NFL 360 Producer TRENT COOPER

three sixty, Trent Cooper. Welcome to the cut to a podcast. Oh I hear the applause. They are artificial appause. Here a body of producers. Fantastic, Thank you for the warm welcome. Excited to be here, by Well, why are you so excited to be here? Gus Man, you said, collaborator, We got a big collaboration. Our latest. We've had a few good ones. This is our latest. Uh, it might be. It might be my favorite piece ever that that NFL three sixties ever done. I just giddy about this piece.

You and you and I got to work together. It's coming out today. When this thing airs, which is Tuesday, uh April. It's coming out on all platforms, uh and it is called NFL three sixty Devin Lloyd and we're we're gonna chop it up about that. Huh. So let's let's jump right into it. What is the premise in and what's the premise of NFL three sixty. Look, NFL

three sixty is NFL Networks premium storytelling brand. So these are the deep, deep stories that are human interest stories that happened to be set in the world of football, but they they really kind of unpack, uh, some some bigger issues and things that that we that we always say are bigger than football. And I know that you're your show, your podcast is very much in the line

with that as well. You know you guys are you guys are working to kind of figure out who the guy is behind the jersey and that's what we do or girl or girl or girl or girl. Uh yeah, we gotta look at both sides of the coin. You just can't look at it on the heads. You gotta look at the tail, absolutely absolutely, So that's what we do, that's what you do. That's why we love working with you on NFL three sixty the show, I get to

brag a little bit. We Uh, we just found out last week that we have we are leading the entire sports industry and Emmy nominations with twelve. That is more than the Olympics, which is hard to do. Uh as long as I've been in this business, the Olympics have just steamrolled everyone to be able to get more than them. As a big deal, We're more than double our primary competitor, which is uh, ESPN E sixty. And your producer, Brian will say, don't ever mention the name of your competitor

when you're on. There's a lot of people, not just Brian, there's a lot of people. I say, you never, So why did I do that? I feel ever give you never give people free advertisement, right, except that we had double the Emmy nominations of that other entity, which makes me very proud and happy. Why is why is the Emmy winning something that needs to be on the tie those of of series or or shows or you know, documentaries.

What's their importance of that? I think it just I think it just kind of helps your your audience understand that, hey, this is this is something that that that is that people are recognizing and that we need to you know, we need to take seriously and we were in for something great. You know obviously it's it's uh, it's making some noise in the industry and let's let's let's pay attention to this is like when you know you'd be all pro or or or you'd be um, you know

all start. You know, just just makes people, you know, take notice, which is cool. And honestly, it's really good for for morale with our team because you know, his team is working eighty hours a week and just killing it and for them to get that kind of recognition just makes me happy for them and us and you and it's just cool. So how how does a so? How does it? How does it cooper decide on which story? There's an NFL three sixty? But how does something get

green light? Yeah? How does something to get green land? And how do you guys even come up with the concepts or thoughts like take us, take us inside, take us inside of the mission, you know, the mission statement, just the vision board of the NFL three sixty. These are the people you have to meet, the stories you have to hear. These are the stories that are bigger

than football. And the standard is really really high for what gets green light for a couple of reasons, we don't do that many of them, right, I mean, how many times have you called me and said, Hey, I got an idea, let's do something, and I'm like, man, we would truly answer that or lie a couple I remember you called me. You call me like four in the morning, and Steve, do you realize I live in Los Angeles, US. You're calling me at four in the morning with an idea. I wouldn't wear that. I was

on the West Coast. I'm sorry, Oh my god, I was on the East Coast. I forgot. But I love this. I love this question because it it's at the heart of everything we do. Right. So, the standards really high, and we have a team. It's a small team, eight to ten people who are working on you know, wearing different hats and working in different capacities. But everyone is responsible for development, which means that you constantly have to

be looking for our next big story. And it could be something that was that we found a year ago, it could be something we found last night. There's pitch meetings weekly. Sometimes a production assistant who was a year out of college uh, it gets hot and sells three pitches in a row. When I say sell that I'm making any money. But these things get green light, and it's a really proud moment when somebody brings us an idea to get three let Uh. Sometimes an agent brings

us something. Sometimes it's just something that that I've seen or you know, the my boss, the guy that Headstar Department, Dallas Hitchcock, is you know, stuff that he's seen or heard. So they come from everywhere. Um and this one. Uh So basically, you know, once a year is the NFL Draft and that is just an awesome time of year for us because we love our NFL Draft special Uh. We love finding what we you know, we take a lot of pride in finding what we think is the

best story in this year's draft, the best story. That's the story that everybody should be standing around their water cooler talking about. We found it, and we we want to believe that we told it in a way that no one else I would think to tell it. So the artistry and craft and how we tell stories is a big deal to us, but finding that story is great. So so this particular one came to me from our writing consultant. Uh and and my my good buddy who's

worked with us forever. His name is Phil Guidry, and he pitched it a couple of months ago and we liked it and he kept pitching. Finally just kind of hit me, yeah, pitched you how many how many times? Well, you know, we're in season, so we're busy doing other but we're also hearing draft pitches. So you know, he probably pitched it six weeks before and we we we we we said, oh, that's a great one. Put it on.

Put it over here for a minute because we're focused on the Super Bowl and Black History Month and all that. But we know when it's draft time, we're gonna that that's gonna be one we love. So so he probably pitched it right around the time Utah was was winning the Pack Throwel Championship, and um, he saw it first and brought it to our attention. And so we're gonna tell your audience what this pitch is now so they can they can have some context here trying to get there.

But you know that's all right. You want you want me to drive this bus, so you want to drive you know what. I'm just honored to be here. Maybe I'll just im I'll say last say lest my night, senior old say lest Yes, yes, listen, I I love this role that we have right now because you've directed me, you've produced me, you've angled me, you've made you the man that you are today. That's that would be my mom and daddy, my mom and daddy my wife. After

after those, there's track Cooper. Okay, you almost can put us in the same sentence. But but I'll take the second and sence. Listen, you could bring a horse to water, but you can't make him drink, Okay, but you damn sure sure can put some salt in his mouth and

make them pretty thirsty. This is role reversal. Today. You get to three sixty, you have all the team, the eight to ten, and they're constantly pitching concepts ideas given a text textual understanding of these young men come that are going to be drafted, and you know, there's what three something guys, there's gonna be thirty five the forty guys drafted here in draft because of all of the madness of the NFL, and we have a top ten draft pick who's coming out of a school that generally

there's not necessarily always have this caliber of player. Devin Lloyd, linebacker from the University of Utah, my school. He's going to save that your school part for the end of the pitch because that's what made it. That was the cherry on top for us. But let's should we get into what the pitch is. Absolutely, let's get into the pitch, all right. So here's Devin Lloyd. He after his junior season,

which is COVID year. After his junior season, he could have come out in the NFL Draft probably, you know, a lot of people thought he would have been a first rounder, might have been a second rounder. He was a top prospect in that on that on those draft boards. And he makes a decision to go back and uh and play his senior year, and and that gets everyone's attention. But the the why behind that decision is what's really what's driving this pitch, and that is that they had uh.

You know, this is a school that has has never won a Pack twelfth championship before. He wanted to win, helped lead that team and have that experience with and for his brothers. But the bigger part of that story is that they had tragically lost. They're superstar freshman running back Tied Jordan's who in a COVID shortened season, had lit the college football world on fire and had shown the world that holy cow, Utah has a dude playing

running back, that this could be a Heisman candidate. This guy has he has it all and and on top of that hell of a kid freshman and he's a hell of a kid with the biggest smile you had ever seen, and just is transforming this this this program. That kid is tragically killed Christmas night of six days after their last game of the season. That oh, by the way, he had succored three touchdowns and led a thirty h point come back, the most electrifying game of

the year. So so this kid is tragically killed. It was a accidental discharge of a firearm. It was an accident. Uh you know, somehow he shot himself and and he dies, and it devastates the Utah football program, particularly the leaders of that program, the entire community. And you I was an alumni. I was, you know, it was the middle of COVID, so I was I was working from home, uh in my makeshift studio at the house on air doing a pre show and uh, all Wartsy says, check

your phone. And usually on you know, he usually doesn't tell me to check my phone, he says. Producer, He says, check your phone. I don't, I don't, I don't. I know you haven't seen it. So just check your phone and and behold text message from the a D. Text message from uh Jeff Rudy, text message from from my son Peyton. It's true that you can't believe it. Oh no, um.

And so we had a break and I called some people and they said, it's true, uh kid that everybody loves that kind of represents hope for the entire organization has been killed. And now our guy, Devin Lloyd, the All World linebacker, decides he's going to come back for his senior season and and they want to win a championship and they want to do it in honor of thy Jordan's. So that's the first leg of the story. Now that that alone is probably enough to get this

thing Greenland, because that's killing. I mean, come on, I mean, this is what leadership is, right, be selfless and go go uh go, try to do something bigger than yourself with your brothers, for something bigger than all of us. It's one of those stories that people make movies out of that that hadn't really happened. You know, he didn't

really sacrifice that. And the caveatough to Devin Lloyd coming back is I spoke to some scouts heading into I spoke to some scouts a couple of weeks ago, and I asked what was Devin Lloyd's prospect as a junior. He said, he's pretty good. I said, well, why is he a top ten today compared to what he was a year ago? They said, because everything that Devin what we call is a weakness, right, his lack of ability to share, blocks, his his his his ability to recognize

things defensively fast enough. They said, everything that was a weakness that was on his his scouting report coming out if you came out, he actually worked on every single one of those and turn him into positives. No mastered

his craft. Mm hmm. He mastered his craft, which made him, which makes us we make which makes this story even sweeters for a kid who was a unfinished product, he actually went back and start chiseling and working on himself through all through all the things that possibly probably people would say, why should you work on it? You know, you got your team just lost one of your superstars, young kids. The best time, the end is now, and instead he took the He took the road let's traveled.

You have a decision to make at the end of your junior year to declare for the draft. I had just passed away, and deep down in my heart, I just felt like staying for another year and accomplishing everything that I wanted to accomplish. I wanted to come back and help them win that championship. We've never won a Pack twelve championship. He didn't come back to better his draft status. He came back to twin and Pack twelve championship. You know, he talked to the guys that he was

gonna go to war Withood. He liked, dude, this is my plan. I'm coming back because I want to do this, this and this. I want to win. And he wanted to win that Pack twelve. Right, So consider what we what we've just pitched. Act one a three acts story. Act two is the start of the season, which was is the last college football season. Um, you know, yep,

six months ago, six months ago. Uh. They they have one of the things they're doing to honor Ty Jordan's they have a first ever Thy Jordan Memorial scholarship at the school. University is funding and the team and the leadership of the team get to vote on who would who would be the the winner of that scholarship, and they pick a kid named Aaron Lowe. Aaron Lowe happens to be from thy Jordan's hometown. They played high school

football together. But more importantly, he embodies everything Ty Jordan's embodied, which is is this this ridict work ethic, this competitive fire burning desired to compete and win. And then on top of all that, he has that same larger than life smile that lights up the locker room. You know, the reason Ty came no Utah was because of air. Because Aaron, Aaron's a year two older. Yes, he was

making a big brother figure to Tie. So Aaron gets this scholarship and it just feels right right, and everybody, of course Aaron gets this. And and one of the things Aaron does to kind of honor Tie and to just you know, set this thing in motion is he changes his number to twenty two, which is the number that that Taie war So now he's wearing Ties number. He's got the scholarship, Uh, you know, the let's get back to football, right. So so they have a big win in week four of the season and uh, and

some guys are celebrating the big win. They're going into a bye weeks and you know in college, you know you go to a little house party. Crazy. Let's set the stage though, because I think it is something that we've missed. Ties last game is again to Washington State, and this was the game. He scored three touchdowns, they came back from seven halftime deficit, had thirty eight unanswered points, most of them were his, and they finished the season

on this incredible high. So here we are a year later, also playing wash quh wazoo. What we're gonna call it this time they blow him out. They blow out washed doors off of the Devin Lloyd's on fire of that game. Um. By the way, he had a ridiculous senior year. Like they said, he didn't have a bad game. He just every day, week after week. So some kids go to a house party and uh, something happens. It ship gets out of control and Aaron Lowe is shot and killed.

So now the kid that embodies the spirit of Thy Jordan, it's wearing his number. That that literally runs onto the field each game, rock and a flag and ties number to honor Tie has now also been killed in a matter of how many months, nine months later, I mean tim months later. You're talking about two guys, two guys from the same neighborhood, at the same school, trying to do the same things, both tragically die by gunfire. So now, Steve,

you've probably got another text, right, got another text. And it's crazy because in his Texas you won't even believe it, y, I mean I it's hard to even talked about. I wouldn't I didn't go through it. But it's just you know this, these kids represent hope and and it's bad. It's horrific to lose one, then to lose two. And you know you, I love you in the piece and by the way, this is you know you guys can see this piece today. You can go to NFL dot com forward slash NFL three sixty. You can see it

right there. You can see it on TV tonight on on NFL three CC. But but Steve talks to the head coach, UH Kyle Whittingham, and and Kyle says, you know, we were so devastated that we thought are we going to cancel the season, Like, how do we how much more can we put our kids through? Can you imagine that? Can you actually canceling a college football season halfway through because the kids are so devastated and heartbroke? Yeah? I can't.

I can. And here's why. The reason I can everything that we've went through in the last couple of years just as a society. Right. And and here's the part that you know we didn't get into on the NFL three sixties just because of time. If you go back chronologically, this is this Pack twelve decided they weren't gonna play. But yeah, you had kids like ty Aaron oh Devin Lloyd who they're going into their junior year and they're told come to school. Then they told, well, we won't

go to school. Uh, come to school. Well they're canceling school. So you have families and and I know this because just having ties to the school. I remember talking to them when they were talking to UM officials at the University of Utah, and they were saying they literally had kids that their parents just came to drop them off and they were told that they got to come back

and pick them up. And the school had to help some of these young men and women because a lot of these young men and women, their parents spent a lot of money that they didn't have getting them to college. And now you got to pack them up. And then they come back in in November and they have to test, They have to have fourteen days of isolation in the in the in the hotels. Then they come back and play.

They lose the player right after that, Jordan's passes. Now, these young men who, let's be honest, as as as fans, we don't really look at them as human beings. We look at them as our superheroes, and all of a sudden are superheroes. Now there's a chink in their armor. They're human, They're they're not even human. They really are what they are, which are young men who are trying to figure out life. And in this case, you know you want to go behind the jersey. These are young

men that light up the locker room. These are the two guys you can't lose. These are the guys with that that that that bring the love and the hope and the joy and the smile and they just make everything better. The joy makers in football, there's energy takers, yes, and full ball. There's tone setters, but you rarely hear about it. Joy center and tie and air we're joy centers. Man, that's different when you're talking about football. That's usually not

words to associated football players. Right, you know you've got your ship talkers. Never heard almost one of them is on the call with me. But no, man, Joy listen. Energy giver not energy taker. Joy is that's what we need right now, especially in that year. And to lose both of those guys, it's just ridiculous. And so here's a here's a program that was as devastated as as

any has ever been. And there was a turning point. Uh. Aaron Lowe's mother, just a day or two after the death, made her way from Texas to Utah and she spoke to the team he loved. I don't know. That woman is strong. She came in and she just told us to keep on going. That's what Aaron would have wanted.

You know. That sort of gave Devin Lloyd and the other leaders of the team, because there's a great leadership group there wasn't just Devan, but the other captains and the team permission to to to kind of put this in a place where that they that they could could move forward. I mean, the coach says, we're never gonna get over this, but we're gonna try to get through it.

And they basically used this as fuel and they went on a run, a historic run where they just whipped ass and and destroyed the Pack twelve, and they made it all the way through UH and end up winning that Pactrol Championship playing a team that you generally don't beat twice in a row, Oregon, who's kind of had their number. Oh yeah, I mean two years a couple of years before that, we needed to beat Oregon to get into um the college playoffs in and you know, hey,

he's in the league now, justin Herbert. So it wasn't like it was just right, it's pretty good right out. He's all right right, doing pretty darn good. So that listen that That is as clean a pitch as I've ever heard for NFL three six. I mean, you hear that if you gave that pit and we just gave the twenty minute version, but if you gave the nine version and an elevator, you'd see somebody's face light up and they go, when's that coming out? I love cut

to it. And I love it even more when you download us and subscribe, and you can follow us on social media too, Smithy where where at? That's at? Cut to It on Instagram? What about Twitter? At? Cut to It Facebook? Cut to It featuring Steve Smith 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 here's the here's the kicker, and I'm happy to give away some of this, but you have to watch this, like, I'm so proud of the way our team put this together and it just goosebump city and I have to shout out you taught football? Yes you do, so you taught football. Is not only Steve's alma mater, but they are are producing partners on this, so they you know, they were there

the whole time filming as this was happening. So they very generously gave us access to their footage and then when we came to town, they open doors for us I'm tiny man. I've been doing this a while. I've never been treated like this by by a university like they just made sure we had everything we needed to tell the best story we've ever told. And part of all of that is because of your relationship with them

and the respect they have for you. And I just want to thank you for that, because you you trusted me with your relationship and they trusted you, and it's just it's just a cool thing that happened. But huge props to them. There's a lady there named Maddie Ford who put her heart and soul into filming this you had. They have their own docs series all the twenty two forever that you can see on YouTube YouTube that very much supports what we've done. But anyway, so, uh, here's

the kicker. If if that pitch wasn't an off. You know our boy Devin Lloyd, who goes to places that you know emotionally that you can't imagine. He leads, Uh, he dominates. They get what they need to get done in honor of Tie and Err and he's right at the heart of it. M v P of of the Pack twelve Championship Game and the Defensen blah blah blah, every award you can get, all American. So now it's

time to go to the NFL. Right, and and you finish your college season, and a couple of months later you gotta go to the NFL combin and and and at the combine, you you don't get to pick your number. It's not that kind of thing. They just they start pulling numbers out of a box based on probably alphabetical or something, and they hand him a number for him for the combine, and and what's the number? Two? Baby two? So all of a sudden, the tech start lightening up.

You're never gonna believe this. They did Devon's rocking the twenty two, which is the same number. Tie War stand over Aaron War and dude, if you go to a Utah game, two is at the absolute center of everything they do. Now. It is their heart, soul brand. They have a motto of mantra called better. They want more effort, more love, more passion and every single thing they do. And it's not just the team, the entire university, the

entire city has bought into it. It is a movement and for that too, organically mystically, divinely inspired whatever you wanna call it for that for Devon to have that number is just goose Bump City. And that's your third act. So that's our story. Um, you gotta see it, you gotta feel it, you've got to experience it. And Steve, you know, the cherry on top for us is that holy ship. This is Steve Smith's alma mater. This is personal to Steve. He knows this better than any of us.

He went through it in his own way, and it was just a joy for us to be able to get you to lead this story, to go back and be the correspondent that drives the narrative, that does all the interviews, uh, and that helps us shape the story. And I gotta tell you my favorite piece of that is your contribution to the overall theme and the visuals of it. You said to me on the phone, just so much to talk about. I love this ship. This is why I love podcast because you could just Yeah,

I couldn't wait to call you. I couldn't wait to call you on a Saturday morning saying hey man, we want to do this and we want to do it with you because we hadn't talked yet and it was really early on a Saturday, and I remember texting you and I wrote this long ass text and I almost hit sin and I was like, I'm just gonna call him. He always calls me early. I'm just gonna call him. I was up and and and so I erased the text. I hit call instead, and you answer the phone saying

what do you got for me? I know it's got to be good if you're calling me this early. And I was like, dude, I think this is the best story in college football, and it is uniquely yours to tell.

No one else in the world can tell it. And when he was when you were telling me this, I am walking around the house right as you're telling because you're You're like you're telling me, and I'm like, okay, Like I'm sitting there, like because I just finished working out, so I still have my still have my pre workout. I still have my pre workout going in my veins, so I'm like, my my my skins still tingling. So

I'm like, oh, okay, shoot, all right, let's go. So he's pitching me, telling me all this stuff, right, He's telling me all this stuff. So now I have to tell the story on my end because you don't know what's going on at the house. My wife is like, what are y'all who? First of all, she else, who are you talking to? It's a little bit of profanity, right, And I'm like, I'm just out of love, and I'm like okay. So I'm walking around and I'm like, right

and something. I'm I'm lathering up, like I can go work out again. And as he's telling me, you know, he's kind of filling me out and trying to get me hey, you only you can do this, I'm like okay. And so he just trenches, goes and goes and goes, and I love it. And I said, okay, you you're ready for me now? Yeah. He goes, well, what do you have? I said, well, if we do it, first of all, I'm only gonna wear Utah stuff. So let's

just get that out the way, right. We have a long history of me telling you what what I want you to wear, yes, he does. We have a long history, well, a long history of trick telling you know, don't wear the hat, No, you can't do this. And I'm like okay, right, and so he's like, I said, first of all, I'm wearing all Utah stuff. So let's get that out of the way right now. Are you cool with it? That's right, let's rock the you yeah, and then he goes. I said, however,

it all must be on the campus. I don't know, Trip. When we get off the phone, I will call Utah and I'll get this ready. Now. I would give Trent credit. Trent has been doing this a long time. Trent, how long have you been in the game of doing production like this? I've been messing around for twenty eight years? Okay, twenty eight years. How twenty eight years. Let's just let's round it up. Let's go thirty in thirty years. It's not that much. Sorry, making myself older than in twenty

five years? And you should edit that out and make it fourteen years. The young man's business? How many? How how many times have you listened to talent over promise and significantly under deliver? Be honest, Um, it does happen. You know what it is? Man? Is is like a lot of people, UH feel burned and they don't want to they don't want to use their because all of you guys have this incredible influence because you know, you

were who you were in the league. You have the status, you have the relationships, and a lot of times it's the opposite. You guys use your influence to make stuff happen, and then you on the other side, the other guys don't deliver, and you feel like, well, I'm never doing that again. But you and I have like this trust. You know, you know, if you vouch for me, I'm gonna deliver, and if I vouched for you. I learned that very I learned that quickly. Yeah, so we're you know,

we we have that. But and so we he said. I said, all right, so what do you need? I say, okay, and then I start remember I started producing, Hey, we're gonna have We're gonna have mountains, right, He's like, And then I'm trying to get off the phone as big as before. You start laying out to many ideas that I gotta deal with. Yes, He's like, well, I was like, man, they got a great mounds of schools right here. You know, let's do this, I said, but hold on, it has

to all be filmed on the campus. Well, I'm not sure. I think you know, we'll work it out. When I and I told you, I told him, I told Trimp. When we get off the phone, I'm gonna call you VERSU of Utah. I'm actually gonna call the A D and we're gonna make this happen. Trey has that Okay, Well, I mean I figured you'd call him it's Saturday morning at seven am, or we really call him this guy at seven am. So then I got a at Taxed at seven ten am that says are you available for

a zoom in fifteen minutes? I'm like, what time is on? Are you at? This is a Saturday. So I jump on this zoom and I figured it would be Steve and one of his buddies from Utah. There were nine people on this zoom. There's like a D, the president of the school, and they had a football and I'm like, are you guys, is this like some board meeting that you're normally having? Just had me jump on it to

steal an agenda item. This is all for us because on a Saturday morning, because one of the things that we do do at the University of Utah, and this is bragging on my school. It is not a destination place. University of us Tall is a place where they developed they enhanced teach technique because it's cold, right, is Mountainee High elevation. And when you think of Utah, you don't think of football. They don't have a perfect They only

have a h a basketball team. They you know, the last great basketball team it had a had a mailman in it, right, John Stockton called Malone, Brian Russell. It did not have You know, when you think about football,

you don't think about the University of Utah. And so, by the way you are now, you are now and so and so when it was an outstanding season, Devin Lloyd gets m v P PAC twelve Player Defensive Player of the Game Pact twelve Championship after a hundred All Americans and also goes down to Los Angeles and not and for the first time trent a hundred and five trips,

we finally win at the Coliseum. And so it's with this opportunity to whoop up on usc U c l A Wazoo, let's leets messed around and beat Oregon twice. Tw Molly, we would like to use the word molly wap on the West Coast. Yeah, I got a new favorite team. Man, I'm in We're going out there and sold me and I just said, I said, true, you just got to make sure you follow through. We'll follow through on our end. Get on a zoom call and it was outstanding. Yeah, and so try you when did

you go out there? When when did you fly out to really start doing it? Well? So I know you guys. One of the cool things about this is we can talk a little bit about process because people love to hear how things are made. So there's yeah, there's the pitch, and then there's the thing that to multiple things are happening simultaneously as we prepare for a shoot. So we're there's just logistics out of Lazoo, figuring out how to get who where, what are we doing, where are we

doing at locations? All that crap that's born. Then there's all these interviews. Who are we going to talk to to tell the story and what the heck are we gonna ask? So you and I have this process where I'm like, hey man, I want to stop if you're thing and you know you asked the questions, but I'm just gonna give you sample questions. You're gonna give me a sample question you can make your own. Let me tell you, it's never the truth with Trip when it

comes to writing the questions everything's bullshit. I'm working you, twin, I'm working you right now for the next piece of good do it, good it. Let's 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 by with T shirts

subscribed to us wherever you listen to podcasts. One of the things that sets us, sets us apart is our visual storytelling. I mean this in my own um inflated, but it's the truth. Is the truth because I hate to use the word, but it's the devil is in the details and and the details that NFL three sixty uses and does is they allow the stories and the visuals and images to tell the story on top of the people and the storyline. Like you never are your

mind and your heart. In NFL three sixty, I believe is never resting. There's never a low period because even if they're someone is not speaking, yeah, there is a vision that's showing you what we're trying to get across. Yeah, well, listen your piece on Darren Waller. I gotta just detour for a second here. If anybody hasn't seen that piece yet, this is a piece that Steve did a year and

a half ago. It was actually two years ago. Well yeah, but okay, fine, So it was it was shot a while like it was shot before COVID and then it you know, we did more shooting. We released that was nominated for an Emmy last year. Didn't win. I can't believe it didn't that. It's so good. That's why, because we beat ourselves because they knew was gonna be up in them. They didn't. They were trying to hold me back. Man.

So Steve, Steve does this piece with one of our producers, Julian Gooden, and it is so well done on Darren Waller, and it is so revealing and so personal. I've never seen a sports feature cut that deep. And that's that kind of goes. This is me propping you up a little bit. So put your ear muffs on. But like

when Steve talks to an NFL player, it's different. It's just different than when a regular correspondent does, or a producer like me, Like they the level of respect they have for you based on who you are what you did in that league and the fire in your heart and the level of passion that you played, and you said, listen, I'm four ft tall, but I'm gonna whoop everybody's ass. And you watch these players, it's just different. Man. When you talk to them, they just the level of respect

they have. It's like truth ser so. But here's the difference though that I think I have to I appreciate the credit, but I also have to get know. I called you four ft tall and you didn't say that's unbelievable. Did you not hear that we're editing that out. No, you're keeping his name. You talk about the respect that

people have for me. I think the respect they have for me is because also quietly, I'm just I'm I have I'm damaged goods just like to I think that's one of the biggest That's one of the coolest things that I have to do, but is giving me an opportunity to sit with these men, these young men, and we just get to talk about who we are and

what we've been through. When I look back at this piece on Devin Lloyd and what happened surrounding the Utah football program, like your your contribute your performance in this. Your contribution in it is very tender. It is not it's not the Steve that we see on Thursday Night football. This you actually let this, You let these guys tell

the story without sort of inserting yourself into it. In it, you kind of checked your ego at the door and just let let this unfold in the most tender, understated way. It was. It's really lovely to watch you in this. P I just think it's I think he killed it and in a very unexpected tone. And can I tell you why? Very very happy with it. Can I tell you why? And I'm I'm getting emotional thinking about it

that I never told you. The only reason I went to University of Utah there was a guy named Demetrius Posy. The year before Fred Grays recruited him at Santa Monica Community College. And when they were recruiting Demetrius, that's how they saw me. Demetrius commits to the University of Utah. Unfortunately he did not make it there because he didn't

get his grace together. I follow my big brother to University of Utah the same way, except he never gets his grace together, so he does it actually make it to the University of Utah. I go on to get drafted by the Carolina Panthers. In my second year. I get a phone call from at the time Robert Taylor Rested soul our head coach who had been there since nineteen seventy seven until he passed two thousand and eight.

From Robert Taylor. He calls me and says, Demetrius dies m on his way driving from San Diego to l A fell asleep at the will, crashing past. The only reason I was going to the reversal of Utah, well, other than the option free college, is I was following my big brother, a guy who took me under the his wings. And if he wouldn't have got that opportunity, I wouldn't have got my opportunity. And so for me,

you know, it was very much understood. And sometimes we only get places because of other other people, right, which is at the heart of this man. Todd Jordan is not at Utah if it isn't for Aaron and same thing and for those guys to to be lost. And then you know, we think about Devin, what if he didn't come back, What what does happen to this team? You know, I don't know. I mean, you know, he Devin didn't do it all. It's a team. You know, I didn't. I didn't make this piece by myself. It's

my it's you, it's my my boy. Johnny Oh, the editor who's amazing, has done all of our our big pieces the last few years. It's the kid that shot this thing. I would say he's fifteen years old. He's probably twenty five now, but he's might be the best photographer in our business. His name is Dakota Deal. So so look like team, team, team, right, So so here it's not just Devin, it's all those team captains, all those kids. But what if Devin doesn't come back, I

don't know. I mean that dude was the heart and soul of what happened in that locker room and in that in that season. And people need leaders, man, people need leaders And I think, if that's my takeaway from this piece, you know, I dig humble leadership. That's that's a I learned that term from when we worked on the Pat Tilman project. They said when they when when they're looking for kids for for Tillman Scholarship, they're looking

for humble leaders And that was pretty cool. What's a humble because you think leader is the guy that's yelling and screaming and all that. Man, humble leadership is what Pat Tillman was. Uh and that to me, that's what Devin Lloyd is. And Uh. I love to find those stories, find those people and then shine a light on it because we need more dudes like that. And Devin is a great kid. We're excited about his you know, Thursday night, he's gonna go call it early and let this dude

transform a locker room. Let him let him go, you know, mess around and have a fifteen year career. I mean, he is a he is a special kid, and I'm excited about you know, his ability to carry on this legacy of tie and air and it's going to follow him into the NFL. It's gonna follow him forever. And um, he didn't ask for that, but it's happened, man. And hopefully it does a couple of nice things for for the school too, because it's about time to school gets

a little uh, a little more recognition and notoriety. It's a it's a great piece. It's the emotional piece, super emotional. We've done some emotional pieces. This is right at the top of the list. You're gonna cry, You're gonna get goosey um. But yeah, I did a great job, and I really appreciate you doing it and the trust, and you know, I look forward to doing whatever we're gonna do next year. I'll find another one. As crazy as you say, trust, I was gonna tell you I appreciate

you trust in me. Cool. Well, that's earned my man. For the first time, I told you can't wear that hat flipped up. Remember so our our first job five years ago, Steve's first ever feature. We went to uh Foxborough, the home of home of the New England Patriots. Interview. You're interviewing this Brandon Brandon Brandon Cooks who just from Oregon State. He did not go to Oregon. And Steve is fresh off the boat and he says to me, Hey, listen, man, I want to get really good at features, and I'm

used to being coached up. Just you know, tell me what I need. Don't don't beat around the bush. Just you need to give me it. Give me some tough love, tell me I can handle it. And I said, okay, great, you can't wear that hat the hat the way it's flipped up. You look like an idiot. You said that exactly. You look like an idiot. You look like an idiot.

And you said, I'm gonna wear the hat. You told me, you told me to tell you want to be coached up, your tough love, tough love, don't wear the hat, used to Trent all due respect, this is my thing. I'm wearing the hat, alright, fine, And I'm on the phone with my boss. I'm like, it's difficult, man, It's just difficult. I told him not to wear the hat. Wearing the hat. So we get home and people start looking at the footage and there's just like this this ground swell around

NFL network going Steve Smith is rocking his hat. Whose idea was it for Steve Smith to wear that hat? I'm like, that was my I was like, I'm like, Steve, you need a thing. It's like your it could be your thing, right, I need a thing. Let's Paul, is it right there? You want to know the best thing about what you just said. You never heard your story, did you? When they when they that was war that was in my deal, not in my deal. Like it

was in my deal. I said, if I'm not wearing a suit, I'm wearing a hat, but when I'm wearing a suit, don't worry about it. I will I will not wear a hat, but if it's not a suit, don't ask me, don't request. I am wearing the hat. Yeah, nobody showed me your contract. So what did they do after I signed? I get back to Charlotte. We're excited, they say. The NFL network says, hey, we don't have a problem with you wearing hats, but just k you

wear an NFL shield hat. I said, send him. They said, okay, I have every color with the NFL shield hat, but in this piece, you're rocking the Utah hat. But the thing, it's not the hat, it's the flipped up bill that I was, you know, my you know, because I have no style. I was. I was going, I don't know about that flipped up bill, And suddenly the flipped up bill is the coolest thing in sports. I've been wearing

this flipped up bill since like oh six. I go back and look at I actually went back and looked at pictures. I used to outwear the visor with it backwards flipped up. I wore it upside down, was flipped up. I always had to flipped up hat, and so several people have said, man, will you just lose the hat? And I looked at him square now like I looked at you. Nope, no, smile hard, no, no, you would have fought me over that. We would It would have come down the blows. I don't know, because I didn't

think it was really a blow worthy. It's not blowworth. I didn't think we needed to fight over my hat since technically it was my hat. All right, let's do some selling, man, I'm always selling. Where can we see this feature? Man? We can see this tonight? Is it tonight? We can see this feature at nine eastern tonight, NFL three sixty on NFL dot Com, No, NFL network. Let's watch it on TV. You can watch you can watch it on TV at nine o'clock NFL network. But wait

a minute, podcast or forever. So what if they're watching this pilot? You know what's the date? It's It's April is April twenty six, nine pm eastern, NFL three sixty on NFL network. If you're listening to this later, it's NFL dot com, slash, NFL three six, NFL YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. It's everywhere anywhere you consume NFL network digitally, we got you cover. How about Melissa's arc who hosts his who hosts NFL three six. He does an amazing job.

She's back on the sidelines for Sunday Night Football, and that's the day that's the biggest show in sports. They pull a huge audience. And what does she say. She says, I'm only coming back if I can still do NFL three six. So she's still jamming with us and doing Sunday Night Football. That's a that's pretty cool. That's that's part of the Steve Smith school of don't forget where you came from. You although she came from she came

from Monday night Football, John Man. So I can't really use the Steve Smith don't forget where he came from philosophy on it. I can tell you she's awesome. Three

sixty three NFL three six. He does a hell of a job, and just telling the stories of graphics not doing everything, not not oversaturated in the market with everything every week, doing it where you just just give them a little bit of taste of great quality and then down the back and give them thirty forty more days to think about what's the next we're gonna look like right part of that because our budgets so small, we were doing more. We had a bigger Now I'm kidding.

I like it too, man, It's it's a good Listen. Nothing gets watered down when when you start trying to do too much and too many, it's not special in it, and you start to lower your standards. You start to lower your standards because you're just you're just looking for any story in every story. But when you when you you're mass produced and stuff. Yeah, when you don't mass reduced, you get to like this. You get to put it aside, stew on it and go it is it worth it?

And how do we make it graphically? Textually? How do we make it worth it? How do we make people sit here? And let's be honest, people are sitting down watching television anymore, so you have to really make too. Yeah, I really appreciate you, and I appreciate the school, and uh, I can't wait to share this with people. So thanks, thanks for having me on, and we'll give you a little little behind the scenes to send this audience off with.

This thing is recorded Friday before the Tuesday it comes out, and we're not done with the piece yet, So I got I got an edit base. He's still you guys are still up. They've sent me two different edits. Yeah, but you know what, we got one percent better in the last thirty six hours. And this is this is why I make my living off the last one percent. Where do you see the last one? Well on Tuesday when I watch it, and you better be better. M Eastern.

Don't be messing up the time zone and people are gonna flip on and then they're going to be watching the rerun of the Bucks Rams game. Yeah, we don't want to I PM Eastern Tuesday. Well appreciate it. Yes, man, thanks you. Let's do this again. Absolutely. You are a unique person. You are well worth it. You are competent and most of all, your lovable. I'm Steve Smith Singior, I'm Gerard Little John and this is cut to It.

Cut to It with Steve Smith singor 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 Me You Cut Too. It is produced by Brian Baltaschevic 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 all