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August 16, 2022 59 mins

Steve cuts to it with one of the few players that really made him study tape. Tune in to hear legendary cornerback Champ Bailey share his memories playing Steve on the field, his trades, and how football impacted how he raised his family.

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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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 I'm a little John and this
is cut to It. Good do It, Good do it.
Let's get down to do it. Good do it. We
asked the questions you always want to know, but no

(00:22):
one ever asked, let's cut to it. You ain't heard
about it, then we're about to left you now it's all.
It's my pleasure to welcome to the Cut to It Podcast.

(00:44):
One of the greatest corners in NFL history, the top
corner of his era. A guy that, uh made a
lot of receivers like myself, UH, study a lot of
film from the University of Georgia. He goes, He's the
only guy I know that actually goes by his nickname

(01:06):
throughout his life, that people know him and you say
Champ and people go Bailey, right. Welcome to the Cut
to a podcast. Friend and also a guy that I
I studied a lot of film on going against Champ. Bailey.
Appreciate it. I like to start off. We we're just
gonna get to some just some ice breakers. Man. Let

(01:28):
you let you settle down so you'll know what kind
of uh really what what this is today today is
all about you. Um, it's not about what uh people
think of you any of whatever they may think or soon.
It's just we're just gonna cut right to it and
just talk about who you are. Champ Bailey in New Jersey.
You know where you're from and all that stuff. But man,

(01:48):
what's what's some of your favorite vacation spots. I know
you like to be light skinned, so go ahead and
tell us some of your favorite vacation spots. You know, Well,
thanks for having me, bro, I mean, you know how
all about you. But we'll get to that, I think.
Let me, let me let's just say, I hate leaving
the country. So when we tell you so you so

(02:10):
you are so Southern continued, You're exactly right already no,
I already know. You know, the wife got you leaving
the country. That's what that's the problem. You know, I'm
a little old fashioned to the point when i'm kind
of I get stuck in my ways. You know. I
like things to be a little routine, you know, I
like like to know it to expect. So when I

(02:30):
leave the country, one thing that's the staple in my
you know, My life is food. And if I don't
know what type of food I'm gonna eat, don't don't it,
don't even don't even go there. But you already know
like that, that's that's this, This conversation is always going
is going veer right right now because so you're telling

(02:52):
me basically, you're a horrible person to travel with because
all you're gonna do is complain about the food. I
tell you what, it has a big part of what
big That was a roundaby way of saying, yo, yeah
someone you know, Okay, alright, so let's all right, let's
let's let's change it. Then let's let's open minded to food.

(03:13):
But I love cat what so tell me some of
your favorite restaurants? Then, favorite restaurants? Uh, breakfast? You know,
breakfast is a big part of my neal. I love
this restaurant called Snooze that uh colly moved to Atlanta.
I think they started in Denver, and you know it's

(03:36):
a big and I love a good steak, so steakhouse.
You know, I ain't like cracker barrel. What's what some
of your favorite I like cracker Barrel, but it's not
that was that was that was a softball pitch that
you should have let go, but you want to try
to knock it out of the park. Yeah, like I

(03:56):
hoped too, don't know. No, not so you're I'm lot
right now and I would not going and I would
not going there and eat their food. I just yeah,
you were you over there talking about Oh, let me
get up, let me get those unlimited buttermilk pancakes. I'm
about to cancel our sponsorship. And I the reason I

(04:19):
say that is, um man, I've I've traveled, you know,
I've traveled with a lot of a lot of my folks,
my some my homeboys, you know obviously with my fami
and one of my boys. I'm not gonna one of
my homeboys. I'm not gonna name drop them. But we
went to London and this dude complained the whole time. Yeah, yeah,

(04:40):
you know, he complained and you know he ends up
eating but McDonald's of course pizza hug. No. So I'm
not that guy. Okay, thank you, I'm not that guy.
My thing is, you can find good food, you just
gotta pay for it, you know. It's just yeah, you're

(05:02):
not gonna run up on you know, a local restaurant
that you used to like you do back home. But
name some of those local restaurants back home that that
make you not want to leave the country. Well, there's
a lot of variety. So there's this Greek spot called
zeus Uh Greek food? What kind of barbecue spot in Buckhead?

(05:27):
I live in Atlanta, by the way, so uh fat
mats um. Yes, it's varsity. You go to varsity? No, okay, good,
I just want to make sure I'm checking. I'm checking.
I'm in a file cabinet, checking my reference. Make just
make sure because you can't be you can't be a
judger of food and then find out you'll go to

(05:48):
a Checkers a rally or you know some of that stuff.
It's funny you bring up varsity. I went to use.
We had a varsity basically on campus. I might have said, oh,
I know, I was just in Atlanta. My show was
playing basketball, so I was just in Atlanta. So that's
why when you said that. And see this is right up,
this was right up my alley. So that's I've just
been I've been sitting on uh was that two eight,

(06:11):
five forty five. I've been sitting on all those highways
in Atlanta, running up my toll. Uh quick pass, running
up my quick pass. It was a forty dollar toll weekend.
Or playing basketball. My someone's playing basketball. So uh, I'm
very much. I know a little bit about atlant of

(06:36):
fresh in my mind of all the air quotes, great
restaurants out there. Yeah, yeah, the thing. Yes, you better
know somebody who knows some spots. Right. Oh yeah, because
we walked in a few places. We walked in a
few places and we walked straight on. I was like, nope, yeah,

(06:57):
because I was over there by h I was over
there by lake Point, the Lake Point facility. Oh see
you way up north, that's that's like bro, I didn't
get to pick the location. I'm sorry. Well, here's the
thing that's that's up north. That's more of Uh it's
kind of touristy because they have a lot of events,
sporting events up there. And you know, it's funny. I

(07:18):
was up there not long ago, and I realized this
is not the suburbs of Atlanta, like this is this
is the country that So you were in Georgia, you
weren't in Atlanta. It's a difference. Well, I stayed. I
stayed in midtown, so I had to drive back and forth?
Oh wow, who did who did that to you? That's

(07:41):
the long drive we use our marry our points brother,
of course. Of course, listen, I never stayed in an
area where there's a red roof fan. If there's a
red roof fan in that proximity standard and standard, I
just I ain't. I don't have no standards, and I'm

(08:05):
still not standing in the red roof and I'm just
not doing it here, you bro knowing you from Georgia,
So let's just get into it. Where are you from
in a place you call your hometown? Uh? Folks in Georgia,
South Georgia, small folk? Yeah? How many? How many stoplights

(08:29):
on street? And street? Us? Four to five stoplights? We
might have gotten another one since I left, Um, but
very small, I mean less than five thousand people. Uh yeah,
so oh so there's a chip, there's a champ Bailey Road. Then, well,
up until I think two years ago, they did name

(08:52):
a street after me. They named the football stadium after me.
So things have happened last few years. You said, oh
up to two all right, So I thought they gave
you that. I thought they gave it to you. They
gave it to someone else. No, No, it took me
getting into the Hall of Fame for all those things
and materialized. Okay, all right, and so what growing up

(09:14):
growing up out there? What what did you experience growing
up as as as young champ oh man. You know,
one thing about where we were from is you realize
you don't have a lot of opportunities to get get out.
And when I say get out, it's not like we're
running from you know, bad people or things like that.
It's a it's a culture in my hometown that's just

(09:38):
not sustainable for a young black man. For example. You
know where I grew up. I mean, my dad is
point out restaurants and things that he couldn't go into
when he was a kid. Right, you know, Jim Crow
was real and you see the results of that. And
you know, I could go on about a lot of
different avenues that my boys went down, you know, compared

(10:01):
to mine, because the traps were there. You know, you
get in trouble, you're getting the system. That's what you're
known for. So nobody has hope for you. And when
you know, if you don't have people pumping you up
and telling you that you could do things, and you
don't see a lot of great examples. That trap is fat.
You know, it's easy for it got to go off

(10:24):
to college and come right back home because family makes
it easy. The town makes it easy. Oh, come back
and work at the mill with your dad and your uncle,
and but those are dead in jobs because there's no
growth there. You're just a worker. So with that limited mentality,
it's easy to get trapped there and and and really

(10:45):
not go anywhere. You know, you end up there. I
can go back home and see people that are doing
the same things they did when I was in high school,
you know. So you know, I never wanted that, you know,
it just took a few good examples to kind of
get me on the right track and see that I
had at the possibility of getting out and staying out
and then being able to turn around and bring some

(11:05):
value back home. That's that's what it was like growing up. Man.
It was tough, but you know, we had each other.
We leaned on each other, my brothers, you know, some
of my boys that actually went on to do some
good things. But for the most part, man, I can
name a lot of guys that are in and out
of the system that I grew up with. I mean
did a lot of dirt with and yeah they're still

(11:27):
my boys, but boy, they went down the wrong path.
I remember watching your your Hall of Fame speech. What
I thought was remarkable in you uh thus far you know,
before COVID, before a lot of the racial tension, a
lot of the conversations you and Ladinium are actually, I

(11:48):
believe the only two modern guys that I I saw
that implement I think uh, um straight hand as well
a little bit um. But you guys really addressed um
being black man and and and what it impacted and
what you saw um being young man. Because you guys

(12:10):
grew up in the South, in the heat of the
South where you know, like you said, Jim Crow and
all of those things. What was that process like for you?
And how did you come to that resolution that at
the most important moment in your life, your your football career,
I'm sorry, in your football career, and you took that

(12:33):
time to address something that a lot of people don't
necessarily believe exists. Yeah, and that's and you say, they'm
outful there a lot of people don't even know it's real,
you know, And I think you know, one of one
of the things when we get a platform. I think
we all kind of have an idea of what people

(12:55):
should do with their platform, right, But I think it's
very unfair to expect young man like say, if I'm playing,
if I'm in my twins, I don't expect any of
these young guys to say a whole lot, right, Why
is it their responsibility? But now I'm a grown man
looking back being able to reflect. Now I have this
stage and this platform to really speak on it without

(13:19):
real repercussions, Like that's what you worry about by not speaking?
It's like, dang, what people gonna do to me? Now
I jeopard out of my career. It's unfortunate, but that's
the world we live in. So now I'm looking back like, Okay,
well i gotta say something like this is something that
I really care about, something that I experienced, right, So,

(13:39):
you know, I wanted to be as real and candid
as possible, but get people to understand, like, it doesn't
matter what you think. This is my experience, this is
what I see, this is what I deal with, and
I know a lot of people just like so I
just want people to listen, you know, just pay attention,
have some compassion and some sympathy for what people go
through all is of where they grow up. When you're

(14:02):
a black man in this country, there's a certain it's
a certain way you gotta walk around, right, There's a
certain way you gotta carry yourself, you know, and we
don't have a lot of room for error. And I
saw that in real time growing up, still see it
to this day. And I just thought it was important
to hear those feelings and you know, and and let

(14:25):
people hear what I thought. What are some of the
things that you experienced off the field that really shall
shaped you to you come across You know, a lot
of people don't know you, but you're not as quiet
as you present yourself. You you you you're well round it.

(14:46):
You're you're you know, you're intelligent, you're smart, But you
also quietly. You know, you you talk, you chit chat,
you you go at guys. How were you able to
keep that clean cut image? Honest? You don't know? You know,

(15:09):
you know we were flung out together. We've been around
each other, so you you know I am I mean,
you know what I'm about I do. But it's like,
you know, I think I always wanted to just be
a professional, right you know, my idols were dal Green,
Dion Sanders, Michael straighthand Bruce Smith. One thing about these guys,

(15:31):
you get them in the room one on one talk
man talk about anything and everything to learn things you
didn't know. And I and I carried myself that same
way because when I'm in a professional setting, I'm gonna
be a pro. Like in the in the locker room,
I'm gonna I'm gonna be a pro. I'm gonna be
a best team and I could be. That's just how

(15:51):
it is in my job setting and when I'm around
other professionals, that's just the way I carry myself. But yeah,
I could let I can let It was laid that
just I guess the whole saying let your head down
a little bit. You know, I definitely do that. But
you know, I still know when my bread is buttered,
and it's the way I carry myself, present myself, and

(16:13):
more opportunities come to me now because of that. So
I feel like that investment in my personality and the
way I carried myself is really paying off. How exhausting
was that though? It wasn't you know, it was just
it was who it was, really who I was because
it was I did unconsciously in high school. I mean

(16:35):
you could and as any of my coaches. I mean
sometimes I thought I was a bad kid, but then
I can I look over to the left and to
the right and like, oh ship, I'm not doing what
these guys are doing. You know. I'm actually showing up
the work every day, no matter what we did right
before real to go. You know. So I always accountable.
So I think that's where I hang my hat. I

(16:56):
just want to be accountable and available. And that's really
really what I live by. I mean even in business today.
I just want to be accountable, available and just a
man of my word. And that's and it just came natural.
And then over time as I got older, I just learned,
like there's a certain way you care yourself. I'm a
listener first before I opened my mouth, because I just

(17:19):
know I don't know it. 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

(17:42):
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. Uh yeah, I got all my questions answered.
That's what I'm here for, a brother, cut to a
podcast dot com. So you you were with the that

(18:08):
we call them the Washington Commanders. Now you know they
are correctors if we don't, they correct us as if
they've been the commanders the whole time and they just
last year. But then you go to Denver. You have

(18:35):
been with Darryl Green, You've been with Dion, You had
been in the nation's capital, and you know, you stayed
in the South, but then you move, you know, closer
to the South. But then you move to Denver. Tell
us that to explain that transition between a little bit
of comfort because you know, live growing up in growing

(18:58):
up in Georgia. You know, you live if you live
in Florida, you're pretty if you live in Florida or Georgia,
South North Carolina, Texas, I mean Tennessee, Alabama. You kind
of stay in those areas, right you you you drive
up and I mean living in North Carolina now twenty
some years. I've been Atlanta, Georgia, Tennessee, Jacksonville. Somehow, some way,

(19:23):
I'm staying over there. But then you go to Denver.
That had to be a little bit of an adjustment. Absolutely,
and you know, you gotta think I'm twenty five at
the time. Yea at the time. Nevertheless, left the East Coast.

(19:44):
So the first my first impression of Denver, when that
thought of going there came about, it was, damn, it snows.
It Just that's the first thing came to my mind.
And you know, but then I started thinking about the team,
and I know I could play anywhere in anyweather, so
I wasn't I didn't really like settled on that too much.

(20:04):
I started thinking about the team. I'm like, damn, but
they're always in the playoffs, y'all gotta And then they
started talking about, you know, well they might trade you
for Clinton Porter's and I'm like, damn, I like Clinton Porters.
Can we keep him and trade somebody else? You know,
That's that's my thoughts in my mind, you know, because
I'm young, and I'm hungry, and I'm trying to get paid. See,
I never really wanted to leave Washington to be honest,

(20:27):
I understood at that point in my career the impact
of that market, you know, being in the NFC East,
I mean you got all the big market teams Philly,
New York, Dallas, all the all the teams that are
in the top ten as far as value and and fans.
I mean, there is no fan base at the time
that was more loyal than the Washington fan base. Even

(20:50):
to this day, I get people come up to me.
More Washington fans than Denver fans come up to me
and talk about that trade because they just they just
had more history there. I mean, when I got to Denver,
they finally got their first Hall of Famer. She watched it.
That had several by the time I got so so
the organizations were in different places. But one thing that

(21:14):
was different is the owner in Denver was like night
and day from the owner in Washington. Dan Snyder didn't
draft me. And to get used to the fact that
somebody didn't want me in my prime, I didn't understand it. Right.
I had been the four straight Pro Bowls, I'm twenty five,
I'm young, I'm hitting my prime and this dude didn't

(21:36):
want to This dude didn't want to pay me. I'm like, okay, well,
there's nobody outside of Darrell Green the more successful at
the cornerback position in this franchise on a consistent level.
You had, you had guys coming in and out, but
you didn't have anyone like it was Dell Green that
had been there, uh since the dawn of time? Yeah,
right right. And then there was obviously Dion he was older,

(22:00):
he had you know, he had retired and came back.
And then there was you. Yeah, yeah, so it it didn't.
I never got used to the fact that somebody didn't
want me at that time. I mean, I'm like, you're
not gonna find somebody else like me? And they tried,
you know, but I knew that I was a different
type of player, and I knew I should have been wanted.

(22:23):
I asked for a certain amount of money. They laughed
at it, turned around and asked Mike Shanahan for it
in Denver, and he smiled and said, no problem. And
I'm like, that's all I needed. Somebody that wants me.
He's gonna let me do what I do. I mean,
there was no better transition for me in my career

(22:43):
than going to Denver. The best thing that ever happened.
Think about this. You just said that you were in
your prime and one team did and one team didn't.
You've done some analysts work, You've been around the game
for a long wanted. The things that is always remarkable
about the NFL is how statistically you can be in

(23:07):
one category. However, you asked five different coaches on five
different teams, and they all have five different opinions, and
most of them are negative when evaluating when evaluating product,

(23:29):
like you were a product. Let's be honest, you're a
problemt and Chap Bailey is in his prime playing well
not not really not like you're doing. I hate right,
And there's only a few teams that valued you for
what you were. Yeah, and the team that had you

(23:54):
that was reaping the benefits from it, I didn't think
you're worth it, yeah, which is baffling, you know. And
and my thing is regardless of if I'm worth it
or not, or you think that it's it's I understand.
Sometimes you got needs, you got you got certain old
you gotta feel right like there's it's always gonna be

(24:15):
that factor. But to me, they had two years to
get a deal done with me, right, Like they had
two years they saw me up close personal how I
work and to be, you know, putting that on full
display and auditioning for them every day the way I did,
and for them to come to conclusion, we don't want

(24:36):
that guy, I think it hurts a little different. Now.
You can go ask somebody in the Green Bay Packers
who hadn't seen a lot of me on a daily basis,
and they just said, now we don't want that guy.
For whatever reason, I can live with that. They see
you come to work, you you do what you're supposed
to do, you do it the right way. And let's

(24:57):
be honest, you on in the corner on the other
side of you is you know, maybe not doing You're
doing a lot of talking, but maybe not showing up
the right way. You know. Yeah, yeah, absolutely right, And
just that we're gonna get a little bit later too.
The only different player, right, totally different, which which is fine.

(25:20):
But you know, I was what I was. I showed
you what I showed you, and you still it still
wasn't enough. So it so that their opinion affected me
more than anybody else's opinion. How did it affect you, Well,
it made me second at the time, at the time
at the time. At the time, you gotta think I'm young.

(25:42):
You know, I'm hungry. I'm just trying to get to
that next contract, right, and I'm like, well, what am
I doing wrong that they won't pay me? But my
agent would always check me, right, He's like, look, you're
not one of the guys, like they didn't draft you.
You know, that's not about the team. Summer I got drafted,
Charlie Castle drafted me. So it wasn't there was never

(26:02):
any real connection, right, So the next year they draft
LaVar Arrington and Chris Samuels two and three. LaVar Arrington
re up before I even got to come last year, like,
so the writing was on the wall. It was just
hard to believe, you know, because like, you know, I've
had some real success here, you know, and a little

(26:25):
bit like what's really going on? You know, nobody could
really explain it. We were just in a different time.
You still got pretty much a young owner trying to
figure out what the hell he's doing. And you know,
it was what it was. Man, Man, I've never told
you this, and I've been I've been holding this, so

(26:45):
you know, obviously I went to University of Utah and
Georgia had played Utah State, okay, and we obviously we
didn't play Georgia, but we had to play Utah State.
So I you know, I was a dream house transfer,
so I transfer. And at the time, social media is

(27:05):
not social media. You know, internet is not even the Internet.
So the West Coast, if you didn't play on the
West Coast, you really didn't know about East Coast players. Right,
We're watching film. I'm in the University of Utah. We're
watching film and we're watching Utah State, and so, you know,

(27:26):
watching their defense and you play a little bit offense.
But then I I think I used to call it
pass or something, and I'm like, man, I gotta watch
this dude, because they say he's playing both ways. So
I'm gonna watch the defensive film. I'm not gonna say
I was scared, but I would say I had to

(27:48):
take a few times. How about that? It super duper, bro.
I've been knowing about you ever since Georgia ran through
Utah State and you I don't even know which receiver
it was what you was out there locking him down

(28:13):
like it was like ordering a bag of fries through
the drive through. It was so casual and so we
gotta we get to play the Washington Commanders. Stephen Davis
is the running back. You know. He came to Carolina
and I'm gonna I have to go against cham Bailey.

(28:35):
Now this is how old and dated it was. I
have VHS. Was the VHS? I think it was VHS
or Beta on you? Right? And I had one tape
on you because that's what they gave us. Hey studied
this film. They said, studies has failed. So I studied

(28:56):
that film and when we played against m you guys
in two thousand three, you were the first player and
my young career. I was in my third year, but
my second year starting that, I was followed everywhere. I

(29:18):
can tell you right now. I studied the film. They
should have gave me an instruction manual on how to study,
because what I studied was not what I played against.
I did not I played at Utah. I never expected
a guy to follow me everywhere and be so close
up on me that I can see him if he

(29:41):
had a fresh shave, right, I can see if he
was wearing contacts. And bro, I just remember you pressed
up against me in the first play. I gave you
a little I gave you a little quick move and
call a little en route and I got to spend
the ball. You were like, okay, good job, good job,
and I was like, I'm about to get this, ninja.

(30:03):
I don't know what they talked about, what him, but
they say you taught State. Hey man, that was that
was the good old days. Because you gotta think, like
they really let me do what I wanted to do. Yes,
they did, yes they so so after that the next play,

(30:24):
I don't know if you remember, I gave the same
move and you jammed me so hard that it made
my not one both of my show the Past traps
come off. I was not prepared. I was not prepared

(30:45):
at all that we're gonna we're gonna stop. Because part
of that is also why I win. A couple of
years later when he was with Minnesota got what he
got because when we played the Commanders, I only remember

(31:06):
going against you, mm hmm. Twenty four and eighty nine
was only two people that were allowed to be in
that area Coach Moose and had that guy. He was
not allowed to cover me if I came on this side. You, hey, hey,
he's over there. He you you told him to go move.

(31:28):
And I never experienced that. They even lined me up
I think like tight in or running back, and he
lined up a damn linebacker. Look that's real. I was
unprepared for linebacker. I was like, okay, they're gonna get
me free. He lined up a linebacker, I said, and
I know I shouldn't come. I said, oh shit, you
know I'm gonna. I used to look forward to win

(31:51):
a receiver with move in the backfield or line up,
because then I know you're not really going deep. So
it's like, okay, I got I got a lot of
I got more help in this little box because you can't. Man,
I thought that was I thought that was my saving grace,
not not no life preserve or nothing. I was just
in the water. So so you gotta think, like my

(32:13):
mindset about you was, Oh, this guy's a great returner,
he's tough, he's a dog. I can't let him get
going like that was my thing. I can't let you
just get comfortable, getting open, you know, having free releases,
like once you get going, I've seen it, I've seen
how you dog people. I'm like, no, I cannot let
him get going because once he does that, it's over.

(32:37):
It's over. You taught me. I was in that game,
you know, I was figuring out releases as we were going. Yeah,
like I had never I had never been in that
position in my life. I had never had to go
against a guy, and I used it, and I used
to say it. If I was driving a car, I

(32:59):
pull up of the parking attendant and y'll have to
be right there giving me my ticket. I walked up
to the valet chaps like you key, Steve Right. I
had never experienced that until that moment, because we were
still early. It was like third or fourth game. I
was never I was never ready for that. I saw shadows. Oh,

(33:22):
you know, you'll get a guy, he'll be there. But
you were right there. You didn't want space off you
on it did to be right there. And I was
so frustrated because I never experienced that before, especially as
a young man. Right especially I went to University of Utah.
We're playing non athletic zone team, so I understood zone.
I knew how to play in zone. I came out

(33:43):
of college very well versed with the knowledge of how
to run routes versus zone. I was not used to
that type of coverage, and I was so frustrated and discouraged.
But I have a save. I had a saving grace,

(34:03):
a receiver named Ricky Pro. And Ricky kept coming over
and to me said, I know you're frustrated. This is
the this is the part of being the number one,
number one guy. You have to figure it out. Don't
let him frustrate. You keep going taking everything he was
doing this data right, So we go fast forward. I

(34:29):
think I had like three passes. Um they quit going
to me because it was just you can go ahead
and just remove me from the playbook. Basically that's what
you did. But then we go in that end zone.
We go, we're going in there, We're trying to drive
and I'm in a slot and when I make that catch,

(34:51):
the only reason I was able to make that catch
is because you drugged me through the mud for three
and a half quarters. It was it was like it
was like but you understand it was that was the
only move I had left that actually meant anything, because
after everything after that, everything got through boom boom. And

(35:18):
so when I went up, I don't even know if
you remember. I went up. So I gave a little
release it was it's called huntry circle, and I was
the streak. So they were running. They were running covered two,
but Champ was man coverage because forty seven was forty seven,
uh forty one. It was a Caucasian safe. Yeah, Matt

(35:42):
bon right, and so I run. I give it a
little release, but instead of dancing like I kept doing,
I gave him a little two steps and took off
right and they and Jake throws it up and I
jump up and grunt because I know everybody in the
mom is gonna try to knock the snot out of me,

(36:04):
and so I go up. Champ so smart. He jumps,
but he doesn't jump all the way because he knew
we both can jump, so he jumped a little bit
and waited too. I came when I was coming down
to jump up so he could put those little skinny
fingers through through me. But I already had figured it out,

(36:28):
so I cuffed it and bowing hit me so hard
he hit you, yes, and then Stephen Davis. Some people
say it wasn't a touchdown. It was a touchdown. Don't matter.
It was a touchdown. And what's interesting is I played

(36:48):
against a lot of good corners. I played a lot
of against a lot of great corners, but there are
some guys like you. You helped me because you were
one of the best corners that I ever played against.
And man, you did so much for my career that

(37:09):
you didn't even know it. You you made me play
chess for the very first time I've been playing football
because most of the other corners it was checkers. It
was a race to get king and then just kill
a board. But I had to be strategic, man and all.
And so I've never really thanked the anybody for an

(37:32):
ashal thee, but I appreciate it because you taught me
so much and I've always had that respect for you.
And then we fast forward against UM. We played you guys,
the Carolina Panthers against against you with the UM with
the Denver Broncos, and you were hurt. And I had

(37:52):
like five like in that off season when I knew
we were playing you, I told I want, I want
all his plays. I had all old every player you
played the year before, So it was up the beta
DVDs laser. I had all of your tation. I just
watched it and watched the film. Then I think you
had a labor or something. Yeah, I can't remember what
I was out for But it was a night game, right,

(38:15):
it was a night game. I just remember sitting over
there watching you just run through. I was so hyped
to play and he wasn't playing. Let me tell you something,
Dre blin gonna, Man, I drugged Dre. That's one dude.
Don't care. He's not ashamed to anything. You'll tell Smith
stiff on the hell out of it. He was like, man,

(38:38):
he hit me in the chance and that you could
just hit I'm like, yeah, that's Steve. But Dog, you
ran through us. And he he ragged all the corner
that was. He had that boy about the about the
water jugs on a running play. I'm like, I'm like,

(39:00):
are you better get because I never because I can't play.
You know, was strongest on rag Dog and we had
the smallest one in the league. I won't say his name,
but I'm gonna say his name. But I was so
hyped to go against Chap. I wasn't hyped to go

(39:20):
against because I got something. I just know I had
to be on my pisa ques. I still had post
traumatic stress from the last time I played, Right, That's
what I experience. So then we fast forward to twenty
two thousand five, and you know, we had traded for
Rod Gardner and Rod comes to Carolina and him and

(39:45):
Fresh Mood they used to be boys. And so Rod starts,
Rod starts talking to Smooth and I say something. I
said something to Rock draft. They were drafted together, so
I know, so they were real close, and so they're
talking and I'm like, bro, man, we ain't you know,
we ain't chit chatting with these with these dudes, and

(40:08):
Smooth I guess at that time, yes, I don't remember
what he could have said, peanut, butter and jelly, It
really didn't matter. And I took offense to him, and
then I made it personal and I started going the
last time you was here, you wasn't even allowed to
cover me and the rest of his history. And and

(40:32):
that was actually why that was the personal beef was
actually it wasn't even personal. It was a I'm pretty
sure friend wasn't even talking to me. Yeah, but I
drummed up this like okay, cool, and so that was
a whole that was a whole reason over it. And

(40:53):
I guess we've been uh, I guess we You would
say we've been bicker and ever since. But I wouldn't
really necessarily call it bicker because I did and really
think about it. But yeah, well, funny story, um that
before that night game, one of our backup quarterbacks came
in the locker room. I think, y'all, y'all you were
out pre game? Oh so yeah, so we were Denver.

(41:16):
I was out in pre game and I had a
routine and I would catch Brandon Marshall huh was catching passes.
And the backup quarterback proceeds to tell me, he shoot me, yeah,
hey man, we're catching passes. Man, move on. Now, we

(41:41):
were in Denver. I can respect that. Right at night
we were in Carolina. He tells me to move and
then best a man. The quarterback says, move you're talking
about hot as fish grist. Yeah, so I think that

(42:02):
go ahead. That added some still to that fire that night. Right.
That's why Drey Black got in business. That's why. So
what happened in your locker room? So yeah, so he
he comes in the locker room. Man, you better go
get your boy out there. You better go get your boy.
I'm like, what's going on? Man? Your boy Steve out
there talking all this ship and got to y'all to y'all.

(42:23):
I'm like, man, don't mess with this dude, Like why
y'all gonna get him started? And I swear from the
first snap, I was like, oh, it's about to be
a long night. I mean, because I knew they already
got to you, got you mad, got you talking, and
I'm like, man, it's about to be a long night.
And I couldn't do nothing about it. I was just like, man,

(42:45):
don't don't don't mess with him. If you get him talking,
he's gonna come at me. The backup quarterback tells me,
go on, we were working here. I mean to be honest,
he wasn't the backup. He was probably third string of squad.
You know, back quarterbacks travel regardless of practice squad or not.
They travel, right, So I don't even think I didn't

(43:06):
know that. I didn't know the young man. I could
not recall who he was. You know. It's funny, good,
good dude. You love him to death, But boy, he
made a mistake that night. Right. I would say he
was pudgy for a quarterback. I saw he was. He
definitely still. He had a retirement body, you know what,
He had a cannon. But boy, you think but he

(43:30):
man pudgy quarterback from Atlanta talks a lot like good dude, Man,
good dude, you would love it, but not that night.
I bet I would have. Good God, let's getting down
to it. Hey, Gerard, why did you get that T shirt?

(43:50):
You mean this thing? Oh yes, I got it from
cut to a podcast dot com where we have exclusive merchandise.
Shout out to our guys at seven or four shot.
But yeah, you can go on by your T shirts,
subscribe to us wherever you listen to podcasts. So what
are you up to these days? Oh? Man? You know
when I retired, Man, I'm not gonna lie. You know,

(44:11):
I think when you play and you play a long time,
you think, Okay, I'm gonna retire and I'm gonna just chill. Yeah,
you realize, like I can't just sit around, you know,
I gotta be for you. Try though. You tried to,
tried to the fullest. You know. I tried, you know,
doing a little broadcast and didn't like it. How do

(44:32):
you like that? I hated it? I hated it. You know,
you think when you start out, everything is a little scripted, right,
And I just didn't like I didn't like the setting
of you know, going to l a putting on a suit,
being in front of the camera. Then it's kind of scripted.
I couldn't really be myself, so it was just it
was tough. It was a grind, and I didn't like

(44:54):
that grind. I didn't like that. You know, I love
talking about football, but now in that way, So I
tried that issues. I'm glad I tried it though, right,
So you know, I, you know, I tried to do
other little things. But what I realized, man as out
here in this real world, like people don't have accountability standards.

(45:17):
There's just everybody's out here for themselves. So you really
want to get something done, you almost got to do
it yourself. Oh I you know, I tried a few
things invest in this on some real estate deals, and
you know, people just don't care. Like everybody's out for themselves.
So now I'm just you know, I do a few

(45:39):
things here and there, but I partnered with bigger companies
who actually, you know, got investors to worry about, and
people bigger than me, you know, that are investing in
these companies, are spending time with these companies. So now
I know the credibility comes in the door. Right when
some of these companies. So you know, for example, I
partnered with this company needs Peach State Health Plan and

(46:03):
you know they provide Medicare Medicaid in the state of Georgia.
But their parent company is a you know, a global company,
Fortune five company ran by this got it went to
Georgia's So when I moved back to Atlanta, I realized
the strength of my network just being a former bulldog,
like wow, Like there's people everywhere all the walk cars

(46:26):
and people I went to school with. They're are owning
businesses now. So it's nothing for me to walk in
a lot of different doors and just and just be
part of their marketing plan or their messaging to some degree,
or if I'm doing an event, they come sponsor. So
those are the type of partnerships I focus on now,
and I leverage those to get me into deals that

(46:47):
otherwise wouldn't be involved with. And that's kind of what
I focus on now. It's no heavy lifting. I mean,
my sister, My sister does a lot of stuff for me,
you know, you know, because I could trust her, you know,
after going through different paths and different people, I'm like, man,
I gotta just stick with my family and and work
like that, and that's that's what I focus on now.

(47:08):
So I'm fielding ship all the time, but I deflect
of it because you got any time I gotta depend
on somebody else. It's gonna take you a lot to
earn my respect and give you the benefit of the doubt.
I can't. I don't go in with blinders on no more.
You think people just want to work and do things
the right way. That ain't the case. That ain't the case.

(47:31):
People will shift on you in the heartbeat and keep
it moving like it never happened. And that's happened a
few times. And good for me, I can overcome. How
has it been for you and fathering? You know, now
that you're you're your home or you're able to be
locked in, you don't have you know, you don't have
a you don't have tape to watch. You don't have

(47:54):
UH treatment to go to or or or do you
don't have these nagging things that UM being a professional athlete, um,
you know you have to do. You know, my twelve
year old he's so much like me, right, so he's
like my older son. He's twenty one. Now. You know,

(48:14):
I was gone most of the time, me and his mom.
You know, obviously didn't land well, I'm gonna say obviously,
but we didn't last so there was a lot of
absence there and to see how he came up compared
to now, I'm full time with my twelve year old,
so I see all the little things that he goes
through everyday, school, you know, sports, he's a little athlete,

(48:37):
and to be able to sit there and kind of
have him focus on the right things. And I think
that's what what I wasn't able to do with my
older son, is have him focus on the right things
and like pay attention to the right things. For example,
Like my twelve year old has had some bad coaches,
and I'm like, I've had way more bad coaches than

(48:59):
you have. Trust me, when you learn how to overcome
bad coaching, you're on your way because you're gonna have
an abundance of Like there's coaches out there coaching. They
just got a job because they know somebody. So you're
gonna come across that. You just gotta be able to
identify and move past them. Right, don't count on anybody
to get you ready, you know, brother, that's in school practice.

(49:23):
You better be a self motivated individual. So find out
what motivates you and let that be your spark. So
it's just just overcoming the negativity around you. Do you
believe that our kids have more negativity around them than us? Well? No,
or is it? Or is it? Is it because of
social media? Media more accessible? I think percentage wise they don't.

(49:48):
When I think about how I grew up, the negativity
was around me all the time, all the time, and
then you and then you at the games, and it's
there you at the games, just at the snack bar,
it's it's it's deals being done underneath the bleachers right
when you drive home or if you take the bus home,

(50:08):
right or when you have to walk home. And me
and my wife have this conversation, I say that, you know,
She's like, man, it's just so much more now than
our kids. I don't think it's more. I think it's
I think it's easily accessible in our face more. But
it's always like we know, kids are you know, we
call it sex trafficking now, but kids was on milk

(50:31):
boxes and then the post office all the time. Seek
content is more prevalent now, Like you see things more,
there's more videos, it's more, there's more access to what's
really going on in the world. But you also have
good things that your fingertips as well. Right, there's more
good information out there, but to be able to discipher

(50:52):
between the two, it's probably a little more challenging, right.
I think for me growing up, we it was negativity everywhere.
You see some positive things here and there, but it
was in our face. It wasn't like I could go
get on the internet and see what my counterparts are
doing in l A. I never knew on the West Coast.

(51:14):
It was all like right here in this little box.
And you know, if you don't know things are existing
in this world, then you don't have any aspirations to
do them right. So it was real like there's more
examples for kids now positive things going on then when
I grew up, because all I had was who I saw,

(51:35):
who I was around uncle's, the you know, the older
cousins and the neighbors, all those people that fell into
those traps. There was more of that than somebody go
off to college and get be a doctor, a great job,
to be a professor. That just didn't happen. Bro I
can name on one hand how many people did that.
When I was doing up if you don't mind me asking,

(51:59):
knowing what you you said about your oldest and you
know the situation with playing football right being in the height,
being at the point of your career, moving to Denver.
How are you able to stay engaged now that you're
done and he's adult to mend that relationship. And I'm

(52:21):
assuming that relationship because I'm just speaking. I'm assuming because
I got twenty four years, and I know there were
things that I missed out on consciously and subconsciously that
I didn't know I was missing out on because I
was too busy trying to find my own way, how
to be a professional, trying to figure out how to

(52:42):
make how to get this second and his third and
his fourth contract, and then also being a father at
the same time and trying to be a husband at
the same time. I was gonna miss something, and I
missed several things. You miss a lot, and I think
you can't make that time up, like you really can't.
And because those are some crucial years, because you know,

(53:05):
as you know, as you're maturing as a teenager man,
you absorbed so much ship I mean negative positive, You're
just yeah, and I can't go back and get that
I think now it has to be a mutual thing.
And that's that's been the struggle is because all he
remembers is I wasn't there enough, right, So there's a

(53:25):
little animosity, there's some, but then it also takes it
often takes more than just me and him trying to
do it. It takes our whole family trying to help,
you know, his mom. So if I don't have that support,
and it's really an uphill battle. So that's kind of
where we are now, trying to figure out what that

(53:46):
looks like. My thing is, Look, I'm here. You call me,
you want you want to sit out and talk, I'm here.
That's that's my thing now, is I want to let
you know that I'm here all the time, like there's
no point in my in my day, then I'm not
gonna make time you like. I think if I can
make that message very clear, then that's the road to

(54:08):
recovering what we have left together. And you know, I
think he's at a point now he's trying to figure
out who he is right, trying to figure out who
he is. You know, he's he went to college on
a football scholarship. Now he's in limbo because he wanted
to transfer, which is a whole another conversation, you know.
So so it's it's it's me trying to give those advice,

(54:33):
the advice that he needs, but also understanding that I'm
still just dad, you know, and we all have that
struggle with getting our kids to listen. You know what
I'm saying. I think every parent their their kids are
probably gonna listen to somebody else more than they listen
to the parent. You know, absolutely, I don't know anything. Yeah,
you don't know ship that's all you done. You know nothing.

(54:54):
And I'm like, man, anybody trying to walk down this
path or being a professional athlete in any sport, like
you can't have a better example than me, Like you
can't have a better support staff than me. So that's
that's that's kind of where we are. And you know,
I don't I'm not the type of look back. I'm
always trying to figure out how we go forward, how
we make things better. So you know, even with everybody

(55:16):
and my family, brothers, sister, mom, that everybody, there's there's
been some disconnect throughout the years, but you know, let's
how we move forward. I'm a good natured, good hearted person,
and I think they all know that. So that's always
gonna precede me. So it always gives me a chance
to men those relationships. All right, So that's your last one.

(55:37):
How's your how you? How's your skin coming along? Last
time we saw what was the beginning of COVID and
we were in Yeah, Beaver Creek. Yeah, like two of
the most none scares you believe. He's like, stick, what

(55:57):
are you doing? We both look at each other skin
in the middle of nowhere. But I'll tell you what.
I ski once since then. So I'm about to say
waki every year, bro. But I remember you telling me
at the time that you know your Utah days got
you right? So I never had it. Man. That was

(56:20):
the first time I put a ski on my foot,
and you lived in Denver. It didn't matter. The thing
was I was playing football and I had never done
Why would I risk going out here on this when
I was all the time when I was playing, I
never had anybody come to me and say, hey, you
should do this. No. I was just always scared to
do anything outside of training, you know, because I just ridden. Man,

(56:43):
I used to jet ski ski. Yeah, you were you
were a bigger man than me because I couldn't do it.
To this day, I still have a fear of falling,
so you know you're gonna fall. I realized the snow
was a little softer than the ground, so a lot.
It's the trees that I get, you, Hey, but I

(57:04):
get a kid out of watching my well. He was
nine or eight or nine at the time. Man, my son,
he got on those skis sail a few times and
he was down to blacks. I mean it was, it was.
It was good to see. I'm like, man, I won't
do I won't do blacks because, uh, my knees feels
so good until I get on a black and then
my knees I heard. Yeah, I'm scared of the greens.

(57:27):
So you know that's where I'm at right now. So no,
Steve Smith was scared of the champion, champion, scared of
the greens on damn. Hey, Man, Appreciate you, bro always. Bro.
You know what I'm here. Appreciate you. Just call me bro.
You are a unique person. You are well worth it,

(57:49):
you are competent, and most of all, you're lovable. I'm
Steve Smith Senior, I'm ger 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.

(58:13):
For more podcast from i Heart Radio, visit the i
Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows from Cut to It, Executive producer Steve Smith,
SINGR co host Gerard Little John, talent and booking manager
Joe Fusci, social media teamer Wesley Robinson, and John Show

(58:35):
from Balto Creative Media. Cut to It is produced by
Brian Baltaschevitch and Meredith Carter, with production assistance by Alex Lebrek,
Production coordinator Taylor Robinson. Theme music by Alex Johnson, lyrics
and vocals by Anthony Hamilton. You ain't heard about it, then,
we're about to let you Now it's all old test
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