October 13, 2020 • 55 mins
Steve and G cut to it with surprise guest, Michael Vick. In part one of this two-part interview, your hosts cut deep into Vick’s career as one of the most talented quarterbacks in the NFL, while dealing with enough roadblocks and tough lessons for two lifetimes. It’s not all heavy, though. Vick and Steve have plenty of stories to make you laugh -- including one surprising response Steve receives after cat-calling an elderly man.
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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 Little John, and this is
cut to it. Good do it, Good do it. They's
getting down to do it. Good do it. We asked
the questions you always want to know, but no one
(00:23):
ever asked, let's cut to it. You ain't heard am
about it, then we're about to let you know. It's
all okay, alright, Me and my wife foolishly decided we're
(00:49):
gonna play tennis over the weekend in the just it
was hot. It's been sticky. I mean we're in North Carolina.
We're in Charlotte for those of y'all who don't know,
So it gets humidity. It is painstaking that. I mean
it's been it's been hot in North Carolina. Um, I
mean it's been ninety degrees in October November. Right, We've
(01:11):
we've had a thanksgiven where it's been like eighty four degrees,
which is and then if it was like seven with
all the commidity. Yeah, so it's it's different. So we
decided we're gonna play tennis, right, and so where we
play tennis, they also have some Uh, it's a pool
right there. So there was a guy he's about sixty
years old, and again he was by the pool, so
(01:33):
he had he was walking from the pool pastor tennis
courts to his car to go in to to leave,
and he had on he didn't have on a shirt.
So he was again sons out, guns out. But he
was six years old, so he had it. He had
it for sixty year old man or or maybe could
(01:54):
have been older. He was pretty fit and he wanted everybody.
He everybody to know, Look, I'm old, but I'm still
handling the business. So I look over and one just
you know, I was always taught respect your elder, so
I look over when I said, hey, sun's eve guns out?
He said yeah. I said hey, but um, you got
(02:15):
those guns registered. He looked at me and said, nah,
I ain't shot these in a while. Bro. He had
his clip bloated, waiting for you to ask. That's why
he didn't ever start on because he was waiting for someone. Yeah,
I ain't shot these. I know what he says. I
haven't disstarted these and years. And what I loved about
(02:40):
that is one when I was acknowledging, Hey, I see
you working old. I see you, I see you working
young man. It was really cool because when I get
sixty or seven years old, man, I still kind of
want a four pack at least right to the other.
Two is still in the cooler, still in the cooler,
right because obviously when you're sixty and seven, you ain't
(03:02):
working out like you used to. But just just to
have a a two pack, man, that's progress. Because there's
a lot of thirty year old so walking around with
kegs they ain't got No did he run up on
you like he wanted to try or he just ran
He wasn't like that, No, he was. He was strolling
by his flip flops in the shorts and and his shirt,
and I was fully dressed and ninety degree weather playing tennis,
(03:26):
and people like, really, still you play tennis? Actually I'm
a three five and ten. That means there's five oh
I mean four or five? Four oh three? Five three
oh to five two oh two old? Is you're terrible?
Um three five is? You could play a little bit,
run around. I love the exercise. I'm actually a huge
(03:47):
tennis junkie. Love love tennis. Grew up watching Andrea Agassi
and um, you know on here on cut Tool. We
also eventually have some tennis guys to brothers talking tennis.
That's what I'm talking about. Yeah, you know obviously Arthur
ashe but there's a lot of different guys here in
North Carolina. And um Andy Murray um really good friends.
(04:10):
He grew up in Greensboro, John Isner Um. Obviously you
got the Serenas that's down the street from the house
in l A girl. I remember, I had the unique
opportunity to visit um James Blake when he was playing.
His mom actually well was his trainer and and really
kind of kept him and focused. I was pretty good.
So I love tennis and intense dude. That's that's crazy, man,
(04:33):
intense dude like you savage on the field swinging tennis club.
Why do you saying like that. No, I'm saying I'm
not judging you. I'm not I'm not judging at all.
I'm just saying I find it interesting that you know,
if you canell you to keep backpelling, you're gonna hit
the water cool over there. That's cool. I play a
little DV in my life, but I'm just saying, I
(04:54):
do you seriously, I find it interesting that that you
play tennis. And it's cool because I think the one
I mean, you are a football player, you tense do
in tennis is such a quote unquote country club sport that, um,
I really find it interesting and honestly find it cool
even for me like my daughter who six your niece Mia, Um,
(05:16):
she loves swimming and she loves playing golf, two things
that I never grew up around where I'm from. So honestly,
what I'm saying is I find it cool that you
can invest yourself in the sport that otherwise, you know,
places that we're from, you don't typically play. So honestly,
I find it really cool that you know, in your
later stages in life, you can find something like that
(05:37):
that really keeps you fit, keeps you focused, and keeps
you really you know, keeps you around some sort of competitiveness. Man,
let me tell you, in tennis, you want to get ran,
play some old folks. They give you the business. Give
you the business because in tennis, tennis is a mind game, right,
and it's ball placement, and a lot of the older
(05:58):
people don't have that movement like they used to, but
they but they're playing from a mental stampard and so
they so I played the older guy and got my
butt woolf and he ran me, ran me off the
court because ball placement. I'm over there, I'm running from
(06:18):
side to side, baseline, the baseline. That dude was out
out there running for no reason. He was out there
like it just crossed court throwing darts. But I love
tennis because it's it's a great It is a great
sport in which requires mental fortitude, strategy. But you could
(06:41):
also hit the snot out of the ball and then
they can return it same velocity even more, or they
can set you up. So it's a lot of mental
aspect of it. It's a lot of I was, but
that old man taught me something. I'll running. I'll run
them into the ground right now. But you know that
(07:01):
ain't gonna happen. But I really love tennis, and so
me and my wife play tennis together. My boys. I
am Doocey Um. We called Doocy Goosey Steve Smith Jr.
I have brainwashed him Um into being a tennis player.
He's gonna be t He's gonna become a tennis player,
and then I will be able to live in Italy
(07:23):
um for a year or two because he'll be he'll
be training out there, and so we're gonna be recording
from Italy. I don't don't really care record from, but
I'm getting Italy at some point. Uh to just be
there for a year and let him train um in
Italy and then I can blow up by eating a
whole bunch of pizza. There you go, there, So gee,
(07:44):
let's cut to it. And who's our guest for today?
Because I don't know who it is. We we talked
about some guys and then now I got like a
surprise guest that you're supposed to be telling me, and
so now I'm just going off to I am literally,
I have no questions in front of me because you
guys and tell me. So. If this show seems a
(08:04):
little bit radic today, that's only because they surprised me
with the guest and I don't know who it is,
but I think it's gonna be an awesome guest. Alright,
coming up, we got a very special surprise guest, an icon,
a legend, Michael Vick. He went to Virginia Tech University.
He's a four time pro bowler. He was the NFL
Comeback Player of the Year in and he's the NFL's
(08:29):
all time leader in rushing yards by a quarterback over
six thousand yards. Michael Vick, thanks for coming onto the
cut to a podcast. Brother, Thanks for having me. Man,
It's just a pleasure to be on pleasure at this
segment we're about to go into. It's called get Iced
(08:51):
Up with Smitty is basically our ice breakers, So be
prepared for anything. Smithy. I'll let you take it. Favorite
childhood cereal Captain Crunch Crunch. It was flavorful, especially when
they started throwing the flavors up in there and got
that years when on that's a hood favorite right there,
(09:14):
that's a favorite right there. Berries and they hit the
blueberries and the red berries came. It was popular. The
summer activity you love to do, swimming at the Boys
and Girls Club. But that was my thing, you know
what I mean. That was my thing that swim. Swims, swim,
and it made me strong, It made me better, um,
you know, as a as a as a football player,
(09:36):
and you know, growing up where I grew up, because
I was stronger than everybody, nobody liked to swim with
me and it was a passing growing up. So swimming
at the Boys and Girls Club now I know you
had a ton of fast twitch. However, now you retired,
So how you ain't your shoes? You got shoelaces or
veil crow? I got shoelaces. Can't leave you try to
(10:00):
dispect the icon. I can't get caught in the bell crow.
If you ask me this ten years from now, then
you might get a different answer. We can. Yeah, let
me trap up real quick. Well, we we really appreciate
(10:25):
you coming up on that. And the purpose, uh, of
the of our podcast really is to get the insight
um and understand the the man, the woman as well
inside the jersey. We want you to start off before
we really get into really who Michael Vick is. Just
(10:47):
set the stage, like where'd you grow up? How did
you grow up? All right? And and and and really
how and where you grew up? How did at shape
your life? Good and bad and and and so paint
that picture for us. We all know you know the
good and the bad. Yeah, but it but it all
(11:10):
started from somewhere and where where is that place? It
started in Newport News, Virginia, Um, a place I can
sit at home for eighteen years until I left Virginia tech. Um.
You know, I moved around to a couple of different
neighborhoods from the age of uh, you know, six until
I was about ten years old, so I had, uh
(11:33):
always had different crews of friends, which which was cool,
and until I moved into my last neighborhood, British Circle
where I grew up, where I grew up, you know,
from the age of ten to like eighteen, and met
all my friends who uh you know, I got to
know and still friends with guys to this day, but
had dreams with and you know, thought about what life
(11:55):
would be like with, you know, as a as a
young man growing into an older man. You know, we
went through everything together. You know, we went through you know,
the preteen years and the teen years and you know
to playing football and li and girls and you know,
everybody had their own set of goals and dreams, and
you know, it was so you know, it was a
tough situation to grow up in because you know, you
(12:17):
don't know, you don't have a lot, you know, until
you go around somebody who has a lot. And one
of my cousins, his mom and dad was in the
household and they both had good jobs. And you know,
I've seen the different side of life, and I'm like,
you know, I want that life. You know, even though
I don't have what we have. You know, if I
can experience that and learn from that experience, you know,
(12:38):
it helps shape and mold me to you know, me
thinking like that I want more than what we have.
And uh, you know, I started playing you know, football,
like the age of seven, and it was like the
coolest game ever. You know. Didn't start out as a quarterback,
you know, I was running back at first. That's a
different story. But you know, the dreams started right there,
and I was like, man, they get paid for this.
(13:01):
You know, I'm pretty good at this. You know, I
think this is something that I want to do. And
you know, fast forward to you know, from the age
of ten to eighteen, it was like, man, you gotta
do so much in order to get a scholarship to
go to you know, college, and to to play in
the National Football League. So I looked at the journey
that I had to travel and I was like, man,
(13:23):
it's tough. But as a ten year old kid, I
was like, I'm prepared for that journey. So, you know,
growing up in that environment prepared me for that journey.
I think my friends and the guys I grew up with,
the guys that really grew up with, um, they helped
me with that journey. And then you know, it was
high school, college and then but when you say guys
(13:44):
I really grew up with, I say that, Steve, because
I really feel like, um, you know, my my two
best best friends, my two besties, guy named Jamal Wilson
and Kevin Stanley was the guys that when I we
touched eight team, we all when I separate ways. They
both went in the military and I went on to college.
And then it was you guys that I met, you know,
(14:06):
over time. And you know, Kevin wasn't playing football and
Jamaala wassn't playing football. I got closer with my teammates.
Some of those guys good dude, some of them was
bad dudes. But they all they became my friends and
I hung out with him and you know he kind
of made decisions and choices together, you know, good and bad,
and uh, you know, it was what it was. But
those two guys that I just named were, you know,
(14:30):
my guys, and to this day, like they still like
my beasties. The ones that's gonna tell me like, no,
you're making a bone head decision or you know you
shouldn't do that, and they're not afraid to tell me no,
you know, and that that that's been the biggest teal
to the sign up. Why you know, those guys that
they always been my bestties many always will being, you know.
(14:50):
So you know, I learned my lesson with friends along
the way. You know, how to determine if your friend
is really a friend. You know, Mike, I played against you, Um,
long time, good and bad, and we're out. We were
in the same draft class and um, and you know
we're both doing analysts work now. Um, you're doing a
fantastic job on Fox, you know, and I'm I'm I'm
(15:12):
trying to keep up with you on NFL network. Appreciate it. Now,
I'm gonna take this time to address something the elephant
in the room, because I think it's one um journalistic
integrity that I'm learning of talking about it, but just
(15:33):
steer me in the direction if I say something, that's
if I misspeak. But basically, um, around two thousand and six,
you know, the FBI and some of that stuff is
starting investigation about some of the outside activity that was
going on outside of uh, your employment with Atlanta Falcons,
(15:55):
and you were um basically convicted or or or I
believe plead got a plea deal with them on dog
fighting and all of that stuff. And so August two
thousand seventh you were sentenced and had to serve an
eighteen months prison term and also had to do two
(16:17):
months of house arrest. You also had to pay back
money to the Lanta Falcons. I believe a whole bunch
of money. Um, none of us got under our under
our mattresses. But you also, Mike, Mike Vick is the
original highlight reel. Um, myself and many other people feared
(16:40):
when you had the ball in your hands. When we're
standing on the other sideline, I'm like, man, if that
they let this dude get loose again, we in Trump.
I want to ask you when you went to prison
then Michael Dwane Vick walk in that prison or was
it Michael Vick the highlight real? Oh man, that's an
(17:03):
amazing question, because Michael victor highlight Reel, walked into that
and into that prison and walked in there and feeling like, damn,
this shouldn't this shouldn't be me. I had too much
money for this. I shouldn't have you know, I shouldn't
be in this situation. You know, at first a couple
of hours, I was in there. Every time they came
(17:23):
to check on me to make sure that I was good,
and I wasn't, and they committed suicide that you know,
I thought somebody was coming and locked that door to
let me out, you know, and I'm like because I
felt like I didn't deserve to be there. And then
over time, you know, as the nights went on and
the days when was longer, and the days hurt, they hurt.
(17:45):
You know, you're thinking about, you know, the outside world.
You think about family and watching football and watching you guys,
you know, you know, like men of integrity out there
doing what they're supposed to be doing, because that's what
everybody dreamt of doing their entire lives, unless they just
fell into it. You know, very very blessed to be
out there on the field in that situation. I'm you know,
one of the you know, Markey players of the league,
(18:07):
and I'm sitting in the prison c and I'm like, damn,
this shouldn't beat me. But that's time went on, I
realized like, yeah, this is what's gonna It was supposed
to be me. It needed to be me because I
started thinking about, you know, all the people I did, hurt,
all the animals I hurt, all of you know, things
that I did, and the decisions I made that could
have been better, and I'm like, you didn't make the
(18:28):
all the right decisions. You know, nobody's perfect, but at
the same time, you probably made more bad decisions than
you did good and that's the reason you were in
this place right now. So you know, I looked at that,
you know, understood it. You know I accepted it, and
I was like, you know, when I leave out of here,
I'm gonna come out of here a different person. I'm
gonna come out of here man of integrity. I'm gonna
respect my family and respect you know, the game. I'm
(18:50):
respect the people who try to help me in every
fastor that my life and one of the best for me,
and I'm not going to ignore that. I'm gonna grow up.
I'm not gonna be so reserved and I'm not gonna
be so you know, introvertive. I'm gonna try to open up.
You know, I all those things is on my mind,
and I felt like, you know, I did it, but
I needed that time to get to that point in
(19:11):
my life. So the highlight, Michael Vick, the highlight real
walk in prisonent Michael the Man came out and I'm
I'm very appreciative of that in my life. What so,
what did you discover about about about yourself really being
put in that position twenty three hours a day. Yeah,
(19:35):
I feel like, you know, just losing the control, you know,
it was probably the biggest thing. And like I have
no patrol of you know, when I'm gonna eat. I
having no patrol of when I got to go to
sleep or you know, I'm pretty much on somebody else's time,
you know, um but a lot of idle time. And
I'm like, damn, like, you know, i gotta find a
way to to to make this, you know somewhat, you know,
(20:00):
a success story, Like man, I got it in me.
I know I could do it, Like I know the
decisions that was made that was wrong. Damn, I should
have just did it right. You know. All I started
thinking about was the second chance, another opportunity. If I
get a chance to do it all again, and I'm
gonna do it this way, and i know I'm not
gonna be perfect, but at least I know I'm not
gonna be around those same people, you know, the same influences.
(20:23):
You know, I'm growing up a little bit, and I
wanted to show people more than anything that when I
got out, I was more mature. You know. It started
with Roger Goodell than he was the last person I
was looking to his face and lie to, you know,
about being involved. So I was able to start with him,
to break the ice, tell the truth. I was wrong.
He said, look, I'm not here to talk about the past,
me to talk about the future. And right then and
(20:45):
then when I heard that, I was just like, Okay,
that's it. That's it. It's it's all about the struture.
And Roger Gidell told me that, and our initial conversation
and that changed my life. That made me look at
the world different. It made me know that the that
I had come true. Like all the other visions I had,
what vision, I don't know, I got a lot of
(21:10):
like a lot of stuff in my mind. I was,
you know, we spent a lot of we we spent
a lot of time like all my all the staff,
all the people is working with us, We spent a
lot of time just kind of looking at all this
stuff about about you. And I watched a lot of
things myself, and and the one thing I kept focusing
(21:33):
on it was like, you know, I don't want this
to you, to come on here and to rehab something
um that's happened. However, I don't want people to feel
like that we're glancing over or were or we're giving
you try. Yeah, it's all under control, baby, Yeah. But
but also, like I also put myself in your position,
(21:53):
is I've done some stupid stuff in my life. And
you know when you do some stupid stuff, you sitting
there right, and I say stupid because if I'm being
one hunter many like playing against you. I know the
story is about you. I know. I know we're gonna
get into some stories. I know, but I'm saying I'm
(22:16):
saying all all this stuff about you, like I watched
you and when that all went down, you know, being
so close here in Charlotte, in Charlotte, trying to mimic
the growth of Atlanta, like we we got the information
like we were it was like it was happening here,
and bro like sitting here and just putting myself in
(22:39):
that position, I'm going all the stupid stuff I've done
in my life. You know how many times I've gotten
in trouble and then you wake up and you you
wake up with your eyes open and you just kind
of that one eye you go, I hope it's I
hope it's not real, and then you realize, damn, we're
(23:01):
still here. Like I just, I really like I really
want you to kind of like just take us through
that personal journey of sitting in there, because a lot
of the month there's so many people like I read
some of the comments, people like the YouTube stuff that
every time you're on there, people are like, he's not
(23:21):
he's not remorseful, demands for eighteen months in jail. It
don't even if he's not remorseful, he's sitting in his
in his dirt right now. Yeah, And I just I
personally don't cannot sit there, even visiting men in prison,
(23:41):
myself sitting there going they may not the first week
or two weeks of the first month, but this brother
has seventeen other months to go. Ain't nobody getting them out.
He's not getting a free PA hurt. I cannot explain
the hurt from that though, Like, man, until this is
(24:04):
how much it hurt it hurt me that it became
normal being in there. It hurt me that it became
normal on a Friday night walking the track looking out
at the rest of the world caused going by people
going by and saying, damn, it's life that really exists
out there, and I don't have freedom, you know. And
(24:24):
you know, I just felt like from the start when
I found out that I was first going to prison,
I just kept looking at myself in the mirror, like, oh,
you're going to prison. You're going to prison. I know
what it's gonna be like kind of imagine, you know,
like you just trying to wake up from it, like, yo,
is this really real? And then next thing you're still
living in damn, like this is this is really happening,
(24:49):
you know, And you know, just so it's just so sad,
bro like just so um not have control. I have
to having control of my entire life and leading away.
You know, I'm driving, and I'm driving the train. I'm
starting the train everywhere and every direction I wanted to go,
and then I just I stared it off the track, boom,
(25:11):
and now we just crashed. You over there, you're banding,
and it's just damn like you know, you just got
to pick up the pieces, man, I really pick up
the pieces and get myself together, and like lost everything,
lost off everybody but my wife. Everything with my wife.
You still standing there, standing tall in the end, you know.
(25:33):
And even when I was telling her when I came back,
like uh, somehere, I'm on a bench right now on
the third quarterback, but I just need a shot. She
believed in you know, but she believed in me as
a man, and I was gonna change, you know, and
actually know another thing that like that transformation to like
she's just been a big inspiration in my life, is
just helping changing look at the world differently, understand things
(25:55):
and know that she can be just as you know,
reliable and know assertive and her friendships, you know, as
a man as somebody else that I felt like I
needed comfortence Like I kind of put that you know
on this on her now and we put it on
each other and you know, made a stronger maybe stronger
to this day. Did you think did you think she'll
(26:17):
leave you? Did you think she s oh going through that? Um? Yeah, Steve,
because um, you know I was real fouling my day. Man.
I was like, oh man, you know no respect. Um,
I had no idea of what it was like to
maintain a real relationship and you know, to love somebody
(26:38):
who truly loved you. You know, I was caught up
in a whole spotlight my bick life, you know, the
money to fame, you know, I was caught up and
all that, you know, and it took for God that
like put me in a vulnerable situation where like she
wrote me down while I was like, yo, no, I
I'll change it all. I'll give it all up, you know,
just to have you. You know. So I you know,
(27:01):
I thought because of that, because I went through that
with her prior that. When I left, it's like you
made another bone head decision. You deal with that yourself. No,
she was there. She's right there when I came home,
every step of the way as a phone call. Damn,
that's true. Lords. You know, That's why I learned loyalty
like it can come from It can come in a
(27:22):
lot of different ways from a lot of different people.
And I respect that. So you you basically twenty almost
almost thirty years old, and you're just figuring out what
real loyalty is, especially coming from the hood, from the
hood where we we think we know a loyalty is
just because of you know, when you're in the bottom
(27:45):
or you gott is your word. Yeah, also talked to
just naturally. We talked to distrust too, right, So that's
that's already ingrained too. So when you have an experience
like Mike had and you have these people that fail you,
it gets stripped away. But man, thank thank god, your
wife was able to stay with you through that entire stretch.
And it was and it sounds almost as if she
(28:06):
was a motivating factor when he was behind the wall. Yeah,
she was the strength. She was the strength that they
that first two weeks when I cried every day, like
see me on the phone, Stoomby, all right, all right,
you can get you got this, you could do this.
I'm like, I don't, I don't. I don't know what
you're talking about. Don't you know? You do out there living,
breathing and as you supposed to me. And I'm right
(28:28):
here dealing with this crap, you know, And I'm blaming everybody.
Now I'm pointing finger and this person that for now,
I'm just I'm upset, you know, I'm mad. You know
that that that that kid to keep unlocking that door.
Ain't let me out, you know. So I'm like, yeah,
I'm stuck, you know what I mean, I'm in the
box right now, you know. But she was just always
encouraging me and you know, making me laughing. You know,
(28:51):
we talked for hours. I ran that bill up crazy,
and then I had like a eight thousand dollar bill
when I left. I was only there for like I
was on with the inssial prison. I went to just
as a holding facility when they were just holding me. Um.
I stayed there for about maybe like forty five days.
So yeah, I left like an eight thousand dollar phone
bill because all and and the way the phone was
(29:12):
set up was that you can just call back right
after talking fifteen minutes and you gotta call that you
can call back and talk. I was just keeping on
the phone all day, all day, and that's you know.
That was that that bridge the gap and helped me
get through that little part and to uh they took
me to Leavenworth. So and I was relieved when I
went to Levenworth, man, I was I was at a
(29:34):
prison camp, so I wasn't like behind no serious wall,
even though when I first pulled up, they pulled me
up in front of the Levenworth Prison, the real prison,
and I was like, oh god, they got me this time,
you know. And the guy was like, you know, he's up.
You know you ain't going over there, You're going over here,
and you know, but you know, it still was you know,
it was. It was a facility where it was like
(29:57):
you couldn't leave it, you know, you couldn't. You couldn't
leave it. And enough so man, it was just you know,
being in Kansas and being away from my family, losing
that connection, you know, that was tough. Man. And then
I had I had three young kids too. I had
my my oldest son, and then my my two daughters
and my youngest daughter who was twelve now name is London.
(30:18):
She was just born in a month old when I
turned myself in, So that was a part of that.
Her too be part of her. Would you would have
made it if your wife wasn't there to talk to
you every day? No? Um, Honestly, that's another good question
because that's something that I never um been asked or
(30:41):
I had a conversation with people where it came out.
I'm gonna no, I don't think I would have made it.
If my wife lived, would have left me because basically
I would have had nobody and I was not gonna
just let any random person come and sit and talk
to me about the munch enough. Um. I felt like
the only person I could talk to at the time
was her. I thank god she's listening, because she used
(31:02):
to come visit and we'll spend three days in the
visiting room. You only get twenty four hours in a
month total. You know, we'll spend eight hours a day,
three days in a row, and just burn it on
and sit there and just talking. We were argue and
fright and laugh and joke, crying and kiss each other.
And you know, I need I needed that strength. When
I knew she was coming to visit. You know that
(31:25):
the week was went. She made the time to go
by faster. I say that, and uh, And there was
nothing physical. It was all mental and emotional and I
respected that part. It was really cool experience, man, and
just dealing with that now, you know, like we're like inseparable.
We have to take a break and the morning thinking
we gotta pay some bills. I love cut to it,
(31:54):
and I love it even more when you download us
and subscribe and you can fow 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
(32:16):
where you can buy merch and you can subscribe to
us wherever you listen to podcasts. I got all my
questions answered. That's what I'm here for, a brother, cut
to a podcast dot Com. I talked to you, bro,
and played against you prior to you get going incarceration,
and I've listened to you speak and talked to you
(32:39):
outside of after incarceration. Bro. If you're the win incarceration
about three years into your career, Bro, you still be
playing right now. Just the way he sees the game,
the way the way he speaks, the way he carries himself.
Like got met Vic and the whole we've met each other.
We were drafting the same class we took. It's funny.
(33:04):
I knew I was. I knew that I felt like
I was respected coming out of draft class because they
put you in categories in the combine, and in the
combine I was. It was funny me Vic and Quincy
all at that long table and there was our rotation
for our drug test, and we also took the wonder
(33:27):
lick in there. And let me tell you something, taking
a wonder lick with some dudes that know they're gonna
make it, but also some dudes who didn't really pay
attention to school as well. We were all looking at
the look tests like, I hope you got the answers
because I got it right and so I was class
(33:47):
and I believe one of the best draft class because
you got Drew Brees and the drafts, Michael Vick, Antana Moss,
Reggie Wayne, the data, I mean, just Michael's It's unbelievable
even down to uh, the the other guys in that
draft class. Right, Damn Morgan, Right, there's so many. Man.
(34:08):
I remember watching your broadness, like seeing you to day,
hearing you today, like it's just a remarkable that what
you went through for most people would hurt them. You grow,
you grow just like me. We grew up in in
in what society would call us at risk youth, being
(34:33):
at risk youth, you grew up not relying on anybody,
not depending on and not trusting anybody. However, in the
midst of all your trouble and all your you know,
using your word, the findness that uh with with the
(34:53):
way you conducted yourself in your relationship with your with
your better half, right, it sounds like that you actually
learned how to really connect and have a transparent and
real relational relationship with your your wife at the first time,
(35:14):
non physical and almost a true courtship. Yeah. I learned
to communicate with her. I learned to talk, so I
learned to get feelings out of her that that I needed,
you know, that I needed it and she needed and um,
you know, I really wish I had my dad in
my life, you know, growing up, because I felt like
(35:35):
he would have taught me a lot of things in
terms of relationships. You know, he was there, but I
didn't see you know, you learned by example, so I
didn't see him being affect me. I just didn't see
him talking to my mom and sitting her down and
you know, having you know, maybe a serious argument, but
then you know, you know, it all boils over and
then andy back to you know, the back to the normal,
(35:56):
the normal self. I didn't see that. I've seen it
in the different lands. It was a little rough but
you know it was more you know, it was you know,
it was only abusive, So I don't keeping really you know,
so I was like, you know, I had no real
concept of what, you know, relationship was supposed to be like,
so I think you know this in that the time period,
she kind of helped me to, you know, learn like
(36:18):
what a relationship was supposed to look like. And the
best part about it that you just said it was
just it was non physical. And then that's so I
think that helped, you know, help the both of us
in a sense. I know, every situation is different. So
what was the reinstatement process for you? Like, because we
(36:39):
hear like reinstatement, you hear, you know, you hear guys
are frustrated with my reinstatement. What's the deal? You know,
as if as if the NFL or the the institution
suspending them because they don't like their outfit that day, right,
you know, I want to know, really, what is the
(37:00):
what is the process? Like give us detail of you know,
not to get anybody in trouble. It just kind of
paint the paint the picture. Because I mean I've been
suspended and I had to do the evaluation process. You know,
I punched you guys, so I had to go. They
flew me. Actually, uh, I think they drove me. Jake
drew me in flow. I don't know which time though,
(37:21):
but anyway, they drew one time. They drove over the
time we flew and I had to do evaluation with
a counselor. And that evaluation stunk because I was fresh
off that I don't care about, right, I felt justified
in my actions, and so I had the evaluation. It
was literally a ten hour process, right and so, and
they basically came back and I was like I was
(37:42):
sitting in the whole evaluation body language. I was slouched down,
hat to the side, like, look, I'm just gonna do
my time, trying to go through the motions. You know.
But your your step was a lot more tedious. It
required a lot more energy and a lot more meetings
because everybody does that. You to slap on the wrist.
You just moved on with your life. What we know
(38:04):
is not true because most most of the places you've
been on really don't want to. I want to really
know what you would tell They want to know why
did you do that? What were you saying? But we
want to know the process. Man, I don't want to
know why that shirt look good on Mike Vin, you know,
I want to know what goes, what goes through the
whole process. Specific I'm trying to look like a handsome
(38:26):
my skin brother like myself. No doubt, I gotta give
you that. I gotta give you that. Let me say,
let me say, man, it was, it was. It was rigorous.
It was tough process because, first of all, when I
was on pre track, right before I went to turn
myself in to go to go to prison, all right,
(38:47):
my wife and one of my friends told me, like,
you know, don't you know, don't don't smoke. I'm like, well,
I'm stressed out and I need to I need to smoke,
you know, Uh, I need to smoke marijuana. I needed
this is what I need to do. They're like, no,
don't do it. Like you know, I'm not gonna get tested. Boom,
I get tested. Now I'm in the drug program with
(39:08):
the League. It sprints up my probation like everything, just
like I got snapped down on me. And so my
process was tougher because I was in a in a
drug program and now I'm getting all these questions about
you know, why did I you know, smoke marijuana before
I before I even went into prison, and knowing that
(39:28):
I was suspended from the league, So I put myself
in a vulnerable situation. So my process really started. It
started with Roger um uh being Roger met and and
I told you, He's like, look, we're not here to
talk about the past. We here to talk about the future.
And then we had we had conversations and he was like, well,
(39:49):
you know, I'm gonna send you over to another group
to meet where And it was like a group of
like ten people in the room with myself and they
grilled me. They asked me questions from eight to Z
about my friends, about family, you know, about money, about uh,
the dogfighting, the truthfulness is a lot of things that
had to come out, you know that that you know,
(40:11):
it was the one sided with with the media. Um
but and I hadn't had a chance to sit down
and talk with everybody. So in my evaluation process with
what type of help did you really need? And it
was you know, I think that figured out like Yo,
you're really not you know, a psychopathic person, You're really
not crazy? You know. Um, you know what happened to you.
(40:32):
You know, you could have made better judgment, it could
have made better decisions that we think you acknowledge that
it and we see your the mpaty behind what you're
saying you're gonna do, and you know, we feel like
you really care. You know. So that was that was
kind of like a two month process. Um and and
and also it was a plan and not have me,
you know, start as a you know, being started. When
(40:54):
I came back to the league, I couldn't see it
that way, but I think just behind it was, you know,
we don't know what type of reception you're really gonna get,
you know, so there's a lot of like we're ready
to risk it all for you. Um. We we love
your respect you as as a man and as a
football player, and we're gonna give you a shot and
see how I go. And that's all I wanted. So
(41:15):
you know, it was designed for me not to be
a start. I think I landed in Philly was a blessing.
I landed in Philadelphia and yeah, so so that was it.
So it all happened within like uh maybe like a
six month time spa because Tony Dundee came to visit
me in prison. He helped start the process. Um, and
then help you know, just to just see me, talk
(41:37):
to me. UM. A couple of representatives from Atlanta Falcons
came out to Blank, came out, Um, spoke to Andy
Reid on one occasion. UM. So so yeah, I was
just kind of like going through you know, just that
normal you know what it takes to get reinstated process.
And I've never been through it before. But you know,
(41:57):
just what I did before made it harder. And then uh,
I thank god Roger made it easy. At the end,
I was I became a free agent. Uh, you know
at plus I think of thirteen years and man, when
I was going to free heading up the free agency
bro it was like and ten teams interested in me. Yeah.
(42:20):
When I finally hit free ah C and the Panthers
released me, Man, it went to like fol teams. Yeah,
and I was really it was really different to be
a free agent for myself. It was it was a oupen.
I was older, so you know, I didn't have as
many teams. I'm wondering what the you know, what was
(42:43):
the free agency process for you? And then how did
you come to the conclusion that Philly was the team? Well,
Philly was the only choice, and it was like they
didn't make me go to the Philly but they it
was like set up to you know, go learn from Donovan.
My agent thought it was Joe Segur at the time.
I thought it was a great idea to go sit
(43:05):
behind Donovan. They already head Kevin Cobbon. You can kind
of work yourself back into shape. But I'm like, yo, nah,
it's Buffalo needs a quarterback. I think they had Trent
was at the time. And then uh, I think causing
Palmer just part of ways with with Cincinnati or they
needed to back up he was there for like his
last season and maybe, but I was just looking at
(43:27):
those situations like those are possible opportunities for me to
come back and start and get myself back in shape
and come back and show the league that you know,
I'm back and I'm ready. And and you know what
I realized my first practice in Philadelphia, before I talked
about how I got signed there, I won't ready my
legs the shot. My body wasn't in shape. You know,
(43:48):
they took the weights when I wasn't when I was
in prison, so I couldn't work out. Um, so you
know when I went through that process, it was like
Philidelphia wants you and then get it work for Andy Reid.
You know, you get the book behind Donovan, you don't
have the start. You can just take a year and
get yourself together. And then it started to make sense
to me Um when it was being explained to me,
especially by my agent, and you know, he's like, you
(44:10):
just don't want to go up and go out there
and then look like you know nothing, and then you
know you're getting booed by the fans and they're protesting,
and you know, you turn the city upside down just
like that. You know, just kind of work yourself back
into it. And I thought that was the right way
to go about it as I thought about it. And
you know, like I said, I wanted to be ma
sure about my decision making in that process, and you know,
(44:33):
didn't want to disrespect any read it all. I thought
he was a great coach um from a far anybody
working with Donovan, And I felt like it was a
year I could just go learn play there for a
year or be there, learn as much as I can
do my job, and then hopefully go somewhere the next year.
In free agency, you lost so much control. Yeah, you know,
in your carceration, and now all of a sudden you
(44:55):
have a little bit of opportunity, and now you you
you're back trying to control that thing, trying to remove
God from his play. And and and and as this
song goes, Uh, instead of taking a wheel, you, instead
of letting the Lord take the wheel, you want to
take the wheel back. I wanted the will I wanted
(45:15):
I wanted the ball in my hands, you know. And
think about it, It It hadn't They had nothing to do
with football, Like my I wasn't playing bad football, you
know before I left. Oh, I know, I remember you
wasn't playing bad ball, playing bad ball at all. So
I'm like, I gotta get back and back. What was it?
There was no football to prove, now that I think
(45:36):
about it, it was no football to prove. And it's
it's the same that they take. It took this conversation,
you know, eleven twelve years later to realize the football
wasn't the issue. You know, it was the issue of
you know, what I was returning from and how people
felt about it, realistic, you know, and and and that's
that's what it was, you know, that was that was
the fight and I now see how you um, you
(46:01):
know it was navigated to to to make it a
storybook in there. So the job well done to Andy
and Rogers, Asian Joe, you know, and and all those
guys you know who played a major part in it,
you know, um Tony Dundy, you know. It was allso
tutor and you know, and my guys get together even
get some good, good results usually, So thank god for that. Hey, Mike,
(46:25):
you you were gonna get into the free agency story
with with going to the Eagles, but talk a little
bit or would you tell us the relationship you have
with Donovan McNabb. I know you talked about how he
had an influence with you and and and you know
all that stuff. But you were getting recruited by Syracuse.
(46:46):
He was already there. Yeah. Yeah, Donovan was my idol man.
Donovan made me believe that I could I could play
college football, um and play my style of football, like
when I was in my saying year. I think he
was in his junior year. And you know, I watched
them my freshman sophomore year, like his freshman sophomore year Syracuse,
(47:07):
and I'm like, yo, man, this dude is baller, like
he looked like me when I'm in the backyard with
my boys, like he looked like me, or I looked
like him. And I'm like, man, you know what, I'm
watching close to see if he go to the NFL
and see if the league draft him, because they they
don't take quarterbacks like that. And I think he I
know he can be good if he if you know,
if the team believed or if he got a shot.
(47:28):
You know, I'm just looking at him from a talent perspective.
So he was like my idol. And then my my
senior year, I took the visit to Syracuse and spend
some time with him down there, and he can persuade
me to come to Syracuse because I just didn't want
to follow somebody else's legacy. I wanted to create my own.
But I still, you know, when I went to the Tech,
(47:49):
imired him from Afar. I've seen it. He got drafted.
He gave me hope, and I'm like, man, this dude
demand you know. So the first three or four years
in the NFC championship games multiple times and I'm like, man,
that's that's sty worked. So he just I just continued
to stay a fan of his. And you know, once
I played two years of college ball and got to
the league. Donald was one of the first people I
(48:10):
called to help me make a decision on if I
was ready to come to the NFL, and he stold me,
look mad, if you feel like it's nothing else to prove,
then then then you gotta make that jump. So he
was influential and that, and then you know, I always
was a fan of his, And even when we had
to play against each other and go ahead the head,
it was like fun, you know, and that you know
(48:30):
the times, you know, he's the reason I didn't go
to the Super Bowl, you know, a couple of years,
you know, so you know, he wouldn't let he wouldn't
let little bro get one off. He wouldn't let me
get the win. But it was cool. And when I
went to Philly, it was like, Man, I'm a stepping
in the locker room with you know, not only a friend,
but really somebody that I idolized growing up. So I
get to watch him work and see why he went
(48:51):
to the NFC championship games and played in the Super Bowl,
and maybe the next time around for me, I can
take a little bit of that with me, so I
have relationship. Uh was was real, real, real unique, and uh,
you know, Don was a great dude man. He kept
me laughing every day and I just some days, I
just I don't believe I was in the locker room
with him. It was that real. I think it's about
(49:12):
that time. Just take a little breather it cut it,
let's get down to it. Hey, Gerard, why did you
get that T shirt? You mean this thing? Oh yes,
I got it from cut to a podcast dot com
where we have exclusive merchandise. Shout out to our guys
at seven or four shot. But yeah, you can go on,
(49:32):
buy you a T shirt, subscribe to us wherever you
listen to podcasts. Now, after everything's going on, you get
picked up by Philly. Did you have to have precautionary
things put in place? Uh? If so, were you know
where you wasn't voluntary on your part or wasn't it
(49:55):
wasn't required? Yeah, I had a curse you out of Kerfew.
I was a grown man with the Kirkfew. You know,
I had to be in the house. But like ten
bullcraft happened one day, got it one day and then
you know, well, not me, but people around me and
then not that Kirkfey went there when you're like it's
(50:17):
five o'clock and I couldn't leave Philadelphia one time. Stories
are I'm told, but you know, um, you know, just
just still was kind of like, you know, straddling the
fence a little bit. Now I was doing what I
needed to do, but still like some of the wrong
people just showing up at inconvenient times and little things
just happening that was just I had nothing to do
(50:39):
with it. Nothing note out of my control. It's just
like it was like, well, what are you doing around
this person? Now? I wasn't around him. He came around me,
you know. So a couple of those little issues which
made to you know, a lot of restrictions when and
I was on probas soon you know, I saw obviously
in the probation officer and the council like two or
three times in the week like it was. It was
it was mind boggling, like they you know, I had
(51:01):
counsel that came every weekend. I couldn't dodge him because
that was mandated about the NFL, you know. Um, but
he helped me out. That man was there for me.
Like that season, I started like he was. He became
my best friend, still one of my great friends to
this day. Man, and um, you know, I got so
much respect for him, Man, I got so much respect
(51:22):
for him. We still talk about the world and what's
going on in social justice. Nack. You know, he's he's
he's a white man, you know, he's and he's like
sixty sixty eight years old. But his perspective on life
is amazing. You know. I almost kind of looked at
him as as a father figure. So that was one
great thing that came out of that. The whole situation.
It was a lot more. But you know, I met
(51:43):
a guy who, um, I could say to this day
care about Mike vickor man, you know, I don't care
about football week conversations with sending so far outside of
football that you know, it became real personal and uh
you know, so yeah, you know, daughters Rick Bay. But
I've worked my way through it. I navigate. Well, you
(52:08):
just heard part one of Michael Vick Steve. When the
VIC story broke and all this came out and became public.
What was the reaction of from you and players around
the league? Way you you didn't believe it? No, no way,
like nah he couldn't been doing this. And as as
(52:30):
things kind of kept unraveling, you started to see that
that was there was a true rabbit hole that they
were in, all the different stories and and it was
it was unraveling at a rate that was so rapid
it was hard to really process is it, Is it
true or not? And but here's one thing we all know.
(52:52):
I don't care where you grew up. I don't care
what you're in or not into. When the FBI come
knocking on the door, and as they ain't doing a
wellness check right they already having, it's really is how
big of all, how deeper of a whole are you
gonna dig yourself in? It shocked all of us. And
it shocked is Even more is the time that he
(53:15):
received and what he had to do and what he
went through. It was really surreal. And he living here
in Charlotte. We were getting a lot of information because
it ain't none but three hours away. So as they say,
the streets were talking, there was a lot of stories
out there that good, batterer and different. I don't really
I don't. I didn't really listen to them, because hell
(53:38):
that the same stories you could say about a ton
of different people, right, being a football player, uh is
no different or being an athlete, celebrities, entertainers no different
than anybody else's life. The only the only difference is
you get to see our lives on fold in front
of a camera. The question is if we followed you
(53:58):
around with a camera twenty five, what will we find?
And people forget that? You know? So so before you
get your before you get your threes, smooth stones, you know,
get get them skeletons at yours. So that was really cool.
I hope you enjoy it. Um, but also no, there's
(54:21):
two parts of that, parts of coming up. Yes, and
there's even it's even more so. I love it. Cut
to It with Steve Smith Senior. That is Me is
a production of Cut to It, LLC, Ball Too, Creative Media,
The Black Effect, and I Heart Radio. For more podcasts
(54:43):
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, Senior, co
host Gerard little John, talent and booking manager joe yus
She social media manager Payton Smith. From Balto Creative Media,
(55:05):
Cut Too It is produced by Brian Baltaschevic and Meredith Carter,
with production assistance by Alex Lebrek, production manager Sarah Pollock,
Theme music by Alex Johnson, lyrics and vocals by Anthony Hamilton.
You ain't heard about it, then we're about to let
you know. It's all
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 Little John, and this is
cut to it. Good do it, Good do it. They's
getting down to do it. Good do it. We asked
the questions you always want to know, but no one
(00:23):
ever asked, let's cut to it. You ain't heard am
about it, then we're about to let you know. It's
all okay, alright, Me and my wife foolishly decided we're
(00:49):
gonna play tennis over the weekend in the just it
was hot. It's been sticky. I mean we're in North Carolina.
We're in Charlotte for those of y'all who don't know,
So it gets humidity. It is painstaking that. I mean
it's been it's been hot in North Carolina. Um, I
mean it's been ninety degrees in October November. Right, We've
(01:11):
we've had a thanksgiven where it's been like eighty four degrees,
which is and then if it was like seven with
all the commidity. Yeah, so it's it's different. So we
decided we're gonna play tennis, right, and so where we
play tennis, they also have some Uh, it's a pool
right there. So there was a guy he's about sixty
years old, and again he was by the pool, so
(01:33):
he had he was walking from the pool pastor tennis
courts to his car to go in to to leave,
and he had on he didn't have on a shirt.
So he was again sons out, guns out. But he
was six years old, so he had it. He had
it for sixty year old man or or maybe could
(01:54):
have been older. He was pretty fit and he wanted everybody.
He everybody to know, Look, I'm old, but I'm still
handling the business. So I look over and one just
you know, I was always taught respect your elder, so
I look over when I said, hey, sun's eve guns out?
He said yeah. I said hey, but um, you got
(02:15):
those guns registered. He looked at me and said, nah,
I ain't shot these in a while. Bro. He had
his clip bloated, waiting for you to ask. That's why
he didn't ever start on because he was waiting for someone. Yeah,
I ain't shot these. I know what he says. I
haven't disstarted these and years. And what I loved about
(02:40):
that is one when I was acknowledging, Hey, I see
you working old. I see you, I see you working
young man. It was really cool because when I get
sixty or seven years old, man, I still kind of
want a four pack at least right to the other.
Two is still in the cooler, still in the cooler,
right because obviously when you're sixty and seven, you ain't
(03:02):
working out like you used to. But just just to
have a a two pack, man, that's progress. Because there's
a lot of thirty year old so walking around with
kegs they ain't got No did he run up on
you like he wanted to try or he just ran
He wasn't like that, No, he was. He was strolling
by his flip flops in the shorts and and his shirt,
and I was fully dressed and ninety degree weather playing tennis,
(03:26):
and people like, really, still you play tennis? Actually I'm
a three five and ten. That means there's five oh
I mean four or five? Four oh three? Five three
oh to five two oh two old? Is you're terrible?
Um three five is? You could play a little bit,
run around. I love the exercise. I'm actually a huge
(03:47):
tennis junkie. Love love tennis. Grew up watching Andrea Agassi
and um, you know on here on cut Tool. We
also eventually have some tennis guys to brothers talking tennis.
That's what I'm talking about. Yeah, you know obviously Arthur
ashe but there's a lot of different guys here in
North Carolina. And um Andy Murray um really good friends.
(04:10):
He grew up in Greensboro, John Isner Um. Obviously you
got the Serenas that's down the street from the house
in l A girl. I remember, I had the unique
opportunity to visit um James Blake when he was playing.
His mom actually well was his trainer and and really
kind of kept him and focused. I was pretty good.
So I love tennis and intense dude. That's that's crazy, man,
(04:33):
intense dude like you savage on the field swinging tennis club.
Why do you saying like that. No, I'm saying I'm
not judging you. I'm not I'm not judging at all.
I'm just saying I find it interesting that you know,
if you canell you to keep backpelling, you're gonna hit
the water cool over there. That's cool. I play a
little DV in my life, but I'm just saying, I
(04:54):
do you seriously, I find it interesting that that you
play tennis. And it's cool because I think the one
I mean, you are a football player, you tense do
in tennis is such a quote unquote country club sport that, um,
I really find it interesting and honestly find it cool
even for me like my daughter who six your niece Mia, Um,
(05:16):
she loves swimming and she loves playing golf, two things
that I never grew up around where I'm from. So honestly,
what I'm saying is I find it cool that you
can invest yourself in the sport that otherwise, you know,
places that we're from, you don't typically play. So honestly,
I find it really cool that you know, in your
later stages in life, you can find something like that
(05:37):
that really keeps you fit, keeps you focused, and keeps
you really you know, keeps you around some sort of competitiveness. Man,
let me tell you, in tennis, you want to get ran,
play some old folks. They give you the business. Give
you the business because in tennis, tennis is a mind game, right,
and it's ball placement, and a lot of the older
(05:58):
people don't have that movement like they used to, but
they but they're playing from a mental stampard and so
they so I played the older guy and got my
butt woolf and he ran me, ran me off the
court because ball placement. I'm over there, I'm running from
(06:18):
side to side, baseline, the baseline. That dude was out
out there running for no reason. He was out there
like it just crossed court throwing darts. But I love
tennis because it's it's a great It is a great
sport in which requires mental fortitude, strategy. But you could
(06:41):
also hit the snot out of the ball and then
they can return it same velocity even more, or they
can set you up. So it's a lot of mental
aspect of it. It's a lot of I was, but
that old man taught me something. I'll running. I'll run
them into the ground right now. But you know that
(07:01):
ain't gonna happen. But I really love tennis, and so
me and my wife play tennis together. My boys. I
am Doocey Um. We called Doocy Goosey Steve Smith Jr.
I have brainwashed him Um into being a tennis player.
He's gonna be t He's gonna become a tennis player,
and then I will be able to live in Italy
(07:23):
um for a year or two because he'll be he'll
be training out there, and so we're gonna be recording
from Italy. I don't don't really care record from, but
I'm getting Italy at some point. Uh to just be
there for a year and let him train um in
Italy and then I can blow up by eating a
whole bunch of pizza. There you go, there, So gee,
(07:44):
let's cut to it. And who's our guest for today?
Because I don't know who it is. We we talked
about some guys and then now I got like a
surprise guest that you're supposed to be telling me, and
so now I'm just going off to I am literally,
I have no questions in front of me because you
guys and tell me. So. If this show seems a
(08:04):
little bit radic today, that's only because they surprised me
with the guest and I don't know who it is,
but I think it's gonna be an awesome guest. Alright,
coming up, we got a very special surprise guest, an icon,
a legend, Michael Vick. He went to Virginia Tech University.
He's a four time pro bowler. He was the NFL
Comeback Player of the Year in and he's the NFL's
(08:29):
all time leader in rushing yards by a quarterback over
six thousand yards. Michael Vick, thanks for coming onto the
cut to a podcast. Brother, Thanks for having me. Man,
It's just a pleasure to be on pleasure at this
segment we're about to go into. It's called get Iced
(08:51):
Up with Smitty is basically our ice breakers, So be
prepared for anything. Smithy. I'll let you take it. Favorite
childhood cereal Captain Crunch Crunch. It was flavorful, especially when
they started throwing the flavors up in there and got
that years when on that's a hood favorite right there,
(09:14):
that's a favorite right there. Berries and they hit the
blueberries and the red berries came. It was popular. The
summer activity you love to do, swimming at the Boys
and Girls Club. But that was my thing, you know
what I mean. That was my thing that swim. Swims, swim,
and it made me strong, It made me better, um,
you know, as a as a as a football player,
(09:36):
and you know, growing up where I grew up, because
I was stronger than everybody, nobody liked to swim with
me and it was a passing growing up. So swimming
at the Boys and Girls Club now I know you
had a ton of fast twitch. However, now you retired,
So how you ain't your shoes? You got shoelaces or
veil crow? I got shoelaces. Can't leave you try to
(10:00):
dispect the icon. I can't get caught in the bell crow.
If you ask me this ten years from now, then
you might get a different answer. We can. Yeah, let
me trap up real quick. Well, we we really appreciate
(10:25):
you coming up on that. And the purpose, uh, of
the of our podcast really is to get the insight
um and understand the the man, the woman as well
inside the jersey. We want you to start off before
we really get into really who Michael Vick is. Just
(10:47):
set the stage, like where'd you grow up? How did
you grow up? All right? And and and and really
how and where you grew up? How did at shape
your life? Good and bad and and and so paint
that picture for us. We all know you know the
good and the bad. Yeah, but it but it all
(11:10):
started from somewhere and where where is that place? It
started in Newport News, Virginia, Um, a place I can
sit at home for eighteen years until I left Virginia tech. Um.
You know, I moved around to a couple of different
neighborhoods from the age of uh, you know, six until
I was about ten years old, so I had, uh
(11:33):
always had different crews of friends, which which was cool,
and until I moved into my last neighborhood, British Circle
where I grew up, where I grew up, you know,
from the age of ten to like eighteen, and met
all my friends who uh you know, I got to
know and still friends with guys to this day, but
had dreams with and you know, thought about what life
(11:55):
would be like with, you know, as a as a
young man growing into an older man. You know, we
went through everything together. You know, we went through you know,
the preteen years and the teen years and you know
to playing football and li and girls and you know,
everybody had their own set of goals and dreams, and
you know, it was so you know, it was a
tough situation to grow up in because you know, you
(12:17):
don't know, you don't have a lot, you know, until
you go around somebody who has a lot. And one
of my cousins, his mom and dad was in the
household and they both had good jobs. And you know,
I've seen the different side of life, and I'm like,
you know, I want that life. You know, even though
I don't have what we have. You know, if I
can experience that and learn from that experience, you know,
(12:38):
it helps shape and mold me to you know, me
thinking like that I want more than what we have.
And uh, you know, I started playing you know, football,
like the age of seven, and it was like the
coolest game ever. You know. Didn't start out as a quarterback,
you know, I was running back at first. That's a
different story. But you know, the dreams started right there,
and I was like, man, they get paid for this.
(13:01):
You know, I'm pretty good at this. You know, I
think this is something that I want to do. And
you know, fast forward to you know, from the age
of ten to eighteen, it was like, man, you gotta
do so much in order to get a scholarship to
go to you know, college, and to to play in
the National Football League. So I looked at the journey
that I had to travel and I was like, man,
(13:23):
it's tough. But as a ten year old kid, I
was like, I'm prepared for that journey. So, you know,
growing up in that environment prepared me for that journey.
I think my friends and the guys I grew up with,
the guys that really grew up with, um, they helped
me with that journey. And then you know, it was
high school, college and then but when you say guys
(13:44):
I really grew up with, I say that, Steve, because
I really feel like, um, you know, my my two
best best friends, my two besties, guy named Jamal Wilson
and Kevin Stanley was the guys that when I we
touched eight team, we all when I separate ways. They
both went in the military and I went on to college.
And then it was you guys that I met, you know,
(14:06):
over time. And you know, Kevin wasn't playing football and
Jamaala wassn't playing football. I got closer with my teammates.
Some of those guys good dude, some of them was
bad dudes. But they all they became my friends and
I hung out with him and you know he kind
of made decisions and choices together, you know, good and bad,
and uh, you know, it was what it was. But
those two guys that I just named were, you know,
(14:30):
my guys, and to this day, like they still like
my beasties. The ones that's gonna tell me like, no,
you're making a bone head decision or you know you
shouldn't do that, and they're not afraid to tell me no,
you know, and that that that's been the biggest teal
to the sign up. Why you know, those guys that
they always been my bestties many always will being, you know.
(14:50):
So you know, I learned my lesson with friends along
the way. You know, how to determine if your friend
is really a friend. You know, Mike, I played against you, Um,
long time, good and bad, and we're out. We were
in the same draft class and um, and you know
we're both doing analysts work now. Um, you're doing a
fantastic job on Fox, you know, and I'm I'm I'm
(15:12):
trying to keep up with you on NFL network. Appreciate it. Now,
I'm gonna take this time to address something the elephant
in the room, because I think it's one um journalistic
integrity that I'm learning of talking about it, but just
(15:33):
steer me in the direction if I say something, that's
if I misspeak. But basically, um, around two thousand and six,
you know, the FBI and some of that stuff is
starting investigation about some of the outside activity that was
going on outside of uh, your employment with Atlanta Falcons,
(15:55):
and you were um basically convicted or or or I
believe plead got a plea deal with them on dog
fighting and all of that stuff. And so August two
thousand seventh you were sentenced and had to serve an
eighteen months prison term and also had to do two
(16:17):
months of house arrest. You also had to pay back
money to the Lanta Falcons. I believe a whole bunch
of money. Um, none of us got under our under
our mattresses. But you also, Mike, Mike Vick is the
original highlight reel. Um, myself and many other people feared
(16:40):
when you had the ball in your hands. When we're
standing on the other sideline, I'm like, man, if that
they let this dude get loose again, we in Trump.
I want to ask you when you went to prison
then Michael Dwane Vick walk in that prison or was
it Michael Vick the highlight real? Oh man, that's an
(17:03):
amazing question, because Michael victor highlight Reel, walked into that
and into that prison and walked in there and feeling like, damn,
this shouldn't this shouldn't be me. I had too much
money for this. I shouldn't have you know, I shouldn't
be in this situation. You know, at first a couple
of hours, I was in there. Every time they came
(17:23):
to check on me to make sure that I was good,
and I wasn't, and they committed suicide that you know,
I thought somebody was coming and locked that door to
let me out, you know, and I'm like because I
felt like I didn't deserve to be there. And then
over time, you know, as the nights went on and
the days when was longer, and the days hurt, they hurt.
(17:45):
You know, you're thinking about, you know, the outside world.
You think about family and watching football and watching you guys,
you know, you know, like men of integrity out there
doing what they're supposed to be doing, because that's what
everybody dreamt of doing their entire lives, unless they just
fell into it. You know, very very blessed to be
out there on the field in that situation. I'm you know,
one of the you know, Markey players of the league,
(18:07):
and I'm sitting in the prison c and I'm like, damn,
this shouldn't beat me. But that's time went on, I
realized like, yeah, this is what's gonna It was supposed
to be me. It needed to be me because I
started thinking about, you know, all the people I did, hurt,
all the animals I hurt, all of you know, things
that I did, and the decisions I made that could
have been better, and I'm like, you didn't make the
(18:28):
all the right decisions. You know, nobody's perfect, but at
the same time, you probably made more bad decisions than
you did good and that's the reason you were in
this place right now. So you know, I looked at that,
you know, understood it. You know I accepted it, and
I was like, you know, when I leave out of here,
I'm gonna come out of here a different person. I'm
gonna come out of here man of integrity. I'm gonna
respect my family and respect you know, the game. I'm
(18:50):
respect the people who try to help me in every
fastor that my life and one of the best for me,
and I'm not going to ignore that. I'm gonna grow up.
I'm not gonna be so reserved and I'm not gonna
be so you know, introvertive. I'm gonna try to open up.
You know, I all those things is on my mind,
and I felt like, you know, I did it, but
I needed that time to get to that point in
(19:11):
my life. So the highlight, Michael Vick, the highlight real
walk in prisonent Michael the Man came out and I'm
I'm very appreciative of that in my life. What so,
what did you discover about about about yourself really being
put in that position twenty three hours a day. Yeah,
(19:35):
I feel like, you know, just losing the control, you know,
it was probably the biggest thing. And like I have
no patrol of you know, when I'm gonna eat. I
having no patrol of when I got to go to
sleep or you know, I'm pretty much on somebody else's time,
you know, um but a lot of idle time. And
I'm like, damn, like, you know, i gotta find a
way to to to make this, you know somewhat, you know,
(20:00):
a success story, Like man, I got it in me.
I know I could do it, Like I know the
decisions that was made that was wrong. Damn, I should
have just did it right. You know. All I started
thinking about was the second chance, another opportunity. If I
get a chance to do it all again, and I'm
gonna do it this way, and i know I'm not
gonna be perfect, but at least I know I'm not
gonna be around those same people, you know, the same influences.
(20:23):
You know, I'm growing up a little bit, and I
wanted to show people more than anything that when I
got out, I was more mature. You know. It started
with Roger Goodell than he was the last person I
was looking to his face and lie to, you know,
about being involved. So I was able to start with him,
to break the ice, tell the truth. I was wrong.
He said, look, I'm not here to talk about the past,
me to talk about the future. And right then and
(20:45):
then when I heard that, I was just like, Okay,
that's it. That's it. It's it's all about the struture.
And Roger Gidell told me that, and our initial conversation
and that changed my life. That made me look at
the world different. It made me know that the that
I had come true. Like all the other visions I had,
what vision, I don't know, I got a lot of
(21:10):
like a lot of stuff in my mind. I was,
you know, we spent a lot of we we spent
a lot of time like all my all the staff,
all the people is working with us, We spent a
lot of time just kind of looking at all this
stuff about about you. And I watched a lot of
things myself, and and the one thing I kept focusing
(21:33):
on it was like, you know, I don't want this
to you, to come on here and to rehab something
um that's happened. However, I don't want people to feel
like that we're glancing over or were or we're giving
you try. Yeah, it's all under control, baby, Yeah. But
but also, like I also put myself in your position,
(21:53):
is I've done some stupid stuff in my life. And
you know when you do some stupid stuff, you sitting
there right, and I say stupid because if I'm being
one hunter many like playing against you. I know the
story is about you. I know. I know we're gonna
get into some stories. I know, but I'm saying I'm
(22:16):
saying all all this stuff about you, like I watched
you and when that all went down, you know, being
so close here in Charlotte, in Charlotte, trying to mimic
the growth of Atlanta, like we we got the information
like we were it was like it was happening here,
and bro like sitting here and just putting myself in
(22:39):
that position, I'm going all the stupid stuff I've done
in my life. You know how many times I've gotten
in trouble and then you wake up and you you
wake up with your eyes open and you just kind
of that one eye you go, I hope it's I
hope it's not real, and then you realize, damn, we're
(23:01):
still here. Like I just, I really like I really
want you to kind of like just take us through
that personal journey of sitting in there, because a lot
of the month there's so many people like I read
some of the comments, people like the YouTube stuff that
every time you're on there, people are like, he's not
(23:21):
he's not remorseful, demands for eighteen months in jail. It
don't even if he's not remorseful, he's sitting in his
in his dirt right now. Yeah, And I just I
personally don't cannot sit there, even visiting men in prison,
(23:41):
myself sitting there going they may not the first week
or two weeks of the first month, but this brother
has seventeen other months to go. Ain't nobody getting them out.
He's not getting a free PA hurt. I cannot explain
the hurt from that though, Like, man, until this is
(24:04):
how much it hurt it hurt me that it became
normal being in there. It hurt me that it became
normal on a Friday night walking the track looking out
at the rest of the world caused going by people
going by and saying, damn, it's life that really exists
out there, and I don't have freedom, you know. And
(24:24):
you know, I just felt like from the start when
I found out that I was first going to prison,
I just kept looking at myself in the mirror, like, oh,
you're going to prison. You're going to prison. I know
what it's gonna be like kind of imagine, you know,
like you just trying to wake up from it, like, yo,
is this really real? And then next thing you're still
living in damn, like this is this is really happening,
(24:49):
you know, And you know, just so it's just so sad,
bro like just so um not have control. I have
to having control of my entire life and leading away.
You know, I'm driving, and I'm driving the train. I'm
starting the train everywhere and every direction I wanted to go,
and then I just I stared it off the track, boom,
(25:11):
and now we just crashed. You over there, you're banding,
and it's just damn like you know, you just got
to pick up the pieces, man, I really pick up
the pieces and get myself together, and like lost everything,
lost off everybody but my wife. Everything with my wife.
You still standing there, standing tall in the end, you know.
(25:33):
And even when I was telling her when I came back,
like uh, somehere, I'm on a bench right now on
the third quarterback, but I just need a shot. She
believed in you know, but she believed in me as
a man, and I was gonna change, you know, and
actually know another thing that like that transformation to like
she's just been a big inspiration in my life, is
just helping changing look at the world differently, understand things
(25:55):
and know that she can be just as you know,
reliable and know assertive and her friendships, you know, as
a man as somebody else that I felt like I
needed comfortence Like I kind of put that you know
on this on her now and we put it on
each other and you know, made a stronger maybe stronger
to this day. Did you think did you think she'll
(26:17):
leave you? Did you think she s oh going through that? Um? Yeah, Steve,
because um, you know I was real fouling my day. Man.
I was like, oh man, you know no respect. Um,
I had no idea of what it was like to
maintain a real relationship and you know, to love somebody
(26:38):
who truly loved you. You know, I was caught up
in a whole spotlight my bick life, you know, the
money to fame, you know, I was caught up and
all that, you know, and it took for God that
like put me in a vulnerable situation where like she
wrote me down while I was like, yo, no, I
I'll change it all. I'll give it all up, you know,
just to have you. You know. So I you know,
(27:01):
I thought because of that, because I went through that
with her prior that. When I left, it's like you
made another bone head decision. You deal with that yourself. No,
she was there. She's right there when I came home,
every step of the way as a phone call. Damn,
that's true. Lords. You know, That's why I learned loyalty
like it can come from It can come in a
(27:22):
lot of different ways from a lot of different people.
And I respect that. So you you basically twenty almost
almost thirty years old, and you're just figuring out what
real loyalty is, especially coming from the hood, from the
hood where we we think we know a loyalty is
just because of you know, when you're in the bottom
(27:45):
or you gott is your word. Yeah, also talked to
just naturally. We talked to distrust too, right, So that's
that's already ingrained too. So when you have an experience
like Mike had and you have these people that fail you,
it gets stripped away. But man, thank thank god, your
wife was able to stay with you through that entire stretch.
And it was and it sounds almost as if she
(28:06):
was a motivating factor when he was behind the wall. Yeah,
she was the strength. She was the strength that they
that first two weeks when I cried every day, like
see me on the phone, Stoomby, all right, all right,
you can get you got this, you could do this.
I'm like, I don't, I don't. I don't know what
you're talking about. Don't you know? You do out there living,
breathing and as you supposed to me. And I'm right
(28:28):
here dealing with this crap, you know, And I'm blaming everybody.
Now I'm pointing finger and this person that for now,
I'm just I'm upset, you know, I'm mad. You know
that that that that kid to keep unlocking that door.
Ain't let me out, you know. So I'm like, yeah,
I'm stuck, you know what I mean, I'm in the
box right now, you know. But she was just always
encouraging me and you know, making me laughing. You know,
(28:51):
we talked for hours. I ran that bill up crazy,
and then I had like a eight thousand dollar bill
when I left. I was only there for like I
was on with the inssial prison. I went to just
as a holding facility when they were just holding me. Um.
I stayed there for about maybe like forty five days.
So yeah, I left like an eight thousand dollar phone
bill because all and and the way the phone was
(29:12):
set up was that you can just call back right
after talking fifteen minutes and you gotta call that you
can call back and talk. I was just keeping on
the phone all day, all day, and that's you know.
That was that that bridge the gap and helped me
get through that little part and to uh they took
me to Leavenworth. So and I was relieved when I
went to Levenworth, man, I was I was at a
(29:34):
prison camp, so I wasn't like behind no serious wall,
even though when I first pulled up, they pulled me
up in front of the Levenworth Prison, the real prison,
and I was like, oh god, they got me this time,
you know. And the guy was like, you know, he's up.
You know you ain't going over there, You're going over here,
and you know, but you know, it still was you know,
it was. It was a facility where it was like
(29:57):
you couldn't leave it, you know, you couldn't. You couldn't
leave it. And enough so man, it was just you know,
being in Kansas and being away from my family, losing
that connection, you know, that was tough. Man. And then
I had I had three young kids too. I had
my my oldest son, and then my my two daughters
and my youngest daughter who was twelve now name is London.
(30:18):
She was just born in a month old when I
turned myself in, So that was a part of that.
Her too be part of her. Would you would have
made it if your wife wasn't there to talk to
you every day? No? Um, Honestly, that's another good question
because that's something that I never um been asked or
(30:41):
I had a conversation with people where it came out.
I'm gonna no, I don't think I would have made it.
If my wife lived, would have left me because basically
I would have had nobody and I was not gonna
just let any random person come and sit and talk
to me about the munch enough. Um. I felt like
the only person I could talk to at the time
was her. I thank god she's listening, because she used
(31:02):
to come visit and we'll spend three days in the
visiting room. You only get twenty four hours in a
month total. You know, we'll spend eight hours a day,
three days in a row, and just burn it on
and sit there and just talking. We were argue and
fright and laugh and joke, crying and kiss each other.
And you know, I need I needed that strength. When
I knew she was coming to visit. You know that
(31:25):
the week was went. She made the time to go
by faster. I say that, and uh, And there was
nothing physical. It was all mental and emotional and I
respected that part. It was really cool experience, man, and
just dealing with that now, you know, like we're like inseparable.
We have to take a break and the morning thinking
we gotta pay some bills. I love cut to it,
(31:54):
and I love it even more when you download us
and subscribe and you can fow 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
(32:16):
where you can buy merch and you can subscribe to
us wherever you listen to podcasts. I got all my
questions answered. That's what I'm here for, a brother, cut
to a podcast dot Com. I talked to you, bro,
and played against you prior to you get going incarceration,
and I've listened to you speak and talked to you
(32:39):
outside of after incarceration. Bro. If you're the win incarceration
about three years into your career, Bro, you still be
playing right now. Just the way he sees the game,
the way the way he speaks, the way he carries himself.
Like got met Vic and the whole we've met each other.
We were drafting the same class we took. It's funny.
(33:04):
I knew I was. I knew that I felt like
I was respected coming out of draft class because they
put you in categories in the combine, and in the
combine I was. It was funny me Vic and Quincy
all at that long table and there was our rotation
for our drug test, and we also took the wonder
(33:27):
lick in there. And let me tell you something, taking
a wonder lick with some dudes that know they're gonna
make it, but also some dudes who didn't really pay
attention to school as well. We were all looking at
the look tests like, I hope you got the answers
because I got it right and so I was class
(33:47):
and I believe one of the best draft class because
you got Drew Brees and the drafts, Michael Vick, Antana Moss,
Reggie Wayne, the data, I mean, just Michael's It's unbelievable
even down to uh, the the other guys in that
draft class. Right, Damn Morgan, Right, there's so many. Man.
(34:08):
I remember watching your broadness, like seeing you to day,
hearing you today, like it's just a remarkable that what
you went through for most people would hurt them. You grow,
you grow just like me. We grew up in in
in what society would call us at risk youth, being
(34:33):
at risk youth, you grew up not relying on anybody,
not depending on and not trusting anybody. However, in the
midst of all your trouble and all your you know,
using your word, the findness that uh with with the
(34:53):
way you conducted yourself in your relationship with your with
your better half, right, it sounds like that you actually
learned how to really connect and have a transparent and
real relational relationship with your your wife at the first time,
(35:14):
non physical and almost a true courtship. Yeah. I learned
to communicate with her. I learned to talk, so I
learned to get feelings out of her that that I needed,
you know, that I needed it and she needed and um,
you know, I really wish I had my dad in
my life, you know, growing up, because I felt like
(35:35):
he would have taught me a lot of things in
terms of relationships. You know, he was there, but I
didn't see you know, you learned by example, so I
didn't see him being affect me. I just didn't see
him talking to my mom and sitting her down and
you know, having you know, maybe a serious argument, but
then you know, you know, it all boils over and
then andy back to you know, the back to the normal,
(35:56):
the normal self. I didn't see that. I've seen it
in the different lands. It was a little rough but
you know it was more you know, it was you know,
it was only abusive, So I don't keeping really you know,
so I was like, you know, I had no real
concept of what, you know, relationship was supposed to be like,
so I think you know this in that the time period,
she kind of helped me to, you know, learn like
(36:18):
what a relationship was supposed to look like. And the
best part about it that you just said it was
just it was non physical. And then that's so I
think that helped, you know, help the both of us
in a sense. I know, every situation is different. So
what was the reinstatement process for you? Like, because we
(36:39):
hear like reinstatement, you hear, you know, you hear guys
are frustrated with my reinstatement. What's the deal? You know,
as if as if the NFL or the the institution
suspending them because they don't like their outfit that day, right,
you know, I want to know, really, what is the
(37:00):
what is the process? Like give us detail of you know,
not to get anybody in trouble. It just kind of
paint the paint the picture. Because I mean I've been
suspended and I had to do the evaluation process. You know,
I punched you guys, so I had to go. They
flew me. Actually, uh, I think they drove me. Jake
drew me in flow. I don't know which time though,
(37:21):
but anyway, they drew one time. They drove over the
time we flew and I had to do evaluation with
a counselor. And that evaluation stunk because I was fresh
off that I don't care about, right, I felt justified
in my actions, and so I had the evaluation. It
was literally a ten hour process, right and so, and
they basically came back and I was like I was
(37:42):
sitting in the whole evaluation body language. I was slouched down,
hat to the side, like, look, I'm just gonna do
my time, trying to go through the motions. You know.
But your your step was a lot more tedious. It
required a lot more energy and a lot more meetings
because everybody does that. You to slap on the wrist.
You just moved on with your life. What we know
(38:04):
is not true because most most of the places you've
been on really don't want to. I want to really
know what you would tell They want to know why
did you do that? What were you saying? But we
want to know the process. Man, I don't want to
know why that shirt look good on Mike Vin, you know,
I want to know what goes, what goes through the
whole process. Specific I'm trying to look like a handsome
(38:26):
my skin brother like myself. No doubt, I gotta give
you that. I gotta give you that. Let me say,
let me say, man, it was, it was. It was rigorous.
It was tough process because, first of all, when I
was on pre track, right before I went to turn
myself in to go to go to prison, all right,
(38:47):
my wife and one of my friends told me, like,
you know, don't you know, don't don't smoke. I'm like, well,
I'm stressed out and I need to I need to smoke,
you know, Uh, I need to smoke marijuana. I needed
this is what I need to do. They're like, no,
don't do it. Like you know, I'm not gonna get tested. Boom,
I get tested. Now I'm in the drug program with
(39:08):
the League. It sprints up my probation like everything, just
like I got snapped down on me. And so my
process was tougher because I was in a in a
drug program and now I'm getting all these questions about
you know, why did I you know, smoke marijuana before
I before I even went into prison, and knowing that
(39:28):
I was suspended from the league, So I put myself
in a vulnerable situation. So my process really started. It
started with Roger um uh being Roger met and and
I told you, He's like, look, we're not here to
talk about the past. We here to talk about the future.
And then we had we had conversations and he was like, well,
(39:49):
you know, I'm gonna send you over to another group
to meet where And it was like a group of
like ten people in the room with myself and they
grilled me. They asked me questions from eight to Z
about my friends, about family, you know, about money, about uh,
the dogfighting, the truthfulness is a lot of things that
had to come out, you know that that you know,
(40:11):
it was the one sided with with the media. Um
but and I hadn't had a chance to sit down
and talk with everybody. So in my evaluation process with
what type of help did you really need? And it
was you know, I think that figured out like Yo,
you're really not you know, a psychopathic person, You're really
not crazy? You know. Um, you know what happened to you.
(40:32):
You know, you could have made better judgment, it could
have made better decisions that we think you acknowledge that
it and we see your the mpaty behind what you're
saying you're gonna do, and you know, we feel like
you really care. You know. So that was that was
kind of like a two month process. Um and and
and also it was a plan and not have me,
you know, start as a you know, being started. When
(40:54):
I came back to the league, I couldn't see it
that way, but I think just behind it was, you know,
we don't know what type of reception you're really gonna get,
you know, so there's a lot of like we're ready
to risk it all for you. Um. We we love
your respect you as as a man and as a
football player, and we're gonna give you a shot and
see how I go. And that's all I wanted. So
(41:15):
you know, it was designed for me not to be
a start. I think I landed in Philly was a blessing.
I landed in Philadelphia and yeah, so so that was it.
So it all happened within like uh maybe like a
six month time spa because Tony Dundee came to visit
me in prison. He helped start the process. Um, and
then help you know, just to just see me, talk
(41:37):
to me. UM. A couple of representatives from Atlanta Falcons
came out to Blank, came out, Um, spoke to Andy
Reid on one occasion. UM. So so yeah, I was
just kind of like going through you know, just that
normal you know what it takes to get reinstated process.
And I've never been through it before. But you know,
(41:57):
just what I did before made it harder. And then uh,
I thank god Roger made it easy. At the end,
I was I became a free agent. Uh, you know
at plus I think of thirteen years and man, when
I was going to free heading up the free agency
bro it was like and ten teams interested in me. Yeah.
(42:20):
When I finally hit free ah C and the Panthers
released me, Man, it went to like fol teams. Yeah,
and I was really it was really different to be
a free agent for myself. It was it was a oupen.
I was older, so you know, I didn't have as
many teams. I'm wondering what the you know, what was
(42:43):
the free agency process for you? And then how did
you come to the conclusion that Philly was the team? Well,
Philly was the only choice, and it was like they
didn't make me go to the Philly but they it
was like set up to you know, go learn from Donovan.
My agent thought it was Joe Segur at the time.
I thought it was a great idea to go sit
(43:05):
behind Donovan. They already head Kevin Cobbon. You can kind
of work yourself back into shape. But I'm like, yo, nah,
it's Buffalo needs a quarterback. I think they had Trent
was at the time. And then uh, I think causing
Palmer just part of ways with with Cincinnati or they
needed to back up he was there for like his
last season and maybe, but I was just looking at
(43:27):
those situations like those are possible opportunities for me to
come back and start and get myself back in shape
and come back and show the league that you know,
I'm back and I'm ready. And and you know what
I realized my first practice in Philadelphia, before I talked
about how I got signed there, I won't ready my
legs the shot. My body wasn't in shape. You know,
(43:48):
they took the weights when I wasn't when I was
in prison, so I couldn't work out. Um, so you
know when I went through that process, it was like
Philidelphia wants you and then get it work for Andy Reid.
You know, you get the book behind Donovan, you don't
have the start. You can just take a year and
get yourself together. And then it started to make sense
to me Um when it was being explained to me,
especially by my agent, and you know, he's like, you
(44:10):
just don't want to go up and go out there
and then look like you know nothing, and then you
know you're getting booed by the fans and they're protesting,
and you know, you turn the city upside down just
like that. You know, just kind of work yourself back
into it. And I thought that was the right way
to go about it as I thought about it. And
you know, like I said, I wanted to be ma
sure about my decision making in that process, and you know,
(44:33):
didn't want to disrespect any read it all. I thought
he was a great coach um from a far anybody
working with Donovan, And I felt like it was a
year I could just go learn play there for a
year or be there, learn as much as I can
do my job, and then hopefully go somewhere the next year.
In free agency, you lost so much control. Yeah, you know,
in your carceration, and now all of a sudden you
(44:55):
have a little bit of opportunity, and now you you
you're back trying to control that thing, trying to remove
God from his play. And and and and as this
song goes, Uh, instead of taking a wheel, you, instead
of letting the Lord take the wheel, you want to
take the wheel back. I wanted the will I wanted
(45:15):
I wanted the ball in my hands, you know. And
think about it, It It hadn't They had nothing to do
with football, Like my I wasn't playing bad football, you
know before I left. Oh, I know, I remember you
wasn't playing bad ball, playing bad ball at all. So
I'm like, I gotta get back and back. What was it?
There was no football to prove, now that I think
(45:36):
about it, it was no football to prove. And it's
it's the same that they take. It took this conversation,
you know, eleven twelve years later to realize the football
wasn't the issue. You know, it was the issue of
you know, what I was returning from and how people
felt about it, realistic, you know, and and and that's
that's what it was, you know, that was that was
the fight and I now see how you um, you
(46:01):
know it was navigated to to to make it a
storybook in there. So the job well done to Andy
and Rogers, Asian Joe, you know, and and all those
guys you know who played a major part in it,
you know, um Tony Dundy, you know. It was allso
tutor and you know, and my guys get together even
get some good, good results usually, So thank god for that. Hey, Mike,
(46:25):
you you were gonna get into the free agency story
with with going to the Eagles, but talk a little
bit or would you tell us the relationship you have
with Donovan McNabb. I know you talked about how he
had an influence with you and and and you know
all that stuff. But you were getting recruited by Syracuse.
(46:46):
He was already there. Yeah. Yeah, Donovan was my idol man.
Donovan made me believe that I could I could play
college football, um and play my style of football, like
when I was in my saying year. I think he
was in his junior year. And you know, I watched
them my freshman sophomore year, like his freshman sophomore year Syracuse,
(47:07):
and I'm like, yo, man, this dude is baller, like
he looked like me when I'm in the backyard with
my boys, like he looked like me, or I looked
like him. And I'm like, man, you know what, I'm
watching close to see if he go to the NFL
and see if the league draft him, because they they
don't take quarterbacks like that. And I think he I
know he can be good if he if you know,
if the team believed or if he got a shot.
(47:28):
You know, I'm just looking at him from a talent perspective.
So he was like my idol. And then my my
senior year, I took the visit to Syracuse and spend
some time with him down there, and he can persuade
me to come to Syracuse because I just didn't want
to follow somebody else's legacy. I wanted to create my own.
But I still, you know, when I went to the Tech,
(47:49):
imired him from Afar. I've seen it. He got drafted.
He gave me hope, and I'm like, man, this dude
demand you know. So the first three or four years
in the NFC championship games multiple times and I'm like, man,
that's that's sty worked. So he just I just continued
to stay a fan of his. And you know, once
I played two years of college ball and got to
the league. Donald was one of the first people I
(48:10):
called to help me make a decision on if I
was ready to come to the NFL, and he stold me,
look mad, if you feel like it's nothing else to prove,
then then then you gotta make that jump. So he
was influential and that, and then you know, I always
was a fan of his, And even when we had
to play against each other and go ahead the head,
it was like fun, you know, and that you know
(48:30):
the times, you know, he's the reason I didn't go
to the Super Bowl, you know, a couple of years,
you know, so you know, he wouldn't let he wouldn't
let little bro get one off. He wouldn't let me
get the win. But it was cool. And when I
went to Philly, it was like, Man, I'm a stepping
in the locker room with you know, not only a friend,
but really somebody that I idolized growing up. So I
get to watch him work and see why he went
(48:51):
to the NFC championship games and played in the Super Bowl,
and maybe the next time around for me, I can
take a little bit of that with me, so I
have relationship. Uh was was real, real, real unique, and uh,
you know, Don was a great dude man. He kept
me laughing every day and I just some days, I
just I don't believe I was in the locker room
with him. It was that real. I think it's about
(49:12):
that time. Just take a little breather it cut it,
let's get down to it. Hey, Gerard, why did you
get that T shirt? You mean this thing? Oh yes,
I got it from cut to a podcast dot com
where we have exclusive merchandise. Shout out to our guys
at seven or four shot. But yeah, you can go on,
(49:32):
buy you a T shirt, subscribe to us wherever you
listen to podcasts. Now, after everything's going on, you get
picked up by Philly. Did you have to have precautionary
things put in place? Uh? If so, were you know
where you wasn't voluntary on your part or wasn't it
(49:55):
wasn't required? Yeah, I had a curse you out of Kerfew.
I was a grown man with the Kirkfew. You know,
I had to be in the house. But like ten
bullcraft happened one day, got it one day and then
you know, well, not me, but people around me and
then not that Kirkfey went there when you're like it's
(50:17):
five o'clock and I couldn't leave Philadelphia one time. Stories
are I'm told, but you know, um, you know, just
just still was kind of like, you know, straddling the
fence a little bit. Now I was doing what I
needed to do, but still like some of the wrong
people just showing up at inconvenient times and little things
just happening that was just I had nothing to do
(50:39):
with it. Nothing note out of my control. It's just
like it was like, well, what are you doing around
this person? Now? I wasn't around him. He came around me,
you know. So a couple of those little issues which
made to you know, a lot of restrictions when and
I was on probas soon you know, I saw obviously
in the probation officer and the council like two or
three times in the week like it was. It was
it was mind boggling, like they you know, I had
(51:01):
counsel that came every weekend. I couldn't dodge him because
that was mandated about the NFL, you know. Um, but
he helped me out. That man was there for me.
Like that season, I started like he was. He became
my best friend, still one of my great friends to
this day. Man, and um, you know, I got so
much respect for him, Man, I got so much respect
(51:22):
for him. We still talk about the world and what's
going on in social justice. Nack. You know, he's he's
he's a white man, you know, he's and he's like
sixty sixty eight years old. But his perspective on life
is amazing. You know. I almost kind of looked at
him as as a father figure. So that was one
great thing that came out of that. The whole situation.
It was a lot more. But you know, I met
(51:43):
a guy who, um, I could say to this day
care about Mike vickor man, you know, I don't care
about football week conversations with sending so far outside of
football that you know, it became real personal and uh
you know, so yeah, you know, daughters Rick Bay. But
I've worked my way through it. I navigate. Well, you
(52:08):
just heard part one of Michael Vick Steve. When the
VIC story broke and all this came out and became public.
What was the reaction of from you and players around
the league? Way you you didn't believe it? No, no way,
like nah he couldn't been doing this. And as as
(52:30):
things kind of kept unraveling, you started to see that
that was there was a true rabbit hole that they
were in, all the different stories and and it was
it was unraveling at a rate that was so rapid
it was hard to really process is it, Is it
true or not? And but here's one thing we all know.
(52:52):
I don't care where you grew up. I don't care
what you're in or not into. When the FBI come
knocking on the door, and as they ain't doing a
wellness check right they already having, it's really is how
big of all, how deeper of a whole are you
gonna dig yourself in? It shocked all of us. And
it shocked is Even more is the time that he
(53:15):
received and what he had to do and what he
went through. It was really surreal. And he living here
in Charlotte. We were getting a lot of information because
it ain't none but three hours away. So as they say,
the streets were talking, there was a lot of stories
out there that good, batterer and different. I don't really
I don't. I didn't really listen to them, because hell
(53:38):
that the same stories you could say about a ton
of different people, right, being a football player, uh is
no different or being an athlete, celebrities, entertainers no different
than anybody else's life. The only the only difference is
you get to see our lives on fold in front
of a camera. The question is if we followed you
(53:58):
around with a camera twenty five, what will we find?
And people forget that? You know? So so before you
get your before you get your threes, smooth stones, you know,
get get them skeletons at yours. So that was really cool.
I hope you enjoy it. Um, but also no, there's
(54:21):
two parts of that, parts of coming up. Yes, and
there's even it's even more so. I love it. Cut
to It with Steve Smith Senior. That is Me is
a production of Cut to It, LLC, Ball Too, Creative Media,
The Black Effect, and I Heart Radio. For more podcasts
(54:43):
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, Senior, co
host Gerard little John, talent and booking manager joe yus
She social media manager Payton Smith. From Balto Creative Media,
(55:05):
Cut Too It is produced by Brian Baltaschevic and Meredith Carter,
with production assistance by Alex Lebrek, production manager Sarah Pollock,
Theme music by Alex Johnson, lyrics and vocals by Anthony Hamilton.
You ain't heard about it, then we're about to let
you know. It's all
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