Recorded Live with Jonathan Stewart and Mike Tolbert

I'm Drew a Little John w the co host. We've got backstage Joe, and of course we've got Steve. That's it. That's just Steve. Just Steve, just some dude named Steve. You're run up, all Steve. Now you have a bad day, but just just piece five piece, some kind of pieces that the whole chicken can't see. Whatever, whatever, however, however and wherever you want, finger looking good. So of course

we want to welcome everybody. Uh, this is the one is the first time we've ever done this, and too we definitely want the first time we've ever done a podcast. It's the first time we've done a live podcasts like I Feel out on my natural Habitat. Typically we're in a studio, we're recording. Um, we've never had a studio audience. We've never like this is like we're on an episode of Family Matters or something that's first sitcom. The kind of show is that I've never seen that. Well, it

was a black show back in the day. It was so we've got to go there, man, ever, but you didn't know it, would you ever? Rather me said like step by step, who's the boss? Growing pains? So I watched a little bit to dancing, like I don't know who that is? Wonder Years Fred Savage, Oh, why you gotta bring up race because they saw one of the years it was black folks. I was like, they're remaking it. Yeah, yeah,

that's what we're talking about. Is your year. Look, you got an audience gone there, like, stay away from this one. I want to thank all the sponsors, Domas Direct, want to thank Pinnacle Bank, Tito's uh j F. She enterprises, um, but before we get there's other agent NATed some the v I p's the v I P event. We don't think everybody, but thank you Agano. That's all right, we got how we got visual evidence. Now they can see what you're's the police officer in here and I can

tell that. So cameras is hired by me, and all these cameras are hired out of me. You know what they say, Man, the Richard always can wipe it away. So here's a healthy dose of elite. Is so about wonder years before we get started? Why are we here today? Of course the Steve Smith Family Foundation TA for Health event.

But tell the folks a little bit we always start with whenever we're doing this Q and A. Tell the folks a little bit about your your foundation, where it originated from, your your your passion for philanthropy, and just just speak a little bit to that. Well, I mean as as an executive director, Gerard little John. You know, we started um in the basements. We started in the home office, and they started way before you even met me.

But they're just saying in the home offices, UM, just trying to figure out, you know, how we can make an impact in the community in Charlotte. And so it just kind of has started a little bit a little by little and expanded, uh to the place of who now it's uh, we are UM. Just making an impact in Charlotte, whether it's after school program, after school and Richmond program, Uh, doing the t F health for the clinic, uh and now soon to be a behavioral health urgent care.

So uh, just doing all those things here in Charlotte, giving back to a community that's given so much for me during my football season, uh, during my football days, and so now as in retirement, trying to make impact that UM is lasting for the community, but also something that my family can be proud of as well. As

you speak a family, where did it originate from? So everyone may or may not be familiar with your story or your upbringing, like how what what maybe happened in your life too, maybe spark your desire to give back the way that you do. Uh, yeah, I guess it's sparked. I think, you know, utilizing and understanding where I grew up, in how I grew up and understanding that, and so with understanding that, that means a lot of the programs we do are based off of what I've experienced. So uh.

In the behavioral health they call that right now, they call that indigent, which is the uninsured u UM. And I was uninsured and so I understand that UM SEX and eight government assistance. I experienced all that, so understanding that are really building our programs around the need of what UM I experienced, what you've experienced as well. And so with that being said, UM, we we already know

the system. We know what the system presents. The system was originally presented Section eight Government systems was presented UH to a community to help to extend a helping hand to lift them up. It was not intended for people to be on government assistance for it their whole life. However, UM, there are some people believe that those types of folks don't want to be off government assystems. They don't want to be UM whatever it that, whatever your perspective of

that is. But the matter, the facts are government assists sense was there for temporary help. But now that it is considered permanent health. No one's really asking why is it considered permanent health. It's because there's such a huge gap and there's such a huge need and there aren't really their lack of resources. There aren't resources there, UM, there are is that there is a gap in certain communities,

in certain school systems. That there's a reason why you know, people only feel that, and it's not about racist people feel like, well, I'm only gonna be a guy or a girl that can have an hourly wage job because sometimes that's all they see or that's how they're taught, or they have so many deficits education wise, they they don't feel like they can get out of the hole.

And so I think with all that being said, is we try to do like our enrichment program, we try to help academically but also socially um emotionally, helping those people understand and figure out why they're there. So if you grow up and experience something that's traumatic, you just become an adult that experienced something traumatic with with complex

trauma and it has never been addressed. So you grow up being a hint football player that experience not my dad, watching my mom get beat up and yelled and and talked down to by her husband thirteen years old. I didn't know how to address that, didn't know who to talk to, get up in the morning and go to school. I'm not telling that to my friends. I'm not going

through that. So didn't know how to handle that, didn't figure it out, didn't understand how to get through the muck and mire the messiness of that and so um. And that happened a few times to the point of where I just held it in and it impacted me into the in the world. Now I'm an adult, you know, and and I just see it, and it it's hard to get out of my mind. It's hard to at times when I'm you know, on I closed my eyes. I can almost replay it as if it was yesterday.

But the blessing is I have you know, I have the resources to give get counseling, got that shorted out. But there are times where I still sometimes close my eyes and I just I wake up because I can still see it. It's never it's never an end all right, Like it's a constant It's a constant journey because I can't even speak to as well you you you referenced a little bit. But even my upbring, right, there's there's trauma. There is things that you see that maybe your parents

went through. There's things that you see that maybe you

witness to. To your point, You've got poverty, You've got um, you've got different neighborhoods, you've got violence, You've got all these different things that a lot of kids probably shouldn't be exposed to some of the stuff that you are, but it is then you're in the adult and you're now left carrying the bags of whether it's the things that you've seen, or whether it's the stuff that you've seen happen to your parents or within your family, and you bring that with you as an adult into your

marriage and to your job, into your career, into your sports, like whatever it is that you do, you take that with you. And so it is very, very very tough to navigate and and I think it's really been good because even for the three of us, um, we're not just hosts on the podcast, like we're really friends and so we have these conversations. We have a lot of common threads, whether it's parents en upbringings that we all um are lucky enough that we have someone to talk to.

But now with Steve talking about with the foundation, we're able to provide those resources to other people in the community who may not have the When we're out and about in in the community, like we said, we hang out a lot, and you know, people always come up to us and they're like, Oh, I'm glad to see your back, Steve. It's kind of funny because he's always been here. What a lot of folks are knowing this community is all the good work than his foundation, his

family has done that. I'm lucky. I've been lucky to be a part of and so is Gerard. And Steve kind of said it in his normal under the radar. Doesn't want to bring attention to himself because that's truly who he is. But what the Steve Smith Family Foundation has done for years, We've served youth, We've served under privilege. Um, we have the luxury upcoming, and you're gonna hear more and more about this over the next couple of weeks. And he kind of said it real fast. It's a

b huck, which don't google it, I'll tell you. It's called the Behavioral Behavioral Health Urgent Care. Today in Charlotte, North Carolina, if someone wigs out, goes crazy, needs some assistance, they got two choices. They go to jail, but they have to travel him to Raleigh because that's the closest

facility to be able to take care of somebody. So the county because of what Steve's done, Um, they've come to our foundation and we've been busting our you know, what's for the past four or five six months, we didn't know acronyms. We didn't know anything. We were sitting in these meetings early on, like so in our head and then like I said, laughingly, we would have to google something. What we're doing is we're providing a twenty four seven three sixty five mental health facility to take

care of folks that are in need. And we all know somebody. I see everybody looking up here right now. Everybody's going in their mind, it's a friend, it's a family member, it's that guy in the street corner. So we're actually building a facility here in Charlotte, North Carolina to take care of these folks, to give them an opportunity to grow, to get out of the systemic stuff they've been through their whole entire life. So, um, that's what Steve Smith Family Foundation is all about. We've always

known it's been about that. Um, we're gonna be on a larger stage now. So I want to thank everybody for being here and helping us out. So we really appreciate that. That's what your dollars and what you're volunteer shift and everything else is going towards. So like I said, hats off to you for getting us involved in this stuff. Well, it's it's been a long process. There's been a lot of names, but faceless folks that have contribute a lot of their time away from there for family, uh, traveling

to make this happen. And so it's it's it's been a long process. It's been encouraging, it's been frustrating, but it's also um, now we're at the end of the negotiation process and now we start with the fund stuff. So it's been cool. I love cut to It and I love it even more when you download us and subscribe, and you can follow us on social media too, Smithie where where at? That's at? Cut to It on Instagram? What about Twitter? At? Cut to It Facebook? Cut to

It featuring Steve Smith singr. What about online? And you can follow us at cut to It podcast dot com where you can buy merch and you can subscribe to us wherever you listen to podcasts. I got all my 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. We got uh, we got a short round and uh and' stillart here so we're gonna get into like a live podcast and uh so short round

is Mactober and Johnson Stewart good friends of mine. Uh, come on up, and so we're just gonna do a little podcast. Appreciate it, welcome to cut to it is that is that the intro you wanted from from smithy Man, So I definitely want to welcome in Jonathan Stewart and October Jonathan native of Washington, attended Oregon University ten season with Carolina Panthers one with the New York Giants. He's the Panthers franchise leader in career, Russian attempts and Russian yards.

And of course we got Mike Tobert, a native of Carrollton, Georgia. There were from what part of Georgiana from I was born in Carrolton. We get into that, were getting that, we were getting that, We get that we're getting because that sound right. I don't know. I know now that tring Wikipedia? What's wrong with I don't control with Wikipedia? You can end it. Karon has like three stoplights. So you're gonnadom embarrassed by that? I don't know, just not

So where are you from? Huh? We got like seven stoplights. Don't just respect and I know how to be when they tried to dition next, right, you don't from lex Have you ever heard don't do it? Yeah? Have you ever heard of lexa to being lex Vegas? Why you gotta smart like this? Like you like you from something like we finally got a light like like I thought you're from the West coast, but it ain't like you exactly from like you know, I'm from Olympia and Olympia,

Washing is the capital. You tried to put me in my p boring Fort Lewis, Washington, which is a military base. So that's once again it's known. Uh, I'm a rock with there's five people up here and folk didn't know it a man. Well, now you're looking at you rock though a uh where are you from the place you call your hometown from Douglasville, Georgia, Oh, about fifteen minutes west of the wet As you asked, I'm gonna where

you're fine? And all right? Okay, so you know you want you want to you wanna do to get ice up? When get up? It's part of our podcast where we just asked random Iceberger questions like I don't know he just brought up the sheet. We haven't talked about this. We don't have no pre production meet, none of that stuff.

So yeah, he gets yeah, so let him so just one we got this question, all the questions whose podcast is I'm just I'm ansking questions the stage all right, um you guys, and you can answer if you choose to. If you can buy any type of food, what would you buy any type of food? Look at me, shround for a reason. I'm doing gonna buy anything though you're eating. One thing you don't know about Toba is he's not

a sweets guy. Really, yeah you sweets my my, my meat come from meat and potato, not one like that. You're out of here. That's one all right, no more, and we're friends. We're not going to add that out, Brian. But don't do that again. Oh if I go on your web browser, your history, what I find stut today, you would find uh top golf trying to figure out the fastest impossible. That because stew he's also he he

is lightweight, lazy sometimes. Hey man, that was the answers right there, because one time I got to be there. You can't tell him early because he will forget and he will take a nap before you're supposed to ask you and then oversleep. Yeah, nowadays I don't really get to take that million naps, you know, So things have changed a little bit more responsible. So what how would

you characterize your just football career? Football career? Um trials, you know, just injuries, um, but just stay in the course, um and making it last. What can I just want to jump in real quick? Why would you characterize those two things? First? Like, even just in your you the franchise leader in Russian attempts rushing yards, you went straight to injuries. Yeah, because I mean I think at the end of the day, that's one of the things that knock you out. And that's what I'm you know, grateful

for and blessed you know too. I mean Smitty, you know, introduced me to his guy that prolonged, that made my career last longer than what it should have, you know what I'm saying. So when I think dr that, but when I think about football now, I'm just I just think, you know, just the bratefulness to be able to walk away from the game. But also looking back, you know, I played eleven seasons. Um, you know, I'm just just grateful,

you know what I'm saying, more than anything. So that's the first thing that comes to mind, is the things that I've come over that you know, the adversity. I think you look at a person's career, you're more satisfied with the bounce back stories, You're more satisfied with what that person had and dur You're more satisfied with all those things because that's how you can connect um. And I mean Smithy is good at stories for days for adversity of how he's bounced back. Told 's got stories

for days for how he's bounced back. And I've been able to watch these guys along their side, you know, through the you know, parts of the career. And that's what's inspirational, you know what I'm saying within the locker room. But so that's why. So so what when you have bounced backs and you have injuries, what is that internal motivation that makes you come back from that? Like what your drive to come back from that? That's a great question.

We should have you one more one. I mean, ultimately it's you know, for me, it's your why, right, and I believe your why changes, you know, through different seasons of life and but the ultimate y stands tall and first at the end of the day, which is my why is I have a plat from given by God to do something bigger than myself. So once you get out of your own way, that's when you can go through those things with the right attitude, with the you know,

with the mindset of I need help. I need people like my teammates or family members or coaching, um, whatever it is to get you to that next phase. UM. And I mean, you know there's there's right you know, towards the end of my career, you know, I got married and had my first baby girl, and you know that became my why. Um. And we have another baby girl, uh Nora, she's eight months. She's part of that why Now nothing else matters. So told, but what about she?

Which what's those internal motivators for you? Um? Just always been on adult you know, I was always short and fat and not considered the biggest or the strongest or the fastest. So I like to pride myself on being a lucky worker, you know what I'm saying, Like I was, I was lucky because I didn't have to go through the major injuries that y'all went through. But I worked my tail off, and I'm saying I worked hard to

you know what I'm saying. I don't only keep my weight down, but you know, make sure that the person that was six four two fifty across from me, he knew I was who I was. You know, he had the game playing for me stuff like that. You know. So I prided my cell phone UM making. I prided myself on sacrifice, you know when I played UM sacrificing you know what I'm saying in my mind and my body to make sure that this guy went to the

Pro Bowl. You know what I'm saying, to make sure that you on those end of rounds that you know what I'm saying, that linebacker was cut down and the defense end was cut down, stuff like that. So you know, I just I like sacrificing, you know, saying my body. I mean that was my position, so it was I was signed to sacrifice. So let's talk about football a little bit, because listen, we're not gonna have too many ex teammates that actually trust on my podcast. I'll tell

like the real story. This is the first time I've ever listening you segue into your own storytelling like typically he always dance around around. So what what what was it like to be at practice with me in a good way because I can say whatever hell I want to and I'll make sure Brian edits it out the way I wanted to. Um, this is well, I was gonna say. I was gonna say the good way because a lot of people always just go to you was aggressive,

blah blah blah and not. That's why. That's why I think one thing that not only playing with you, but like being a friend off the field, Like you're gonna get what you're gonna get out of you. You know what I'm saying. So when you come in everything like so when you come in the morning and you know what kind of day is gonna be, Like when you see the expression on his face if he if he high five in short round, what's up man? This and that at seven o'clock in the morning, I have a

good day. But if he come in mugging back, you know, has back over show. This is hanging on the floor, one of them cornerbacks probably gonna get fought in practice. Like, don't feel bad, it's podcasts and we read the room too. That's that's just how would you you filled up the tension. You know what I'm saying, good or bad, But I mean it's it's a lot of stories that we can get into it for two years, but we're here so time. But I got a few him. Yeah, that's part on

because I usually have the same kind of demeanor. I'm either very mild or low, like as far as in the mornings, like like here you go here on that day, his feet, his feet heard him or something alone, Let's leave him alone, leave alone. They hurt the best though, This is when you know it's bad. He would come in and be like, yeah, Steve, I feel like you today. I supposed to me that even a complimentary but he's

still savage. But the thing that would get me about Steve is you could think one thing about him, but you could be wrong. I blized Steve's home on today, and he might he Mike, I don't know my custombody out. He'll he'll walk by me, He'll be like, and I'll eat. I'll be eating a doughnut Friday mornings or Saturday mornings, whatever the those mornings, I'll be having the last bite. I'm like, so you want that today? So are you playing today? Okay? I mean, so ultimately you get everything.

But guys are always played with and we have fun. There's other guys. There's guys. Yeah, there's guys that all that that. Ultimately, do you know if Steve's messing with you or not? And those guys you shouldn't. You don't talk to them. You don't mess with him. You're not You're just not there. Um. But the main thing that I appreciate about a Steve about Steve is locker room. And a lot of guys in our locker room was different than a lot of people's locker room. But you're

not just gonna get football. You're gonna get life. You're gonna get life lessons. You're gonna get like your finances. You don't get married, you're gonna get kids all that. And one of the very first things that Um Smithy had told me, I was kind of like hanging. I was with Jeff Ota and Um, and I just kind of overheard the conversation, and you know, Smithy is talking, you know about spending habits, like don't be over there buying jewelry and all these cars and all this stuff.

And if people ask you for things, tell them no, you know, oh, anyone anything except your wife and kids. And I remember hearing that. I don't know if you remember telling him. I remember he was talking about how after the season he was gonna buy a Rose Royce and he was like, no, don't do it. And then you know, and then Jeff was fighting him on it like it was like they was arty. He was arguing with Steve about advice Steve was giving him, so he

was he was defending his potential purchase. Yeah, are he was gonna rolling it either way, he was rolling it. You know what, I hold back And I'm like, where is Jeff Faltar right now? But he glad ain't by that room. Maybe he parking it. But you know what, do you get it? Like, you get the off the field stuff like that with Jeff, but you also get the owner field stuff too, which is which is fun. You know. I remember, um my first year playing with you, here it was and you come in the locker room

joking shot around, what's up? Man? You don't hae baby? I said, what's up? Alright? Cool? We soon we're walking out of practice together and you go, I'm gonna make everybody better today, And I'm like, what do you mean by that. You know what I'm saying, Like he already wanted the best in the game, Like we all got to step it up. So I'm talking about warmups, hitting the heart, running, running, running around. Something about every route

was like bomb bomb re rot was. Christine said, we're running plays back to back and we're going to seven on seven and he was like, this is what I'm gonna do it. I'm like, dude, what this Dude, what what is he talking about? Every time the ball came to him, he looked at it. Remember you remember that he looked at the ball. One ball came right to a face mask, knocked it down. I'm like, what is he doing? He was like, he's gonna have to learn to be accurate. And I was like, WHOA made sense,

make complete sense, but you was asshole doing it. At the time, I thought he was an asshole, But I get it now. You know what I'm saying. You remember that right out routes to come back. He looked at every ball go right, But I mean he was five or six yards open on every play and he just looked at the ball fly out abound. He knocked the pass down himself. It wins to his like if he didn't put his hands up. It was gonna stick in

his face. Man's like little John's, I'm trying. It was that it was the point and he just and going through stuff like that, and you know, we all laugh about it, but deep down inside, I believe we all know he was doing to make everybody better. It wasn't antagonistic. It wasn't trying to some of it was, but something of it, some of it was. But what what the

detail of what he's missing is. So in my two thousand til so, I'm thirty thirty years old at some point right running the a t yr come back thirty years old, eighteen yard stop on the time coming back in the ball is I'm coming running to come back and the ball hasn't been thrown yet. If we're in the game by the time the ball comes, that means if I'm coming back, that means the guy that's covering

me it's coming back. So that means time and is off right and and analyzing and talking about it involved right. If I put in balls for a football, for a quarterback to get paid seventy five million dollars, you must be confirming what you see in the defense, not discovering.

So if you are discovering what's going on and I'm running the eighteen come back and you're just throwing it after I've run eighteen yards come back and the guys covering me, and you're just discovering it and you're throwing it, that means you are late. If you are late and I'm on time, that's a pick. So if that's a pig, I am paid to catch, not tackle. Is that fairtely? Next? Perfect? So I'm trying to figure out what's my job description? What'd you say? I got you? I still was ass over.

I didn't so understand. I asked, I asked it improper question, my fault. But what I was trying to leave you No, No, I I say that just because sometimes there are things that people don't understand, like the nuances of football, like in practice and game. If you're doing it in practice, you're gonna do it in the game. If you don't do it in practice, it ain't no damn way you're gonna do it in the game either. So just trying

to figure that part out. And that's why the old Iverson thing is is, you know, we're talking about practice. For me, I looked at practice with practices where I what I would try it out, figure it out. Game is deja vu. I've already done it. So when I'm doing it again, we've supposed we've worked out all the kings. Right, Like you guys are running backs. Y'all had another running

back in there, D'Angelo. And if ded' angelo bothered me that week or he said something sideways, what I used to tell y'all, remember, hey, I better get your board because we always had that safety, our mask of our linebackers, coach, our alignement, a line coach or line coach. He would draw the plays and don't say, all right, we run into the left. We don't have to account for the safety. Why who is that wide receiver? So if you tiptoe, and if a dude tiptoe, what I used to do

in the game, if you go, that's yours. If you go tiptoe through the home, all right, you better run through that separating it from the great I really appreciate you blocking from me. Man, we go down there and we'll there'd be Stewart be sitting there and he see that safety creep down. He'd be like street be looking around, like I got him. I got him. I go ahead him, Stewart go still like, man, I told you to see

him for real. Man Like, but Steve, you'd be lifting people out of the air bro like so Denver, the Denver Broncos. I think it was vulnerable about I caught a swing pass or a flat pass, curl had a curl right and was about get you all that. I was like, I just remember turning up the sideline with closed on. You know what's coming, huh. I knew he was true and so like it was just one of them like you just get there so that way you just embraced the hit and you stay on your feet

because you got the bad of bounce. Man. I heard the contact so loud that I felt it, but it wasn't me. It was about to get hit. It was Steve hitting von Miller. All I hear is like at the whole sideline, the whole stadium. And then they throw a flag because it was just so aggressive and then they picked it up right I'm saying, I thought it was a leading. It was that one in the Chad Greenway. One stands out as well too. Who was running the ball on that one? DeAngelo was running ball DeAngelo would

he would use me. But I was also like, come this way here, you know, and I leaned into that and you said it, both of you guys said, you know, as you transform through your career, you what's your wise? Different things. But as you mature, being able to ask a teammate a friend for help because a lot of times we have that pride on our shoulder and I just don't want to ask. And but you, for you guys, to admit asking for help start started to make you

a better player? Was there every time you talk about missing the box like on an end around? I know my man here would elevate everybody's game because of things like you said, where there are times where it was an end around he was coming around. You missed that blocking like, damn man, he's gonna say something to me on that one. Um not a lot because he didn't like running the end around too much, you know. But um so my my position affects to more than his,

you know what I'm saying. But I was in the in the game a lot on third downs and I needed to protect because we were late a lot, and you know, we gotta run routes to get open. So that that's kind of how indirectly my my position and

you know, blended with his. But I mean there's there's been plenty of times where, um, you know, you gotta account for somebody else's responsibility, you know what I mean, whether it be picking up an old line, got it fell in his in his kick slide, or you know, ball is in the back for I dropped the ball right like it would be times if I dropped the ball, I'll be the first one coming back to the huddle said, man,

you know, I'll let you all down. I remember my first year we played the Charges in San Diego, or it was still in San Diego at the time. Yeah, we played the Charges in San Diego. And I'm in it's like second in like three and I catch a wide route. I'm not supposed to be trying to jump nobody or nothing like that. I try to make a move and cornerback trip me up like half of y'ard, you know, from the from the first down, and everybody's like, come on, man, just run through and get the first down.

I mean, we're gonna we're gonna make it work, you know what I'm saying. We're gonna go back next play, next play we come up, he run a short um short dig route catch ball. First time. He's like, don't worry about it. I got you. I remember that. You know what I'm saying, little stuff like that. Don't worry about that. I got you. You know what I mean. And it's been it's multiple cases where not just him,

but other people cover up from other people's mistakes. You know, if nobody's perfect on the field, man, that's that's life. That's business, you know, not just on the football field. A lot of times you do need help from other folks. Man. So we've been hearing athletes like yourself understanding you're only as good as the guy next to you. With that, that's really cool to hear about one of the toughest things. So I think I believe um in in a huddle hu. I don't think I ever told that this is um.

So we were in cream Bay and this Stewie breaks out on a run. But we were in Green Bay and it was cold, so Stewie didn't warm up. Let me hold on, stop that Smithy doesn't doesn't warm up ever, and so I would wear a lot of clothes Dame day up. But he's an alien Okay, so he doesn't have to warm up. Everyone should warm up. That's the name, that's the name of the story. Continue. So we get

give the ball to Stey, Stewet breaks one. Stewey breaks one, and about it's about fifty sixty yard touchdown and about thirty five yards saying he starts breaking down and he still got about thirty more yards to go, Like, bro, what are you doing? And so I have to I'm speeding up to catch him because I see I'm like slowing down he's about to get walking. So do we

end up scoring? You end up scoring? Warton carriage? Know, I I got hit from behind and into the end zone and then Treville Wharton was running behind me and jumped on the ball. But he's he was there so and I'm like, what are you doing? His reply, I didn't warm up? It's a football game. How did you not warm up? Skip pasting on the sideline for too long? Man? They put him back on the side after that game. I don't think none of us warmed up when we

played in Minnesota there, you know, man? Yeah, that Trevl Wharton's wanted only touchdowns? Do we know stats guy? Where's my stats guy? But but shall we fast forward? And that was the catch against Charles Wilson. I believe show we in there, Tobers over there rolling people over in San Diego. So he's not even there yet. This is what Coach Fox. And so we're in there, and Jake's the quarterback, moose In's there, and so we're all in the huddle, and Jeff Altar was there, Travell Wharton, Jordan's

gross and Ryan Khalil. So one of the things I struggle with is in that in that moment, especially in Coach Fox's offense, about third down, third down come and I always used to put my head down, a Smithy, we need to play from me. We played Smithy, we need to play from me. And I always used to have my head down because I would here to play as he would say to play, I would go go

over it in my head. But one also the things that I always thought about why I put my head down is I would put my head down and close my eyes sometimes because of the fear that lettin the guys down in that huddle. So the unique it's up that huddle. You got Ryan khalil usc Um, great great athletic center, Jeff Altar from pitt first round Treville Warden from South Carolina third or second round pick. He was

a tackle, they transferred him to guard. And then my guy Jordan Gross, who I played two years with at Utah and then played pretty much thirteen years with in Carolina. So I paid I when I went to Baltimore, that was the first time in my career that my left tackle wasn't Jordan Gross. And so I'm sitting there and Jake would ask me, you know what you want? Hey,

what's play you on? But the interesting thing about that is I would close my eyes because I did not want to let these guys now because I knew they were I knew that significant others. I knew, I knew their wives, our kids had birthday birthdays together. And so one of the toughest things is to manage that pressure but also look at the look the men in the eye. If you messed up that you let them down. And so for me, that routine was was imperative because if

I had failed, I just didn't failed myself. I felt those guys. The way I look at is I'm I'm in house, I'm on house, h I'm on house money. But I don't want to mess up you guys is money. So that was one of the toughest things I always struggle with. If you go back and you google or look at it or even watch you old tape. I always had my head now because I was fearful of letting the guys tell other guys down in the hall. That's interesting, man, because I think I was gonna say,

what was your reaction to that? That? I think everyone has that right, But like, I mean, you're explaining that and me actually, like going back into a huddle, I can see that. I see that like I've seen that before, and you would have never thought that that existed in you. I think most people when they're when they're watching football, when they're watching professional athletes, that's probably a thought that never crosses the general person who's watching the game of fans,

that's probably never cross in their mind. They see all the athletic plays you guys make, they see the touchdowns, they see the celebrations, they see overcoming adversity. But I don't think raise your hand, because we have we have an audience. Now, this isn't just us, Like raise your hand. If you really think that when you would see a guy like Steve or Jonathan or mikeet that they're in

that hole and they have fear on top of them. Like, is that something that you guys think to everyone's shaking their head like Nope, have no clue. Well, but you know, you say fans, But here's the man that's a side by side with him in a huddle and did you know that coming in that bothered him like that. I mean, the right thing to say is everyone probably has that, but there's just because there's very few that you think that it really like hits them the way it was

just explained. Because there's been times where I've seen somebody coming to the huddle and said, you better run the you better hope that you better get the first down because of not you better throw the ball me like, but like, look, I think it was an Arizona game. Um Jake called something and he was you were mad. I think we were drawing, like called the draw play because we ran draws like it was nothing my rookie year, and and we'd be losing running draws and he called something.

You can tell he was upset. And then it didn't go well. He came back to the huddle and he told us to run some play. It was a bubble screen, and he came and told us that is what he wanted to run. So you see one of those things where a player at at his stature come into the huddle saying I want this play because I'm about the score. He rubbly run the play and he scores a sixty yard touchdown step songs, a guy spins off another guy

or whatever, and he goes down the sideline. So you see that, and you hear that in a huddle, and then I hear that when the line. That's what That's what I's That's what I was about to ask, like when you are in that mood when you were in told me the ball, I want the ball, give it to me. I'm like, which is like, because then I put Then we say to play. I put my head down. Man, I can't fun. Why don't say that? And then I'm going. But then I'm jogging, jogging out and I'm looking at

the defense like, yeah, that wasn't a good. That wasn't a good. That was just the parallel I was trying to paint to everything. Stupid just said, like you you I don't think most people of course watching, but you're in the huddle and you you don't even see that that dynamic exactly. I hid it so well, yeah, I never saw that, you know what I mean. But I think on a football team, like coaches and the players, they all breathe camaraderie, so we don't want to let

each other down. But to hear somebody say that they didn't want to look at everybody else because I didn't want to let you down, you know what I'm saying. It hits a little different, you know, but it could be, Like I said, that could go both ways, because you can be in there with your head down, shaking in your draws because you're scared that you're gonna let everybody down, as opposed to going out there. I'm like that I'm gonna go make his play, and it would go through

that whole process. Put my head down, go through my routine, you know, blah blah blah, just to play and okay, and then I walk out and I go through my routine. Okay, safety is right here, linebacker, Okay, cool? You know what what release am I going and show that preparation during the week of watching film, nor you know, knowing all of my information that I knew so, and then before the game, I would literally walk. I would walk or

slight jog. I would walk through every single route before the game, and so I technically I never stretched, but I would walk through it mentally, and then I would just catch. I would catch the footballs and work on my hands and then work on different kind of acrobatic catches in practice to really control and train my eye hand coordination. And I was the way it out. I would do it, but that's why. But my confidence wasn't

and I was a really good player. My confidence was in my preparation and that's why I like it was at least once a week when I come to practice. I'm not playing with you all the day. Good do it? Good, do it? Get down to do it. Hey, Gerard, why 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. Talk about confidence and knowing everything about the game. You know, I've my friendship with Steve. He he gets really jazzed up and gassed up to talk about plays like he has every playbook from every team that he's ever played on. And uh, I remember being in Steve's house a handful of times where he gets just getty talking about he knows every position, every play, what the lineman is doing, with the tight ends doing, with the

quarterbacks doing. He knows everything about that piece. And that goes to your studying, and that goes to still have our playbook when I was with the Panthers on the culture of the whole offense, like the lineman. So when I'm watching television and I hear T STU are here to a gap or b gapp or double b gapp or to see gap, I go back in that terminology to read it, to make sure not to correct the TV. Got to make sure that I'm hearing it right. So when I do TV, I'm not just talking out of

my butt. Yeah, we've got any questions in audience, anybody can you come up? Can you come on the show a microphone? We want to make sure so security number. I'm Brian, Hi, Brian, he claim for ten years now. Welcome. Tell us about the play against the Rams. I know all of his Panthers fans. Remember where we were watching that. I was in college what Lenora in playing baseball position there with all my buddies third base. Yeah, yeah, we're

sitting on Lenora rahon third base. You were drinking beers. Uh there, look at it. But now that's one of my favorite players as the Panthers fans. So just talk us through that. It was a play in which everybody knows, you know, just like practice, we're trying to figure it out. I ran a certain way. Um, I never in this I never ran the same route the same way. I always did something different. He said, that would frustrate Jake. That frustrates office coordinator. But that was just something that

I always did. I never ran the same route the same way. My name is Blake. I'm good, happy to be here. But um, for three of you guys, especially you with the new Jersey change rule, would you think that you would have ever seen yourself moved to seven? No? No, I wouldn't. Not young since high school, so now right, No, I've always been double digit. Yeah, like agent seven just doesn't hit right. But but the thing is is so the long story, the long and short version of that

is so um when I was drafted. I had seven in college war seven and junior college. I went to a public school, so we had whatever Jersey it was that week, we had three, and I had three and seven in high school. But the way I had to wear fifteen because we didn't have a Jersey public school and and then I wore seven in junior college and then I wore seven in college. When I got drafted

by the Panthers, I wanted eighty seven. But Mose Muhammad, I think at that time it was like a second or third Pro Bowl, he didn't want to give it up. And then Carl Hankton big Bank told me, he's like he had go ask him. I didn't know that was a set up. I went and asked, Moose, kill the dog, sit your ass down somewhere. And so when I locked when I got into the locker room. The one thing I did not want I was on the on the

whole flight. I was on a remember Continental, that was my flight Continental from Utah to Charlotte, and I was on that and I was like, I do not want eighty nine. I do not want eighty nine because eighty nine was he had two numbers. Ray crews had eighty three and eighty nine. I did not want that number, but they gave me that number. Like, I don't they gave me that numb So they gave me a number aven angels like please, du I kill made nine please

because it was what it was associated with. Right. He was from Colorado, he was originally from Cali. He was light skinned. I'm from Cali, went to Utah. I'm light skinning. The similarities, the similarities, I just did not want any of it. So I had in my rookie year and and so I had lunch with the team president at the time, which is still a good friend, which is Mark Richardson, And I said, bro, like, I do not want this jersey. Why do you give me this jersey?

And Mark said, listen, we gave it his jersey is because we know the association to this jersey. But we also gave it to you. Is because this is the number that we've given guys who aren't just only been here temporarily. So there's a guy receiver that played with you in San Francisco with George Seyffert name always it came,

so they gave it to him. He was gonnae. They gave it to the out blow birds he was gonna and so they gave it to me, and I was like, all right, So after the lunch, I really felt bad. After lunch, he was like, look, if you want to change the number, that's fine, but this is the reason we gave you this number. We gave you this number hoping you will change what this number represents for organization. Everybody knows what he did, everybody knows what's going on.

That's why we gave it to you. Hopefully it can be a number that's relative to something good, just stability. So if you want to change it, go ahead and change it now. I was when I got drafted, I just turned two years two years old, so I was very you know, I was very young. So I was like, I'm sitting in my car. After that, I'm like, damn, I can't change it. Nown After that, like you know, years old, after they tell you that, you know, you go, well, if I change it now, I'm in an asshole, right,

I'm already in assholes. I don't want to be associated with being one out and open, right, And so after that, I just and that's why I stuck with it. And so that's why, you know, and That's why I never would change is because for me, me changing that number would say that I would be wanting to throw away the investment that someone else had in me before I even knew that that's what they were doing. That's deep. So that's why I won't. That's that the origin of

the origin. That's the reason why I wouldn't. I wouldn't change like I wouldn't do that just because of how and what they what they what they did on the reason why. And it was Mark who told me. He was like, this is why, that's what's up. But I didn't. I didn't even know that he had ano. He wore two numbers. He wore like two or three numbers. But like his last finished, he finished with eighty three. He feel flip flop. But his last game before it all

went down was eighty nine. But he was one of eighty three and eight and one more for these guys, anybody it's going on, Steve, my name's Adam Lewis. Appreciate you having me on here. UM So not only are you an all time receiver, but it definitely um all time trash shocker. Did you come into the league like that or was that something you kind of had to learn to stand your ground being in the NFL. That's a great question. This is my reply is totally racist.

But I'm just okay, here's here's what I'm gonna saying. It's a racist. Why my statement is racist. I grew up as a black man. Noisha shocker, me too. But many so many people in here will know where I'm going with this and why I said this. I grew up. My mom is one of thirteen my mom's My mom had me and my brother. Okay, so it's my grandmother, my mom, me and my kids. There are sixty five of us. Okay, so can you imagine what the barbecues are like? Yeah? And the cards Domino's tumped space. There

is a lot of talking going on. And so I grew up watching old folks play cards, right, Domino's, let trees fall on that ass stress, right, just all of that stuff. So when I grew up watching and listening to old folks play rds, you inspire to be that. But our deal was if you couldn't count, you couldn't play cards. So you have to learn how to count. And if you didn't know how to count, they would talk you off the card table, and so you I went through that show by the time I was twelve

years old. I'm playing spades, I'm playing dominoes, I am playing cards and playing games with men who have no filter. But she goes around a reading on that space table and see what happens. Yes, and so that's what I'm saying. So so now, and the reason I said, as I love my wife married twenty one years, my wife's from you talk. They don't play cards like that. They ain't dog cussing, No fifty year old kid, it's like, oh my gosh, don't say that. Get your stuff like that. Yeah, exactly.

So it's just a different level. That's why I said, my the way I said is racist, because that's also where the where your character is built. That a good old fashioned community that our kids lacked. Now, right, get your ass outside and gonna play. Get from around grown folks. Right, mom is making uh, you know, the fry on on Saturdays. You're cooking all that stuff. Keeno, right, said all of that stuff. That's how I grew up. And so for me, when you man sixteen years old, what I heard on

the in the card table. Yeah, as a football player, I'm like I'm not trash talking, this is playing. This is just what it is. And and so I'm from a huge family of sixty but we talked. It's some stuff. It's like I thought we was family exactly. And and so it's like a great example and what I mean by race. There's friends of mine that I know. And you don't put fish on the grill, you don't grill, you barbecue, just little things like that that when I

grew up, that that's how it was. I experienced that ten at five years old, six years old, ten years old, twelve, twenty to now where now it's like, you know, I'm at the house and it's the family. We're playing cars and I always you know, my kids were over this Sunday, was playing nerves, hilarious. We're talking about everything. Nothing is off the table with family, talking cards. And so now you add that I can do that against strangers on a football field, zero regard for your field because I

learned it from my grandma. I've seen my grandma dog cuss my mama. And I'm just like reading like it's just coming back from you know, from the archives. I'm just pulling from the archives. Yeah, So and that's why I say it was a racist statement, just more of that was the way I grew up. And it's more of a cultural thing, right, And I know it's cultural because my wife sometimes she said, great example, my mama told my daughter at the time Bailey is twenty years old, now,

my daughter was eight years old. She went in tattletale on her big brother. When know, my mama told my daughter at eight, you read it, don't be no snitch. Snitches get stitches, mama, she ate, she went on, but just that statement at for eight year old, Like my mom was like, you can't tell eight year old that. And I'm going, yes, Mom, you can't. Yeah, right, And so that's what I mean, And that's why it's just it was just a different sort of certain set of

circumstances back in the day. We all can recite that that we all got that uncor and that when they come to the family union or some family function day, the ring ligature of trouble day, the ring leader of alcoholic activities facts right, or or you got that ring leader of food. But just that family dynamic, everybody hasn't you got that? You got that still? Do you know? Do you gotta uncle pe nut, you're going to my mom's exactly. You'd be looking forward to those un you know, Georgia,

check out the world. Yeah, it's just a cultural thing. Yeah. Well, thank you, Jonathan, Mike Man, thank you guys for being up here with you. Apreciate it. Y'all. Give it up from Jonathan and Mike. You are a unique person. You are well worth it, you are competent, and most of all, your lovable. I'm Steve Smith Senior, I'm Gerard Little John and this is cut to It. Cut to It with Steve Smith Senior. That Is Me is a production of Cut to It LLC, Baltol Creative Media, The Black Effect

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

music by Alex Johnson. Lyrics and vocals by Anthony Hamilton. You ain't heard about it, then we're about to let you know. It's all