This is cut to it with Steve Smith Senior at production of The Black Effect and I Heart Radio. I'm Steve Smith Senior and and this is a cut to it bonus episode. Good Do Good, Do good. That's getting down to do it, Good do it. We're rolling these things on how was your Christmas? Christmas? Police? Christmas? Was Christmas was great? Why was it great? The reason Christmas is great is spent time with family? What kind of family? What kind of family? Like the media? Was it outside?
So I'm just trying to get you busted. I'm married, So I have a wife. Have her name wonderful, so she is very Let me talk about my family, and you have I'll kick your coverage continue. So and she's super smart, but I don't know about her comment sense because she's married to you. You got all of that, just them now so that I can talk with you. You don't continue to to interrupt interrupts. We haven't. So it's not yesterday. Bro. You're great, You're great. We already
discussed this. You're great. You're what great? You're greatness? Greatness? I'm not great. There's only one that's great, and neither of us. I like that answer. We're gonna roll with that answer. I like that one. So yeah, prisoners great because I s been telling my wife Emmony, son Tyson, daughter Mia. And so for me, just getting a chance to just reset, really realizing what the whole point of the holidays is about, which is not about exchanging gifts.
It's not about what you got, not about what you gave. We put that in them early so she know all about it's not about her, It's not about what you got. So so for me it was great. How about yours? It was good? All that and all you all you gave me, it was good. Yeah, about right, It was good because it was relaxing. How just like you said at the reset, um, I think we put so much emphasis or we not no more, nobody more than ourselves.
We put so much emphasis on the gifts and how special and intentional to gifts maybe, and then we try to wrap them. And then if you if you struggle, if you're in the struggling department of rapping, um, then you are you know, self conscious of that. So just all of all the self conscious about your gift wrapping. If you are married or know someone who knows how to gift rap, and you are very poor gift wrapping. I think everybody does. Man, I mean there's some things
I'm self conscious about. There's some things I worry about. But where the or not a gift wrapped correctly? That ain't how my list of g f s I got. No, that's cool. I'm actually a pretty decent, decent, decent meaning let's just throw if I have five gifts, three of them gonna be a beast. The last two. Man, we're just gonna put these together. We get what that guy is, what I'm gonna give you. Like my gift wrapping energy depletes very fat because I will listen. I will stuff
your stuff in a gift bag and keep it moving. Yeah. Yeah, So who's our guest? Who do we have today? Well, we are guests. Let's not buy not because we don't have guests who know it's our it's our episode the cold head and talk about little things. Give give, give the cut to a crew, and an opportunity to kind of hear what's on our on our craniums, what's going on in our lives. All of that. Reflect Reflection is extremely important. How would you reflect? Start from the top,
work your way down. Okay, so is this like a. This is an open as you say, I'm still one of your lines. This is an open book test. But is this open ended? It's not multiple choice. I don't have an I don't have a I I was gonna ask, is this kind of like an estimate? Uh, like from a vendor, because I like to know the price before you show me the picture. This isn't like I'm not providing you with a with a service a question. Okay,
so it's not a vendor. Um. Reflect it started. It started about this time last year, right after you know, I'm saying, right around Christmas time New Year's we started to see there were some things going on. There's there were some rumblies about a virus and how is that going to impact and what is it gonna look like? And we didn't take it as serious or we didn't have all of the intel of the information to know
how serious it was. Um. And so for me fast forward like two months after this, start to really question like, man, what's going on? What is this? What are we gonna look like? And so we're gonna you know, we start to go into lockdown or start to you know that we possibly may have that and the fear monster is
on full alert, really trying times. When when you say fear monster, fear monster for me, I use the word fear monster of when you talk about, you know, the fear of something, the fear of if they do this. These are all the things that I would have to deal with or address. And then what are those ramifications? How does it impact not just my family but my next door neighbors family, How does my neighborhood look at this?
How does the other neighborhoods look at this? It's just the fear monster is It's a small little ball of snow that's going down a very steep hill, and it is gathering more, more speed, more junk, and more, and no one really knows and no one can slow it down. And yet you have, for me, to some degree, every available access or anything at your disposal of information or or knowing this person, knowing that person, and it ain't
nothing you could do about it. When you when you say information was it was it for a lot of people those information overload, Oh definitely, I started to do. I was looking at the news, I watch seeing then I watched I watched the news already because I like to just know something of what's going on. Because outside of that, I don't listen to my local my local news. I don't watch it as much because a lot of times when it's on, we're doing homework where you know,
we're doing something family wise. That just sitting in front of a television watching the news. It's not the time we have. I'm I'm running someone to an event, We're running to this store to buy a art poster, and we're doing projects and so there's or um, it's getting like it's getting darker sooner, so we gotta get this, you know, I gotta take the dog out for a walk, or you gotta we gotta go play catch, or we gotta do something active that that five thirty six o'clock
news is not something I'm watching, right, you know. And I think that's that's why football has become later and later as sports, because that that for the six fifteen, most families aren't watching TV. Most families aren't even in their homes. They're either on the road, they're picking up, dropping off, standing standing he used to be standing in
line for food or standing or something. It depends on It depends on the families, depends on the family sitting on their in their car, grabbing take out, grabbing food, as their little ones go to certain different events, so much buzziness, and in that business, I believe the virus made us stop think, um, retool, refocus, and it exposed. It exposed blind spots, blind blind spots. What was that
business all along? Well, for some people, it's allowed them to slow down that they didn't even know what I say, yeah, so they have no idea. For myself that blind spot has been that I didn't know is in my football career. I always have football as a measuring stick of how hard I could push myself, Um, how how much mental fortitude do I have? How much high pain tolerance? All
these things about bang bang bang bang bang bang? And when I decided to walk away from football, I didn't have those that those measuring sticks, those goals, and well I just I literally unintentionally completely cold turkey. Did I just quit? I just quit having those things and didn't
realize them. You know what has happened is as I've started now to run, because I've become an avid runner, I started to realize that we were just talking about this the other day, and that's what part this conversation on here is this little treadmill I have. It doesn't move unless I push your button and it's plugged up. It doesn't talk, but it's already pre pre programmed on the speaking because depends on which program I touch for
it to go. But what's crazy is I've discovered more about myself and almost looking at my moledge since COVID started mm hmm, I have learned out of a hundred and eight runs, two hundred, two hundred sixty miles, I have learned so many things about myself and the last probably has really been amplified by that treadmill. So what what, what exactly have you learned about yourself? I have earned
that for the first time, I've been failing athletically. And I said this to you yesterday, and you said, because you don't, you're not. You know you're you're you're not the athlete used to be an age and it didn't have anything to do that it had to do with this treadmill. Is like life in this run is I can't push through a forty five minute mile in the first ten minutes and think I'll have enough energy for
the next thirty or the next thirty five minutes. I must learn how to be steady, Eddie, I must learn how to pace myself. I must learn how two as I use buckle up buttercup on the conditioning roller coaster of running, because in football I was always if I couldn't, if I lost on press coverage display, I had the next play. If you get fatigued and you start off too fast in a five mile run, you can't run faster to get out of it. And really, my comment yesterday was more so is it is it? Are you
relating to alter performance or how does this? How does this parallel to life like your day to day? It's both And the reason I say it's both is because it's allowed me. One why I love the running is it's allowed me unlike football. It's allowed me to stop comparing myself and focus on myself. There you go. And then when I'm running, my pace has nothing to do with who I am. If I run a slow pace
and does not mean I'm a failure. If I run a slow pace, it does not mean I am soft, I am uh a reject um, I am not unique, I am not a special person. It doesn't mean any of that. It just means, brother, you tired or you need to slow down, or you need to take a walking rest versus versus an active recovery, and so just just the differences. And so I'm knowing and noticing in this holiday time where I focus on the family, I've also started focusing on, well, I'm gonna just run today,
but not really having a goal. So then now I've started to plateau because now I'm just running to run verst just running with a purpose. There have been sometimes and I don't know why, because maybe I've been distracted because of holidays. For this last three weeks, I've just been running with no purpose. But I've been getting up with a purpose, but I've kind of forgotten as I
have a purpose, I must have a plan. I was so kind of stealing my thunder a little bit for someone who's listening right now who maybe isn't as performance based. Like we kind of talked about, how would you what kind of advice would you give that person as there may be wrapping up, what have you learned from running on the treadmill that you could apply and pass on to someone Because you started giving nuggets and some of our podcasts as I'm I'm enough, you know some of
the stuff that you've been that you've been reading. What would you how would you relate that to the common folks? Well, one, I think an athlete, there's a common Absolutely, I don't think there's a I know sometimes you you it's athletes and non athletes, But how how would you tie those to both? Whether we want to or not, We all
get up, you know, some people don't. But most people and I don't know who, but most people they you know, they put there on their where on one leg at a time, and the double leg is probably a little bit different. Creative, you know, some commando so I tried to, but whatever the circumstance, and then you put on your jeans and your shoes and your socks. There is your process you have to formulate, and I believe right down
your process. Don't let it just don't let it just float in your head, because when you're allowed to float in your head, it easily gets distracted, It easily is forgotten, it easily is sidetracked because especially parents, you have you ever had that that conversation where you guys are talking and you and your significant other are vibing, jelling, having a great conversation about nothing, and then that those two words that are blessing and a curse mommy or dad,
depends on the context. And and I say that because me, you know me and you have had our our kids at the at the office and Stephen g are talking and Mia says daddy, Deuce says daddy, And we have to stop what we're doing. And I'm not complaining. But then when we come back to it, pick up where you left off. Yes, and and and depends on whether our kids are asking you get so it takes Try to try working at home like so many other people
have done. During it is so easy to get sidetracked and just get pulled down into the weeds and next thing you know, you're completely off track with You go from talking about sounds funny. You go from talking about budgeting, talking about what you guys are gonna do economics, Na yeah or too uh zebra gamer to gamer girl to Minecraft to hockey right too. We're playing hockey like I was, literally it's funny. It's I gotta do. See a little hockey set and it had a street hockey, so I
had a ball versus a puck. My man was stuck about ten minutes on where's the puck? Doucy's there's the ball, but where's the puck. I'm literally like, bro, it's a ball, not the puck. Stuck right, he was officially stuck that it was no puck. And where am I going with this?
That's the whole point side tracked. Yeah, So I think having a having a plan, having a purpose, having direction, writing it down can really assist you in not forgetting and also gives you a when we when sometimes we're gonna autopilot, allow us to get get back on course. But then I would say, also out of this has been the starter cut to it podcasts? What what has been I guess the fondest memory of starting this, going on this journey? What what is this podcast taught you?
And where is this podcast going? M hm? You know what has taught me? Um? Really is the team atmosphere? Now I haven't and and when I say I'm not a team guy, I just mean and I'm not a team guy. As far as the trust factor, m hm, right, because, um, when you play a sport whereas it's team, but individuals must win their individual battles for the team to win
the biggest game. So you there is some individualism that has to go on like, you can't help the left tackle go against that Pro bowler and the left tackle can't help you go against that Pro Bowl corner, right, you just gotta But does does your did the trust issues? Did it? Did it manifest itself from playing sports or was that there before? Way definitely before? Yeah, And then also two footballs. Footballs are sometimes depending on what kind of coach you have, it's it's full of people, just
like anything else. Who are people are full to be asked. Um, you got some honest folks who are brutally honest, and you have some people who are gentle and honest, and you've got some people that just won't tell you the truth because they're afraid to tell the truth as well, and they're not being told the truth told the truth either, and then they're working. Like one of the things that's
really difficult is the NFL. A lot of these sports teams are a business and it's and the coaches are all shiped a boardroom like at the table, and the head coach is told by the general manager, and the general manager represents the voice from no owner, and then a coach must disseminate what the general manager was told from the owner to to his his assistance, and then his assistance must take what they heard from the coach who received it from the general manager general manager received
from the owner, and put their spin on it and tell it to the players in somewhere in that game of phone, somebody's gonna screw up the message. And then if you have all the other human elements of it, is the the messenger? What is his wounds, what are the things he's been through? What is he incapable of doing? Does he give the message neatly? Does he give the message with the heart? Does he give the message insensitive? Is he capable ball of delivering that message? And oh yeah,
you gotta play football game too. It just gets murky, and it happens. It happens a lot. And then you have the factor of money that's involved. You have the factor of other men livelihoods are involved. You have fifty sixty seventy forty year old men, depending on in some cases three some case thirty five thirty two year old men to do their jobs, which equals up to the coach being able to have money in this account to
pay for his kids schooling, for gas. And it's just it is one of the most difficult businesses that happens to be on TV. Out there. People are under the oppression at playing football. It's easy, you know, the guys sit on the couch and do that. You know you can't because if you could, your ass wouldn't be seen on the couch. But in in, but in in all, I mean, you've you've been able to walk us through
kind of how the business of the NFL. But we just entered the business of podcasts and what are what were some of the the highlights of working on cut Just talking to all the guests, hearing their different stories, hearing they're what they're, why they're, how they're what they're when they're where? Where were they wounded? Where were they congratulated? How you know? Where are they from? Why do they claim that town? Yeah? What are they made out of
or made up of? What has impacted them the most? How it has impacted them? Really learning the individual. I am our introvert who is very inquisitive about people. You I would have never guess that a lot of people don't know that though that a lot of people think one I think I'm better than people. So that's why I don't really want to as some people think that you think you're better than yeah, or I don't want
to be bothered. I just love my privacy and I'm okay with just kind of like, so, what made you
step out there and want to do a podcast? When you're doing this, You're you're you're kind of you're you're kind of having to do that, and I'm exhausted after, but like I can go to sleep, Um, because I think there is a narrative out there, and there is a there is a false narrative of you know, especially men who play sports that you know, one they're dumb or two treat it different or special more than others.
I think that's why to disconnect between some fans and some players is fans, some fans believe players, you are at my dispose because I've paid a ticket or because I've came to this event or this luncheon or whatever sponsor event, that that you that you should give me
something in return. Is that that's what you're talking about, and it's not true, And I think that's is I would assume that's probably one of the reasons why you want to start this podcast in the first place, to to to showcase and highlight folks in a different light and for people to know, like we say all the time to people to know who's under the jersey, what
makes them, where do they come from? That they are people too, or you are forced to now to listen about something more than that nice catch, that nice drive, that nice shot instead of just one thing. Right, It's tough sometimes snap or want. I just watch social media sometimes on a game and how disrespectful fans can be two players. So I just so I like this doing this podcast because it gives a human element of whoever
you are rooting for. They have a mother, the mother more than that they're they're more than their performance on the field. I feel like that's such a big differentation from our podcast to so many other podcasts or shows or whatever other sports content there is. That's that's the differentation because I think there's two there. I think there's two points. There's that point to where we're giving content that you typically don't get. We're not asking what's your
what's your performance? Like you know, it's funny some people don't like our content because it's not everyone they have. You're gonna have people that like it. You're gonna have people that don't like it. We're not making it for the people who don't like. You have a choice to not consume it. Just like with anything else I can go. I can go to Macy's and I can pick out that jacket or that jacket capitalism. I have a choice, right so so um so, I think that's a differentation.
I think the differentation to it, in my opinion, is that we're too host to where you play professional I did not. I am a former athlete. But at the same time, I always trying to give the perspective of, um, the person that's sitting here, whether it's or I get feedback from my boys, where is that man? That's the athlete, and the the professional athlete and the athlete you know, and then the fan like there are sometimes you ask me questions. I'm like, man, that is the dumbest question ever.
And then I will say something and I can see on your face You're like, man, that's the dumbest professional athlete answer every like so, but health question. But so the question becomes why would you have me as a
co host in the first place? Like why And I'm not saying that for you to question it, but I think that is the good dynamic though, because you love many you look at so many other podcasts and is two former players, or maybe there's a former player and a former journalists or someone who is a former analyst. Why have this dynamic because that is very it's very unique. Well, one is we have a good enough friendship that you can give me the dumb look and I give you
the dumb look, but we still keep it moving. Now, sometimes we may have to take a breather from each other, but we we thrive off. Well, I don't want to come off stupid, are you or vice verse or me? And so it's this balance, Like we'll have a guest and you'll come up with a question. I'm like, I hate that question. Or a producer will come up to who's Meredith? Who is not who knows nothing about sports? And that's the beauty of it because she will the
research team, will you guys will give me something? I'm like, I'm not asking that dude that And they're like, why not? Because it's stupid. It's and you guys have heard me, and it's low hanging fruit. And what I mean by low hanging fruit is the low hanging fruit would be what's that catch, like when you got that touchdown? What was that like? But we don't we don't. We don't really ask that, I know. But let's go through it though. Let's like I think people do. They're like, oh, that's
what we're saying. Is the difference of why we have people like you don't ask that kind of stuff because that's easy. What was that drop? Like, well, I dropped the ball, like I know that, right, But there are some people who literally, well, what were you thinking when you dropped that? But that's that's that's the that that is the that's what you get at the end of the game, right, That's what that journalists is gonna end
of the game. Tell us tell us about that catch, tell us about that miss shot, tell us about you know that pitch that was going inside and that dude smacked the head. Hell, I love it. And now it's in the upper deck right, Like, that's just we headed a poster. Now, that's not a person, that's a poster now. Yeah, So I think that is that goes back to my point of I think that's the differentation because we we don't ask that. Now, there are things where we asked.
So let me ask you to let me ask you as a fan, as a guy who played UM, not professionally, but you played, you played high enough to know the ins and outs of sports. What am I missing as a fan because I I was a professional athlete? What are you missing? Because you know me well enough, you know. Sometimes I'm like, like, sometimes people ask me something, you'd be like, I don't know about that one. I think
that one right there. We both do a really good job of going It's like we say, we we go beyond the jersey and we want to find out who who the person is well, so we do a good job of that. I think sometimes it's giving the people the flowers why they can still smell them, if that's kind of it, of of celebrating what they've done. There. There are times where it's kind of peeling back. UM. You think it's corny because you don't necessarily want to talk about what you've done on the field. You are
a UM. I think the perception sometimes is you are a very UM celebrated athlete. But I know for you, as my friend, my brother, that you don't necessarily even want to talk about all this stuff. You don't even look at yourself in the upper echelon of football players, wild receivers, whatever category. When you toss all that to
to the side. Whereas our listeners I probably want to hear that the overwhelming majority are probably going to be sports fans, so they do want to hear some of the stuff of well, why did you pick that college right? Or what was it like getting drafted by that team? And I'm just I'm just pulling stuff down of of
the the wall of the athletic performance. But I do think where we both agree, right and as we we've kind of talked about how we wanted to formulate this episode, what we both agree is I don't really care because I tell you this all the time. Personally, I don't really care that much about age and eight and nine. My friend is Steve An. That's who I admire. I I appreciate what you've done on the field. I appreciate what it's done for so many people. I appreciate um
how it's benefited so many people. But I'm with you with you like if I would have met you when you were ah, if you worked at K Jewelry, we still be boys. I love that commercial. So that's what I'm That's or two favorite commercials Joseph A banker. So yeah, if you would have worked at Joseph A Banks or I don't care, alleys, like just whatever, whatever it is, like you still you still you'd still be my boy.
So like for me and I'm kind of going off on a tangent, but for me, it's like, um, where we both agree is we want to get to know that person. So I know you. So that's why I think we both applied that too. As we bring these guests on, appreciate that one thing I've discovered in myself. I look at the negative of every situation. Huh. I would have never ever you you glass half empty? You know, glasses not half empty, glasses cracked? You where have always
been that way? Yeah, I've always been that way, and I can't for the life of me, I can't trace back where it started. But I struggle. When I say struggle, it'll be like drinking a gallon of milk in one goal struggle. I struggled to see, well, why don't you like this playoff team? What is it about this playoff team that makes you hesitant to say that they're gonna
go far? So those are the conversations journal journalistically I have, so I tried to give that answer on television of why what I've really been working on is examine the negative, because that that's the uniqueness of me. Right, but also fine, some some good things too, smooth out that you don't always have to be prepared for the worst like and
what I mean. What I mean by that is if I'm talking about all the playoff teams, I cannavolve why these playoff teams are struggling at the end, if I hear you correctly, where you sometimes struggle is what did the Buffalo Deals do well? Yes? And the reason why I struggle with that is because as an athlete, it is not You can't run a twenty six mile marathon and not hydrate days before, not do a pre run, not stretch, not know what time to race starts like
all of that preparation and planning. Because sometimes in this fake world of Instagram and Twitter, we just want to show you the finished product. We don't want you to see the high you see the highlights, you don't see it between No, no, you don't even see the highlights right now with COVID, you're just seeing the finished product. They don't even want to show you the the process.
That's what man, you can you get that same even even that even even that same thing as a Michael for everything and whether it's ESPN, whether it's personal social media, people always want to show you what looks good, but they don't ever want to show you the process. No one ever, no one ever puts on Instagram, Hey I'm up to two am cleaning out my inbox, Like no one never does that. But they're definitely post when they got the promotion. You know what I'm saying. So that's
it's it's it's the same thing. So for me is like finding that all right, that good stuff. Still talking about what because as an athlete, you also as a business person, you gotta know your blind spots because if you don't now now you you you're gonna lose money. You gotta know. Sometimes you gotta you have to know who's your weakest link. And sometimes even if if you're a boss, sometimes your weakest link. As being a business owner, it's sometimes the owner because you have to delegate. You
gotta delegate. Say I can't micro manage all fifty employees. I can't micro manage all three employees, and I definitely can't manage micromanaged five thousand employees and then oh, throw the pandemic in there. For me, it's really going into going into one like hey, it's fine, let's continue to focus on trying to sharpen up my weaknesses, but also fine those good things that we can not not celebrate but make us aware that keep keeps us going and smiling.
WHI you're skirting around celebrating. Why is that heart? Why is celebrating hard? Because you just st you just skirted smooth around. So yeah, definitely, because sometimes when we set, sometimes when we celebrate, that means it's a finnished product. For me, I mean just started. What if you celebrated, you celebrate. I did because I got my ass up in no. I think because there are some folks that did not get up in twenty. My next question you was gonna be why, And I think that's I think
that's important. Like you do one, you do have to stop and celebrate. I don't think it's I don't think it is stopping celebrate, but you gotta keep it moving. Yes, but because people here, these are things that we agree, people here celebrate. I assume people here celebrate and it's a big party. When I say celebrate, I mean it's Paul's acknowledge, acknowledge for the for the moment. But then the next day or you know, ten hours, twelve and a half hours later, you get you get back to her.
You start, you start, you get dressed, you shower, you do your run whatever it is, and then bang we go. But there are some people who celebrate and think, well I've a ry absolutely, Oh I'm good. Well look what I did last month. I launched the website. Were great, But you gotta get the work done, yes, Like you can't just launched the website and then well you got orders on the website. No, I don't ship you. You you the website developer. You're the shipper. Um you Yeah,
you're doing what other personal goals you got? One of it is? You know? Just keep just really for me, just keep going personally understanding who I am, um, accepting who I am UM. That's big my my running and my working out. So I made a commitment with my workout guy, and this is real big for me. Is I am one of those guys. I'm a workout guy where I'm going to buy all the equipment. I'm gonna have all outfits. I'm have all the supplements, I'm gonna do it all big before I start. I'm not doing
that anymore. Why it hasn't not worked out for you? In the pants? I mean, I burned myself out. So what I may commit with with him is I'm gonna work out with you twice a week for three, six or five days. You got a year commitment from it, but just twice a week. The rest of the days of the week are on me. So I have someone who's gonna push me. Now, my workout guy. What I love about him is he pushes me and I can
push back and we still get our work done. Because there are some workout people who you know, like, he'll be like, how are we feeling today? I say, bro, I'm here. Yeah. He's like, all right, let's go then, don't waste my time. I love that. So he's acknowledging. So one he's filling me out. I'm letting him know, don't fill me out, stop reading me. If I didn't want to be here, I wouldn't have got myself up, drove across town, took my pre workout, got dressed, do
all of this stuff. Take the pre workout, you bet it. Get some sort of workout, yeah, but get all of this stuff, all of the things that it takes to go there. And now I gotta be bro, my I'm paying you to work me. I'm not paying you to counsel me or make me feel good like we're gonna get a job. Your job is this, And there are people sometimes you know, why why are you girl? It's it's six o'clock in the morning. I made this commitment. But the commitment isn't always roses and sunshine and lollipops
and yes, and so it's like he gets me. I get him. So he's like, well, you better work today. Okay. So there are times, well he's been late. I'm like, bro, you're good, like you know that ain't He's like, man, just go alright cool. So I'll do a twenty minute warm up and then he comes and he's like, hey, sorry, I'm like, bro, let's go. And there's other times where I come in there he's like, how are you feeling to day? Don't waste my time and slow me down.
He's like, oh, let's get it there, right. So he's tough enough mentally he knows we're here to work. I don't have to be happy in my workout. I have to be sad in my workout. But i'mnna get this work done. And I hope you are ready to work me out. And I love that because he's he's mentally confident in himself and I'm gonna do my job. If Steve don't like it, you don't have to come back. And if I don't like it, I don't have to
pay him to trade me. So we have we have a great understanding of employ you pushed me, Yes, you pushed me, I push you right. What's not working for me? I'm gonna tell you, Like I had a hip low issue and so some of what I was doing He was like, bro uh, I'm like, man, this is hurting you know my this messed up my hip because I
literally had to. We were doing something on treadmill was like fifteen and fifteen, and I was going incline and incline and my hip flexor slash quad sent me a little wanner shot and it a little burning sensation went down my quad, Like hey, because I was doing so much running at a slower speed that I've slowed down my fast twitch a little bit. So we have to work on that and I'm like, oh he's I'm like, oh, my help, and he was like, oh, let's you know.
So we've adapted. But just his ability to adapt, I'm not trying to punk out of the workout, just adapting. So I that's what I've learned. And so my commitment to him is a full year. But in that commitment, I'm pushing myself. Every month. Something is I'm increasing, I'm changing, I'm getting stronger, but I don't measure it up to when I was thirty one. I was able to do this, and now in forty one, I'm not. When I was
thirty one, I thought I knew all answers. Now on forty one, I'm going, yeah, need help, And it's okay to not know. Actually I have comfort and not knowing, like sometimes even what else we're doing our rundown and we're talking. I said an email, Hey guys, I need help with dep. Three. I need help with question question one. That is that is sometimes the biggest trade leadership right there. Oh thank you? I mean you want me, I could, I could. I can tell you what you want to hear,
but you know me. It's true, and you know me, all right, what's uh, what are our goals for the show? Give the people what cut two it is gonna be uh presenting to them? Continue to personally divote some of the things that we have went through in our past, what we're going through currently, what how we handle anticipate moving forward? Um here, what our athletes are struggling with, what they have experienced as a child. How has it impacted them? How did they cope with it? What? What not?
What was that like? But how did it impact you? What? What experiences did you have? What's that? What's their self care regiment life? Self care is important. I don't think sometimes you know who doesn't do a very good job of self care? Oh okay, I'm just being I can raise my hand and be transparent moms. Oh m hm. The dynamic of and since ebone is in here, so we use ebone. The dynamic of is she Eboney the wife, Ebney the daughter, Eboney the mommy? And how do you
shift gears? And then how does she shift gears to yes, ebony entrepreneur? How does she shift gears to just ebony for two hours? Like not mom, not not no no label, just ebony, like just two hours if you just give yourself two hours of you sometimes just vegging out. And when I say VEGINI I'm not talking. I'm just talking about you. You're not consuming anything, you're not making decisions, just having that moment and whatever that is like. And
then on discovering learning what recharges you? You know what recharges me? Man? I love movies. Yeah again, just watching the Good Wins over the Break. Oh yeah, I love informational movies. I'm kind of a weird though, that's nothing wrong with that. I love. I love a good documentary. You know. Show I'm loving right into two shows Life below zero, Okay on Discovery where they're in Alaska and my wife is so wants that this brother ain't doing it,
wants to Alaska is self sufficiency I'm talking about. They're building everything, like you can buy your land and your land is just land land in Alaska. Yeah, Like it's like twenty acres and it's just tree bark and whatever else on there, and you got to build everything and it ain't and there is no power lines or buried line lines. It's bananas. Now. Unfortunately a lot of the men are on there, they don't have significant others. Yeah, it was, it was the show Traffic. It's on Discovery.
I can't remember the lady's name, but it's awesome. It goes through, uh, it goes through the final how that's distributed. It's a different, something different every episode. Scamming on on the telemarketers, um scamming, uh, the pimps and pimps and um holes on that. And it's just talking about what the each part of that prostitution game of how it impacts the the gentleman, how it impacts the women, the process,
how they go through all that stuff. It's just I love that stuff because it gives me such a dynamic
understanding of people. I love people watching because that also allows me to watch people and be able to sniff out little behaviors in that individual when I sit down face to face whenever it comes back to during the interview, because I can ask a question and what they do and how their voice reflects or deflects on on the question of when they hear it, how they respond, and then the process in which they're going through to answer. It tells me that was a trigger. They didn't like that.
That's uncomfortable. Oh dig deeper. It sounds like it sounds like you're podcasting right now. I've been doing it for years. I could have been a profiler, oh like just watching people like and then why did you not do that? What were you thinking? So it goes between twenty one. We're gonna ask people a ton of different questions, get different perspectives, talk about their self care and anything else you want to do with this podcast as we take it,
just allowed a conversation to direct the show. Yeah, yeah, well I'll tell you what, man, I think we'd be remiss if we didn't think all the people who make this show happen backstage Joe. You know, I was just gonna go around Robin and then the plane go ahead. Co host backstage Joe who always um Man handles so much for us behind the scenes, whether it's our business operations, whether it is booking guests, booking talent, working with those reps.
You've got Brian Bought two, Chevic be Squared, who is our who's one of our hit producers? Who makes this podcast sound amazing? You got Sarah back there on the production team, Meredith Carter hold on with Sarah. We we're just thankful some mouse and not a staring wheel. You got a Meredith Carter, who's our who's our producer. As you've mentioned before, it just does an amazing job of always pushing us, giving us things to ask. A lot of the times when you're listening to this podcast, she
has formulated some of our questions for us. A lot of our stuff comes natural, but a lot of our stuff is we're really meticulous about going through before and that gives us stuff sometimes in the interview in the podcast, Hey what about this, I'm like, no, you gotta so she does. She does an amazing job of just setting us up for success. Um, we've got Peyton Smith, our social media manager, who's done an amazing job of building our social media presence from scratch. We had absolutely nothing.
So he's done an amazing job. And then shout out to you like you are the the the the brains behind the operation. You're the you're the hit hunt. Well, I appreciate that hit HP I c hit podcaster in charge. Okay, I like that. Well, I love doing this but also love um. When we started doing this and I said that I would love for you to be the co host, you it was not the plan. That was not whatsoever. I feel more comfortable doing what Brian and his team does.
That's always been me. I've been behind the scenes, dude, the entire time. But this is stretched. I don't mean to take your thunder. This is this has stretched me. This has uh, this has made me grow and finding
my voice. You know, like, so you didn't have a voice, but I'm not gonna say I didn't have a voice, but I would say in in in this particularly because to your point, when we when I kept, for lack of better words, getting you're nervous about doing this two years when I when I when we, I was I was standing in my garage driveway and You're like, man, let's do it. And this is in the middle of the pandemic. It started in I started in Yeah say
it started in Colorado. But I'm saying when you finally said you wanted to do it, we were home by that. It was like a week after afterwards, and uh and you said, yeah, let's do it, but you gotta be co host. And I'm like, huh what like that was? It was never ever my playing my attention. So uh, now that stretched me and I think we're we're getting better because of it. I love I love you doing it because I think you doll it back for me because I don't know what it's like not to play
professional football. Yeah, I don't know what it's like not to look at sports or look at a athlete non professionally. Yeah, so you give me a balance because you didn't play professional sports. Show you look at it this way. And I'll look at that as a business wise too, because I've worked in the business before. Always try to Um. I look at things from a fan perspective. But I'm also I'm a terrible fan. I'm not a really fan
of of anything any team. I'm a I'm a fan of Carolina North Carolina basketball, and that is like I'm not a a fan, but you are a fan because I consume sports. So yeah. But but I'm just saying, you know what I'm saying, like, I'm not the fan boy, I'm not. No, I'm not saying that. I mean, there's at a sporting event. There are two people. There's the people that are watching and the people that are participating. Yeah, that's it. The reason I'm not a fan of it
is other than work, I don't consume it. Oh man, listen, I think one of the one of the benefits going back to my wife. My wife is not a huge sports fan, and I love that because of what I've said before, Like I've I've worked in PR for professional basketball team, I've worked in sports marketing before. You have to consume where I think where you're going is, you have to consume it so much to where when I'm home, I want to unplug. So we'll be watching something like
a fiance or just something to worry. What you're saying, like vegging out is because I would struggle with my wife was a big football fan. Like we both woke up Sunday morning and I'm trying to fix coffee and she's talking about her fantasy football lineup. That would that would irritate me. So I love that Yen and yang dynamic that we have. So you have to have that balance around this time. There comes one or two days
I am tired of football. You have to unplug. Like when I say tired of it, like literally, hey, Dad's I don't care. I would have to to protect your peace, man, I would rather watch when Deuce is watching the show called nature Cats. I love it all right, nature Cats, Bubble Guppies, Mighty Mike. That's a pretty good show. It's the life of a pug. And he's always dealing with
two raccoons. Um, he has a kitty that's in the house and three turtles, and then he got a little uh, he got a fancy dog that's a across the across the little canyon that they see on the pool. Um that he always trying to woo over. So Mighty Mike, I rocked with Mighty Mike. Gotcha, got you? But now that's that's what you have to do. But but more than anything, but I definitely wanted to make sure we gave this shout out to every single person who's been
involved with the formulation to cut to a podcast. UM, shout out to OURUR Radio, shout out the Black Effect. Um. They give us an opportunity to to put this podcast out to the world. So UM, big shout out to them and um Man, Like I said, big shout out to to everyone who is a big part of this. Well, we appreciate it. Thanks for listening. I am unique. There's only one person like me. I am worthwhile, competent and lovable. I'm Steve Smith Senior. I'm ger a little John and
that's cut to it. Thank you for listening. To It with Steve Smith Senior and my co host A Little John That'd Beat Me. And wherever you listen to your podcast, you can get us on I Heart Radio, also on Apple podcast. Whatever you whatever you need, we are there. Just download us and follow us at cut to It on Instagram and Act cut to It on Twitter, and visit our website cut to It podcast dot Com. New
episode every Tuesday. That's right, every Tuesday. You know why it's Tuesday because guys are off International Football League, so that's why they can squeeze us into their schedule. Not everybody's retired playing golf, sitting around Cut to It with Steve Smith Senior. That Is Me is a production of Cut to It, LLC Ball Told 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
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