Mike Golic Jr.

No longer living in sin Thank you so bringing that up as well. So, um you are going, so you have not you decided to not drop drop the Meredith Carter was your was your last name, but technically it currently still is your last name. And why why, why why are you keeping Carter? Because I've been Meredith Carter

for thirty six years, so you've been so low. So no one has got no one has no one has earned the right to have your hand in marriage until Jimmy, until Jimmy and so but so after walking down the aisle with him and tell him him, I do. You're saying I do, but not on my last name, not all my last name change. Why can't he beat Jimmy Carter? I mean it was president. Excuse me, wasn't that the president? Jimmy Carter? On my story? Yeah? Why why are you

shucking and driving for the last name? Huh? Say the truth? Say the truth? He records, So you don't want to tell you, you you don't want anybody know. No, I just got married a week ago. It's also it takes a lot. It's a lot of effort to change your last name. By the way, I remember what my wife went through. It is a lot of paperword. You gotta you gotta do a lot. But that's part of the deal when you get married, right, I think. I mean, there's lots

of deals. There's Meredith Carter, hyphen Philbin, there's Meredith Philban, there's Meredith at Carter. Why are you? Why are you? Shelly Shall, Why don't you want to? So? For me, I struggle for a while. I wanted my daughter to keep I want I want my daughter to keep what I wanted, and then Angie changed my mind after change

a position on she's saying my position. But I still sometimes I still want my kids to have a pre numb Okay, But what was the thought on keeping the last name even for your daughter when she child and and Smith and Smith has Wait, that's why, Like if she marries some dude name I was gonna say Jimmy, but I like Jimmy. I don't want to disrespect. Maybe me marry something dude name Ricky Johnson, then her name

would be Bailey Johnson. That works that when he goes in Charlotte and he wants to you know, they say it's all booked up, Well it's it's Ricky Johnson. Well, Ricky, we don't. We still don't have anything. Whoa I'm with Bailey Smith. Oh, Steve Smith starter flex aspect, So it's not here's here's it's not the flex. You know. What it is is the is the glow. It's what being as Smith is. Like, I I feel like I text my family Smith gang, like there's there's there's like the

Little Johnson that's a gang. That that's the Fucies. Yeah, yes, that's my clan. And I don't want this average Joe to come in here and let me just say how I want to just sunk up the flue bro like I just want to you know, just kind of you know, just I just wanted to be something got you so all I but I do understand that really minimizes him and makes him more inefficient or makes him feel lesser than And I don't want to do that, m but

I struggle with it. But she is gonna have to get that prenum because if if something were to happen to me and my wife right now, we will be dividing up a whole lot of things. And it's not things that in like monetary, but just memories and stuff that we've accumulated for our family. And I don't want some dude or some chick to just come in and

have a piece of that. And they weren't part of the bones and the sacrifice of being me for my family that that started, you know, twenty something years ago. So future son in law, you will be in the words of Kanye West, we won't prying up. So I just struggle with a little bit. If I'm being real, well especially you can't, you can't if it's Ricky Johnson. Johnson better come in with a flyer. I'm just I'm

just saying, right, So, Meredith, was a decision. You gotta make it right now, right now, make a decision on a national podcast, Unasural podcast. I think we're probably going to become Philbin. You've got to be the Philbin's, you know, we got because then if but then if you have the hyphenated last name, then that means your daughter is gonna have it. Yeah, and then they're so confused. They're in kindergarten and they're like, why is my name Luna

Carter Philbin. You know, that's a lot for a kindergartener to say letters, Oh, that's your you already have the daughter's name. Huh. No, that's just our dog's name. I thought. I was like, wow, that's so cool. No, that's the dog's name. Wow. Yeah, you can't have a kindergartener with a hyphenatian name. That's just so confusing. Yeah, but there it is. Well, you had to make your decision. So

but think about it. If you if if your child you know, obviously this isn't I'm not trying to sound racist, but if your child is not black, you gotta black folks. They go by two different names, like Deuce like the other day, or nicknames. The nicknames like my son Deuce. He knows I come to the house and I'm like, hey, dudes, he's watching TV, you know the Hey Steven, Oh yes, daddy, Yeah, we are go with nicknames. So your nickname, like even duce,

like that son's nickname is fat Man. My daughter's nickname is juice box. But will they go to school with that? That's a nicknames. Everyone has a family nickname. So now that he's not gonna put fat man on like his uh on on his scan drown. Now when he's doing the test, I'm gonna even I'm already speaking it into existence on the s a T super duper smart. But the little bit of jelly on there that had to deduct. So, hey, who we got coming up on the Cut to It Podcast.

We've got Mike Golick Jr. The co host of Chennai and Goldi Jr. On ESPN. He played college football at Notre Dame and he's the son of Mike Golic. Mike Golick Jr. On the Cut to It Podcast, first segment is called get iced up. You have no idea what's coming to Nobody has any ideas. Subtly person knows is me and it's in my head right now and I'm still figuring it out. So first question, since you live alone and you, uh, you are a self proclaimed proclaimed

lazy guy. What's your go to a meal? Breakfast and dinner? Go to breakfast, so I've been trying to lose a little weight, so I go egg white omelet with usually a bowl of oatmeal and some blueberries. Go to dinner has largely right now been like one or two salmon filets and then usually like asparagus or maybe I'll cut it up put into a salad. So I've been eating kind of kind of bland lately. That's that's good healthy eating. I ain't necessarily saying it's tasty. I'm trying to figure

why are you? Why are you getting ready for football? Sea? And Bro? You're doing is watching that? See that's the thing and what I learned. So this will be my sixth fall at ESPN going through all this, and what I realized is as I get ready to travel out and go to college games and spend all weekend on the couch watching I tend to gain more weight than I would like to, especially once I'm out on the

road here. And so I'm trying to I'm trying to this year break the habit, get into a better routine and see if I don't gain like the freshman fifteen during football fan based off your statement, favorite airport Minneapolis. It's the perfect combination of big airport amenities. You've got the main concourse, they're about the top golf place that you can play, to simulators. Yes, you got the golf

simulator right there, right below that. In non COVID times, there's also usually one of those on like emotional like support dogs that they have out there. No more emotional dogs. So are you one of those guys that sees a cute dog and you go and like, oh, I want

to touch it? You want those guys? Yeah? Oh yeah, big time, big time, very well known, walking down like the beach and seeing random dogs and touching them, going up and asking everyone if I can pet the dog, if your dog wants If someone's dog like looks my way and approaches me, I consider that honor. And so if your dog wants a pet, if your dog wants to give me a kiss, I'm fine with that too. So you just let random dogs kiss you, says so you got dog face lips? Yeah, oh yeah, big time.

That's why you're single. Yeah, that could play for there's probably there's probably a few readings because if you do that with dog probably if you do that with dogs, know what's happened later when the lights come on at the lounge. It's always a different story with so shaving, are you a razor guy like the you know the

clippers or you use use a razor straight edge. I do a bit of both, especially because like now, I shaved my head usually like once a week, and so I'll usually take everything down with clippers and then I'll take the straight straight razor and edge all this up and then pick this thing close to the skull. Mm hmm. Yeah, well doesn't have that problem. But I'm a chilet guy myself. Sometimes I have. I went about three or four weeks

without shaving. You know, COVID is like I'm not going anywhere, you know, My longest journey is maybe to the kitchen. How was the hairline game? The hairline A was awesome from where it started and stopped. That was the struggle like where is it? Like? Was it here or back? So three years ago? It was about right here today and I got a little bit It's yeah, it's struggle. I mean, I'm I'm a handsome ball here guy, so I think I mean I don't really have a choice.

I was thinking about growing it back out, but oh yeah, then I have my Stevie Wonder going. Yeah, I wasna say, let's let's let's let's not do that. Bro. I love you too much for you to go out. I love Stevie Wonder too. With that brother, some dresses. Somebody got to left My man's no. I know that's how you know he blonde and he ain't got no accountability partner, because I'm not gonna let you. I'm not letting you

go out like that. Your hairline is all the way back here, and but what's what's the left of it? All right? So okay, let's go. Let's let's get into it. Where are you from and the place you call your hometown? Uh so I am, I'd say I'm from Connecticut. So my home town is Avon, Connecticut. I was born in South Jersey. Like we moved around a lot when my dad was finishing up playing. I was born when he was still with the Eagles, and so I moved around

a bunch. But when I was in third grade, Dad started working with ESPN full time out here in Connecticut, so we got here. Then I've lived in Connecticut, you know, between here and going away for college and other stuff for the better part of the twenty three years, so Avon, Connecticut would be the hometown. What is the state flower for Connecticut? The state flower for Connecticut? For some reason, I want to say, like the white lotus. I don't

think that's right, but it's what's what came to mind. First. I have no idea. I just thought i'd randomly ask you, dude, I do know the state tree is the white fur. I believe I know that random Connectic as about the flower. Yeah, no, listen again, this is like radio bullshit patting. I love because you know you had a face like, well if you don't know, why did you asked me? Well, I

just wanted to. I just wanted to throw you off a little bit, just because it's sometimes I like to do that just to see, like, who knows the say flower? No one. That's the whole point, just to kind of just just keep you on your pas and cues. Yeah. I know, you know, you know a lot of sports, but you can care less about the flower in the tree. I just throw that out there. Apparently, man, I got walk into my flower stuff now fer game, you know,

let's just jump right into it. I'm gonna just say how I feel about it, and and I'll let you kind of go for it for it. But you know, watching you over the years, you do a fantastic job. Right, But initially when I first saw you on and understanding media and how there's only so many seats, but there's an ump team athletes that want to do this or feel they can do it. And I was a little I felt some type of way at first, you know, I was like, man, Michael Jr. The only reason he's

on there because of his dad. And yet me being part of the business now and seeing you may be on there because you know, you may have gotten your opportunity because your dad or the last name, but you earned your spot. And I just want to tell you, Ma, I think you do a fantastic job you on on the radio show, you know, but then just seeing you do the games, have so much respect and admire how you come across. You come across very well polished. There are some things you do. I see your dad in

you as well, right, I see it. Tattoo game is uh is steady, increasing is getting better. But just seeing you grow up under your dad and understanding and now knowing this business. How you get in is how you get in, but how you stay is on your own merit. And what I love about you know, cut to it is we just kind of just keep it one hundred. What has that transition been like for you? Because you are Mike golicck Jr. That's the name that you were given,

that was the parents that you were blessed with. But some people who are getting into the business or attempting to get in the business, you know, they they frowned upon it. They look at you and kind of go, uh, you know, they say whatever they're gonna say, what has that been like for you personally? And how have you overcome that? And just kind of dealing with the with the shade that comes with it just because of um, you know, the opportunities you've been given and taking advantage

of it and it's and it's sending with that small opportunity. Yeah, I think for me, I had a lot of good practice in that football honestly because the nepotism comments were things that I heard even when I was growing up trying to play ball. Like you mentioned, what comes with dad being who he is. I always said I had the perfect role model, Like I, I grew up wanting

to be my dad my entire life. Him and my mom were you know, unbelievable role models for me and my siblings, and so I just looked and said, all right, what were the things that made him him? Football was one of the things that made him him? So I gravitated that game, and I was, you know, a heavy set, aggressive little kids. So it kind of worked out well. But then you start going on, you start setting goals.

It's like, all right, I want to go to note name and playball because that's what my dad didn't That's the place I grew up loving. And so you get everyone then saying all right, you're only getting that opportunity because of your dad, because of your last name, and so I know you appreciate this, I mean the best part about sports, and that way I always approached it, especially as a young player, you know in sports going to college or young broadcaster getting into this is I'm

not gonna say much. I'll keep my head down, I'll let the work speak for itself. I understand I'm gonna come in with extra sets of eyes on me, and people feel in some type of way When I came into this job, I said, if anyone looked at me and said that guy shouldn't be here and this is BS and I can't stand the kid, I would have totally understood it. That's why I was not going to come in and like I was anything other than what

it was. Someone who was lucky they had the last name that they did, who loves what I'm getting into, but also knows all right, I gotta go in and work twice as hard. Then I gotta take every opportunity and show up and show them I am going to be prepared. I am going to be easy to work

with here. I'm gonna understand whatever the assignment is, whether it's radio, whether it's calling games, whether it's digital, whether it's podcast, and say what do I need to do to be prepared for this, and then knock that out of the freaking park, same way I had to do as a player, because I wasn't the most athletically gifted guy in the world. I wasn't the biggest, strongest guy in the world, so I always had to overcompensate in

those other areas. The way I watched film, the way I went about taking care of my body and things like that, and so I just applied all that same stuff I got here. I kept my head down and I said, I will take every opportunity related to this I can, and I'll just try and show people. I don't need to tell people a damn thing. I'll try and show people that I care about this job. I understand, and I want to honor the opportunity that I got because I know a lot of people won't get that

and that you know that part. They'll always be a little bit of guilt about that. But all I can say is, all right, if this is what I really wanted to be doing, and this is something I really love and want to do, then I can honor the opportunity With the way I work, I can honor the people who wish they could have had that opportunity and at least say, all right, I didn't go to some lazy ship who's not gonna do anything on this. I'm

going to go in here. I'm trying to make sure, all right, I keep channeling my energy into these places, because you know, I'm five years into this, but I still feel very much like a rookie, feel very much like someone was something to prove, and so I just I think that's the only way I've been able to come back. And if people still feel some type of way,

I don't hold that against them. Like I can understand if people went the traditional route or had to come up another way look at me and see something that they resent, That's fine. All I can do is show up. Know that this is the job I love doing doing, No that I think I'm good at it at this point, know that I'm going to work my absolute ass off

to make sure it stays now. 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 this 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. Steve, you just nodded your head when he said he feels like a rookie? Why why do you? Why do both of you who have been in this media and they realized it five years just my fifth year too, So both y'all five year ebone and good singer. Sorry, it's it's it's cool, it's cool, it's cool. No, I listen. I liked that I was giving your space to keep

going if you wanted. You don't want that second Stanza producer, Brian's just gotta pay for that one, you know, five years in for both of y'all, why do you? Why do you? Boat? You nodded your head. I mean, Mike, you said why I still feel like rookies. Someone's gonna hear someone's gonna hear that and say you're a rookie, Like not for me. Last year COVID really changed the dynamic of things. And now things are opening back up and we're going back on the road and starting to

be starting to have a little bit of consistency. I feel like I started all over again, like, oh, I gotta get on the airplane again. I gotta study because the way things were so condensed last year, all right, doing Thursday night from the house, staying up till one in the morning, you controlled. There was only so much we can talk about because we weren't in the stands. There weren't fans there, so you couldn't say, man, I

felt the momentum change. There is no momentum change. You can hear people cursing at each other, you know, from the TV. So it was so quiet. So now going back out there, it's like, oh, oh yeah, I have to have a clear back. You know, you can't just all those little small things. And then obviously you know, bring my mask and um do this stand in line traffic, airport traffic security, uh t s A like all of those little small things that for the last eighteen months

we haven't really been dealing with. I mean, you know, you hop on airp airplane a little bit. But now to go every week there's a new place. Every week, there's a new hotel. You're going to be physically interacting with someone you forget. And so now I've I feel

like it's my first year all over again. I gotta restart, relearn, repair, uh, build up relationships from people that I haven't been able to see in two years or eighteen months, and they're not comfortable just you know, spilling their guts about the team via text, so you know you gotta kind of talk to him face to face. Yeah, I think there's a lot of that. We just have like our big college football meeting at ESPN and Zoom you had a visoom, Yeah,

via via zoom like everybody else. So learning how to do that at different way. And we had these like breakout sessions, and Dusty dvor Checker is a great job as an analyst for us, got on and he talked about just what Steve was mentioned in there, and he brought that up. He goes, it's a new team for us again this year, and we get to be around

each other in person. And so it's not only not taking that for granted, but remembering, hey, you can you can be a leader the way you go about this, make sure you know know everybody on your team, make sure you're putting everybody in a position to win. And that takes work that we haven't done in the last year in that same way. So it's it's equal parts that for me and I always say it just because, like you know, I did not have a pro career.

I went to three training camps, I got cut at the end of those training camps like it was what it was. But I spent three years trying to hammer through that door and didn't make it. I was an undrafted free agent offensive linement, so the road was always going to be tough. And I always still kind of feel like the undrafted guy walking into a lot of these situations where that's a hard mentality of a right I'm gonna show up every day and try and prove you why I'm supposed to be here, Like you can

ask my dad. I always used to joke and like he would laugh at it because my dad looks situation and sees things were progressing well for me and all that stuff. And I said, every day I show up in my badge still works that that to win like and and the goal is to make sure that happens again tomorrow and it you know, it doesn't work like that if not, like you know, someone's waiting or the Turk's wait could cut me or anything like that. But it's just kind of that feeling I can't ever shake,

at least not at this point. Something you said also too, I want you to expound on this. You said you feel guilty. Why do you what do you feel guilty about? Well, just like you said that, I know that as like a general idea and nepotism something that can take opportunities from people that are really struggling to get them and

go about them in the traditional ways. And so maybe guilty is not even the right word, but I understand, like, all right, there was like there are we talked about this all the time, whether it's sports or otherwise, Like there's X amount of seats at the table here, and so if you're occupying one from someone who's been doing this a long time, and and you know, there is something that says, all right, I kind of it to all of these people, and you hear it all the time,

like these people that say I've been working all the time for this, or I came up through local and did this, and so there is a little bit of understanding that, all right, there are a lot of people that would kill for this opportunity, and so it's just it's kind of something that sticks in my head of it, all right, I gotta go earn this every day because I know I got to jump in front of the line a little faster than a lot of people get to.

And you know that that kind of feeling once you just said jumped in front of the line, which means you still have to you still have to stand in line. Some people don't think you have to stand the line at all. Some people think you, oh, you got a great opportunity. You just got this opportunity. Like I mean, players all the time now, going back to training camps

and stuff. I had three or four guys over the last couple of weeks literally tell me, now, I want to do your job, and I want to I want to do your job and I want to do this. And they ask me, you know, how did you how do you start not telling you know, the long slap, a short version of doing local radio, then doing Excel, you know, working with your dad on Mike and Mike while I was playing and they and then after I started going through and they kind of look at me, like, man,

I signed up for this ship. Like so I just want to know how you got the job, bro, So like this is how I got the job. And so that's the back end. I think that everyone doesn't see, whether it's in sports, meta or whatever, but you gotta put the work in on the back end. Like his last name may have gotten him in the door, but just like he's saying, he's got to prove himself each and every day. If he didn't do that, then he'd be just he used to be, just as much as

out as anyone else. But people don't. People never want to see the back end story. They don't want to see that Steve Smith is in this position, maybe because of Steve Smith the name. But yeah, you were doing you were running the board at a local radio station. Everyone won't put that same amount of working. Everyone won't put in the same amount of work that Mike did

to keep him there. Yeah, you might have got expedited to the front of the line that it happened that had pins, but you gotta put the work in on the backing here. Yeah. Well, I mean that's the thing too, is like it is where you start. Also like when

I say I jumped to the line. The first job I got at ESPN was Sunday mornings nine to one Easter in a show called Fantasy Focus, a four hour radio show talking fantasy football heading into the one o'clock window there I showed I showed it into that once a week, and as the year went along, if they needed someone else to fill in on any show, where I was. I was doing it and it was mainly weekends,

like they weren't letting me near the weekday line. So like they were and I'm blaming them, Like god, if I went back and listen to some of those shows now, I'm sure they'd be awful. But it was that. It was, you know, continuing to do that and then transitioning into the four to six am slot before Mike and Mike doing that with you know, Robin Lemberg as a partner at first, and then doing solo radio from four to six in the morning for three and a half years.

Whoa whoa, whoa whoa four to six, that's what I mean. Just driving into work and truck drivers listening to me, Like my bosses weren't even up listening to me at that point. But it was reps every day in front of the microphone. It was the most valuable thing that I have done so far. And four to six that means you got up it. You got up at least to something to get ready right, alarm went off at two thirty, was out of the house by like two.

How many times did you hit the snooze though? Oh I see, I'm so I'm a neurotic, former offensive lineman. I had like six alarms set every morning because I was terrified of being late for work. That would wake that used to wake me up. I used to do is Sunday Show's on that call time was at five. Had to be at the at the State, at the studio for four four oh five, and then I had to snooze question seven. Seven minutes and thirty five seconds

was my snooze. That seven minutes felt good? Didn't No minutes felt that thirty five seconds that was to make a break. I'll get up. That's and wake up in the shower. The snooze sleep is good. It's risky though that set you start to see, Okay, I'm back, I'm back. I used to go to sleep scared though have you ever went to sleep scared? Oh? So the first time I ever, um, I wasn't even filling in, but I was getting to come over and do like an hour.

So this was a couple of years into that where they let me come over and fill in like an hour portion of Mike and Mikey when it was you know, it was still Mike and Mike at that point, I slept for forty five minutes that night. I was like, I'm gonna get up there and say something dumb. I'm gonna cuss on air. They're never gonna let me back here, like I was night before a game, nervous and slept for five minutes before that, just like could not get

myself to settle down. That is the worst I've been. I've done that too. Were you just kind of like or you wake up every hour checking o'clock and yeah, and it's and people are like, oh, he looked like he was out all night. No, brothers are struggling. He in that nine. You sit there sleep story five. Now, your heart in your in your shoe. You got an alarm set on the phone. You have alarm setting another clock in the room. You gotta put one across the room.

So all those sales, you gotta get up and get that one. Or the one time I foolishly did had them call me from downstairs. And one time they well they called me and I'm in a shower. Damn. They almost died trying to get get get to the phone because they keep calling. They keep calling. I hit when you nack it, Oh no, just listen when you naked mean and you don't have socks on. You just got bare feet. You hit that water and that you try to hit that curve in the bathroom, whoa wait, almost

an accident. I'm bleeding out. You get that little hydroplane that that'll wake you up more than any shower by the way to that first time you like almost slip on something at like three in the morning, wide away, ready to go. The worst thing though, the glass uh shower door, walk straight into it. I forgot it was there. They reminded you. I thought it was open, she was closed. And that's happened to you before I call myself all kind of stuff. Yep, that'll that'll wake you up and

humble you. Yeah, it's nothing like walking into that glass door that that you thought was open and it's really not and you run smack into it. That this happened to the best of us. Play has happened to you? Yeah, it happened to me. Work once. It was pretty embarrassing work. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's that's that's embarrassing. Damn. So what they did they nickname me for a couple of days. Nah, there are a lot of people. See it's just a few, it's only two or three. So I I tested myself off,

keep it going, keep it moving. How is this set up? How did you walk in one of those are like glass fishbowl kind of conference rooms and it looks I mean it's just you know, straight thin glass, so you couldn't tell if it was open and closed, and there happened to be you know, it was. It was a little bit sun someone's in my eyes. I walked smack into it trying to did you walk into it trying to go into the meeting leaving? Yeah? It was, it was.

It's all good. Hopefully it wasn't. Hopefully it wasn't like I'm leaving you can actually we're gonna lay you off after that. I've been kicked out a bit of homes. This what's um? What what has been a process been like for you? At ESPN? You know, we see this big old you know what they called it the car wash, but you see just this big old institution cranking out content left and right. You know, there's I've been there and they've always you know, I've been there several times

and they've switched it. You know, it's been it's always been a campus, but it's not. It hasn't always been the glorious campus that it is today. Yeah, that was that was a crazy purpose. I guess. I grew up out here. So when I first got here and dad was working at the ESPN, it was like three buildings. And now it's it is what you just described. It's college campus. You've got this huge you know, it used to be these big satellite dishes for everything, and now

it's all gone digital. Like the growth of campus has been pretty wild here. And then like you get there on the inside, and I don't know, like I remember a lot of like the first like you go around and you see the inside of the Sports Center studio for the first time, and you're looking around at this thing like I would sit around in college and watch three times back to back during the course of the day, and you just kind of have those pitch yourself moments.

And and I think for me, like getting opportunities to work with people that I had been watching as like you know, a high school and a college player, and and getting a chance to see them up close and then really just kind of seeing seeing through them more of the stuff that I wanted to do. Like obviously I grew up with the you know, the best role model for this and my dad and getting to see the way he did it up close for two decades

was invaluable for me. Like getting to see, like, you know, Michelle Beatle and Marcelis matt Crew out in Sports Nation and the way that they made TV out there. I looked at that and said, all right, that's a really interesting way they're doing this. What can I take from that? Um, Michael Smith and Jamal Hill and they were doing his and hers. I was like, okay, you're you're doing a show with your friends, taking chances on air, and they're giving you the space to do that like they were.

They were the cool kids table when I got to ESPN, like smell and all the stuff that they were doing, and I I tell anyone who will listen, I am so indebted to them because again you talk about how I came into ESPN, I was very self conscious about being Mike goli senior son around there and how people would perceive me. And Michael and Jamal treated me like

me and they gave me opportunities on their shows. They took me in and treated me like a friend, and it settled me down own so much because these people that were, you know, at the time, two of the most successful people and like unbelievably kind and nice and still are even you know, not in our building anymore. But just the fact that those people like reached reached out and made me feel at home really kind of helped start to settle me in. It's like, all right,

you can start to be your own person here. You're gonna be able to find an identity here. Let me

ask you without mentioning names. There you're talking about so many people that I knew who your last name, we were, and they just allowed you to be yourself and they looked past that without naming names and just really just talking about talking about the others, the ugly side of the business, what you experience and how you retreat it because of your name and and this isn't about you know, you out in people any of that stuff, but just kind of giving the audience understanding of what you see

the final product. Just like a football game you see on Sunday or Thursday night or Monday night, you're you know, the shows you're on. There's so much that goes on behind the scenes that people think one of your fad lines that you don't have your own personality you don't

really know what you're talking about. I just go through that business aspect of it that no one really sees that you you don't really reveal on social media because nobody really wants to see the ugliness of of business, right, Like, this is a horrible analogy, but I'll say it. You know, loved me and a wife loved and everybody here who's

a parent love making the kids. But there are some days, depending on what illness they have, what time of day it is, or hot early it is in the morning, and you're like, God, bless him, right, you know, whether it's a poopy diaper or somebody's throwing up at one in the morning, you have sleep, like just all that stuff that was just a teenagers that was a go yeah. But you know, so tell us about that part of it.

The thing that we get hit with the most, especially ESPN, is people act like, well, they tell you what to talk about, or they tell you you can't have an opinion on X, Y or Z. Especially you know a lot of times that's with subjects that come up and have to do with you know, the intersection of racing, sports and what's going on in politics. When they connect with sports and stuff like that was like feedback is

so hard to come by in general. Good, Yeah, you gotta seek people out and ask people that you trust and like have them do it because everyone's got their own jobs, they're worried about their stuff, and with how hard that is to come by, I'm always like, guys, they're they're not going to take the time to come down to dictate every little thing I'm going to say on Eric here, Like that is not how it works.

And so because I'm always that always ticks me off because it's like, listen, you can sit here and blame the SPN and say they told you to say this, or you can realize that I got this opinion, and then you've got to just have this conversation with be. You don't have the out of blaming it on somebody else, and then Washington is the way You're gonna have to sit here and have this out with me. So that's that's the most bothersome thing because we put a lot

of work into that. Like when I get done with you guys, I'm gonna go to our one o'clock show meeting and we're gonna bat around ideas there and try and figure out first off, what do we think anyone's gonna be interesting in? What do we feel strongly enough

about here? How can we make it interesting because for our time slot, and this was part of feeling like a rookie this past year was I went from doing the morning show with Dad and Trade for the last two and a half years, tending out doing afternoon Drive from four to seven. And by the time you get to us, you know, unless news breaks, you've heard these stories two, three or four times. You've heard about ten different networks, ten different personalities, ten different voices. You got

the yellows, the screamers, the mumblers, to whisper. You just have everything and people don't even realize that everything you're going through from four to six, you gotta have two two and a half hours of content and then if something crazy breaks, you have to form your opinion about that immediately. That was the most interesting part about this year was learning how to do that. Like you talk about something new. We had been on the air for maybe a month, me and and we had a whole

show ready to go again. Like so we start at one o'clock and we start putting the show together. From there, we're constantly in contact with our producers and trying to make sure we give them stuff early enough so that the TV side of things, because we're on Plus, can

have this queue up. And so then it is three fifty six, and all of a sudden, it's hey, um, the Milwaukee Bucks aren't going out in the court in the bubble, and hey, the rest of the NBA they're all not going out tonight either because of what we're on in Milwaukee and the you know, the violence and

the violence by police officers and going on in the country. Then, and so we had to scrap the entire show and then immediately go into all right, we gotta get guests that are going to be able to tell us what's going on inside the NBA bubble, who are people in there? And then oh, by the way, try and navigate you know, you know, we were extremely fortunate at that point is a current w NBA player, she's playing with Sparks still her sister. You know, she wasn't in the bubble because

she was dealing with coming back from injury. But her sister is the president of the w n B A p A. And so we immediately had to do, Steve, what you guys. You know what we always hear about as former players is take people inside what's going on

that locker room and in that space. It wasn't only take people inside what they're dealing with as a players association and leagues trying to go through and navigate this incredibly complex developing situation, but also then for Tone, I was like, you're a you're a black woman in this country having to watch all this stuff play out right now, And we had to have those conversations that we hadn't had together yet off air, that we hadn't had time to plan for. We had to have them on air

pretty candidly. Good, do it, good, do it? Then get 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. How does a guy who primarily you know,

dad played in the NFL. You know you had your standard NFL um You're in New Jersey in Connecticut, you know, I mean you have no idea what it's like to go through with any of the people were going through or the stands that they were taking, And how do you talk about a subject that you have no damn idea about? Mostly by listening. Like I grew up in like, I grew up in an incredibly like homogeneous like my town was basically all white name I didn't want to

so I just let you say, I appreciate that. Yeah, I went to I mean, I mean basically in all white middle school. My high school was a little different. I went to a Catholic high school right in the town where I actually live in now, and that was a lot more diverse group of people. So there I started to meeting with backgrounds that were way dissimilar from

my own. And then the same thing happens. I'm in a college football locker room here, So now I'm around a lot of people that don't look like me and don't come from where I came from. And I was fortunate that I had friends that would sit down and

talk with me about this stuff. And I just made the decision that I'm going to shut the hell up and listen to stuff that I don't know about, and so before I got to Yeah, it's just it became that where I was fortunate, I had friends that took the time to explain to me what they were going through, and I just tried to stop and listen along the way.

And and when people push back on that, when people that look like me push back on some of those things, I try and see if I can't be you know someone who says, all right, well, have you considered this perspective that this group of people have offered up here?

Have you thought about it from the way that they're dealing with and having to go through these things, even if the perspective is at your own, Because for a lot of people, they don't have the luxury of the experience I've had where they've got to sit and not only like sit and talk with you know, black brown people from all different backgrounds, but then like god, in a football locker room, you go through hell together. So like, I love so many things about this person in the

way they handle themselves here. That's why I always get hung up when people try and like act like folks are lying about this stuff. I was like, you, you love and go through so much and respect so much about who this person is to you in this locker room and your experiences with them, and all of a sudden you assume that on this one thing that's so near and dear to them, they're gonna I knew about that.

It just doesn't make sense. I mean, you you brought up I think, just a remarkable answer and just listening, especially in the day and age on social media where everyone wants to respond and not a lot of people say that they want to listen, and you are very active on social media. Everyone seems to love it, they hate it. What do you love about social media? And

then what do you hate about social media? Umof what do I love is that it can expose you to a lot of different ideas, Like it's still I think in the best form a gateway to like longer form comment Like I really enjoy following writers that I liked

on there, people that are content creators and other mediums. There, people that bring opinions again from you know, backgrounds and areas that I haven't been a part of, and you can get exposed to a lot of that just by the way the algorithm works there, and you know, you get to interact with fans like I think in this job especially, we're always looking for ways to try and figure out what fans are talking about or what the conversation looks like, and so that's a pretty unique window

into that. The thing that I hate about it is any time it actually takes away from living life away from the screen, like I've tried to make like a really big habit, especially now because I mean hell, most of my close friends are spread all over the country, so when I get a chance to see them, especially post pandemic, that time is precious. Those moments are limited.

My family is the same way now, so you know, it's almost a running joke in my family where if I'm visiting someone and that include my family, you usually won't hear from me for that couple of days because I'm trying to keep the phone stuffed in my pocket. I'm trying to stay off social as much as i can and make sure that, like, the main thing is still the main thing. So when it gets it, when it gets in the way of the real life interactions,

that's when it becomes bad for me. I hate, Yeah, what what do I I just dislike I just dislike you have There's really no gray anymore. It's either you know it's black or white, right, It's literally yes or no, love or hate. There's there's no in between. There's no like, Man, I can see your perspective. It's just like you're you're dumb, You're this, you're that. You don't know anything that was great. It's never any like happy medium of Hey, um, you

know I was. I was doing a couple of weeks ago. I was doing the Colts and Panthers game, and unfortunately, when the players got hurt, right, and I just said, man, way looks way hit. I know I'm not supposed to say it, but it looks like in the way his responding looks like you towards a c L. Someonne's on there. Um, the team showed me the guy. Literally, you're barely an analyst. Don't start trying to say whether guy's hurt or not. Unfortunately,

guy's hurt. So I was kind of right, and I so wanted our team to respond back to him like, hey, dumbass, I kind of know what I'm talking about, right. My job is the as a receiver. I looked at body movement, right or the other thing. Everybody came on got on me so much, and I've been saving this one? Is it what I take right now? You know? You remember when the Arizona Cardinals drafted Kyler Murray? Remember that? And

I was on the show. And the next day Josh Rosen goes head and he unfollows the Arizona Cardinals, and I went in on him like, man, this kid blah blah blah blah blah, and I got so and everybody steve your dirt bag, you're this, you're that. Four years later, now that brother is parking Actually no, he got a lot of money, not play, so he's not parking any cars. But it's just like everybody was on me, how dare you this and that? Now four years later? Mm hmm.

Handsome boy genius was correct. But I guess no box of cookies. No one's sending me any flowers, congratulated me. Nothing. Cleo didn't see me anything saying that I foresaw. She was called me now for your free I called me now, yes, yes, when you want your reading. Carl Smitty smitty psychic, smitty psychic Now in make I'm a lot longer, but he'd tell you it's gonna come. Yeah. And and so so many people just have so many bad things to say, and I was four years later and now all those

mamma jammers, it's been four years. Been four years. It's been four years, bro, what four teams or four years? And it is amazing too. People will always come out of the woodwork years later to remind you when you're wrong. When I'm right. Nope, So let me roll this thing back up and take it off the table. Now. I'm glad I was here when you're dusted it off. He started laying all that I thought you would never ask.

Mike Golick Jr. What makes you tick? Man? Who are you outside of all the sports stuff and your dad just you know, just removed the junior Who who are you? Um? When I when we see you the next time on television here and you talk about college football and doing the games that you do an excellent job on who who are you? Who? Who is the who's the man that that that everybody knows who his father is, but not necessarily have a great understanding who who you are

independently outside of your family family name. Yeah, yeah, I think for me, my my goal is to always be a great teammate, like whatever whatever part of life that is. So if you see me on you know, a TV or radio program or doing a game, and or you

work with me in one of those. My goal is to hopefully always come out of that leaving the impression that all right, I was gonna do whatever I could to make sure that everyone there succeeded, because like, we all got a job, Like we've got different titles and all these things, but we're all here to put a show on here, and I want to make sure that everyone's getting what they need to succeed. And you know

that for me goes off the field too. Like I said, I got, you know, family that all lives in different spots. Now I have my close friends who all live in different spots. Now they all have young kids, some of whom I'm god parent too. But for the rest of them, I uncle Mike you. So I want to be there for all of those people. I want to make sure that you know, the people that take I take care

of the people that take care of me. And so however that looks, whether it being there in person to support them, whether it's a phone call or anything like that. Like I I like to think that no matter what I'm doing, I'm always trying to go out of my way to be a good teammate. And that's not a

thing that's you know, for me to say. I don't know whether I'm getting a passing grade on that or not, but that's usually the intention I'm trying to walk into the situation with, which is all right, you know what, I had a unique experience in the way that I've gone through my life here, I have an opportunity to be able to share that with people, and in the process of that, I just always want to make sure, all right, I am fortunate in a lot of ways.

And I mean that's, you know, outside of just the opportunity to again, I grew up not wanting for much like I grew up with, you know, with a good life that my parents made for me here. And so it's like, all right, you started off at a certain spot on the ladder here, can you not only go higher, but can you try and bring people with? Can you try and make sure that you're getting opportunities where it's possible? So let me ask you this there is it is so what you've experienced as a kid, Is it a

step up now you're adult or step down? Um? I think that's honestly still TBD right, like I'm at a good place for work. Lighting in the back will say it's a step down. Yeah, well listen, if we're talking about just the house, it's my mom and dad got nicer house. They got plural I have. I have this one, so it's a step down from there. I was just at their house in the South End here and coming back, I just like look around for a second life. Shit,

all right, we still not worked. But honestly, that part's cool too, because like I got but like Kyle Rudolph a place for the giants with one of my roommates in college daughter, and um, you know, like I was just at Kyle's house two weeks ago in Minnesota and it is this like gorgeous, beautiful, huge home on the lake out there, and it's like not one of those things where it's like ever a jealousy thing, but it's a motivator to see the people around you accomplishing at

a high level. Like everyone always talks about, you know, the circle you keep and you being a reflection of that. Like I always look around and like take a lot of pride in the fact that my friends are doing well as parents, you know, whatever their respective careers have been and stuff like that, and so, uh, it's at the same with my parents, Like, god, how how much prouder could you be of two parents than my mom

and dad? And what my dad's accomplished, and you know what, my mom has helped him with so much behind the scenes that no one sees the thankless jobs that she's done along the way. And so yeah, it's it's it's one of those things where I don't know where I am on that. That's that's part of the story is still getting written. But I know I came in with a great opportunity and a little bit ahead of that, and I have, you know, kind of taken moments here.

They're like my moment every year where I kind of sit back and like, you know, reflect on everything, is always the National Championship in college football. It was a game that I was fortunate enough to play him as player. I've gotten to cover it every year i've been here at ESPN, and so you just get there and it's like, all right, like, you know, how how have I changed in the last year since we were here last year? What have we gone what have I gone through? Or

you know, what's what's improved? What have we accomplished here? And then you know, where do we go from there? So that's that's kind of the coolest spot to do that every year. And then where we're sitting right now, a lot of work to get done, but still feeling feeling pretty good about where we're at. Certainly proud of a lot of the stuff. The stuff I've put on tape so far, what you put on tape is excellent. Man, I'm gonna just tell you how I listened to you.

I'll watch you. There's a limited number of seats at s being at NFL network, at Fox. You are just like me. We're grateful for our seats, but we also we don't get up every day. Said, man, you know I need to be grateful you. You're grind and you're willing to study. Says that you know you can't come to work not knowing your job. If you don't know your job, over time, you will get exposed. Oh god, yeah. Yeah. But it's also one of those things where you haven't

rest on your laws. You haven't been like, Man, I'm Michael let Junior, So I just come and I'll have as do it. You I've seen and watch and I'm just man, it's pretty cool. Bro. No, I appreciate that I'm listen and you mentioned that last name. I could not be prouder, Like there is of all the things and that I can promise I've always said the last name has been a blessing. Like you always do ask what the you know, what the drawbacks have been to being I was like, man, if they're there, they're so

small in comparison to what the benefits have been. Like I'm know what a good marriage is supposed to look like. I know the way people love each other and how they're supposed to treat each other it looks like, and how you're supposed to treat other people, let alone all the work stuff. That's been great. So now that's uh, the last the last name is something I definitely try and make sure I go out there and honor because a lot of people know it. Like that's been the

cool part. Man. I got to share my family with a lot of other people, like through that show. It was a family show, So they got to meet the people that I see all the time and see a little bit of what makes them tick and see why I'm so proud of them. We asked you that this. If you can change your name, what name would it be? Your first name? Oh, oh man, thought about that. Mine was Bishop Bishr. That called me bish Take that and make as many jokes as you want. His was his

was if from Back to the Future. Back to the future. So I would say this. I always feel like I'd make a decent Bubba. I feel like I got a lot of Bubba tendencies. But this is so hit the racial profile right there. But I'm gonna bounce. I'm gonna balance the scales for you here because the other name that I'd have waiting in the wings is Darius. So when I was growing up, when I was growing up, and Darius Jr. Daris is a black name. Yes, when

I was growing up, I grew up. I grew up Catholic, And so when you grew up Catholic, you go through one of the sacraments is confirmation, where you basically is an adult, stand up and say I confirm these beliefs and all that stuff, and you pick a confirmation then and at the time, like I grew up a huge Notre Dame football fan, and so at the time, one of the great players on there Dame team was there running back, dar Us Walker, and I thought, man, that'd

be cool as hell. That was my confirmation name, and so I went, it's got to be correlated to a saint. So I found a saint and made it made sense. But my like confirmed name in the Catholic Church is Michael Lewis Darius gold Jr. I was trying to figure out how that Catholic tie was gonna get us to Darius. I never heard, brother, I never heard. I ain't never heard the Catholic tied to a black man. Right, But you made a work, brother. I appreciate Hey, appreciate your time. Man.

All right, Darius, see you later, Darius. Alright, bitch, you are a unique person. You are well worth it, you are competent, and most of all, your lovable. I'm Steve Smith Senior. I'm Gerard 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 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 Baltaschevitch and Meredith Carter, with production assistance by Alex Lebrek Production Coordinator Taylor Robinson. 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 so cass