Rookie Spotlight: Shaun Wade

you know, I had no chance of talking. I saw this article about uh offensive tackle Isaiah Wilson, who just three days after Miami Dolphins traded for him, was recently waived. And we were talking a little bit before this, and I guess it spurred up some some things maybe you wanted to hit on in terms of what what this brings about from from seeing something like this happened in

the NFL. Well, it's just with everything going on, I think sometimes people have this, uh false sense that NFL player or potential first round draft pick, seventh round draft pick now and say, oh, this is this is the opportunity of lifetime. How can this person do this? And so we start off by talking about is that, but I'm gonna move past him and just kind of putting

in the category of this. What this young man is displaying has no different than someone who did not play sports, who has tricked off an opportunity for some reason, we put this, We put people in sports category position like how dare you screw up? And so one of the things I one of many things that I know really which is really hard to decipher and figure out this if I use the same analogy of we remove the athlete and we just plug in the name and a place.

One thing I know about, um, just the world where where we are. You can go to any community right now and you know less in the middle class, but you can go into any community right now where there's poverty and what is it chaos, termol, things are happening, things are said. There's just so much going on, and that's hard to just turn away from and and say, well, I'll just ignore. Like you can only play so many sports. At some point when the game's stopping, you go home,

you go back to wherever you are. It will affect you. And so you have that chaos. You have that termoil, and then you have that's on the outside, then you have what's happening on the inside. And then you get an opportunity to go to a college and play football, go to class. But you still can't turn off the images. You still can't turn off the things that these men and women have. Young men and women have experiences. They were young men and women. So now they become adults

and then they get drafted. Those things don't leave, they don't change. Yeah, you may have money too, maybe cloak those images, but they're still there there when they're laying in the bed in that nice big bed, now it's instead of sharing the bed with four other relatives, now they're just by themselves. So with him, I think, yes, he's in a place where he gets to choose. Yes, doesn't need help, absolutely, But sometimes we don't even know

that we need help. We don't even know because if you have had something happened to you and it's never addressed. When you become that doctor m hm, you become that professor, when you become that government official, that football coach, that football player, that quarterback, that podcaster, audio video guys, whether man, whether girl, all that has done is you now are those things with the same baggage and stuff you've grown up with? This is with the title. Now that's it.

Now you just say football player there that do you have some sort of bagage? You had some sort of trauma you know, yeah? Or who was sexually assaulted, who was molested as a kid, who witnessed their mom or dad passed or o d or whatever the case. My point being, you're coming from something, yes, and if it's and it's not, if it has never been addressed, that issue that has never been addressed, Now you're just adult.

If you have not been heard or listened or cared with, you become a lawyer or a doctor that has never been cared to listen to and you still haven't dealt with. And we don't know what neighborhood he's come from or what trauma he's going through, but just evident on making choices that's relevant to to whomever it is, right like life at the end of the day becomes about choices and whether it is you know, he's been arrested on do you do you watch charges? Or has had a

trespassing warning and I don't know what that's for. Or what's up underneath. It's definitely not good. It's not good. You never read a trespass that was with good intent. But but where I where I do read this is just saying somewhere along the lines, something is probably going on in this young man's life right to where something

has happened. But at the end of the day, it does come down to choices, right, And that's why I think I'm here, and that's what I'm here to say this for us, it comes down to choices, But it also comes down two. Really, I'm coming from the angle of the people who are saying call them all kind of names and saying, how dare he? As if these individuals you've never screwed up an opportunity, you didn't mess

up in college. That's one of the things that if you were to keep follow around some of these regular folks show how they act at the at the local happy hour on Snapchat. Oh it might be some folks losing it. We all make hold on. Here's what I love listening to. I love listening to the radio station. I like listening to Steve Harmony and in the morning, I always love listening to UH to Nephew Tommy's prank phone, because what's interesting is, here's say something, and then you

know it's a prank. But you hear the the person on the other call, you hear him lose themselves, and you'll start to hear him like say stuff. You'd be like yeah. And it's just I always find it interesting on those prank phone calls because they sound so buttoned up, and then when this and he keeps pressing them, keep pressing them, and then they get really uneducated. Oh yeah, whatever's in you, if you get if you get squeeze hard enough, what's in you will come out? Oh? Absolutely,

you know. It's just the it's the differences. We're not they're not writing the articles. Yeah, you're not on public display. That's that's that's the interest. Get exactly what you're saying. And I think that's that's worth pointing out because right now a lot of people are throwing under his name and saying, man, he's really screwing up this this opportunity. But we just we don't know what his backstory is, and we don't know what the root causes are for

him to do whatever he's deciding to do. M hmm. It's tough yeah, but we hope he gets everything that he needs and somehow he bounces back. And this is not about football, no, not not, not at all, not at all. It's not about how quickly he can get back on the field, because that I see that a

lot too. Like people always wonder how quickly is he going to get back on the field, or even with uh tyger Wood is getting injured recently, how quickly is he going to be able to get Like, let's think about his quality of life first that ever run across your mind? Is he going to have the same quality of life? So no different than from that to this, Like, you know, let's think about Isaiah Wilson's quality of life because he's a human. At the end of the day,

people don't really look at because you're entertainment. And when you no longer can do it, get rid of so transactional, get rid of them. Let's move on. Let's let's replace them, thank goodness, than replacing these some of these other daddies who working late, speak on it, speak on it. So all right, Well, who we got come up on the cut to a podcast Rookie Spotlight series. We've got Sean Wade, a cornerback for Ohio State University. He is up in the NFL draft process. Shawn Wade on the cut to

a podcast. So you may be familiar with Steve Smith. You may be familiar with the whole phrase ice up, son. This is our version of our own icebreakers. So there are random questions and maybe something that's random as E forty or two short in the versus battle. There may be a follow up, there may not be, but Smithy, go ahead and get first one. All right, you ready? Okay, you can only eat the same plate of food for one year. What will be the items on that plate?

That's hard party, some type of seafood. Crowds strump, it's just whoa, whoa, whoa? What do you scrimp or shrimp? Hey man, don't let him have that one. Don't let him have no let him know where you're from and that you accordingly to where you from. I got at them. So if you kind of inswine Florida, I get crimped. I ain't gonna laugh because my my grandmother sayd scrimp. Yeah that's cool, but it just threw met that. Probably all crowds, Oh, it's just drum and but you know, yeah,

little sausages and corning and probably what I eat your food. Yeah, full year, you're gonna eat seafood. You're gonna eat seafood and sausage. Yeah, I can do that every day, all right, the seafood or the sauceage, the seafood. Don't don't listen. This is my segment. I love like just a random just and it's also loves it gets it gives you an opportunity to show your personality. But also you know, joking around and you know, I know I also come

across and come off very serious all the time. So yes, shocking never So this is this is good for me. Um, you have the opportunity. You will be drafted. But take us in the mind you're drafted. Blah blah blah blah. What have you been eyron to buy? Mhm? Property? Probably you know what answer is, that's that's what you really, that's the real answer. I'm not into all the cars and all that. I'm about my mama house and all

that stuff. But my thing is property. I'm in the real estate, so I'm definitely want to get some type of property and things like that. M hmm. Okay, they know somebody who knows somebody who knows something about it. Oh yeah, my um, my girlfriend her dass. That's all that real estate stuff I got other family members and people that's just like mentors that that helped me understand that stuff. Like, it's still a lot of ha to learn because I've been in this for our process of

I've been locked into. But that's just the things that I wanted to do. UM. I like I like houses. I like upgrading houses. Um. One of my goals is the upgrade a lot of the houses in Jacksonville. It's like a lot of houses and things like that, and just helping families out at the end of the day. Like a lot of families at the end of the day, it's kids still standing in the same room until fourteen fifteen in high school and then have nothing. So that's just one of my goals. And that's how I just

want to help you. Mm hmm. That's pretty good, brother, man. It's surprising to hear him talk and talk about his goals and aspirations and to know that he's a defensive player. Man three already coming out guns all right, last, this is the last one right here, yea, you can go forty four to four at Ohio and lose to Michigan every year, or go four and forty four and beat Michigan every year. But that's a hard one. I ain't gonna I'd rather be Michigan. I'd rather beat them. I

had to go on four or forty four. All right, that's cool, that's I like. Let's let's get down in um to the meeting potatoes of it. Man, your favorite favorite sports team? Growing up? Favorite sports? They ain't got a sports And I got a favorite athlete on. My granddad played ten years and the lead back in the day. My favorite athletes on obviously grew up watching him. You know, the tattoos, the braids and all that stuff, all the headbands and things I was. I was a basketball player,

so that that's other things I love about him. He just a great athlete, all right. So where are you from? And the place you call your hometown? All right? So I'm originally from a gummy all Obama. But the place I caught my hometown that jas And then you grew up. I grew up in a military family. Yeah, so how was that for you as a kid? It was hard. I'm moving around everywhere. I started all my sports all school. I started all that in Italy. Sisters born in Italy.

I was there for a little bit. I came back to the States and I was with my grandma. She's she take care of foster kids. So I've been around that that system, been around a lot of different kids that didn't have nothing on white, black, hispanic, A. Yeah, all when I was with her for like two or three years, and my brothers were her for a couple of years, and we got up and moved to Jacks. But I've been in jatspl sin. So what's what's the

good and the bad about being a military kid? On the good is you get to travel and see a lot of things. Um bad is you just always up and moving. And it's a lot of good friends that you make even when you're young, and now you're gonna make new friends and things. And with me, I'm very quiet, so I already don't talk to people, already already kind of hold myself. And so it's already heard opened that shelf for me. So you know, we read that your

dad said you were very sheltered. Mm hmm. How would you describe the way you were raised the way I was? But I would say they kept me out of the streets. That's what he means by celtic. Um, I feel like the things that a lot of my friends got an opportunity to do, I didn't get the opportunity to because they always kept me in sports. They always kept me in the classroom, you always kept me traveling. You said you played other sports, but I want to really go

down that other sports. So what other sports did you fall in love with? Did I fall in love with? Definitely basketball? Um, that probably the only one. That's because that's all I played. And you know it's at who I seasons basketball season and the summer travel basketball, So that's all I played. And you got seven on seven, So it really was basketball. I liked that, like I ain't really like baseball, didn't like soccer, and ain't like track like that. It was just basketball. And I was

a pure basketball player. In middle school, elementary, I used to play up all the two years above my age group. So I always played it up and I was just very good at it. So so attending high school, Trendy Christian Academy in Jacksonville, you guys want the state championship all four years, Bro, who was on your team besides you for to have that powerhouse because Florida part of Big three Florida, actually California, Texas and Florida Florida. We

made that known. I'm sorry. California, Florida, Texas. Okay, is it is it? Like? Is it? Is it? Florida number one and it's a close second California. It's like it's Florida and whoever you want to put after. Okay, So I young feller e r yeller, fella. You know majority of the Hall of Famers in the league aren't from Florida. Okay, No, it ain't. Okay, I'm just I'm just listening, but I love this receive a defensive back. The state of California

has more Hall of Famers in the NFL then Florida. Okay. In state of California is exterdinary big too. Yeah, I mean it's a lot of big places that don't understand a lot of people that come out of cald of I gotta do my research on this. I can't argue.

I can't argue about that. You can't, it's facts. Actually did my research, so I can't come back from you about well, Okay, whatever team you get drafted with will most likely be on Thursday Night football, and when I see you can come up to me and say, damn, you was right. We are bigger state, all right, and we also have bigger ballers. Back it down. He is preparing for his NFL career already. He is not going

back down from this what I received. Come on, I don't love It's fun, yeah, but who who are some of the other guys were on your high school team that maybe you went to college or whatever the case may be. I mean you guys in Florida playing winning championships all four years. That's not an easy task out at up. So we got we got a lot of people. Kevin Taller, he's still in the lead right now. He got Jeff Holland, he was good. A lot of our coaches played in league. Um because Scott he played for

the Patriots back in the day. He wanted Super Bowl with them. You got Ross, he played with the Seattle Seahawks. You got Jamie Harper came out of Clempson Uch the league, played for the Titans. You got um. There's a lot of people. The one that got his arm car from Miami that played for Miami on kids and Norton. It was it was a big news. He played for US, I played with him. We just got a lot of people that came up there. I was there for right now,

played for Miami Dolphins. This is a lot of people you got. Um Isaiah end up going to Virginia Tech. Yeah, James, that's that's my mentor. He really was one of my mentor he got. He actually molded me into who I am in the day for real. So Isaiah is awesome man. Great body control man, I mean, ball can be thrown in the clouds feet come back down. He's great. I just said, here's ability neal body control coming out of college watching me. Just very good body control. But now

we just had a lot of people. So and then coaching this coaching south over there is unbelievable be man. He just he just kept everybody on his way and everything. Got a lot of people from different side of Jacks. We got north, south, south side people that's on the west side area, but going in Trinity. So it's a lot of people that that that sacrifice they do for

their family and the school and things like that. So Sean was for sure ball and he was a USA today High school Football Player of the Year, and he won the Lockheed Martin Defensive Back of the Year awarded by the Army All American Balls. So definitely capped off a great high school career with with with some really good accolades before attending Ohio State. We have to take a break and the morning thing, we gotta pay some bill.

You got checks. I love cut to It and I love it even more when you download us and subscribe, and you can follow us on social media too, Smithie, where where at? That's at? Cut to It on Instagram? What about Twitter? At? Cut to It? Facebook? Cut to It featuring Steve Smith singr? What about online? And you can follow us at cut to It podcast dot com where you can buy merch and you can subscribe to us wherever you listen to podcasts. I got all my

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. Do you love football? I love football. That's that's the reason why I play. If I ain't love at one be I just just had to answer. So what do you love about football? The most I love about football? Ain't got a lot of contact. I love it hit at the end of the day. Contact and just the friendships you make out there at the end of the day. And I love to compete too, lot, Pete.

That's all I've been done my whole life. So and it's the support that God bless me to to to compete that with you to day. It's a basketball And this is when I chose for me so so so I had a Trinity Christian one of the schools were recruiting you. And then why did you ultimately pick Ohio State? So I had a lot of schools recruit me. You only had to top five another Dame Alabama Virginia said, um, that too, uh, and then Florida. Those are those school and you know states. I want to go far from

home though, UM want to. I just want to mature and get something new at the end of that. I want to get out of the South and learn something at the end of the day. Like I just just how you gotta be Like I feel like a lot of people stay close to home and it don't work out and things like that. And it was the other school I was better for. You just didn't want to be far from your family and grow up like that. So I just wanted to grow up and I just like to coach Combs and coach Myers. At the end

of the day, it was a great coaches. You know. Coach did a lot of great things out Florida and then the schooling and the alumni system out of how it state is amazing. Like you wanted to talk in the nation the world for real. So at the football, I know, be successful. Just make sure to make a lot of friends outside of football. Things like that. Smart yeah, and tell us about your uh, your best friend Kobe, what what happened? And why have you chosen to keep

his memory alive? I told to keep his memory alive because I feel like I'm not gonna say it's my fault. Back the end of the day, I feel I could have pushed him to do better and do more things. And he just did a lot of things for me. He made sure I was always straight, took care of me and things like that. The year before before he died out the year but a couple of months before he died, he was staying with me. Um he was

gonna was for some pay for about tra Trinity. He was coming to work out some things like that and eventually like he just he just faded away and he was like he don't want to do it no more so a live man. We're gonna let you do what you do. And then he just got back in the

streets and that's just how it happened. And me and my other friend, we just felt like it was my fault because he was at my house all the time, was takeing care of the feed him, been closing his back when we needed clothes, taking my home to get closed, to come back over and things like that. Not fo I actually just kept on pushing them to to do better things. And then before that he was the week

before he died, he was running military too. So it's just it was and a lot of that is from my dad just trying to help him and my family just trying to help him. So when you talk about your family, man, how much how much your family and such a part of who you are today, Uh, it's a bit part because at the end of the day, my dad really didn't have a lot of people don't know this, but my dad, Um, he got kicked out of the house when he was young. He was living

across street while his family was across the street. And things like that, and he was living his best friends. So like he had a hard. Mom was my mom and my grandma. She was a singer. She was a single mom at the end of the day, taking care of my my mom and things like that, and she had it hard. So and then they both had it

hard and they both sacrificed a lot. Mom was a model when she had me, and she could have made big money, but she sacrificed that just to how to meet And I had to get that back to it. So just the characteristics that I have right now is

from them. Like my dad gets back to everybody. He made sure everybody is straight and at the end of the day, that's the type of person he hasn't hear mold at it be, you know, playing all the Ohio state and with your current NFL draft status and then playing on the teams and going back to that school. You got Chase Young, defensive player, defensive Rookie of the Year,

Nick Bolson. You know, you got so many guys that you either play with for a little bit of time or are so fresh out they still come back to the school. How is how important is that for a young man like you? Obviously your freshman year. Each year, I mean I'm guessing your freshman year. You're kind of like, wow, this is amazing. Now it's just the norm. Oh, you know, just just hanging out with jas, you know, just to defensive Player of the Years, you know, Rookie of the Years.

Like that's something that you can't always cultivate. That doesn't happen at every school, but for you guys, it's a norm. Does that help you feel like you're dreams are playing in the National Football League can really become real? You

know what? What did those guys mean to the to the for your school, but also for you personally when you have been able to be at practice shore possibly sitting in the same chairs or some of the greats that made to the Hall of Fame, but then also some future like yourself and current players that are two years ago you were playing on the field with and now they're there there in the league. Yeah, so it

just sill the worth that they put in. They like with Bosa, you got Marks, Shawn, you got Denzel Just it shows you when you're younger and you're looking up because and they Chase had somebody to look up to,

and that was Bosa. And it was Jalen Holmes and autumn boys and that that that work ethic got a start and Chase when we got to as freshman, it wasn't like that at first, Like at the end of the day was like after all this at the end of the day, we came in they wen't know what was coming into and just being around them players and just installed the work ethic and the things that we have to do on the field to just to be successful.

We all learned that from them, Like you know day like Denzel you got, Damnon, got Marshawn, watching um Malie Hooker's tape on film and things like that, and I just that's just how it is, Like the how the state, the coach they got unbelievable coaches. It's strength. It's really the strength coaches stuff. It's really them. They installed that worth and they installed everything, and it's like that's who

we went seven. Like Coach Meet does a wonderful job of building characteristics of players there, Like it's really them that that puts all that into players. Coming from Florida going to Ohio State, what was that transition Like, oh, it definitely was different. I want to had like four flooded, flood of kids on the team at the moment, and then you know that snow was that snow, That code was a little bit didn't not it was. It was

a bit of difference, but now it was. It was great just making new friends and understanding how just to grow up. Then being far from home because at the end of the day, I don't know where I go to l a and be far from homes and then day you just got to learn how to grow up and and take care of yourself and the things that my dad had, how to fix your tire, how to change the engine, how to change It's just a little stuff that you gotta learn as a man. And I'm

glad he installed that at me. But in the day or house, they're still talking stuff. We've got a thing called real Life Landsdays where we have a person that comes in and talk about real life things such as financial stuff and and things like that, banking types stuff. Yeah, all everything. It's not even just that. Sometimes one time we had them talking about sexual diseases and why you should wear a call them and things like that. It's like it's everything because a lot of people don't teach

you that stuff. You don't know. They don't. So it's just a lot of things they taught us how to treat the women, things like that, and it's changing the narrative and things like that. That stuff with me forever because a lot of people don't treat one it right, and some woman's just don't respect yourself nowadays. So at the end of the day, it's just just you just gotta keep on learning. And that's the things that the

House state does. I'm not sure the pro what the protocols were at o't have state, and but I'm interested what what where some of your experiences in trying to attend schools during the pandemic when it first started, before you know, before they went into lockdown, before all that stuff. You know, I know a little bit of what I experienced, but I wasn't in school because I I can't imagine I had the ability to be at home and still have the roller coaster trying to figure things out. You know,

you weren't at home. You're in the place that you know, you weren't familiar with necessarily when a health scare like this happens. So I was wondering, what what did you experience? And you know, for you personally. So during my experience, my experience are different from a lot of people. Right when the country sat down, I had surgery two days before and I was stuck in Philly. Wow. Um, I wasn't filling my mom and I was doing like treatment there and I was gonna stay there for like two

weeks ago treatment so I can get back. But I had to hurt him at home because you know, they shut the country down on the airports and want none of that. And my thing was I couldn't do nothing. I was just stuck on the couch because I couldn't work out. I wasn't getting no therapy from nobody really like that was doing it like twice a week and it was like thirty to thirty minutes to an hour. Wasn't like it was you know how it's hot it

is at school. Different, Yeah, so with me, it was it was just definitely hard and I just felt like I couldn't work on minecraft at the end of the day, like they were sitting us workouts and things like that, but I couldn't do doing that stuff and the coaches do that. And that was my experience. But from people

that's from my city, like Taioreking things. They were just working out every day and just trying to trying to just trying to stay mobile and things like that and actually keep their families safe because a lot of people have got COVID and died from me and things like that. So we were just trying to stay safe and things. But and then the day when we got back to school, it was it was different. We couldn't sit by each other, We had to wear masks for seven um we didn't.

We didn't shut down. Plenty of times we didn't. It was crazy And I haven't fans in the stadium not be able to hear fans chair here here, the band play the band and things like that. Like it was a big impact, especially for the freshman coming in. Like you know, at the freshman all you want to do is go out and have fun. And they cadn't do that. They couldn't experience like college lifestyle like they wanted to,

And it was it was definitely different from them. And then it's another thing, like you know that spring football is a very very important college especially for a freshman coming in for peoples trying to get a new job. So having the spring we just can't installed that, and and and the freshman and how hard we're work and how to play is working things like that, they couldn't really learn football. It was just it was just hard for everybody because our defense is brand new from nineteen.

We had a lot of we had a lot of people that was their first year starting and we missed the camp at camp during football seats, I mean during school like that. I ain't never heard of camp during school. Um, at the end of the day because now you gotta go back and focus on school work. When you usually do camp, you just straight football and that's all it is.

So uh, it definitely was different with everything. And at the end of the day and we we we we all had just sacrifice and that's that was the way. We use a lot of sacrifice and just keep on fighting, don't worry about the outside noise and things like that. We had a lot of things going on, but with

different cases. We had times where we had twenty people, half of our coaches were going, half of the players were going, and that was like two weeks during the season, like if not having everybody so well, this saging we got it's called let's talk ball and so really We just want to get more into things from just you're playing career in Ohio State too, what's going on right now with your draft process? So question one, playing Ohio

State Michigan your big rival, what is that like? Playing in that game from your freshman year in progression through your career in Ohio State the funnest and most intense then you ever played um in football? For sure, we do so much for that game. After that game that we start the clock and it's like every week we do like a hundred hundred, but three hundred and something, push up, sit up, pull down, different things. Until we played we played the team up. We don't want to

call him and calling team up North. Then it's just it's just very intense saying how how how the robbery is and how we always fighting and and things like that. We we just we really don't like them on the game. We have jerseys on the floor. We're stepping on their jerseys every wee spitting on them. We got everything crossed out like that. Junk. I junk is real for us.

And that's why I said I'd rather go for in forty four and forty four and four because we put so much into that game, and we just we just don't like them. And I talked to a lot of teams that played the Team Up that played for Team Up North, and they don't do the same thing that we do. So I don't know what it is with them, but any typing up, oh man, I had a follow up question there, but right not anymore never never right there? I mean Stephens said why you were talking? He said,

that's the most intense game you played in in college? Yea, in college? Oh yeah, in college. NFL is different. So especially depending on which the vision go in, you're going that uh a f C North, man, I think tense, like uh, you know, I played in NFC NFC South and it was originally NFC West and NC, so I went to ANFC North. That's a different type of rival. We played Thursday night, Friday morning, hit me with a mac Troy, the whole bunch of brothers there. I remember

having my big welcome to the a f C North. Um. I was still actually playing with the Panthers. And if you go back, I can't remember which one. I think it's the one with Michael Vick on it, but they jake along threw me a little turkey hole. It was covered to turkey home, got up, got it down, and man, I saw every coming. Ed hit me so hard and I called it like that hit me. So he hit me in my shoulder and flipped me and I literally landed back on my on my on my body. Man.

It was like so that was my welcome to the NFC North. I always knew it was different, but you don't really know. You know, you can watch it and go think it looks different, but then when you experience it, everything my knees hurt, they hurt a little bit different, you know. So do you have a welcome to the Big ten football type of play when you you know freshman, sophomore, junior, Well, oh, mine would definitely be my freshman. It wasn't even a

big team game. It was spring ball and springboard, my freshman first going in the spring ball going against each other, and I got, I got ran, slept over, stiff on. It was. It was bad and it was It wasn't even about uh scholarship. It was about walk on and I was gonna remember. Yeah, I felt embarrassed, but I can't.

I came back and want the game for us, So I was I was okay, after that, but I was I was embarrassed though, Like that's why I knew I had to hit the weight around, get bigger, different things like that. So how has the draft process been for you so far? I've been straight, Um, a little bit frustrating because I got a couple of injuries that I'm still dealing with it from the season. Um, I took

turf till during the season. I didn't have to get surgery, luckily, but at the same time, it's still not healed up. I didn't got the quarters on shot, I didn't have everything for it, and it's still it's still biting, messing with me. So that I've been a little frustrating, It's still a blessing because I'm in this in this position at the end of the day. A lot of people want to be in my position. At the end of the day. I just gotta go play football. That's that's

all that matter right now. You know, no matter what around you go, you should go play football. And the big money is always in next contract. So are given an opportunity, M what number would you like to wear? I got I got too many? Um, that definitely too wear one the only one one. But I got definitely two folk. I could go twenty one, twenty Um, I could see myself in forty one. I like that for some reason. So by water and pop oneing U twenty four,

that's that's that's calledge. Number twenty one is just a is a I like twenty one, You like twenty You're gonna like twenty three. Those numbers, you're just gonna like, um number, what's up? Um? It is what it is. But I don't want no, really no thirty number. If I do it, probably thirty three. All right. So I'm gonna just go ahead and put that out there and ask you the question. But it's not gonna be in the way that you think. So I'm a veteran, you know,

play to play sixteen years. You're fresh, you're gonna be a rookie. Mm hmm. We're all known for. You're only as good as your last game. In your last game, it wasn't your best game. How are you using that to prepare yourself? And before you answer, here's what I here's why I asked that. As you think about it. In International Football League, and you know, even in football at college, but so much so in the league, guys will watch film on on young players and all you

can do is go back to college. But then also when you start looking at film on a guy in the league and you start to see guys that, well maybe this guy, this guy did get them like this, and I know I'm better than that guy, so I can do this. How are you mentally preparing yourself when that veteran comes out, when this young fresh lad, ambitious dB. Now this wide receiver is now gonna say something, Oh, I'm gonna do you like, Oh boy, did you he did you like this? Um? This is how I'm do you.

How are you mentally being prepared or have you? Have you even thought about that? That? What about that? About the end of the day, I just know myself, I ain't gonna let nobody get in my head like you do. All the talking, that's what you do. Like I ain't ain't part of my game. I let I let my plate talk at the end of the day. And at the end of the day, I know what I can do on the field. So like whatever that whatever y'all saw in that, ain't that win't me at the end

of the day. Like like I said, I was fighting injuries things like that, and you ain't got to know that. I know, I know myself at the end of the day, and I ain't worried about what people say and things like that. I know I'm a book and that just me. Yeah. No, it's not necessarily ashamed. Oh I know that. Yeah, you just more. This is a great opportunity to talk to

the young guys. You're rookie, you know you're gonna be talking too, because one of the things also is it's not necessarily just talking, but it's also being able to also. I give the example mm hmm. I've always struggling my confidence.

So in struggling my confidence, I've always worked hard. And so when I work is when I'm working, I'm already in visualizing what I need, the opponent I'm going against, and I'm also having so much I had to calm down and quiet the negative conversation in my own head. And so now if you you add that and then say a players going against me and he makes a few plays on me, he may not be talking to get in my head. He just may be talking. It's like, bro,

I'm shutting you down. He's not saying it out of Unfortunately, it just might be happening you know that's his assignment, that's he is doing his signing darn well. And then got the negative talk. Man, that's a combination of for me, a negative cocktail, and so in that you know, being prepared, and that's why I'm asking you not necessarily putting on front street of your performance, but more that's the part about ball up in the league is ten percent of

it is your skill. The other ninety percent is what you're talking to yourself through the week. And then on game day, you know, I know you've probably saw why receiver drop wanted two passes and you can pick out he's done to that exactly. And so you luckily haven't had many of those days. You only played four years.

I played sixteen years. I can tell you right now. Man, I was playing I think it was the Indianapolis Coats and I and the quarterback throws me a pass and we on that turf and some freaking reason, that turf monster got me. I was running a deep dig. I I do a cattle. I used to do a Cadillac term. So when I hit that, when I hit inside that school, I'm leaning and but man I hit uh, I don't know what I hit and I feel myself. He's throwing it on time, and I'm trying to you know what

you don't do. I'm fighting the fall and I'm going and I feel myself I fell simultaneously when the ball was on time. You know where the ball hit me? Not the head face mask. I was actually Detroit, Okay, I don't know why, but the way the ball hit me, I was actually embarrassed. I literally wanted to cry. Dang. I was in the huddle and they were like Smithy. I was like, no, I'm not wow. And that's just

one of those things. And I think I was in my eighth and ninth year, so you still look, you still have that even in that right, Yeah, and so just you know, but that's that nine percent of I knew what kind of player I was, but for that split second mm hmm, I had more doubt than I usually have in that game at that moment that. I mean, it even brings up a question for me, Sean, how

do you deal with adversity? Because I mean, you've you've you dealt with injuries in your in your college career, then you had to deal with COVID nineteen, So how do you how do you project dealing with adversity as you enterest in the NFL and beyond. It's really about that self talk, like you was saying, that's that negative self talk, keeping up definitely keeping that out your head and things like that. I just started like doing therapy

like people. People dont understand that you need that stuff, like you always need help somebody else just to help you learn that stuff, learn your ways. Because I was looking at something on Instagram. There are a lot of black men. They don't like to They don't like the point out they flaws and what they go through and their negative things like that. So that that's something I've been working on myself and things like that and just this. It's really the self talk to to help yourself. Man.

That's that's really the main reason. Yourself talk is your biggest fault. A lot of people don't notice that what it is. I think it's about that time. Just take a little breather. Good do, good do. Let's getting down to do it. Hey, Gerard, why did you get that T shirt? You mean this thing? Oh yes, I got it from cut to a podcast dot com where we have exclusive merchandise. Shout out to our guys at seven or four shot. But yeah, you can go on, buy you a T shirt, subscribe to us wherever you listen

to podcasts. What can we expect out of you or what do you expect out of yourself coming into the league after you're drafting? Um, just coming of the league actually just being a team player at the end of the day and working hard and getting better, progressing, getting better learning for all the vets and older guys watching them at the end of the day, and it's getting better learning defenses because at the end of day, I do want to coach, So just learning from coaches and

things like that. You can learn from everybody and they don't have to just be players and things like that. You can learn from coaches. So that's my goal for sure, to get on the field and start make players on special teams. I know on special teams and already know alright en, So you gotta make players on special teams and and he's got to do your job. And my my goal has win Super Bowls. I'm a winner at the end of the day. They ain't ain't about yourself. It's about the team. And I like to win. I

like to win games and get rings. So you got a bachelor's degree in sports industry, Like what, so that's that? It just talks about all aspects of sports. So I didn't learn about the law history, um, because the industry is a major. It's a major, sure that I didn't yet. Yeahrom forty two. They they didn't change the whole degree systems. On the last segments called the deep three, the three questions that take us beyond who you are as a football player. So Smithie, we can give the first one.

How much pressure do you put on yourself? And once you feel that pressure, when he kind of gets to that boiling point, how do you release it? I put a lot of pressure on myself. I ain't gonna lie. I'm just hard on myself at and then I want to be perfect, but it's nothing. It's it's unless were it's kind of impossibly perfect because unpressure as perfect as Jesus. So I put a lot of pressure on myself. I got big ghosts myself. I got told y'all and things

like that. But how how I'm getting through it now is like talking to people different things. I got got my girl that I talked to and she has me get through that stuff and released all that pressure and things like that. You got my family, Um, they helped me a lot of things. So that's how I released and things like that. But I've been starting to read a lot of books and things that's helping me just calm down and and different things like that, because it's

gonna be real the pressure to get to people. And that's just how that's just how life is regardless, like, and you're gonna have pressure. It don't matter what what what what what things you're doing like, you always wanna have pressure. So um uh, I didn't have times where I did great repressure. I don't had times where I just sucked with pressure. So that's just how that you just gotta learn from it. I mean you alluded to

big goals. What is your big picture and what do you see for your life on and off the field. On and off the field, I just want to do a lot of good things for the community. Um, not for myself, for the community. I just want to make sure I help the city. Jobs we allowed up city Montgomery. I'll just help kids, I'm in general, um and put put kids in better predicaments. I got a lot of friends that just didn't have that father figure in their life.

To just push them to the to the limits and understand the bigger gold in life and not just a straight life. Um that that's something that I I diffite want. Don't take a lot of kids under my built and that's that's what my father did. So that's that's something I definite want to do for sure. Want to build an AU team uh seven on seventeen. Those of goals that I've got me my friend, we want to bring you want to build a school one day in Jacksonville,

just to help people out and things like that. So it just goes that I got for myself and things like that and they're on the field. Is just to to just be the best meat at the end of the day. Don't don't worry about nobody else. Just be the best meat and just win games and when win the super Bowl, when there's many championships and super Bowls as I can in the day, and just be the

best meat because the best usual only you. So and you want to get one tax at its lifetime and I'm here, so I just got to do the best thing for me. And what God has started. What do you fear? What no I fear? Only fest I fear is the Lord, I ain't really got no fears like that. I don't like roller coasters, but that's like roller coasters, but only feel the Lord. But you can choose to not get like you just don't up and fall into

a roller coaster, so you can make that. You can make that valid choice to not get on the roller and all got monster they at their little fair. Yeah, I don't do that. Yeah, so yeah, you don't fear nobody we may. Man. I look forward to watch your career. Man, I think you don't have a fantastic career. I know you're tight about the process and you should be. Um, this is opportunity for you, man, take all the time, absorb it, remember it, you know, stopping smell of roses too.

You know you're gonna be meeting with some of these general manager some of these head coaches. M hm. You one little tidbit ask questions to look forward to watch you play, and good luck in the draft, man. I know whatever team gets you. Um, you know, I know you're not fully healthy, but you know, rest up and keep doing you rehabbing stuff, man, and you'll be back out there sooner than later. So well appreciate yours do athletes in his positions generally recognize how rare this opportunity is.

Absolutely not. We don't can't. Thanks for keeping it. That's what I wanted to say, you cannot it is you can say you you, you have you do? Oh you don't know. Do you think people will have like through when people say that rose colored glasses are absolutely yeah you have them on there. But it's all it's not because they don't care, they're not intelligent. None of the negative connotations that you believe. It has to do with if you never experienced it, which is hints getting drafted

the first time. You just don't know what to expect. You don't you even when someone's telling you, you still don't because it just comes at you so fast. It was. It's interesting hearing him say, you only live once, so make sure you do the best of make sure you take care. Bron I am forty two years old and I sit back something sometimes I go, yeah, I didn't see that one coming. Life still gonna be a learning experience, absolutely, and it's always the best teacher. But you can be

prepped and prepared all you want. You can be prepared just like Sean. You can be prepared for spring practice. You could be prepared for that, the starting running back, but then here comes that non scholarship and just truck you. And you don't because you think, oh, I got this. I've seen a sweet before. Yeah, I've seen a sweet before. You ain't seen it like this brother, because he's coming out of seven, that starving like Marvin un scholarship, walk

on running back? Who got something to play for? Right now? He's at a twelve And I know some of y'all listening, I wouldn't know. Twelve is a lot molden but you but you really don't know what the twelve is until bang twelve smacks you in the face, runs over you. Seven that got decleted, Yeah, and the only thing you can think of is something that less brown. Safe. When you get knocked down, if you can look up, you can stand up. Yeah, but sometimes it hurts going down.

You get up, you dust yourself off. But there's a little bit you know, you don't You're just not sure, lovey kid. I think it'd be fantastic. I think I don't know how his career is going to go because it's a lot of it depends on where he gets drafted, how he heals up, tell you what a turf toe playing on that artificial turf is not gonna make it feel better. Um, but you just being the same. You are a unique person, You are well worth it, you

are competent and most of all, your lovable. I'm Steve Smith, singer, I'm Gerard Little John and this is cut to It. Cut to It with Steve Smith, Senior. That Is Me is a production of Cut to It LLC, Balto Creative Media, The Black Effect and I Heart Radio. For more podcast from I Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows

from Cut to It. Executive producer Steve Smith, singr co host Gerard Little John, talent in booking manager Joe Fusci, Social media team Wesley Robinson and John Show from Balto Creative Media. Cut to It is produced by Brian Baltaschevitch and Meredith Carter, with production assistance by Alex Lebrec, Production manager Sarah Pollock. Theme music by Alex Johnson, lyrics and vocals by Anthony Hamilton. You ain't heard about it, then we're about to let you know. It's all