's all