Talking Ball with Allen Robinson

he can run some routes. He was in Jacksonville. Uh, took a nice, pretty good contract, great leadership. In Chicago, things didn't go well, as you know if you're a Chicago fan. You saw very quickly. Uh. They went from sugar to blue cheese really fast. And we're talking about Allen Robinson and we've got him for a less hopball episode that I know for sure, really excited about being able to dig into. You mentioned his tenue with the Jaguars,

more recently his tenue with the Chicago Bears. It's gonna be a good one. Man. Did you think I was a little bit hard on him? Na? You never really wow. But I did have to hold his feet to the fire on some of these things because I know personally when you make some professional mistakes how much they can stick with you. And I love how he owned his professional mistakes. It's the name of his podcast. Right to It. We're gonna cut to it. We're getting the right information.

A matter of fact, we're gonna cut to it and get straight into this anything. How are you doing? Brother? Welcome to the Cut to It Podcast. I am your resident Mr nort All, Steve Smith Singer, and then I got backstage Joe and then my accomplished co host and one of my best friends, Gerard Little John. Let's talk ball man. I'm really I'm intrigued to talk ball um.

But I'm also uh, I'm also excited because I can remember when you were with a long when you're with an organization and you transition, right you with the Jaguars, man that was that was your squad, bro. You were you were putting up big numbers. You know you uh, you guys were doing well. You took a team that was doing well. They faltered and then they got two. They got you, and all of a sudden things changed and you gave them hope. I knew you crushed their

dreams and you chase that bag? How dare you you go to Chicago? So I mean, we're gonna why did you? Why did you sign with the Chicago Bears? Coming out of coming out of free agency? So coming out of free agency, Um, for me, personally, I feel like I got a lot of I thought I had great force life into my career and kind of you know, the direction that I wanted to go and things like that.

And seeing who the Bears were bringing in at the time, you know, to to coach at the quarterback position, and kind of the culture and the team and style of play that they were trying to build. I personally saw that I was a perfect scheme fit for that, you know, and being able to be moved around, being able to run different routes, you know. Um, I didn't want to just be a person who was just running uh go balls and stops. You don't want to just do that, huh Nah. I wanted to play in the slide a

little bit, you know. I wanted to get into some one by three formations and be number three, the number two, you know, playing the outside a little bit. And I wanted to be able to to showcase and and and put my entire skill set to the test. So what what was what was your thought? And free agency? Are you coming out? You're going into free agency? You got We don't. I'm not concerned about it, and we don't want to mention all the other teams. But you have

some teams and you picked Chicago. But why did you believe a scheme was important? One? I believe that I could fit into many different schemes, but to be specific, from the concepts and from different things that was being ran.

Also with the with with the culture that her other players even from Kansas City that was being brought in, I thought that that would be that would be perfect for me to kind of because at that time I was coming out for injury as well, so it was it was me kind of like reiterating who I was as a player was big and I wanted to and I wanted to make sure that, you know, I had the perfect situation for me to be able to do that, you know, for me to kind of be able to

not reintroduce myself. But when you sit out for a whole season because of the injury, you know, people tend to forget, you know, and there's a lot of different things that kind of you know, go olden people's head. And for me, I wanted to get into a situation where I could show it exactly who I was. And again I could put my skill set and I could put who I was as a player on display. So scheme culture. What else was it about the organization that drew you in to take that trip? Also, Chicago is

close to home. Um, that was another fact that I had. I had played. I had played far away from home, not far, but recently far away from home for a good little while. I think prior to me being in Chicago, the closest I had played from the driving standpoint was about seven and a half hours and I was in college at Penn State, you know. And even even over the past years for me, this is the most that my family has been able to come and see me places high school. So how important has that been now

that you've lived that? Extremely important? Um, extremely important, Um, especially not to not to fast forward, but especially you know this past year, you know, being able to you know, have my family and being able for them to you know, be be close to me, you know, and being able to come to games and things like that. You know, it's a great feeling. You know. Again, I mean it's it's one thing where you kind of just playing and kind of you know, experiencing and trying to embrace everything,

you know, by yourself. When you have you know, when I had my parents and my sister you know, and some of my friends come into games and things like that.

You know, it's just a different feeling. Man. It's just it asked a lot more because again, I mean for me personally, you know, my career and how I look at my career, I've never looked at it as far as you know, just me, you know, like like like every time I put on my jersey, every time I think about my family, I think about the people who have been watching me and who've been coming to the games and in the stand since I was seven years old, you know, and being able to being able to have that,

be able to have them there, you know a lot, you know, from my entire time in Chicago, you know, meant a lot to me, you know, and I think that we all as a as a family and everything like that truly embraced that, and and and it was it's been a great experience. I like it. I'm I'm impressed on the y take us through. Did you take any other visits then Chicago? Or you just fell in love with Chicago like you was a cheap day, cheap date.

I'm not. I didn't take no business. That boy got that They told you how much money there is gonna pay? You say, you know it's close to home. It's a pretty good bag. I'm looking at his backdrop like, you know what, Shoot, this ain't too bad. I can see myself here, kick my feet up. I can see myself here. He took his hat off his he he's like, let me see if the wind blows him my hair. Right, just when I went to Baltimore, I did. I just took my I just see if the wind blowing my scout.

I had lost all my hair by then, so I ain't think of my business business. Um why my first time experiencing for it? Well, I didn't know this, but I mean free agency had it just was going so fast you start depending not how you expect, like just kind of sit back and she'll like, you know, let me like yeah, I'm like, let me see what's over is now? It's going fast like much fat much faster than I expected for that being my first time in free agency. Did you get anti A nervous little bit?

A little bittle bit for sure, A little bit and more so for me um, more so because again me coming off my injury going into free agency personally, I mean, everybody you know tells you, you know, the things you have people around you, you know, we have a lot of knowledge of the situation. But you know, deep down you know you obviously are hoping for the best situation

and best scenario. But I tell everybody when you when you're sitting up there in a in a knee brace, and as the season is progressing about the end, you know, you don't have no idea what's gonna be there. You know, you have no idea the situation and circumstances, no idea. So for me, Um, I definite it was a little empty when it kind of came down to it. But you know, as as it as it progressed, you know,

um Um definitely definitely calmed down a little bit. So you you were sitting in a knee brace, You're sitting around m M psychologically what we're what was going on internally for you as you sustained the major injury to some degree. There's there's probably some question of what I returned back to me. Then you gotta inswer free agency. Then you gotta enter free agency. What was going on inside? Give us the real don't give it. Don't don't don't

give us the agent. Uh you know. I'm just You're gonna get the best version of Alan Robinson after this injury that you possibly can. Like, I want to know how you did your interviews. No, you just I just hear the guys. I see I hear some of the guys now and they that's what they're saying. I'm going that that ain't the real answer when you're sitting there in a knee brace with you know, eighteen six months into the injury, and you get up in the early morning because you got a pee and you take a

step and something goes your negos. Boy, you ain't ready yet. I said this the day because I got injured. The third play of the season. I had one catch for I think eighteen yards and it was my contract year and I was in the locker room and I specifically room this. I'm sitting at my locker and mind you, the game is still going on, and I looked up and I SAILF. I said, I'm gonna get myself five

minutes to grief. And after that five minutes, I said, I'm putting that past everything From this point forward, it's gonna be it's gonna be getting myself back to who and what I need to be, because I knew I couldn't let myself go this go to the left, you know, and also I didn't want and I and I specifically remember this as well, right after my mom called on me, um, and then my mom asked me like, how are you?

And I can hear the pain in her voice, you know, and when she heard me say like I'm good, like

I'm good, I'm gonna be good. I could tell that that like took any kind of anxiety or anything off of her as well, which is something like I said before, Man, my family is very very close to me, you know, And and even in those times, if you kind of got to be the strength of everybody you know around you, because again people people are living the same thing like through you, you know, from my mom, my dad, my sister.

So for me, it was I couldn't let myself be down for the people around me to just see me down, you know, because that wasn't gonna do nothing for me. So when that so in that I put that past. Man. From then on, it was just kind of getting to work, you know. And even as you're kind of progressing that, you know, you still don't know exactly what and how you'll be when that time comes. And I've been watching

games and seeing dudes make cuts. You know, I'm still mind you like I'm fresh off of crutches, you know, and I'm like, damn, that's that's a hell of a cutting. Then, you know what I'm saying, You have that in your heads, and it's like but once you kind of, you know, start to get back on the field and you still progress. You know sometimes when injuries like that, you know, the small winds are the ones that you gotta take, you know,

until you back. Yeah, when you talk about injuries, you know, it's so hard because each individual guy, the significance of his injury is is it's worse or or easier better than the next. Right, And here you say you gave yourself five minutes, man. I mean I remember if I would have said, man, I give myself five man, when I tore my Achilles in Baltimore, bro I woke up the next day like it must have been a dream, and I took that step and I in the floor

felt like flat with arch in it. No, that wasn't a dream, that that thing't really happened, right, And so I had a whole like that. I toured, I felt it, I went to sleep, woke up, I was like, yeah, no, it was real, and so for me it started all over again. And then when I was rehabbing, I had those you know, I had those guy moments where Lord, I need your help because I don't think I'm strong

enough to do this right. That's just me, right, I I had accomplished so many things and I played well enough, but I had that doubt in my head and I struggled. I worked as hard as I could, and that still was not gonna fix my achilles. And that was new to me. That was a different that was a that's a different place. I've never been in that place. So it's y I'll say this honestly, and again not the fast forward too much, but it's you, it's your story.

I actually I probably would say this year tough room than that year. Why that year I felt like once I, once I got hurt, it was about me kind of controlling everything that I could control. It was I said, you were in the driver's seat, and it was just more so like you know, like I said before, once I got hurt, it said, okay, like well this is what I could do when these is kind of steps.

So it's like not that I don't have a choice, but it's like this is this is where I'm at, this is word's going as opposed to this year, I felt it was so much out of my control. And for me as a person, anybody who knows me knows anything that bothers me the most, frustrates me the most, causes me to be most angry or anything is things that I cannot control. Oh that's life. If I can't control it. If I can control it, I'm good. If I drop a ball, I'm good. I can control that.

I could, I can make another play, I can improve fear, I can do this, I can do that. But now once you start factoring in things that's out of my control, now you really start missing you know what I'm saying. Now it's now it's frustration. So how is that? How's

that working out for you? Right now. Then if if you are good with control, but you are struggling with not control things, because I mean, I know you're you're a fantastic football player, but I mean outside of that, there's pretty much nothing else, Like there's a let's say, if if the list is a thousand, there's probably twenty things. I'll give you eighty. Hell, I give you a hundred things you can control. Then there's about what about some things?

You got the illusion of control? Yes? So how are you You know you don't have control over everything? Like that's life? Are you? Are you a parent yet? Yes? Oh? How many kids you guys? Okay? How how old is your boy? Girl? Three? Three? He's three, she's just Oh she's a girl. Brother. Let me tell you something. Buckle up. If you she's controlling you, yeah, she not. Not Again,

I'm speaking in terms of more so specifically football. I understand what you're conceptually, I understand what you're attempting to talk about, but I'm telling you we're talking about life. Who you are beyond the football player. You can control the route you're gonna run after they tell you what route you're running. Isn't that fair to say? All right?

So you you're trying to control after you get on the bus, right, and so that's so, would you say that type of that thought process soured the relationship with you being in Chicago, because here's what I and before you answer, I'll let you steal on that. It was a report after losing the playoff game that you didn't speak to your head coach from January until July. How is that possible and why do you why did you believe that that was appropriate? Now this old g talking

to you, this ain't. I know you feel like it's okay to do that, but I'm telling you as a people that are listening to this, and people that see football players, bro, they don't care about your feelings. You're getting paid a king's ransom. With the bag you've received and the bags that I received. We both have lived

a thousand lifestyles of kings. And you've got people that are paying from Flint, Michigan, to Los Angeles to Charlotte that are to go to one game in a whole year, they may have to save up six months of their salaries or six months off the hourly wage SALD payments of jobs. How many burgers they've had to flip, how many investments they've had to do, how many cars they've had to park, whatever it is that they had to do.

And you over here ain't talking to your supervisor, a person that God has put in your life as as someone that you're supposed to report to. You ain't talked to him for six, seven, eight months. Why now, if I could correct you a little bit, I wasn't there. I would sleep actually that I didn't talk to him. We didn't talk, I like I'm gonna say, I'm gonna say,

we didn't talk. Because from the time the season ended on the plane after the Saints game, right the following or four day hours of some form of exit meetings for us because of COVID that was supposed to be scheduled with the with the head coach and management or however they were coordinating that with that via zoom. Talk to the receiver, coach, talk to equipment, everybody else. A few days go by, no zoom link, we go by zoom. So let me ask you hold on now, let me

see hold up your right here go like this. He's oh, they work, I know you know the text, So you couldn't You couldn't text them now honestly, No, you couldn't text nahel like you couldn't know why didn't you? No, it wasn't not feel like I couldn't. It's just at that Okay, we're having exit meetings where you normally talk about yeah, just just just to put hold on before you answer, just to put my cell on. Frustrate man, I didn't do no damn max and meet. I wouldn't

for what I need to excu met for. I know I'll be back next year. Y'all get your ship together. So I'm just telling you what I did. So I'm not I'm not coming from a how dare you I'm coming from I never did exit meeting. I didn't need to do on the exit meet y'all know what y'all need to do. Agent A not run his route, y'all give me some guys that I can play with, and y'all blocking. Hey, we're good. So I didn't need no excit meeting. I didn't even clean out my lockers. Hell,

I'll need to clean up my locker. I'll be here next week. So so so I'm saying all that to to to tell you, one man, you're help. You don't have the reputation I have. You have a stellar reputation. Your reputation is you're even killed due that. You're a hard worker like me, you're a grinder. But the difference that I don't have that the luxury you have is you don't have a reputation of being a distraction. I do,

and I'm willing to own it. But when you don't talk to your coach, when you don't when you don't take the initial step and your daddy, your leader, when you don't take that initial step, you can't expect other men who may be lacking in something to take that step in which is made for you to be responsible, to take that step. Because that wide receiver's room, who's

the leader in that wide receiver's room? Okay, because I want to call Mike and ask him now because I know what he's gonna tell me, right you, So why did you not take that step to show them? Yeah you're upset, Yeah you're disappointed, but also also, squad, let's get on the same page so we could be better, so this doesn't happen next year. And at that point it was, I mean, I was, I was a opinion

and free agent. At that point, I didn't know which direction they were wanting to go in either way or not. So for me, I'm waiting for the exit meetings. So okay, so we could talk about this thing. What's what's you know what I'm saying, like, like what do y'all see or thinking the foreseeable future? Just to give me an idea. So for me, if it's supposed to be a zoom link sent out to me, cool, all right, I'm waiting

for that zoom link. So now we can chop it up and see, you know, see what's up even from even from a football side, from how do we improve on next year? And I'm we go by no zoom link two weeks, no zoom January? Now weary and no did you show me? Ask you this? Then let me reverse it. You and a lot of you ain't for a lot of folks to call. You're gonna let them know that you got this lot of ticket. You're gonnat Okay. I just want to make sure. I just want to

make sure. And the reason I'm saying that is I got to go back to your character. This is out of character for you. Why I see you snicker? I see you snicker because what is your character. Well, I I thought, we don't trial, so I was. I was. I was testifying for him because every time I'm trying to pick under rocks and and talk to people and they have nothing but great things to say about them, but they also say this behavior was so out of character that they're trying to figure out why and how.

And that's why I'm trying to figure out why how, Because you got when you leave or stay there, got you got fans that are gonna say, man, I love what he did on the field, and I love how I interacted with him in a community, and I'm gonna ride with him whichever way. But you gotta clarify and figure out and and and decode the anat I was for this. That's this time that didn't get the zoom link.

Because you are a leader, I'm saying it. I don't know if Matt Naggy was the right leader for this team, but if you have the right leadership in the locker room like you are a part of, you can always overcome the best schemes or the improvement needed in coaching. And I agree, and to move forward at that point in time and kind of how the season win and the conversations that were had. You know, I didn't know

if they wanted me to continue to lead. Mhm. So for me, I wasn't gonna call him and ask him to y'all do y'all want me to do? Y'all want hey like like like, what's up? What's y'all planning? To y'all need to leave? Because to me, it seemed as if their message was clear mm hmm. You know I mean, because again, it wasn't like you know, it wasn't like I said I was gonna call this person and didn't. To me, I didn't know if they wanted me to lead or not once we get her, once the time progresses.

You know, I don't get I don't I never get that zoom like me and me and coach never chop it up. Mind you. And as a person who this is my everything prior to this point, this is my guy from why why why was he a guy? What it from day one? What did he tell you and I? And this isn't I would say. And before you say it, take a deep breath. I want you to say. I want you to explain to the fans football relationships because I don't want you to talk about him and attack

his character who he is as a man. I want you to talk about his character and your character as a man, because that sometimes a lot of fans are understand not all, Not every coach conducts himself was as a professional man, just like not every football player conducts themselves as a professional man. There are times I conducted myself as a immature little punk in my football career there and then there's other times where I was a hotheaded,

mature but immature businessman. And for me and him, since they want our coach to player relationship and communication have been great since since since the time I stepped footing that do it greater powerful world. And when I say great, I mean as far as concepts that we running, concepts that you know we kind of that he may have saw me run in Jacksonville. Are certain things as far as how could we make this thing get better? And how can we be better? You know constantly, you know,

that was that was the focus. Okay, what are you seeing here? What are you seeing there? Or you know, certain plays you know, even if we're in a little as a as a as an offense or as a team, you know, we're still talking. You know, how you feeling about this, how you feeling about the sort of communication had always been there. So so what your tap Let me summarize it. So what you're telling me is you were part of the process and and then it seemed

possibly you would be transitioning out of there. You are unaware of where you stood, and so now you felt that you were no longer part of the process. Yes, so when the think and as my time as my contract is ending, because again after that season, um, I had played on my contract, so as that's ending, you know, obviously I'm a free agent with the cap you know, going down how it did last year, I had no idea at all what the circumstances of it was going

to be. Know once we get you know, past the time, Okay, is it possible it's a franchise tag? Possible in things like this is so many different things based on the cap and things like that. To where as it wasn't like it was any kind of you know, conclusion that was gonna be foresaw, you know, it just was okay, Like again, I'm not I haven't communicated or haven't heard from this person. You know, nobody's you know, my agent

hasn't heard anything. So up until an hour before the franchise tag deadline, I thought I was gonna be a free action. And with that being, if I'm a freient and that is the case, then okay, that's cool. It's no hard feelings, does no anything. But it's not you know, I didn't feel as if I should call and say hey, like like like, where's the contract? You know what we're

gonna do. It's like cool if y'all want me to be a free agent, y'all want me to be a free agent, like there's nothing else I could do about that, Like I can't. I can't make y'all not make me a free agent. You know, you you you got a little antie frustrated with the process because you are no longer part of process, which meant ultimately he was out of he was out of his comfort zone because of the you weren't in control of it anymore. A little

bit frustrated. Yes, I also think that I'm a type person where if if the next chapter was gonna be me being a free agent, I was good with it. And when I said I was good with that, I you know, at this time last year, cool if if if if my contract isn't gonna be extended or if we aren't working through any of that. I don't have

any gripe. I don't have any hard feelings. I don't have I also don't think if I'm about to be a free agent and it's nothing for me to communicate to it's like I mean to me, it was, you know, they were speaking through actions or whatever the case may be, with the lack of communication anything, because again, this is a league where even when I left Jacksonville, before I left, I talked to at that time it was Tom Coffling, the GM and coach Maron. We had a great conversation.

Ultimately I didn't sign back um for whatever reason. But it wasn't that, you know, it was just Okay, we don't know what's going on. We don't hear nothing, haven't heard nothing anything. And then once that point hit, I'm like, Okay, well I guess I guess the writings on the wall. Well. The other part is you also gotta you are at

a disadvantage. You had one of the best communicators, whether you liked his message and or not, with Tom Coughlin, right, and I said, best communication where you knew what he stood. I don't agree with how he said it, but at least you knew where you still like you weren't walking in You weren't walking in the office going I think

he likes me. You had the benefit of communication. Yeah, you too much communication, almost a little bit like you're walking there you go, man, I wonder how you staying? You walk out there go. I know, I'm out this, I'm out this booch what in the end, And that was the last. That was the only kind of experience that I had with my contract ending and about to

be dependent Stace. 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. You didn't have a lot of history but the past history with Acteville and Tom Coughlan was this, and so now you come to a new organization and it's slightly different, right, and your temperament and what expectations and how things were in the beginning and everything changed, and so you you tried to maneuver through it the

best you could. Wasn't the best, wasn't the worst. Definitely have seen worst car crashes. Right, So now you're in you're going through the season. I believe you had got you you got COVID right, um, y'all draft some linemen that can't play, you get you get a quarterback that's a dynamic and man, you you out there, you're not catching any passes? How do how do we go from coming off a two back to back? How wow? Shorts to that boy? You went from a locomotive a G

five to a truck. Yeah. Yeah, And you know that was a lot of frustration that you know was going on through the course of the season because I had saw how I was used and how they were deploying me to defenses and years prior. Hold on, hold on, dumb that down for some of us, right, simplify that, what do you mean you the years before you were being used as what the number one to go to

or decoy? Yes, yes, okay. Concepts that were that we're running you know, um where I have been maybe at number two in this concept based on this defensitive like that like again I'm not I'm not running it, you know, or it may be an example like I went. One of our main one of our heavier concepts was deep cross. You know, I go through seventeen games and I don't run a deep cross the entire season. So okay, so how do you handle that? Don't don't tell me about what.

They don't tell me about what. Yeah, they didn't let you. They didn't allow you to run anymore deep crosses. And the reason why they don't allow you run anymore deep crosses because they had some other receivers that they wanted to get the ball too. Because of limitations of things. How they changed. Right, if you run that deep cross, then the young fresh lad guy that they want to showcase, right,

and I call that artificially making that guy the playmaker. Right, They put him in position to make him run the route that they know as the first read, and long behold, he is the first read they throw it to him, how are you handling now seen they sleep, your career

change in front of you on the field. It was it was extremely frusture, and it was something to where as you know, for me, I never I didn't want to devalue the character and the person and player who I've you know, worked and built myself to be that I am, you know by my frustration, you know. And I also didn't want to be a distraction and take away from what the ultimate tasks and gold is at hand, which is to you know, win games, to have a

top five offense, and to do these things. But at the same time, when it's like when I obviously see my role changing and I'm not being use how I happen prior, and you know, we're also as we're going through the course of the season where a bottom three offense, you know, it's hard to it's hard to just accept that.

That was the hardest thing was just to be content with what was going on and how it was happening, and to just sit there and just you know, be content with you know, so let me ask you, you had COVID now I should wrestle reports that ah, you

lost weight. The reason where you are I'm asking you weren't utilized and you weren't featured anymore because you had COVID or because you believe things were changing for whatever reason, because I believe things were things were changing, and it and it happens, though it does happen for for whatever reason you want. Right. One thing about football people don't really realize, right, there's a few positions that age doesn't factor. Actually age factors in in kind of the concept of wine.

As you get older in the National Football leagu the only two positions that allow you to get older, and they don't unless something drastic happens. They don't really look at you like you. The plague is quarterback. As you get older, quarterback, you get more money. You look you're actually um valued more as you will become an older quarterback, especially ones that actually can read defenses right and who can retain information and and be able to construct and

deconstructing offense. I can tell you to contained offense from the back of their hands. And kickers, that's it. Running backs, you get older, you hit thirty, may get out of here. Wire receivers tight ends, I get out of here. The market changes. All that market changing in the NFL. The younger you are, the more money you make. Every year you get older, They're going, man, we gotta get him out of here. He because the old adages you're either

getting better or you're getting worse. But they need to throw that other one in there is what one year older means one year closer to retirement from from their perspective, fishing. So as things are changing, how do you believe from your standpoint, let's let's play Devil's advocate. Do you believe the way you operated and allowed your frustration to get the best of you. Do you believe you could have handled it better sitting in front of me today? Communication wise? Yeah?

I think so? Um explain explain the communication wise because what I don't want you to do is make it all you know. I think I think in the society we are right now, athletes don't want to take ownership. I know the hell I didn't when I was playing. It was always somebody else's fault. Right again, I'm just I'm just exposing myself. Right, what could you have done

to improve? Because you are not going to not be on the team next year, But people are gonna ask what happens when Alan Robinson is not getting his past is can he handle the mental adjustments of football? Because he showed us or we heard in Chicago little adversity he from Michigan, but I don't know if he really fall tough. Yeah. And for me, like I said, based on the communication maybe offseason wives or something like that, Yeah,

I think that could have been better. I think once we got to the season, with all this frustration and stuff that was going on, the only way that I know is this year I practiced harder. I tried to I tried to perfect more of my crab just based on the simple factor the opportunities if they were going to be limited, the ones that I was gonna get, I tried to make sure that I was ready to be able to take full advantage of those opportunities with

the ones that were being dealt. Obviously, you know, you get a game like Cincinnati game where I have a drop, you know, but that's that's not even you know, for me, it's it's it's ball, you know what I'm saying. Players like that, Yeah, yeah, you can always take some place back. And for me as a player, I'm always trying to

critique myself on how I could be better. So if that was even this year, even on certain routes, if you'll come back to the huddle in practice or whatever, you know, whether if it's Andy or Nick or whoever's in in or not in and watching, I'm you know, trying to communicate them, Yo, what are you seeing? What do you think I could do better here? Which I

could do better here? Rather that's you know, cut, you just split a little bit on this, on this, on this boot to the right, so that maybe you could get you know, in the quarterback vision a little bit better. Maybe you can you know, things like that. I tried to make sure that I would communicate to those guys and you know, um and really kind of leaned on my teammates some of that to just kind of say like yo, like like what you think? What do you

think about this round? You know, even even some of the other guys in the room you know where I'm we're watching film or some of you know, what you think here? What you think here? Acting the quarterbacks? What you think here? What you think here? Because I just wanted to maximize the opportunities that I was gonna have, no matter how frustrating it may have been. You mentioned before um, the next chapter. How are you approaching the

next chapter in your life? Now? I can say, man, I'm looking forward to it from a standpoint that years like this for me make it special because you remember why you play the game. And I'm sitting here in January, whatever it is, and I'm looking forward to it. Man, I can't. I can't. I can't wait to you know, get to work and and start to you know, build for next year, you know, and because again for me, it's like you said before, man, coming off of two

thousand yard seasons, coming off of two hundred catches. You know, I was looking to continue to a sin you know, from from a number's perspective obviously, but as a player as well, and for me, you know, based on whatever the circumstances is or was, you know, That's what I have to sit with throughout this entire offseason, which again I'm not. Am I frustrated with it? Yeah? Am I mad at it? No? And the reason why I'm not mad at it is because that that fire, you know,

it's lit. You know. Every time I go to work out, every time I'm getting some pt, you know, I got a goal and mission in mind. Well, listen, I appreciate you taking that time to kind of break it down. Un let's talk ball, because I think it's extremely important for not just our fans, your fans, but people are here the knowledge and also the emotional side of playing football. Listen, I'm I'm the worst case studying on the man kind

is well. I think it's probably some worst people that we're not gonna mention the names that it's nobody right. But I understand your frustration. But I also think you you have a You have an opportunity that some men

don't get. You got an opportunity to rewrite it now. Right. Yeah, what you did or what you said, or how you behaved may turn a few people off, but when they get you in the building and they see how genuine you are, how remorseful you are, how you also are driven in performance based and sometimes when we're so driven from sports performance based, it's sometimes frustrates us and it puts a lot of pressure and makes us do things at that moment that at times can be out of character.

But if it happens long, if it happens enough times, it becomes who we are. And just like anything else, you know, when you grow up in Detroit, you grew up in Lexington, grew up in Vegas, you grew up in Los Angeles. If you're around something and operate a certain way for so long, it becomes who you are, good or bad. Right, but you are for tough because God knew you're gonna be handled handed, these short falls,

these circumstances, these obstacles, getting injured. Having probably one of the strongest minded and stubborn and general managers presidents known to the National Football League with Tom Coughlin, And then you go to the Chicago story book franchise and it becomes frustrating, not because you can't play it, because you guys have some beasts. You've got some Pro Bowlers, some all decade players on your team, and y'all go from You'll go from uh sugar two blue cheese, right like that.

And so now, man, you've got a chance that some people will give their left arm for is to rewrite it and make it right. And I hope you get that opportunity, and I believe you will, because, like I said, you built for tough man. You're from one of the toughest cities out there, right, and you got that opportunity. So I expect that you will take ass and take names. I appreciate it, man, and I'm I'm I'm looking forward to man like like you know this this off season

already for me. You know I has been such a I got said for it. Man. I'm every day brother, this physical therapy, stuff, training, I'm locked in man. Man, love connecting with you. Man. I look forward to see where you go. You may end up staying in Chicago, you may not, but man, look forward to it. Um. I appreciate it, man, you do. 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 Apple Apple Podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows from Cut

to It. Executive producer Steve Smith, Singer, co host Gerard Little John, talent in booking manager Joe Fusci, social media team Wesley Robinson and John Show from Balto Creative Media Cut to It is produced by Brian Baltaschevic and Meredith Carter, with production assistance by Alex Lebrek. Production Coordinator Taylor Robinson. Theme music by Alex Johnson, Lyrics and vocals by Anthony Hamilton. You heard about it, then we're about to let you know. It's all