Mike Golic

too bad? How are you? Man? I'm doing great. No complaints. Man. Hey, so school me on this. This cameo app you got, I know it's it's this app right where people can make requests for you to do, like these personalized social messages, social video messages. How's the work? We're after a long period of time, about a year of cameo trying to get me to do it. I didn't want to do it. Yeah, they were recruiting you, you pretty, and I was declining them.

They reached out a few times. So basically, somebody can come on the cameo and the request for me to do something. All kinds of athletes, entertainers, every reality stars. There's a I think Steve Harvey like four hundred the message. Okay, it's gotta be some guys hot in that too. Oh

it's the way my mind works. I'm not really sure how to do it, but one I just I don't know if I want to say, I don't have the time, but I want of those guys like I'm I'm either hot and I'll do it well I'm cold, and I'm like I'm okay, so yeah, and bro, some of this stuff that's in there, like okay, what kind of stuff do you like? Just just entertaining our listeners for what may seem normal for you, but some of us probably

listen like what that really gets? People ask you with these certain things like so I have someone and say, hey, requestion the Mother's Day message for my mom, Like of course that's cool, right, And most of the time when I get someone that sent me something after I record always tell them, hey, thank you appreciate if you're allowing me to be a part be part of your you know whoever that individual special day, because I don't really see myself like that. But then there are some people

like they right, like autobiography like a dissertation. Almost, yeah, dissertation, Like you want me to wish somebody happy birthday and then you're telling me what seat number they're in as they're watching the game. As they're watching the game, and then they get pissed at me. But I don't like repeat all that. It was like one guy, he wrote so much stuff. I literally text on the on the app, I said, what do you exactly want me to do? Because it was so much He gave you a smort

board of options. Oh man, I mean it's like, hey, he's turning thirty, he's turning the age, and may please wish him a happy birthday from me. He's a huge Panther fan since since their first year on the team. Big fan of Smithy would be he's amazing father and husband, cool, no problem. And there are some people give me the ones that are I got to go back and a challenging to you, man, let me go down, let me go down yonder. There's somewhere I just gotta block. I

just can't. I can't do it like I just like, I just can't give me a give me crazy one. Well, what's funny is every so after you get the um wrong black guy like they somebody they give me confused with somebody else? Right, somebody just they're like, hey, could you Oh my bad, I thought you were Nelly? Hey Rick? Can you got my picture of my name? Or you know, hey, can you what's the guy? This guy? He's he has a YouTube channel, okay, and he wants me to introduce

him on his YouTube channel. But we don't know what YouTube channel is about. That dude can be creep. I don't know. Oh I'm not doing that. No tell him what he reviewing? No teller, no telling. I asked somebody. Let's this guy says, Hey, Steve, this blank has a listener league for fans. I'm trying to win a spot using cameos as recommendations. Little humor mixed with your reputation as a player and analysts will really help. This is

something you could do via cameo. He gave you the full creative pri I say you want the truth of the lie it could be made up. Then saying you can win it. When you trold d J. Moore about your fantasy line up to kid made me think you're good for this. I could put together a loose script or something he's got the old graded. Whatever you think you can do to build me up, make it sound like you know me. I can I get some talking points loose script. Here's what I said. Sorry, I'll passed, Thanks,

not interested, go up? But no. And I guess maybe because you can pay people that. That's what I was just about to say. Like, it's it's crazy how you can now have this connection to to anyone, athletes, entertainer, celebrities, whatever the case may be. But ten years ago, twenty years ago, thir you didn't have this much access. Now you sign up for an app, you can put in request and whether you fulfill it or not, they can send you a message that you can now have access

to someone now again you can. You can decide whether or not you're gonna do it. Oh, here go, here go, Here goes one. Old college friends Fantasy League roast the out of someone but Joe, but Joe Joe one this year three times champ Avery never won it all, says he's cursed, just sucks, had bad trades. Jeremy went one and twelve, Thomas always one and done in the playoffs. I hit him with decline and people will pay for It's all about Hey, do this for me, you know,

let me show transactional man. So we talk about the transactional relationship that people have with athletes entertainers. Sometimes it's even frustrated from me and I'm not even in your Here's the funniest thing. I wish someone a happy birthday who knew someone else, who knew someone else. And then a buddy that I actually knew so came back around to you, came back and was like look, and I just laughed and me and him said, Wow, the things people will pay for just to say, look what Steve

did for me. There is some that I really enjoyed, Like somebody's coming out of surgery, somebody who's breast cancer, someone who's really hit hard times, who's depressed. You're really providing some hope for correct. So I had a lady, she got upset at me, send me a nasty little since your nasty graham. Nasty graham. Her husband's birthday was coming up, and she wanted me to wish I'm gonna have a birthday. Now. When you sign up, they they

allowed you so many days to do it. So when she signs up, to complete the request, complete the request, I had six days. Now, it's not my fault. You signed me up four days before his birthday. That that is that my fault, same same day every year, right, I don't know. Maybe he has a leap her birthday. I'm not sure, but she was mad. She declined it and said false advertisement. You didn't answer it in Craigslist.

Here's the problem. I have six days to complete it, or I have six days too ignore decline to do it. I still have a choice. You have offered me a message to you, and I have six days to complete it. Don't be matter me. If I completed on day five, I still technically got ahold twenty four hours. Then you should have picked me sooner. Now I have four dred eleven completed cameos. I have ninety eight percent completion. Sometimes I knocked him out. Other times, yeah, I'm one. Just

get to him when I get Hey. Sometimes you gotta tell us if you want me be here at noon. Sometimes you gotta left right. Hey, who we got coming up on the Cut to It podcast? We've got Mike Golic, former NFL player. He was also known for being a host from Mike and Mike. A former NFL analyst and all around great guy Mike Golic on the Cut to It podcast. Oh man, my pleasure. I'm looking forward to this. I've been I have no outlet anymore to talk anymore.

So I love taking opportunities. All right, well we're gonna get started on this opportunity. Our first segment is called get Iced Up. But give him the first of our get iced up questions. All right, if you can change your name to anything or to something, what would you change it to? I think Biff if it wasn't that all back to the future, Yes, it was and and and Biff wasn't wasn't a great character. But I just it would be a one syllable he was, he was. I would like to change that and be a better

Biff than the Biff from back then. A great recall, by the way, Um, yeah, it was, it was. It would be exactly. It would be a it would be a quick name like that, like I named my daughter. We call quick names like it's Sydney, but we call her Shid, Jake, Mike, those are my kids. We like quick, one name or one syllable. Uh So I just figured out to go off a little bit and do Biff and and go down that road. Would you do so many things BI like the oh a neck, and and

and and make yourself really rich? Or would you use it for good? You know this isn't a Bailock question. But couldn't I do both? I couldn't. I would have been on the World Series game. I would have definitely made a ton of money. But then I would have used some of that money for good so that I could morally justify why I was cheating the system. I'm okay, right, I'm doing good with it. So it's like, okay, it doesn't matter how you got it. You didn't hurt anybody.

You made a lot of money, and then I'll spend a lot of it on the good and also, you know then fly private everywhere as well. All right, um, so what will be your name? What? Oh? Is your name? Bishop? I don't know why. I love Bishop just like Bishop from Juice. No, just Bishop, not from Juice. This Bishop. I love the name Bishop. Wow. Okay, that's a pretty that's out of the box one. I think that's ubermanly, right.

I think it's like just like like he held Smith, bishops Bishops Smith put it up bishops coming Now, would you wouldn't want anything you would want anybody to to shorten it to bish you want to do when you want to bishop, like you know, that would be to be like you're holding up the line. My serchs have my money. That's tomorrow. That's what my church says. My

church says, beach better have my money. Yeah. Yeah, you're gonna get a lot of trouble if you go bishop, because there's gonna be a whole lot of Let if my name is bishop and you're walking around refer to me as bishop, your life is worth Yeah, let's move on dirt bigs, all right. So this is an interesting conversation. You know we have prior to this. So I think this is excellent. Beach or mountains? Which one do you prefer? Wow?

You know what I have been. I enjoy hiking in all honesty, so I I may go mountains, and I'm I'm more of a pool guy than a beach guy, you know, so I would probably out of that go mountains. Why are you a pool guy then beach guy? One of the reasons is um and and let me this is kind of a public service announcement as well. Most places where there's a beach, you want to get wet. And go on the water sharks lot in the water, and you know, then you get wet and you get

sand on you a little bit. I'm not well into that. That's a I'll go hang out by the pool, put my phone on, you know, just kind of chill there, he said. And someone would say this, what's your pier to short back out? Yeah, no, I would go I would go mountain. I would go mountain, whether the biking in the mountain or hiking in the mountains. All right, So we're here in North Carolina. So can you do you believe have you ever been to like Kiowa or Myrtle Beach. Yes, I've been to boat. Do you consider

Myrtle Beach a beach? No? No, I have just not been a Myrtle Myrtle Beach guy and not not really. Yeah. I go there in golf like Darius Rucker would have his Monday after the Master's tournament out there in Myrtle Beach, and so I go out there to golf. I never really never really hit hit the beaches. No, I've golf the Kia as well. That's very nice, but uh yeah, just just not really a beach guy. All right, So

what did you have for breakfast this morning. Um so I got up first and I had oat mail with almonds in it and with some little grin ola in it. And then me and my wife work out. We work out at Orange Theory Fitness. And then after that, let me tell you what, and I made something for her. I make killer avocado toast, what kind of what kind of bread? So ill we'll do like wheat bread. But then what I'll do is I'll get turkey sausage and I'll cook up the turkey sausage and on the bread,

I'll put the blockamoli on the bread. I'll put the turkey sausage over the bread, and then I'll do an eggs over easy and lay it right on top of the turkey sausage on the bread. On the avocado. He's pretty good. Oh yeah. I love to cook, big, big fan of cooking. So so that was our post workout meal, got our protein in. And if I didn't make that, then we would have had I would have had a done or something. You go from an avocado toast hitty green.

Oh yeah, listen, I'm versatile. All I tell something that you're grateful for today. You know a lot of people may not not think it because they ended up, you know, not renewing me. But but I am grateful for my time at ESPN because I we're we're a real big, tight family, and it allowed me for something I enjoy doing. It allowed me to bring my family along, you know. And like when I started doing the show, my Mike

was ten, Jake was nine, and Sydney was five. And when I ended my time there, Mike was thirty one, Jake was thirty, and Sydney was twenty six. So it was a long time. So it was fun having them grow up kind of on air. Both my boys signed their letters have intend to Notre Dame on air. My daughter signed her let ever attend to Notre Dame to swim there. Um, So we've had them all on a lot, and now my son listened. Mike tried to make it up. They both played an or name. Mike was in a

couple of camps at the NFL. Unfortunately, as Steve you know, it doesn't work for everybody. He gave it a shot and for a couple of years and it didn't go. So he's in the business now and doing extremely well. I'm listening to him. He when you guys were you guys were on and having him. I was like, man, you know, Mike Julior is doing an excellent job. He's progressed and the confidence as well. And I saw him

with one tattoo full sleeve. I'm like a test. Yeah, he was always it was like it was like, okay, my hair is getting lost, let me get a tattoo. Here, he's getting back further and further, let me get the sleeve. Now he's fully ball hitted and sleeves. But man, yeah, he's doing a great job. He said he was going to get the other sleeve if he played any amount of time in the league. It felt better about getting the other sleep he just has the one, And it

was I know, who knows? Who knows? You know, when he was doing the show with me or with others, he wasn't like, you know, the main person. He was one of like two or three. Now he does the show with Tene Boo McKay, who plays for the l A Sparks and and she was the number one pick. She went to Stanford. Well she's doing the show with Mike and the more in the afternoon, and you know, now, so they're both front and center, you know, these young

thirty year old you know, doing their thing. It's it's cool. But but over going back to what I was saying, overall, it was just nice to bring my family along on this ride. It wasn't. I went to work and I came home, and you know, the two didn't mix. The two didn't mix pretty well, and it was it was cool because it lasted so long and was able to see them all grow up through it. So that was that was fun. Favorite sports teams growing up or favorite

sports team when you're growing up. Interestingly enough, I grew up in Cleveland, so I was kind of a Browns fan. I was a big Leroy Kelly fan, and amazingly enough and all the young people out there Google and they running back with the Cleveland Browns years ago, and I got to meet him at a Super Bowl maybe ten years ago, and it was very cool. But interesting enough, growing up in Cleveland, I was a open Raidar fan.

Kenny stabler otis sis drunk, I mean, all those crazy bastards, you know, I mean just just I just love the way they play. And I was like, man, if I play ball, that's that's the way I want to play, you know. So that was kind of. That was kind of the team I grew up watching just all those nutcases play ball. It's pretty pretty cool. So you said you were from Cleveland, but you know, so we always like to ask where are you from in a place

you call your hometown. Where I'm from, uh is Cleveland obviously, Um the place I call home. You know, I'm gonna be in two spots I'm gonna be. I have a place at Notre Dame where we all went to school, and I have a place out here in Arizona. And you know, people always ask me, you know, what's your favorite pro team? And I don't really have one. And

it wasn't because I worked in the business. I mean I played for the Houston Oilers which is now the Tennessee Titans again for the youngsters out there, and then the Philadelphia Eagles and then finished with the Miami Dolphins. Most of my years were in Philly, so I had the most appreciation there. But I don't nobody there was there when I was there now when I was there, So I don't really root for a protein. But you know, we have a lot of ties at Notre Dame. My

brother Bob went there, My brother Greg went there. I went there, All three of my kids went there. I met my wife there, her sister went there, so there was a ton of us that went to school there. So that place is really close to my heart and our hearts for our family. So I'll probably spend a lot of time in Arizona because we love it out in Arizona, but we're will probably congregate the most will be at our place at Notre Dame, just because that place has been such a big part of our lives.

We have to take a break in the morning. Anything. We gotta pay some bills. I love cut to It, and I love it even more when you download us and subscribe, and you can follow us on social media to 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. So growing up in Ohio. How did this shape your perspective on how you see life, how you maneuver through life today. Well, I mean, you know, we were middle class, the lower middle class as far as income, probably more lower from from the money side.

My dad, you know, worked he was a bricklayer and then he worked side jobs and my mom was a secretary, and he played ball in the Canadian Football League. He's a football player. He played in Indiana and then in the CFL. They there's a few NFL teams that wanted him to come play there. But my brother Bob was born, my brother Greg was born, and I was actually on the way. He decided, you know, back then football wasn't making a ton of money, so he decided he was

going to retire and just start raising the family. So we learned from my parents a great work ethic, I mean a great work ethic, and they were my dad's best line to us. And you don't really understand a lot of things parents are doing until obviously later. Is

in football. You know, before we went to practice, we would work out on the bags in the backyard, and then we go to practice, and then after practice we'd work a little bit extra and then he would say to us, now, whatever section you're on in schooled in a certain subject, go back on the section you were just on and make sure you understand it. Get on the section that you're on and peruse the section ahead,

just so you know what's coming. He kind of applied it, and my parents applied the sports side to the academic side, and also said, you're not getting anywhere in sports without the academics. You know, we weren't going to play football, notre name unless we have the grades as well. So that was always a big part. But he taught us, both my parents, I should say, taught us sacrifice. Okay, this is your goal, this is what you want to do. Well,

this is what it's gonna take. You may not be able to go out with your friends on the weekend, you may be up earlier and you want to, you may go to bed later than you want to, but this is what you need to do. And that's something I was able to pass on to my kids at a young age when they had their goals, you know, playing football to a certain level. And my daughter was really when I when a younger swimmer ranked nationally where she wanted to do and I kind of said the

same things to them. Okay, you're gonna have to make some sacrifices. You know, you can't just do whatever you want and expect to have the outcome. You know there's gonna be sacrifice involved. So that really and my my wife came from the same type of a background. She was born and raised in Chicago, so the same kind of work ethic as well, so that we were able to pass on to the kids. So I would say that's one of the biggest things I got for my parents was was the work ethic in the versatility of

how to apply it. I mean, you brought up discipline, you brought up sacrifice, and you already got into sports. But what's what impact does sports have on your life? Huge? Because especially in the team sports now again, the one I love right along with football was wrestling, and wrestling you are on a team, but that is pretty much an individual sport. When you're on the met you're and another guy. I loved wrestling. Me and my brother Bob wrestled in high school and in Notre Dame as well.

But there's something about the team aspect to me. And then I even get more specific to football because in football, one thing that you know is going to happen, is you're going to get beat no one as as my dad would always as my dad would always say, nobody's ever played the perfect game. He goes, he goes, You're gonna get your ass knocked down. He said, how do you get up? You know, how do you get up? And how do you respond from that? He said, you're

gonna get down of teammates gonna help you up. You're gonna see a teammate on the ground, You're gonna help them up. You're gonna learn to rely on the guy next to you that he's gonna get his job done um along with you. So you rely on one another and and Steve, as you know, as you go up the ranks, you always don't get along with everybody in the locker room. As I've always said, you know, even in the pros, there ain't fifty three guys singing at

kumbaya every morning. You know, there are guys that you don't get along with, but you respect them for in what they're doing. And you take that to the field and you have mutual respect for one another and what you do the team aspect of football. And and my wife and I she's on the board for UH Pop Warner Football. I'm on the board for USA football. We're very big in the youth sports, football, especially when they were really going through a lot when the CT was

you know, they became huge headlines years ago. So we are big on the the youth sports, especially football, and just the team value of what that brings you to and how how how can help you even out of football, because as we know, most football players aren't getting out of high school, you know, they got to go live their life after that. But playing football and preparing for football and the team aspect I think can help in

so many other avenues of life. So that to me is one of the great motivators and great teachers is how are you as a teammate with each other. We had to the privilege now of having to Notre Dame, guys, and we had Jerome Bettison and he walked us through his recruiting process with coach Lou Hopes and not to date you, but you know, back in the eighties, I'm older, you know you had to you had the privilege of going to to Notre Dame. What was your experience like

being recruited and and and being coached. Uh So mine was different, I think than most because my brother Bob

went there first, and he's six years older. So when he went there in seventy nine, seventy five, I was like twelve years old and Dan Devine was the coach then, So I got to see the campus as a twelve year old, going in there and seeing you know, you know, uh Joe Montana and Ross Browner and Willie Fry and these other greats at Notre Dame as a twelve thirteen, fourteen year old, you know, just wide eyed and wow.

And then my brother Greg went there. He was a year ahead of me, so when he went there as a freshman, I was a senior in high in high school and getting heavily recruited by everybody. But now when I saw him there, I'd see everybody as my peer. Then. Now these were guys that were kind of my age, guys that I would be playing with and or against. So it was kind of a different mindset. But I got to see Notre Dame in a couple of different ways.

So that helped me a lot, and and and it gave me a lot about Notre Dame before I even you know, committed there. Now my rookie of my freshman year, Jerry Fauss was the coach. He was a coach at Cincinnati Mole or a big time high school, and they hired it Notre Dame, obviously a hindsight. Being didn't work out. He brought a lot of high school coaches. Listen, it didn't. I mean, we were the ones on the field not

getting the job done. But he brought in like five high school coaches with him, and it was really weird. So he even realized it was over his head. And we obviously didn't perform well enough on the field because I never had a record better than seven and four. But one of the things I remember about recruiting now, when I was recruited, you didn't take your trips until after your senior year of football. So you're talking November of your senior year. You would take your five visits.

Now these guys are committing freshman year sophomore. Ye're both my kids, you know committed their junior years. Well back down, you didn't. It was after your senior year of football. So I had trips set up to usc U, c l A, Tennessee, Miami, and I think one other place and Jerry Fauss called me on thank skiving after my senior football we had just ended, and he said, listen, you have a full, full scholarship to Notre Dame blah blah blah. And I said, coach, I said, this is

where I'm coming. I'm coming to Notre Dame. Thank you, I said, But I said, you know I got these trips. Shut up. You know I'm eighteen years old. Then, you know I kind of you know, like for free exactly. I said, can you not really saying anything yet, you know, and I'm gonna go. You know, I'm coming to Notre Dame. I'm not not going to get swayed. And he's like, yeah, yeah,

no problem. But you know, it got out. It got out on the wire that that I was had committed Notre Dame and one call came in after the other just canceling my visit because they I was like, oh man, So my freshman year, we actually had the top ranked recruiting class that year. We were preseason number five and we played l s U my true freshman first game my true freshman year was smoked them. Um Me and a few other troops got in there and played a

decent amount. A couple of teams in front of us lost. The second week of my true freshman year, we were number one in the country, and I'm like, this is awesome. My brother Bob won the title in seventy seven. We're gonna win two titles while I'm here, man, We're not gonna lose. We went to the Big House. We went to Michigan that next week and got our asses handed to us. I mean, and you want to reality said it.

We won five and six at first year, and like I said, we didn't go better than seven and four by time there again. Wouldn't trade it, loved it, but it was from a record wise on the field, it wasn't. It wasn't the best were you brought up. You know, your teammates going back and looking at the roster and you play with Tim Brown, yeah, uh, Steve C. Burrowin, Yeah I think you know. Yeah, he played with some dudes. So my my year, um, we had a guy. Mark Varro was my year. He got drafted second off by

the Giants. Giants. Yeah, Mike Kelly was the center. He got drafted by the Oil of the same team I did. Larry Williams, another old I got drafted by the Browns, my gandy and got drafted by Atlanta. Story about Tim Brown. So, Tim Brown was a freshman when I was a senior in a cap. So our first game was against Purdue on the road and he's back. There's a true returning the opening kickoff. This is first time stepping on the field.

And what does he do. He fumbled. He fumbled the kickoff and Perdue recovered it on the three yard line and I remember running out, running out to see him, and like, you know, I'm supposed to be one of the leaders. So I grabbed my said, Tim, you gotta you gotta no worries, man, you just got here. Forget it, getting out of your head. We're gonna need you, I mean, what, you know, trying to do all the things I should

be doing to build them up. And then he's like thanks, thanks, thanks, and he runs away, and I'm running on the field because he fumbled. We gotta go on defense. And I'm running on the field going, damn, that kid ain't never gonna make it. I think he did, I I know, but but you know, I mean, I mean in the moment there and I'm trying to pep give him the pep talking he's out of earshot. That the truth that office, Yeah,

it really is that. Yeah, I would say it worked out pretty welcome immediately, just kind of Tim Brown, just like that's what happens, like you see a corner to give be hey, man, it's okay. Oh listen. We had a number of those years when I was in Philly, when the year we thought we were going to go to the super Bowl, it was nine one and Randall Cunningham got his knee blown out in the first game

against the Packers. That year, our defense was number one rush passed and overall that we had a great defense like we normally did there with the Reggie White, your own Brown set Joiners of the world, and we ended up not even making the playoffs because the offense struggled going through multiple quarterbacks. And just like Steve said, man, there's an awful lot of going on when you try to face I beat them in practice. Look at they

beat them too. Oh yeah. Are the our locker room the offenses, the offenses in the front part of the locker room, we'd always walked through them and you know there'd be some side ask comments made, and you know there were there were some eight personalities on that team. Man, there were more than a few confrontations went on in that locker room inside out of the So you were you were two sports athlete. You said it. You you play football, but you also wrestled. How were you able

to have the balancing that? You know, obviously your dad is still some great things are you? But to play adding Notre Dame football back in the eighties, Notre Dame football is the crime den crime. And then you add wrestling to that and then obviously having uh good grades maintaining that, you know, how did you balance? So the thing that I found and I found that during football season my grades were better than not football season because your time is your time is regimented. You know, you

actually see it. You know, you know the practices where you gotta be, when you gotta be there, what you have to do, so you know, you only have X amount of time then to get your school work done. Now you're in springtime where it's a spring ball and enough a lot of your time isn't taken from you. You're kind of do your own thing. You say, I got time to do it later. We're in during the season,

you don't you gotta get shipped done. So wrestling. Wrestling took the place of winter workouts because you know, when the college season ended, you start those winter workouts. And I told Jerry coach Fauss when I was signing, I said, now I want to wrestle it notre him, and he said, no problem because help wrestling. Preparing for wrestling is way harder than preparing for football. Let me just say that right up front, walk me through because us two brothers,

I no wrestlers. So yeah, no, let me tell now. I was lucky. I was back when when heavyweights, you know, could be way whatever they wanted, so I didn't have to cut these other guys that all had to make weight. I mean, you are busting your ass in the on the mat wrestling six minutes of wrestling. You can see guys boxing when they wear on and then they when they were up. Same in wrestling. Man, you go three

periods of two minutes and you are freaking dead. And the amount of work it takes, the amount of lifting, the amount of running, the amount of cardio, the amount of wrestling on the mat, you are dead tired as compared in my estimation, and doing them both at that level, So to me, it was more difficult than football. So I would do that in the winter instead of winter workouts,

and it would be done. The n c A tournament was always done in early March, so it was before we had our spring ball, so I would wrestle and then I would jump right into spring ball. So basically I was doing it kind of kind of year round. So it was I mean, listen, it was hard, but I easily loved wrestling as much as football. But you know, after there's no pro outside of the w W, and this wasn't it. While I respect the hell out of

what w W W is and I loved it. You know, my type of wrestling, there was no pro thing for that was you go onto the Olympics or you know, you you do nothing, and pro football paid a lot more than that, so you know that that's the direction I wanted. But I love wrestling and it did it kept it kept school or regiment, you put your you put your boy through a lot when it comes to wrestling. So I see a lot of guys even in high school, who are on the wrestling team and them having to

try to make weight. Right before Matt trash Bag, Oh the trash bag stuff. Listen, all that stuff. I mean, it almost isn't healthy when you see what happened. But this is what I would do. This is how a heavyweight would take advantage of this. So the lighter way guys obviously would do all this to cut weight. And then as soon as they made weight, they bring food. They had food so they could eat right away. Well, you always know when you're really really hungry what happens.

Your eyes are bigger than your stomach. So they bring all this food, they eat some of it, and they get full, and they had this extra food and I would eat it. Don't worked out pretty well for me. That's pretty good. Yea. Yeah, So you graduated with a finance and make an man management. What did you What was your plan after after school to do with those things? Well,

I mean, obviously the NFL was going to be first. Um. I thought after my soft right into my into my junior year, I thought I had a chance that I could that I could make it in the NFL. I got hurt my senior year the first game that for me game. I actually got hurt during that game, and hindsight, I should have had a shoulder operation and red shirt and come back the next year because I never played more than a half the rest of the year. When I went to the combine, I couldn't do any lifting

because I had a surgery on that shoulder. I couldn't run or lift, and then I end up going in the tenth round. This was back when there were twelve rounds in the draft, so that was where all my effort was going. But the one thing I also when they make sure you know, to tell you that when you're Notre Dame, outside of braids being very important, you

can't blow off classes. You gotta whatever the n c A line is, Notre Dames was above it as far as maintaining a great point average to play is one thing that Notre Dame was always known for and I think a lot of schools are, but Notre Dame really has it around the country. Was kind of their pipeline there. There are other people that are in the real world for lack of a better term, um in the real world with jobs that you could have help with a connection to help you get started. So that was it.

And take my degree and use it and try and use you know, kind of the pipeline system to say, hey, you know, I have this degree. Where could I fit in here there and try and use a connection. But luckily, uh I luckily, I guess luckily I got wouldn't I wouldn't have mind it if I needed it, But it turns out I never never needed it. I think it's about that time, just so I'll take a little breathering, good good down. Hey there are did you get that T shirt? Oh? Yes, I got it from cut to

a podcast dot com where we have exclusive merchandise. Shout out to our guys at seven or four shot. But yeah, you can go on, buy you a T shirt, subscribe to us wherever you listen to podcasts. Getting draft in the tenth round and I you know, I heard I've heard a lot of stories about the twelve rounds and all that stuff and how long it was, you know, comparing the draft today and obviously you you know, you doing Mike and Mike for so many years and just

killing that. Compare the league today. Obviously when you play, you're playing with Ju White, Jerome Brown, uh, you know, Random Cuttingham, Keith Buyers. You have so many different personalities in the NFL. Houston, Jerry Glanville, Warren Moon, right. You even on the team with Steve Ye, these different personalities. You've seen the best of all these world's been you know, unfortunately been around a pro bowler who's drawing Brown lost life. Yep.

And you have done television. You see the way ball is today, and sometimes it can come across. We've come across on television as older players come across. We come across, as NVIDIAs or said, But you really understand the gravity and what these young men have the opportunity to do and get with now at some degree, some of them, not all of them. Some of them I don't really have to do much anymore, don't have to prove themselves.

They're instant celebrities, instant superstars and going to fifth and sixth round. Right. Compare the league as you see it, playing it, watching it, and commentating it. Well, while there are two really distinct differences from my time to now, and the first I'll go on the field and I think we all know this is different on how the game has played. And the one thing, the one thing I don't don't really like is when I hear and I heard about basketball as well, that the players are

softer now than back in the day. And the reason it's not as physical in either sport is because the rules have dictated that. If people always say, oh, my god, Lebron never could have played in the eighties, that's bullshit. If Lebron, if Lebron, and I don't mean Lebron like he is now, if Lebron was born to where he was in the NBA and the eighties, then he would have grown up playing that way. You can't just take a guy and in this system and say put him

in the eighties and how would he do. You can't do that. He would be born and and and bred to play that way. So he would have been playing eighties style of basketball or not, or he would have made it. Oh, it's exactly right. So the saying it's softer, and I know that's just the way they're calling it. Listen, I think it's so difficult to be a defender in the NFL now. The wide receivers, my god, you gotta made now. I mean, you can't be touched, you know.

But they're still dropping the ball or not still drop a stale, stale tiptoe and pink panther across the middle, which and that's probably the biggest difference on the field is there's no more intimidation factor. And when I say intimidation, you wouldn't think people will be intimidated, but but some can, and some get the alligator arms when they get smoked, you know, running across the middle. But you can't do that.

And I get it, though, I understand it to a point with head injuries, and you don't want to see people you know hurt, you know, especially that last a lifetime. But but also I think the NFL, they say you gotta break break a few eggs to make a to make an omelet, I think they went too far with

how they in it. And the people that really got caught in the crosshairs were when they made the rule change, because you had guys in the league used to playing the way I played, or man you were you just knocked the funker out, you know, and and normally in the meeting the next day you got a hundred dollars for the big hit. You know too. I don't know anything about that, but yeah, well I'm gonna give you some real truth in a second. But that that would happen.

And but nowadays, not only you get a flag forget the flag forget the fifteen yards, you get five and find at least thirty seven five. So now they're taking it out of your pocket as well. But again I understand the safety reason for it, but they went so far the other way and they're throwing flags and I'm just sitting home and going your flag and that I mean, you know, it didn't leave with his head or how

they protect the quarterbacks. Sometimes I think it just goes went a little too far, and I think they got to find a little more of a happy medium. But I understand why they're doing it. So that's the biggest difference on the field field. And and the part I was gonna say, I get real about it when when they when they suspended Gregg Williams for bounty bounty gate ship. I mean, come on that that stuff, and I'm not saying they shouldn't try and get that out of the league.

And this is gonna sound bad. It's gonna almost sound like there's there's honor amongst thieves. But we did that, and a lot of teams did that. Man, Dude, We'd be sitting there and being a meeting and it'd be like, okay, x amount end up on this guy. If he doesn't finish the game. But here's the thing, and this is again where people say, oh that that sounds horrible. It had to be a clean hit. If you hit a guy so so you didn't want to have a guy go head hunting, or you didn't want a guy twisting

an ankle in a pile. You got flagged for a hit, you weren't gonna gonna get that. And I know there's gonna be a lot of people listening to going, oh, that's still bullshit. You were trying to hurt somebody, And the answer is really no. I mean, I would go all the way back to see why old football when my dad coached me, and my dad's wanted to toughest people I've ever met, and he said, you'll learn the proper technique. You hit somebody like they're not there, and

you drive them into the ground. And if they don't get up, that's part of the game because you may get hit like that and you may not get up, and if it's a legal hit, that's part of the game. And that that's the mantra I always lived with. And it just got put a little bit to that Steve, you know, in the locker room. Hey, you know this money here, this money here, if this guy will finish but if us but it had to be a clean hit.

You weren't trying to knock him out. But if you hit him clean and they got they were hurt, then you know you got the money. And I know it sounds horrible. So the bounty gate all falling on Greg Williams is is amazing because that was happening in a lot of places. I mean, hit you know, no, you may have them, Well I don't. So I have a little history Meg Williams. And so when when he was in New Orleans and it was an individual, there was a safety who hit me out of bounds and his

name is Darren Sharper. Darren Sharper. It goes to hit I go out, I step out of bounds, we throw a screen. I stepped out of the bounds. That he's going to finish me. And I kind of look back at him like, hey, and this is what Darren said. If I don't hit you, I'll get fined. Well, I said what because now I said some animated things to

let him know. So he went to check himself because I was like hey, blankety blank blank blank blank He's like, no, no, no, if I if I don't hit you, And that's how it led me to And then after that I called it. You know, a couple of times after that, I called a pass and I happened to be on on their sideline. I had a few words with Greg, and ever since then I had never really experienced that out and the open Now I knew because I played, and I played

a certain way. There were times where if you get an opportunity to I don't want to say eliminate, but put a guy who can impact the game if you can put him on the shelf. Legally. When I say put him on the shelf, I'm talking about you're going across the middle and you have to be that impact player. And that other impact player happens to be a safety, and that ball is high. He's gonna hit you in

your rims. And the difference between today's players, that player is gonna hit them low, because one they're afraid to They're they're afraid they're gonna get the fine. They're afraid to go fine. But back in the old days that Mike's talking about, you took that hit too. What they call you separate the ball and so when you do that is when that receiver catches the ball. And depending on how that ball is thrown, that ball is thrown in the numbers, and he's going across the middle, he

knows he's about to get hit. That receiver is gonna catch him with his body, so that defender has to dislodge the person from the ball. And by doing that generally, us little div us, you know, we ain't built the same way as golden We ain't built that three hundred pounds right contact. You know, you you get up. I've seen guys get hit and hit so hard that when they get up, you can see them still clenched up as if they still have the ball, and the ball

is not there. You know, guys are sleep or whatever the case may be. So that old school football, you know, and we didn't You didn't want to hurt people. This is back again when you could hit somebody as I hit Emmett Smith as hard as I ever hit anybody on the sideline when he was running on the sidelines, and I built up full speed and I dove, and I mean I tried to separate his his shoulders from his body, and dude hit the ground popped up and

ran back the huddle lightest way. It's like one of those you know, if you were boxing and you gave somebody your best punch and they just flints and then we came right back at you. But I want to see, let me ask you because we asked like older and I mean back even further receivers, because I'm glad headshots are out of the game, especially defenders that are lunging and putting their head down. I mean, that's just that's just asking for for trouble. But would you rather get

because you're right, what's happening now? And if I were a d V I'd be doing the same thing. I take someone out low. Now, as a receiver, would you rather get hit chester up or knees down, chest up? That's what every receiver says because they don't want to get their knee blown out. That's where every defenders going today because they don't want to lose your money maker. You get right, I always did this. When I'll crack back on the corner, I hit him high. But if

I didn't respect you, I hit you low. And the reason why and I very few guys I ever tried to hit low but when you hit a player low, you're also letting that play the message that she isn't it even is It isn't a different though, Steve, because now the defenders are doing that because they know if they go chest her up there's a great chance of getting the flag and a great chance of getting fine. So it's not a necessity they gotta go down low. I'm just saying back there, it's it's a fine line

because here's the problem. You can wrap up a guy. You don't have to hit him low. You don't have to shoot your shot hit hit a guy low. So I believe that that that's a I mean, I've told guys like I had an opportunity I think, um it was with the Jets one time and we was the Panthers. We were playing them, and I had an opportunity to peel back on him and I hit him high and he kind of looked at man. I said, he bro I respect you. I'm not gonna hit you low. And

he was like, may appreciate that. There is a respect thing, because when you do believe when you're when you are an impact player. I'm not gonna say superstar impact player where you have to account for these individuals on the field, and you have that ability to impact the game, and that other impact player has the ability to impact the game, and you hit me low. Now you are basically saying to me and to other guys, you don't respect my craft and you're trying to eliminate me to make a living.

So now what are you basically saying? You don't care about my family, you don't care about me. So now what is my meter saying I don't care about your family and I don't care about you or your career. With being on Mike and Mike, you have the opportunity because of ESPN. They call it the car wash you guys got. You guys have had the opportunity of having so many different personality, so many different point of views, and then also so many different stars that come through.

Tell me, you know, obviously me being one of those people that had the opportunity to go through the car wash, you know, we've got to know each other and to some degree, and I and I don't mean this as derogatory towards you or you meant it towards me, But when I had the opportunity to go through the car washer, because of the way I played, and because of at times the way I gave off what kind of individual I was a lot of times I heard, either from Mike or a lot of different people, Oh, you are

kind of different from what we expect or what we've seen from you as a player. Talk about why and what you have experiences seeing those guys come through the car washer, what you've learned about the persona or the or or the mirage of different players have come through the car wash of ESPN through Mike and Mike in the morning. The the some of the interesting things is the best thing you can do, and it sounds and

you did it was just be who you are. Just be yourself, because whenever you get on air, if all of a sudden, you have to change into a different persona and you can't sustain that. If if if the mic went on every morning at six am and for four hours, five days a week, twenty hours a week, I had to go into an act and that would have sucked. And you can figure it out really quick. So the best thing is just to be yourself. You

need to get excepted for it or not. And that was the one thing, the piece of advice I would have For athletes that would come through, I would say, don't try too hard. You know the game you're You're not gonna get put out. You're not going to get thrown to the walls if you're if you're here from the NBA and on the car wash, you're gonna talk NBA. If you're here for NFL, you're gonna talk NFL. No one's gonna try and sideswipe you, make you look bad.

We're here, we want you to come back, so we're gonna we're gonna put you in a position to win. So just be natural, be who you are, conversational because the producers and such will try and every time, every now and then will say, okay, when you talk, this camera will be on you. You look at that camera and I'd be like, don't worry about that ship. Just

talk to the person that's talking to you. Just have the conversation with them, and be yourself because you're gonna talk to a lot of different people who talk to you in different ways. Just be yourself. Just be conversational. Don't try and put on an act for anybody. Don't try and get two in depth because you know, while a lot of people want to think they know all the ins and out to the games. They don't. You don't have to dive into unbelievable breakdowns of offense or defense.

Just do it enough so people understand what you're saying. And have fun. Man, if you want to crack a joke, crack joke. If you want to laugh a little bit, laugh a little bit. But that was really the biggest thing I would say, because a lot of times we had them first, because our show was in the morning before they would move on to the next radio show or the next you know, a noon sports center and then on to the NFL Live, then out to six o'clock Sports center. So we get him first. And that's

what I would always say. Just do your thing, Just be yourself, just be your personality. But I've also had guys and they're great players. A great player who shall remain nameless, and unfortunately has passed away. He came in and I was talking to him before his audition for for one of the shows, and he said, Man, just tell me how to get through this. I don't really

want to work too hard. I just want to kind of get through it and skate and just you know, have this as an easy second way to make some money. And I'm like, dude, that ain't gonna happen. I said, if you're gonna come here, be specific to a show,

you gotta put your time in. You know. When I first started working NFL Live, you know, I called coaches and I called talk to players, you know, and I made sure because the one thing Steve and I know, as you find out, when you get out of the game and you start criticizing guys you just played with, and you know, you damn well better be right, because I would do that, and then I'd be out on the road for Sunday Countdown and a player would come up and be pissed at me, and I'd say, what

did you hear? And of course you'd say, you know, my brother's friends, cousin dad heard you say this. And I'm like, come on, did you hear me say it? What did they hear you say? You know? And they would say, and I said, no, I didn't say that. This is what I said, you know, because you get some sensitive guys out there, so you had to know

what you were saying. If you were going to criticize him, you had to you had to know that or just say, hey, I'm not sure the coverage here or I'm not sure what the blocking scheme was, but it looks like this or it looks like that. But that was the biggest thing I think I would would tell the people is man, just just do your thing. And the best one of all that that I have ever been around. I knew him when he was with the Sixers and I was with the Eagles. I mean, he's been on my show

a ton of Charles Park. I mean, you know, Chuck being Chuck is about as as as good as you can get. And some people like him, some people don't. But he's just himself. And I know, Steve, that's something that I noticed that you right away as you just you're just were yourself, you know, and that's what is going to carry some so you don't have to put on an act as you move up in the business. Well, our last segment here, Mike has called the D three.

These are three questions that go beyond who you were in the football field, who you are and listen, just let's just get to know who Mike is. So, Steve, Oka are You've achieved so much, you know, being have an opportunity not just going on leven on the late night shows, eleven times, meeting the President, getting some emmies, doing all the stuff for success, getting paid the King's

ransom to talk about sports. With that, all those achievements, and there are there any Moustowes left that you wish or still desire to reach. Um, that's a really good question. Thank you appreciate. Yeah, I guess. I mean I did a couple of years of where we did the extra Monday night football game. I would say that, you know,

but we did that. Do a old easy would be nice, you know what I'd like to do, And I did it once with I've become good friends with Darius Rucker and he lost a bet to me and I actually got to sing a song on stage at one of his concerts in front of people. Let me tell you that I have a few beverages before that one. You was right, Yeah, he had to sing, He had to sing that, he had to sing the Notre Dame fights on him and I sang a song. He said he

just can't sing any of my songs. I'm like, okay, thanks, Um. I love to try and sing. I karaoke a lot. I'd like to do that again. I'd like to sing. I'd like to and I've gotten to know a few, especially of the country guys. I'd like to win another bet and singing another concert. I enjoyed that a lot. I mean, it was nerve wracking as hell, but man, did I like it. So I would like to do that again. So did they set you up with the

earpiece and there? And they told me it was it was taken easy by the eagles, is what I sang. And it had was one of those um stages where it had you could walk out by the fans, but right where the crux wasn't and most of it where the two speakers. They said, stay between the two speakers. If you walk out, you're gonna get the reverb because you don't have those in you may be off on the song. So I got into it. I'm singing this song and I am I mean, I'm about six seven

drinks in. I am singing the ship out of that song. I'm singing the ship out of this song, and I am feeling it, you know, But families in the audience, I'm like, at no point to him, yeah, singing, They told me afterward they all freaked out. They all went oh ship, and I walked out and and somehow I was fortunate enough to stay stay with the beat. But I mean, that was so much fun. I didn't care how I sounded. They said it sounded all right, you know again, I didn't care. So that was fun and

I dig that. So that that's the old thing. I think athletes want to be entertainers, and entertainers always want to be athletes, So that would be something I would like to continue to live out is singing. I signed up performing with Darius Rooker. What do you think is your biggest non sports accomplishment in your life? You know, um, easily. To me, it's raising my three kids, you know, with my wife. I mean we we had said when we started having kids, everything was gonna be about them, um.

And it was. Even with my my work, I was done at ten o'clock every day, so I was I was the lunch dad at school. I coached the kids in all their little league sports. And I was calling college games on the weekend then, and I told the ESPN one my oldest which was Mike, got to high school, I was gonna stop calling college games because I wanted to be around the weekend to see all their games, so I was able to coach him in little league,

hang out at their school. I traveled to every one of the Mike and Jake's football games Homer away uh in high school and college, everyone of Sydney's national swim meets before she got to college, and all her swim meets. So um, you know, and I know that makes sound sappy and all that, but that was that's how we That's what we wanted, you know. We we wanted to be in our kids lives and and be there because

my dad had to work two jobs. And my dad still found found time to coach me in all our little league stuff, some stuff he couldn't be at because he had to work two jobs. I was very fortunate in this profession between football and then broadcasting to be in a position where I could be there, and I was damn well going to be there. So that that's probably the biggest thing for me. I know, for me and my wife, that we were around a lot for our kids as they grew up, and now they're adults

and so they're funked up. I guess it's not me. I love to ruin this from Mike. So the last question if you didn't do sports, What do you think you'd be doing right now? Boy, that that's a that is a million dollar question. I have to think I would. I would have used my degree for Notre Dame. I mean a lot of people do, and I do think and that's one of the things that I learned. Again.

I got to see Notre Dame from twelve years old all the way through my years and then my kids years, So I know a lot of what it's about, and I know the pipeline and I know the connections that you can have. So I would imagine I would have been a guy that would have sought out those and I would have gone into the business world. I I did did well enough in school and what my major was where I could have gone into wherever that would have taken me. But that's probably what I would have done.

I would have used a connection to try and get a job somewhere and then gone from there, um and see where that led me. Where that would have I don't know, um, but I certainly wouldn't trade what I did for the world, man, that's for sure. Well. We appreciate your time, man, It's been great to talk to you. Always admire you loved um. You know obviously because of our broadcasting. You know, the super Bowl is where the Super Bowl usually is where we all get to kind

of meet and talk to each other. Then there's been so many times me and go Li we when I started off working with him as a player and then I got out. We see each other at different events and man, it was man missing you bro missing. We got l A. Let's hope we get back next year. L A is back to normal. We'll get to see everybody again. All right, Well, appreciate it. Thanks for your time you got guys. Thanks, 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 Gerald Little John and this is cut to It. Cut to It with Steve Smith singing That Is Me is a production of Cut to It, LLC, Ball Tool, 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

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