Speaker 1: Welcome to All the Smoke, a production of The Black
Speaker 1: Effect and our Heart Radio and partnership with Showtime. Welcome
Speaker 1: back to another edition All the Smoke. What's up, Smoky good?
Speaker 1: We got a special guest today, uh man, someone who
Speaker 1: is I got a chance to work with back in
Speaker 1: the day. Emmanuel. Emanuel. He's made his transitions from Austin
Speaker 1: to l A. He's out here in under the big lights. Now.
Speaker 1: When the smartest bugs we know go ahead and finish
Speaker 1: it for me. When the smartest bud I work with him.
Speaker 1: That's my boy. We're starting to girl relationship. I'm glad
Speaker 1: he's on the show. Emmanuel, just here. Why are you
Speaker 1: pronouncing it like that? Literally high key? That's how I
Speaker 1: pronounced my name when I meet people. Yeah, I say,
Speaker 1: Emanuell got my friends. Jack is studying film though ja.
Speaker 1: Jack wants to be an actor, so you never know
Speaker 1: what you're gonna get from him the day. But thank
Speaker 1: you for joining us, man, We appreciate it. Welcome to California. Said,
Speaker 1: you've been over a little bit of the pandemic. Man,
Speaker 1: I see you got your red Dorothy's on today like
Speaker 1: something like it? Yeah, yeah, something I said. I'm always
Speaker 1: in a suit. Bro, I gotta get this good. Get
Speaker 1: the knees out. Yeah, I have a good time. So
Speaker 1: what if I told you hold up, listen, bro, what
Speaker 1: you gotta watch him? I tell you all the guests
Speaker 1: you have to watch him. Bro, he get his jokes
Speaker 1: in real Yeah, you think they compliment to brother? Got
Speaker 1: doth she needs? But you're good. Man's the second one. Always,
Speaker 1: it's the second one. You know about three strikes. But
Speaker 1: let's get to it. Drafted in two thousand twelve. You've
Speaker 1: been retired for three years now, transition into sports media,
Speaker 1: been through the four years of Trump, all the Black
Speaker 1: Lives Matter, George Floyd movement last year nominated for an Emmy. Congratulations,
Speaker 1: by the way, uncomfortable conversation with the Black Man. If
Speaker 1: I'd have told you all that happened in the last
Speaker 1: ten years, what would you say? Honestly, I probably say
Speaker 1: nothing if you said we'll talk. If you said that,
Speaker 1: I'd probably be speechless. Um the I mean on the
Speaker 1: heights of the Emmy. Just found that out. That's like,
Speaker 1: thank you. Like, by the grace of God, I've been
Speaker 1: able to do a lot of cool things lately. Wrote
Speaker 1: a book All that Jazz partner with Oprah, but like
Speaker 1: a primetime emmy. I was like, yo, serious wild because
Speaker 1: it realistically I was drafted into the NFL, but I
Speaker 1: wouldn't know. I get a football. I was good enough
Speaker 1: to make it, you know what I'm saying. But I
Speaker 1: wasn't trying. I wasn't gonna make no noise there. So
Speaker 1: if if you would have told me that ten years ago,
Speaker 1: I would have called you a liar, and then I
Speaker 1: would have been speechless. Yeah, well you don't think you
Speaker 1: make Why you had that attitude not making noise in football?
Speaker 1: It wasn't that, man, I'm calculated bro. So like I
Speaker 1: realized after four years in the NFL, you're vested, vested
Speaker 1: pension and annuity. After four years, I looked myself in
Speaker 1: the mirror. I was like, I'm not gonna be an
Speaker 1: all pro. I'm not gonna be a pro bowler. So
Speaker 1: what am I playing for? You? Feel me? I was like,
Speaker 1: am I playing for money? I can go make more
Speaker 1: money doing something else. But I remember at the Rookie Symposium,
Speaker 1: it used to be mandatory if you got drafted. They
Speaker 1: told us the average NFL player, he starts here salary wise,
Speaker 1: the average doctor starts here salary wise, and at about
Speaker 1: thirty five they crossed pass and I remember that stuck
Speaker 1: to me. Stuck to me, so I was like, I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna be that. I was like, let me see
Speaker 1: if I can do this. And so when I stepped
Speaker 1: away from the league at twenty six, I was like, no,
Speaker 1: you're not gonna get me. I'm not gonna be on
Speaker 1: the episode of Broke and all that. So, um, that's
Speaker 1: really what it was. I could have hung on and
Speaker 1: could have kept playing, but for what And now it's
Speaker 1: all worked out. I mean we briefly touched the but
Speaker 1: really talked to me about this Emmy nomination and how
Speaker 1: your show Uncomfortable Conversation with the Black Man came about.
Speaker 1: I don't tell the story often, man, that's what you
Speaker 1: hear all the smoke we get first, and I don't
Speaker 1: because it'll take me to a place. Right. People ask
Speaker 1: me what was your inspiration behind Uncomfortable Conversations with a
Speaker 1: Black Man? And I'm like, there was no inspiration. There
Speaker 1: was a devastation you feel me like, it wasn't like
Speaker 1: I was inspired to create Uncomfortable Conversation. Yesterday, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: go talk about race that's what we're gonna do. No.
Speaker 1: It was like, man, after I saw this black man,
Speaker 1: George Floyd get murdered, I was like, okay, I gotta
Speaker 1: do something. Y'all notice because y'all have teams like I
Speaker 1: have a team publicist assistants say, then saw that, and
Speaker 1: you know you delegate. At first, you delegate responsibilities. I agent,
Speaker 1: I need you to do this. Publicist, do this, assistant
Speaker 1: do that. But when cats stopped getting stuff done, you
Speaker 1: know what you say, I'm gonna do it myself. And
Speaker 1: so I had kind of been sitting back in society like, Okay,
Speaker 1: civil rights leaders, sure, y'all got it under control. Police officers, yeah,
Speaker 1: y'all got it done in control. Um you know, activists,
Speaker 1: y'all got it done in control. But after I saw
Speaker 1: the murder of George Floyd, I was like, you know what,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go do it myself. And so true story.
Speaker 1: I rent out a facility in Austin, Texas. True story,
Speaker 1: I called a wedding videographer because I didn't have anybody
Speaker 1: in the video industry, your wedding videographer. I hit my
Speaker 1: best friend, a track and field athlete, and I rented
Speaker 1: out the studio space, and I sat down in front
Speaker 1: of a camera. Now here's a kicker. It's uncomfortable conversations
Speaker 1: with a black man, not uncomfortable monologue with a black man.
Speaker 1: So why was I by myself the first episode? I
Speaker 1: wasn't supposed to be My white home girl was supposed
Speaker 1: to do it with me. She drove from Dallas, Texas
Speaker 1: to Austin, Texas. We were sitting together, rehearsed all day Saturday.
Speaker 1: I did it on a Sunday. Sunday morning, I come downstairs.
Speaker 1: I had to stay in my guest room. I come downstairs,
Speaker 1: tears in her eyes. I can't do it. I can't
Speaker 1: do it. You know, they don't want to see me.
Speaker 1: They want to see you. I'm like, huh, that's not
Speaker 1: how we practice. What you mean, I can't do what?
Speaker 1: I can't do it. I'm like, well, I don't have
Speaker 1: the luxury not to do it. And so I said,
Speaker 1: you know what, I'll do it myself. I get to
Speaker 1: the studio at ten fifty four, called time is at eleven.
Speaker 1: I opened the door with my right hand. On my
Speaker 1: left hand, my phone vibrates. I check it us. An
Speaker 1: old colleague of mine, a black woman Hey, I really
Speaker 1: don't like this idea. You're doing uncomfortable conversations with a
Speaker 1: black man. White people didn't educate lacked people how to
Speaker 1: assimilate into their culture. Why do we need to educate
Speaker 1: them as how to assimilate into ours? Fair point? You
Speaker 1: gotta be their fair point. I simply responded, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: go as God leads, and um, I'm sitting in that
Speaker 1: room record the video. Five days later, I'm sitting at
Speaker 1: my desk in Austin, Texas. I gonna call it a
Speaker 1: no Call Aladie number. Saturday morning. I'm sitting there eating
Speaker 1: some honey nut cheerios. True story called no Callady Number stack.
Speaker 1: I picked the joint up a cho McConaughey speaking, I
Speaker 1: want to have a conversation, like Matthew. Uh. He's like,
Speaker 1: I want to have a conversation. I'm like, all right, cool,
Speaker 1: we'll do it in like four days. We can do
Speaker 1: episode two. He said tomorrow. I said, Okay, McConaughey wants
Speaker 1: to do it tomorrow. We do it tomorrow. Record episode
Speaker 1: to the next day. Five days later, again, another no
Speaker 1: Call Already Number. Hey, Emanuel, Um, this is so and
Speaker 1: so from Oprah Winfrey's team, Do you have time to
Speaker 1: talk to you today? I'm like, do I have time?
Speaker 1: Does Oprah hap time? My hop on FaceTime with Oprah?
Speaker 1: She's sitting in her kitchen just chill. Not like you
Speaker 1: know what, I'm staying in a studio giving it out
Speaker 1: cars Um. So she's sit in her room chilling, and
Speaker 1: she asked me one question, what is your intention? I said,
Speaker 1: my intention is to change the world, not truly believe
Speaker 1: I can. And um, the rest is history to save
Speaker 1: you all. An elongated story. But next thing, you know,
Speaker 1: to New York Times best selling books and then the Emmy. Damn,
Speaker 1: it's a hell of a start to the show. I
Speaker 1: don't even know where to go from here. Now, more
Speaker 1: than ever, the athlete voice not only travels resonates day
Speaker 1: to day, but travels around the world. What are your
Speaker 1: thoughts on kind of the athlete kind of finding a
Speaker 1: platform and their voice in this space in society which
Speaker 1: is so needed today. Catch twenty two, Fellas, It's a
Speaker 1: catch twenty two because a lot of professional athletes are
Speaker 1: professional athletes, but they are not professional speakers. Facts. A
Speaker 1: lot of professional athletes are professional athletes, but they are
Speaker 1: not professional psychologists. A lot of professional athletes are professional athletes,
Speaker 1: but they are not professional teachers. But you have professional
Speaker 1: athletes trying to speak, teach, and analyze the mind. It's
Speaker 1: a catch twenty two because my co host says a
Speaker 1: lot people want to disrupt with no destination. My dog
Speaker 1: Marcellus widely, um, he's like, people want to disrupt without
Speaker 1: a destination. I'm like, you know what, there's some truth
Speaker 1: to that. Like cats want to sit here and and
Speaker 1: disrupt the marketplace, but they don't necessarily know where they
Speaker 1: want to go. And it's unfortunate because I know their
Speaker 1: hearts in the right place. But it's kind of like
Speaker 1: action without intention is ill you feel me? Like cat,
Speaker 1: If Colin Kaepernick would have known how big everything was
Speaker 1: gonna be, he probably would have changed his steps a
Speaker 1: little bit differently. Now I fully understand what he was
Speaker 1: trying to do. But if capitally would have known how
Speaker 1: big a deal everything was gonna be, he wouldn't have
Speaker 1: worn pig socks, he wouldn't have worn a castro shirt, like,
Speaker 1: he wouldn't have done all that stuff had he known.
Speaker 1: You track with me, like the Naomio sock that she
Speaker 1: probably would have navigated things a little bit differently had
Speaker 1: she known people real talk, like everybody would have. But
Speaker 1: the problem is we don't go to the end before
Speaker 1: we start at the beginning. You tracking with me, and
Speaker 1: so I think it's a twenty two. I love that
Speaker 1: athletes have a platform. I love that they have a
Speaker 1: voice because athletes are so much more than an athlete.
Speaker 1: That's what they do, it's not who they are. But
Speaker 1: you just gotta be cautious because we live in a
Speaker 1: culture that can cancel quickly, and I think we're held
Speaker 1: to a different standard being athletes. Some people appreciate and
Speaker 1: respect that. Some people like, oh, you think you can
Speaker 1: do anything because you were an athlete. Fact and then
Speaker 1: bra because you're an athlete, some people also think you're
Speaker 1: not capable of doing it, like, well, they're a professional athlete,
Speaker 1: so they don't get Yeah, but athletes, some of them
Speaker 1: got degrees and some of them study's been taking private
Speaker 1: classes and taking business courses and X, Y and Z, Like,
Speaker 1: I'm an athlete, but I was way b I got
Speaker 1: a whole master's degree only for the purpose of not
Speaker 1: being a dumb jot. I don't necessarily use it. I
Speaker 1: brag about having it, but I don't necessarily use it.
Speaker 1: But I got it just to dismantle this dumb jock
Speaker 1: ideology because I don't want nobody to tell me, well,
Speaker 1: he's just an athlete, he's not allowed to speak on this.
Speaker 1: I'm like, no, no, no no, don't get a twisted now
Speaker 1: we've got the same degrees. Come on, I don't think
Speaker 1: I don't think nobody can be canceled to go back
Speaker 1: on your point. Like when I the old George Forsitust,
Speaker 1: when I decided to jump out there for him, I
Speaker 1: was just leaving with my heart. I had no idea
Speaker 1: what I was doing, I swear, I swear I didn't,
Speaker 1: but the passion and me knowing that no other person
Speaker 1: that was murdered by the police who had a professional
Speaker 1: athlete of my stature to speak up on you know
Speaker 1: what I mean. So it's what you're saying is correct.
Speaker 1: We sometimes we don't know, and it's just our heart
Speaker 1: leading in the direction that we don't know what we're going.
Speaker 1: And it's so good because if we lived in a
Speaker 1: society that would appreciate that, then I could co sign
Speaker 1: that the problem is bro It's kind of like I
Speaker 1: used to play mind sweeper growing up right, because I
Speaker 1: know how to play Solitaire was too complicated. I try
Speaker 1: to sound smart, but I'm really not all that smart.
Speaker 1: So your boy didn't know how to play solitaire, and
Speaker 1: so I would play mind sweel. You're fulling funk out
Speaker 1: of me right now, full a lot of people. Nah.
Speaker 1: So so I try to play mind sweeper stack problem
Speaker 1: with mine sweeper. I didn't know the rules, so I
Speaker 1: would just click around until something blew up, right like
Speaker 1: most cats. That's what a lot of athletes do. They
Speaker 1: don't really know the rules of engagement, and so they
Speaker 1: played the game, but they just end up vocally clicking
Speaker 1: around until they step on a landline and then something
Speaker 1: blows up. You feel me because so many of us
Speaker 1: lead and move with our heart. Everybody's hearts in the
Speaker 1: right place. Kabinet cart was in the right place. Uh
Speaker 1: naomial heart was in the right place. Everything you was
Speaker 1: doing with George Floyd heart was in the right place,
Speaker 1: everything just about most athletes do. Their heart is in
Speaker 1: the right place. But if you don't know the rules
Speaker 1: of engagement, it'll blow up on your quick race. In sports,
Speaker 1: so often sports has kind of left as our holy
Speaker 1: joyful time bring everyone together. Slowly but surely politics have
Speaker 1: slipped into sports. Race is definitely in the sports now,
Speaker 1: it's everything. So talk to me about race and sports.
Speaker 1: It's not that people do not want politics and sports.
Speaker 1: People don't want their politics and sports. I don't know
Speaker 1: if they caught you heard that. Honestly, I say a
Speaker 1: lot of things twice because my dad was a pastor
Speaker 1: and so I just brought too many services, three services
Speaker 1: every Sunday, real talk. And so it's not that people
Speaker 1: don't want politics and sports. They don't want politics that
Speaker 1: aren't there's in sports. Um, I'll start with racing sports.
Speaker 1: Race has always been in sports. Politics has always sports.
Speaker 1: Go back to Jesse Owens at the Olympics. Um had
Speaker 1: to get on a boat to Germany to go defeat
Speaker 1: them Nazis and get on a boat back just to
Speaker 1: come back and be a second or third class citizen. Like,
Speaker 1: let's not get a twisted even you have the likes
Speaker 1: of you know, I think it was Brett Farve who said,
Speaker 1: you know, why do we have to have politics and sports?
Speaker 1: Remember it was a late nineties seventies. If I'm not
Speaker 1: mistaken that that's when if you win the Super Bowl
Speaker 1: you go to the White House. That's when it started.
Speaker 1: So the ultimate award for winning the ultimate achievement of
Speaker 1: the biggest sport in America is to go get political.
Speaker 1: So how can we say that politics shouldn't be in sports?
Speaker 1: As for racing sports as deep And I don't know
Speaker 1: if I want to go there, because the fact of
Speaker 1: the matter is, and I've said this before, I think privately.
Speaker 1: I don't know if I said it publicly, but a
Speaker 1: lot of black people were still athletes and entertainers and
Speaker 1: in society a t I don't want to go. Okay,
Speaker 1: we're gonna um in society, man. A lot of the
Speaker 1: juice was gotten out of the squeeze from black people
Speaker 1: historically in this country, right if you talk about slavery
Speaker 1: and everything that happened historically. But there's still a whole
Speaker 1: bunch of youths from an athletic and entertainment perspective, because
Speaker 1: there are things that Stack and Matt Barnes can do
Speaker 1: that nobody else can just by the nature of height,
Speaker 1: size and athleticism. So we still need you all to
Speaker 1: go entertained because entertainment is something that can never be replaced.
Speaker 1: You feel me, And so racing. Sports is a whole
Speaker 1: complex conversation, but really the politics of the matter. People
Speaker 1: be lying like politics have always been in sports. Two
Speaker 1: thousand and nine, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, fields littered with pink,
Speaker 1: pink loves, plink wrist bands, pink towels. Nobody had an
Speaker 1: issue with it because everybody can relate to cancer. But
Speaker 1: then court and is covered in Black Lives Matter of
Speaker 1: type black, huge problem. Why because everybody can't relate to
Speaker 1: police brutality. So it's not that politics haven't been in sports.
Speaker 1: It's not that causes haven't been in sports. It's just
Speaker 1: if I don't care about this cause I don't really
Speaker 1: want to see it. Because it was the same thing
Speaker 1: with Breast Cancer Awareness, the same exact thing. Everybody was
Speaker 1: in paink why even a pink towels? But then when
Speaker 1: Black Lives Matter hits like, ah, you know what, I'm
Speaker 1: good on all that this ain't beneficial for us. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we were good there, So that's it. People just don't
Speaker 1: have the time to engage in this kind of conversation.
Speaker 1: Think that car Richardson band for spoken with marijuana on
Speaker 1: the days after her mom had passed, and like I said,
Speaker 1: knowing you're respecting you working with you at ESPN before
Speaker 1: you transfer the Fox one. I saw what you said.
Speaker 1: You made a comment on something. I remember what it was,
Speaker 1: and I said, I said, come on, bro, you're better
Speaker 1: than that. And you had made a comment, and I
Speaker 1: think you were taking a lot of heat. And then
Speaker 1: Gina Jack's um do it all. She sent me something
Speaker 1: where you you know that forced you to kind of
Speaker 1: go back and do some homework in your research on
Speaker 1: this situation. Talk to us about first of all the
Speaker 1: comment you made and then going back and doing your
Speaker 1: homework and kind of your outlook on it. Now, man,
Speaker 1: let's go there. Fellas literally came here for this. Welcome
Speaker 1: to all the smokes. Is a pleasure to be here,
Speaker 1: all right. First and foremost, let me preface with this.
Speaker 1: I was at let me trials, Let me press with this.
Speaker 1: Track is actually my first love, right like focused, don't
Speaker 1: do that, No no no, don't let me say national
Speaker 1: Junior Record old like Marcella's. But I love track because
Speaker 1: track is quantifiable. It's like why I love math two
Speaker 1: plus two will always before. I don't care if Stack
Speaker 1: feels like it's five or if Matt feels like it's
Speaker 1: six two plus two is four point blank. We watched
Speaker 1: the NBA finals. How much was Jans helping? How much
Speaker 1: was Middleton helping? How much was Chris Paul helping? Track
Speaker 1: is simple. I ran faster than you, point blank got
Speaker 1: a debate nothing. So let me preface with this my
Speaker 1: first love. Let me preface with I was at the
Speaker 1: Olympic trials. Let me preface with I keep up with
Speaker 1: not only what goes on in American track circuit, but
Speaker 1: the entire track circuit, Jamaican's, Nigerian's everything, because I love
Speaker 1: track first off. Also preface with condolences to Shaky. That's
Speaker 1: not overstep. Let's not overlook. This is a woman who
Speaker 1: lost her biological mother. Now to my knowledge, she has
Speaker 1: no relationship, had no relationship with her. I was raised
Speaker 1: by her grandmother. And Shaky said, but this is a
Speaker 1: woman who lost her biological mother. Let's not stup over
Speaker 1: that for the sake of debate number one, number two
Speaker 1: on from Dallas, Texas. I know she went to Carter
Speaker 1: High School. I know that area. I went to church
Speaker 1: in the hood, the hood, the hood. I went to
Speaker 1: private school, okay, but I went to church in the hood.
Speaker 1: So preface with that as well. So my my comment
Speaker 1: after she got she tested positive for marijuana, and so
Speaker 1: many people was jumping out saying they should legalize it,
Speaker 1: should be legalized, it should be legalized, it should be legalized.
Speaker 1: I'm like, okay, here's a kicker if it's only too
Speaker 1: much to get into. But nonetheless, it's only illegal in competition.
Speaker 1: You can smoke all the weeds you want as a
Speaker 1: professional track athlete, you just can't do it in competition.
Speaker 1: So I came out and got heat because I was like, Okay,
Speaker 1: if you legalize weed in competition, it's cool for the
Speaker 1: hundred meter sprinter, but what about the javelin thrower, the
Speaker 1: disk is thrower, etcetera. That's what I took all the
Speaker 1: heat for because people were like, one, people aren't gonna
Speaker 1: compete high in two If you compete high, uh, nothing
Speaker 1: bad would happen, full, transparently, never smoked, never drunk a
Speaker 1: day in my life. Right. That's why I'm engaging in
Speaker 1: this dialogue and been thrilled about because I'm like, we
Speaker 1: live different lives, but we respect each other fully completely.
Speaker 1: I respect you all boys to the utmost. So I
Speaker 1: got heat for that, mad heat for that stack acho,
Speaker 1: You're an idiot. You you're a square. You ain't never smoked.
Speaker 1: You clearly don't know nothing about nothing. I was like, Okay,
Speaker 1: here we go. Now I'm a square again. Now I'm
Speaker 1: Carlton uh um. But peeple. So after that, I can't
Speaker 1: just from search because I was like, my coach used
Speaker 1: to tell me that that. My coach used to say,
Speaker 1: listen to the message and not the tone. F you,
Speaker 1: you f an idiot. You're such an invin idiot getting
Speaker 1: the B gap? Okay, he meant getting the B gap.
Speaker 1: Now there's a bunch of you know words around all that,
Speaker 1: but he meant getting the B gap. So I was like,
Speaker 1: what are all these people on i G talking about?
Speaker 1: Matt Dunne called me out? Matt my dog. I know
Speaker 1: he wouldn't call me out for no reason. Jalio White,
Speaker 1: Steve Ercle don't called me out on the same post
Speaker 1: that Matt Done called me. I'm like dank Ercle calling
Speaker 1: me like coming to when Ericle clowning me? I clowned by.
Speaker 1: So I'm like, let me find the morsel of truth
Speaker 1: I get. I engaged with my followers, like y'all do
Speaker 1: I just don't really try to throw salt at him.
Speaker 1: I see some doctor hits me up in the d
Speaker 1: m s And all she says is in a comment,
Speaker 1: And all she says is doctor Benicia Williams out at her.
Speaker 1: All she says is look up Henry an Slinger. But
Speaker 1: she was calm, and her reply is people like dog
Speaker 1: custom the stacks. I'm like, she's nice. Let me engage
Speaker 1: with her. Who's that? I look up this dude and
Speaker 1: Slinger and I'm gonna give you all a quick history lessons.
Speaker 1: I've everybody quick history lesson because even P. Diddy was commented, like,
Speaker 1: there's so much racism laced around weed. Here's my thing.
Speaker 1: People understand your history because it will benefit your argument.
Speaker 1: When you get mad, don't raise your voice, raise the
Speaker 1: level of your Intellections you feel me, don't raise your voice,
Speaker 1: just raise your intellectual level. Bet uh and Slinger nineteen thirty.
Speaker 1: He founded the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. He was a
Speaker 1: white man. He founded the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and
Speaker 1: and and Slinger. He he said that Reefer makes darky's
Speaker 1: think they're as good as white men. Close quote, and
Speaker 1: Slinker said they're roughly a hundred thousand marijuana smokers in America, Hispanics, Blacks, entertainers,
Speaker 1: and jazz artists. Marijuana causes white woman to seek sexual
Speaker 1: sexual relations with black man. Close quote known racist. This
Speaker 1: where he gets crazy, Stack and Sling created something called
Speaker 1: the Gore Files. Created the Gore Files. He took two
Speaker 1: hundred police reports and the most insane police reports, a
Speaker 1: guy killed his entire family with an axe, and at
Speaker 1: the end of the police report he would add due
Speaker 1: to marijuana usage. So he took it from a state
Speaker 1: level to a national level by adding marijuana as the
Speaker 1: cost to two hundred of the most heinous crimes in America.
Speaker 1: Ninety seven, the Marijuana Tacks Act gets past because he
Speaker 1: reports one of his Gore files in front of Congress.
Speaker 1: So now everybody's freaking out because people are dying, and
Speaker 1: it's clearly because of marijuana, at least the head of
Speaker 1: the Federal Bureau of Narcotic sets so in ninety seven.
Speaker 1: But here's the thing. I never smoked weed, and I
Speaker 1: know that, so everybody who has you don't need to
Speaker 1: know that too, because that is why marijuana shouldn't be
Speaker 1: out laud in America period. Now as it pertains full story.
Speaker 1: Go back to SHAKERI a rule exists. A rule exists,
Speaker 1: whether it's fair or not. You broke the rule, you
Speaker 1: should be punished accordingly. I grew up in Texas. I
Speaker 1: drive through the back roads in Texas. If there is
Speaker 1: a light and I see the red light, camera and
Speaker 1: I choose to run the red light and I see
Speaker 1: it flash. I got in the middle. I've seen the
Speaker 1: red light and I ran the joint. Now I can
Speaker 1: debate why was the red light there. We can debate
Speaker 1: that to me all day. But the fact of the
Speaker 1: matter is the red light was there. Last thing I'm
Speaker 1: gonna say on this matter is this, and again, I
Speaker 1: was there. The fastest man in the in the world,
Speaker 1: not in America. Noah Liles through two hundred meters, the
Speaker 1: fastest man in the world. We're reigning world champion. He
Speaker 1: said that the USA Olympic Trials make the World Championships
Speaker 1: feel like nothing, just saying Olympic trials are more difficult
Speaker 1: than the World champions I was in a warm up
Speaker 1: area with Noah before he had to rent run, nervous
Speaker 1: as all could be. He was watching my phone. He
Speaker 1: was had my phone is hand dropped, nervous as All
Speaker 1: could be the fastest woman ever through two hundred meters,
Speaker 1: second to flow Joe Gabby Thomas. She trains in Austin.
Speaker 1: I know her well, graduated from Harvard fastest woman ever.
Speaker 1: She had to take off her whoop watch the week
Speaker 1: before the two d because she didn't want to see
Speaker 1: how bad her CNS was because she was so anxious.
Speaker 1: So everybody was anxious there. With that being said, everybody
Speaker 1: had to deal with their anxiety differently. So there was
Speaker 1: a rule in place. No, weed doesn't make you faster,
Speaker 1: it don't make you stronger, doesn't make you have more
Speaker 1: quick twitch muscles. No. But the fact of the matter
Speaker 1: is it was a rule. She broke the rule. And
Speaker 1: the last thing is remember this in the NBA, this
Speaker 1: in the NFL, This is not the MLB. This is
Speaker 1: global stages in China, if you smoke. In Japan, if
Speaker 1: you smoke weed, punishable by five to ten years in prison.
Speaker 1: So the tests in Japan have to match the tests
Speaker 1: in America because they compete against each other. Unlike America.
Speaker 1: We can just do rules for America, but the rules
Speaker 1: got to compete against each other, so you can't make
Speaker 1: something legal for one country. That's illegal in another country
Speaker 1: because the country has got to compete. And so this
Speaker 1: is a nuanced conversation. It has to be had with
Speaker 1: nuanced individuals. You can't just fire off a hundred characters
Speaker 1: to make sense of it all. But that's my stance.
Speaker 1: Racism is why marijuana was ever made illegal in the
Speaker 1: first place. Marijuana should not be illegal. Shakey did break
Speaker 1: a rule. Shakey should be punished accordingly for the rules
Speaker 1: she broke. All of those things can be true. I agree,
Speaker 1: and and and and my standpoints stance on it was
Speaker 1: is obviously, I think it's no secret that there's a
Speaker 1: lot of outdated rules, not only into sports but society
Speaker 1: by people that all look alike, dress alike, and think alike,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, there's no outside the box thinking.
Speaker 1: So I'm hoping that unfortunately Kaepernick was a sacrificial land
Speaker 1: for police brutality, and we're heading in the right direction
Speaker 1: for that, we you know, hopefully, we kind of feel
Speaker 1: like we're taking steps in the right direction. She Carri
Speaker 1: is probably gonna be the sacrificial land for this. Luckily
Speaker 1: she's young enough to still be able to compete. But
Speaker 1: I think it's gonna garner enough attention to possibly change
Speaker 1: outdated rules and policy. And to me, it's not only
Speaker 1: in sports, you know. I think it's in the workplace
Speaker 1: and all around you know what I mean, because I,
Speaker 1: like I said, there's an old stigma and CANNABISI is
Speaker 1: ridiculous because all the all the everything you need to know,
Speaker 1: all the studies are at the palm of your hand
Speaker 1: that you can't just go by outdated thesis and principle
Speaker 1: that applied back in the thirties all the way to
Speaker 1: Nancy Reagan in the eighties to two thousand and twenty one,
Speaker 1: where rat but fellas full transparency. That's why I was
Speaker 1: looking forward to rap with y'all. I'm the dude to
Speaker 1: believe the stigma if that if you told if you
Speaker 1: tell me something is illegal since birth, it has to
Speaker 1: be bad. It's illegal. Common sense says something that's illegal
Speaker 1: is bad. And so I'm told my whole life marijuana
Speaker 1: is legal. Marijuana is legal marijuana, So Shirley, it's bad.
Speaker 1: Until I go talk to a doctor who literally sent
Speaker 1: me one of her lectures. I meet her on on Instagram.
Speaker 1: She's like, Hey, read one of these lectures, and I'm like, oh, snap.
Speaker 1: You know the difference between th A, C, C, B,
Speaker 1: D all that so Matt to your point, education, we
Speaker 1: just saw it could benefit from it. Across the board.
Speaker 1: A lot of stuff is just a conversation too, h
Speaker 1: but uh, a respectful respect. Jack always says, you we
Speaker 1: can disagree but still respect each other. And you can't
Speaker 1: have a conversation with people that's with minimal understanding. You've
Speaker 1: gotta be able to come into the conversation willing to
Speaker 1: accept the perspectives, you know what I mean, not just
Speaker 1: coming into just to talk just so people can hear
Speaker 1: you so you can respond, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: That's and that's that's what happens a lot these days.
Speaker 1: People just want to respond. They don't listen to you.
Speaker 1: Big facts. Upbringing in Dallas, Texas. Talked to us about
Speaker 1: that man Texas boy. Look, it's a couple of things.
Speaker 1: Number One, you got to understand, see Stack, I grew
Speaker 1: up in Texas, but my parents grew up in Nigeria
Speaker 1: in hands, so Nigeria in their hand through Nigeria by
Speaker 1: minor um so. Now I grew up in Dallas, but
Speaker 1: I grew up Nigerian culture because my parents came straight
Speaker 1: from Nigeria to American nineteen eighties Brussels. Like I'm eating
Speaker 1: Nigerian food, listening to Nigerian music. My dad was a missionary,
Speaker 1: came over here as that, and so your boy was
Speaker 1: just trying to figure life out, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: Like in the and in my house, my parents would
Speaker 1: call me Cheta do my Nigerian name. But then I
Speaker 1: go to school and in the hood when I was
Speaker 1: at in my public school first and then I'm a man,
Speaker 1: you chow, I go to private school with majority white people.
Speaker 1: Now manny, So I'm over here like yo, what like,
Speaker 1: I'm out here? Like what's really good? Grew up the
Speaker 1: youngest of four in my upbringing. It really just, brother,
Speaker 1: the most strictest of upbringings ever panned out for your boy.
Speaker 1: You know, I didn't really have a ton of crazy
Speaker 1: life experiences. It was just straight and narrow. People say like, okay,
Speaker 1: what time is your curfew? Said curfew? Huh, No curfew
Speaker 1: in this house. Nothing this at your households ain't no curfew. Brother,
Speaker 1: You ain't going nowhere, no curfew. You ain't leaving the house.
Speaker 1: Tap what you need curfew for? If you hear if
Speaker 1: you home studying because like in in in Nigerian households,
Speaker 1: you must be a doctor, you must be a lawyer,
Speaker 1: you must be an engineer like doctor, lawyer, engineer. That's it.
Speaker 1: To all of a sudden, we're playing ball and my
Speaker 1: parents like, what's what's this football thing? Like, what's what's this?
Speaker 1: We ended up being good My brother and I and
Speaker 1: the brother brother just finished year nine. He just signed
Speaker 1: a contract with the four letters. We don't say them
Speaker 1: over at Fox. We just say the four letters. You
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying, But y'all know who they are. Not.
Speaker 1: My brother sign contract with ESPN. So he's he's doing
Speaker 1: this thing, making this transition. M m m. So now
Speaker 1: even though you're you're the little brother, you got the
Speaker 1: step up in this next space as he leaned on
Speaker 1: you for anything. I played football before him too, and
Speaker 1: he ends up being better than that plays nine years.
Speaker 1: I'm in TV before him. If he ends up better
Speaker 1: than me, that I'll be sick. Now he's the thing.
Speaker 1: I'm out here running fast. You think, y'all, TV is
Speaker 1: my thing? Like you know, when you know you're good
Speaker 1: at something like y'all played fourteen years. Y'all both one
Speaker 1: chips like y'all knew y'all step on the court came
Speaker 1: nobody see you. Bro. We were talking to Stack on
Speaker 1: the show the other day and we were talking about
Speaker 1: the late great Kobe Bryant and Stack was like, hey,
Speaker 1: McDonald's all American game, though, I like, you know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying, like because when we talk like, y'all know,
Speaker 1: that's y'all's thing. Hoops was y'all's thing. Now transition into
Speaker 1: this space, it's y'all s thing, bro, and I get
Speaker 1: in front of a camera, Yeah that's the thing. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I remember we were both in New York for Get
Speaker 1: Up and that was the first time I really met you.
Speaker 1: I knew of you, but I met you and I
Speaker 1: just saw your preparation, how you're on the iPad house
Speaker 1: Like I was just like this, My motherfucker's nice over
Speaker 1: here with it. And the next thing I know, he's
Speaker 1: getting hired over his Fox Sports. I'm like, that's what's up.
Speaker 1: I mean, he was if anybody was ready, he was
Speaker 1: ready for it. That's it. It's all about knowing what
Speaker 1: you I feel like life. Life is all about knowing
Speaker 1: what you're good at and knowing what you're bad at
Speaker 1: and lean into what you good? I suck at golf.
Speaker 1: Who never, I've never played golf day in my life.
Speaker 1: Well I tried it. Uh, those are like fun golfing places,
Speaker 1: top golf. Never really played golf, stuck at it. But
Speaker 1: I'm really good at TV man and now I'm just
Speaker 1: like I'll lean into it. What was your introduction to sports?
Speaker 1: Obviously coming from a Nigerian background that like you said,
Speaker 1: you gave your your three goals or laid out before
Speaker 1: you you can walk. So what was your introduction to sports?
Speaker 1: Walter Payton was probably my introduction of sports. Now, he
Speaker 1: played before I was even born. But I just remember
Speaker 1: watching football highlights. So I taught myself how to play football. Um,
Speaker 1: I watched YouTube videos. I watched YouTube videos of Derrick Johnson,
Speaker 1: great Texas linebacker played for the Chiefs, watch YouTube videos
Speaker 1: of Ray Lewis. Just taught myself. I taught myself a
Speaker 1: lot of things, saw myself how to play the piano,
Speaker 1: like I just I'll just watch and just okay, he
Speaker 1: stepped here, he stepped here, he tackled like this. Okay,
Speaker 1: go out there and do it. I'm just a master duplicator.
Speaker 1: I'm not really good at a lot. I can just
Speaker 1: imitate a lot, so I can listen to John Legend.
Speaker 1: Can you regurgitate that sound? Okay? Get close enough? Great
Speaker 1: um and so like my introduction was in eight years old,
Speaker 1: in the fourth grade. I was watching highlights. I was like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I want to try to play this. Play football, played basketball,
Speaker 1: through discus and track. I was best at football, and
Speaker 1: I just did the numbers. I don't know how y'all
Speaker 1: made it to the league Brest hard Man the basketball numbers.
Speaker 1: I don't know a fifteen men on the roster. I'm like,
Speaker 1: it's crazy football. At least you do the math. You
Speaker 1: got about a thousand casts in the league. Cool basketball,
Speaker 1: but that's it. So I just started doing the math.
Speaker 1: Plus I was like, I'm six to jump shot. It's
Speaker 1: kind of like Janice's except six eleven. Yeah. I mean
Speaker 1: we're both Nigerian. But my limitations, you know, like I
Speaker 1: didn't get that he got that Nigerian. Plus that food
Speaker 1: in Greece. I just got the not the rice and stew.
Speaker 1: I guess the goat meat just didn't do it. I
Speaker 1: had How did you parents support once they kind of
Speaker 1: figured out you and your brother can actually play sport
Speaker 1: us with trepidation hesitancy, like real talk. Give me the
Speaker 1: definition of that which one trepidation. I've never heard that
Speaker 1: before in my life. Come on with it every now
Speaker 1: and then. I use an s a T word, Bro,
Speaker 1: I took you like twenty times, and I don't think
Speaker 1: that was my name. Trepidation, just like with scared with
Speaker 1: like with timidly hesitation. Because we weren't supposed to play sports.
Speaker 1: My dad is five nine, my mom is five seven,
Speaker 1: I'm six. Two of my brothers six three, So all
Speaker 1: of a sudden they were just like, Okay, you're good
Speaker 1: at something. And Nigerians are prideful, prideful, prideful people, and
Speaker 1: so we're like, oh, y'all getting a lot of attention
Speaker 1: now we we true story My brother got his first
Speaker 1: scholarship off for USC because he's we sneak into an
Speaker 1: invite only USC football camp from Texas. Didn't realize it
Speaker 1: was invite only. We show up. My brother's sixth three
Speaker 1: runs up four six forty in front of Pete Carroll
Speaker 1: scholarship of fron Spot. When USC offers and you from Texas,
Speaker 1: Texas is like, wait, we can't let this guy go
Speaker 1: out of state. They offered my brother and then they
Speaker 1: offered me after that. But like I went to bro
Speaker 1: and all boys school. We wore uniform, gray slacks, white
Speaker 1: button downs, probably number one private school in Texas. So
Speaker 1: like super nerds. A kid at my school one the
Speaker 1: National Spelling B like a kid about the grade above me.
Speaker 1: When the National Spelling b stack, a kid in my
Speaker 1: grade perfect on the S A T and a C
Speaker 1: tect perfect one of kid nasal. So Bro, I felt
Speaker 1: like an idiot, Like I was dumb dumb in high school.
Speaker 1: I was a dumb jot. Then I got to college
Speaker 1: and I was a genius. And so it was just
Speaker 1: a man. I just I fit who people tell me
Speaker 1: I am. That's what I was back then. You know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying. So it was mad. It was trying
Speaker 1: to navigate who you were. Identity facts. What was your
Speaker 1: high school experience like in Texas? Obviously that's known for
Speaker 1: some of the best high school football around. What was
Speaker 1: that experience like those Friday night games? Nothing like it
Speaker 1: in Texas. Man, it's different. It's different life. It's life
Speaker 1: like even at private school is different. Um, it's everything
Speaker 1: coming on Friday every lebra It's everything like it really
Speaker 1: is an obsession. And even like hoops too to a degree.
Speaker 1: Like I remember we played a game at Maverick Stadium
Speaker 1: and Duncanville was Duncanville, a huge basketball school was playing
Speaker 1: UM some other school and Brandon Jennings went on the squad.
Speaker 1: I think Brandon Jennings number ten overall picked to the
Speaker 1: Bucks back in the gap. He went to China for
Speaker 1: a year and then play in the NBA. They was
Speaker 1: playing in Dallas and we filled up, they filled up
Speaker 1: the American Airline Center. It's a high school squad and
Speaker 1: so like it's just it's different. Man, in sports town,
Speaker 1: you live and breath for breathe for state championships. Man,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying, It's wild. What was it
Speaker 1: like to be a three sport varsity athlete? A you're
Speaker 1: talking to me or him? Definitely him, because I was too.
Speaker 1: Were you three football? Basketball? Baseball? Basketball? This is my
Speaker 1: first time here in the baseball ship? I know, did
Speaker 1: you play? Basically a couple of people in here that
Speaker 1: I knew. I knew you was you know, centerfield basketball? Yeah,
Speaker 1: just travel basketball picked up so I stopped playing, so
Speaker 1: not I know what I call you plage. Bro, what
Speaker 1: I called you guys, you was calling it baseball to
Speaker 1: know and now it's not racial. Understand I understood it's
Speaker 1: not racial America. Don't find him. Uh nah, bro, it
Speaker 1: was cool. Like in all honesty, sports or what keep
Speaker 1: me going. You know, sports are just that's what energizes me.
Speaker 1: I was I was good enough at basketball. I wasn't great.
Speaker 1: I was really good at track and discus. I was
Speaker 1: really it's a technical thing. I was really good at track. Um,
Speaker 1: but football I was so raw. I knew I could
Speaker 1: be good and I was. I was never the biggest,
Speaker 1: never the smartest, but I was like, I'm either gonna
Speaker 1: be the biggest, the fastest, excuse me, or I'll be
Speaker 1: the smartest. And I was never the biggest or the fastest.
Speaker 1: But I was like, Okay, people don't realize and y'all
Speaker 1: get this. Man, sports you gotta be smart. It's high. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Like people don't. You have about ninety plays on a
Speaker 1: football field during the game, you take about thirty of
Speaker 1: the men and adjustments based on a receiver motioning and moving,
Speaker 1: especially as a middle linebacker, you have to be brilliant.
Speaker 1: Like people don't get it. People don't respect athletes intellectual
Speaker 1: and intellectually enough, you gotta be brilliant. Um. So that
Speaker 1: was that was the experience man playing football in Texas.
Speaker 1: Was there any chance that you would go somewhere else
Speaker 1: for college brought? Not a chance? Bro never never never.
Speaker 1: Texas we were nice. But remember we have Vince Young
Speaker 1: was oh five, I went to Texas and oh eight,
Speaker 1: So there was no no, I mean you go you
Speaker 1: you play football in Texas? To go to Texas? You
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying, Like you, you don't even fix
Speaker 1: your lips to think about going. And I'm not even
Speaker 1: one of those like crazy die hard alums. I'm just
Speaker 1: like Texas Texas. There was a standard talk to us
Speaker 1: about that experience actually being a long home though first
Speaker 1: years one crazy we was twenty four and one. The
Speaker 1: first two years, I didn't lose a game. Quarterback two
Speaker 1: time Himan finalists, winning is college football quarterback when he retired.
Speaker 1: When he left college, we went, We went, and we
Speaker 1: lost one game my first year, and then we ran
Speaker 1: the table my second year till we got to the
Speaker 1: national championship and lost Obama. Funny enough, we were Obama's
Speaker 1: beginning of their streak gonna beat us in the national Championship,
Speaker 1: mark Ingram Julio Jones and they go on to win
Speaker 1: seven of the last god knows how many. But m bro,
Speaker 1: when you're winning at Texas, I mean, don't get me started.
Speaker 1: Ain't nothing like nothing. So what you talk to me about?
Speaker 1: This though on some other ship, being in such a
Speaker 1: strict household and then kind of gaining some sort of
Speaker 1: freedom and you're a young man in Texas now you're
Speaker 1: on a winning football team. What's that like to you?
Speaker 1: Because you were so confined in one space and now
Speaker 1: you're somewhat free and you're on top of the world. Man,
Speaker 1: that's good. Bro. They say when you go to college,
Speaker 1: at least when you go to Austin six, it's gonna
Speaker 1: make or break you. You know what I'm saying, Like
Speaker 1: when you now you're away from home, it's either gonna
Speaker 1: make or break you. Um, I don't think it broke me.
Speaker 1: You know, it was cool being away from home. The
Speaker 1: thing about it, though, I have my big brother there.
Speaker 1: He's one year older than me, and so I think
Speaker 1: he made all the mistakes for me, and he knew
Speaker 1: just how far I could go before reeling me back
Speaker 1: in um and The big thing was just like don't
Speaker 1: make the pivotal mistake. You know, have fun, live your
Speaker 1: best life, but keep your grades up, don't get suspended,
Speaker 1: don't do nothing wild, and like, for really, if if
Speaker 1: you're Nigerian, it's like, don't embarrass your last name. Right,
Speaker 1: there's the saying you'll probably heard with Nigerian's not John
Speaker 1: know that caddy last, Nigiohn No, that caddy last. Nigerians
Speaker 1: don't carry last, like you can't finish the last and
Speaker 1: all that is and kind of Nigerian culture is like
Speaker 1: you gotta be the best. And so I didn't really
Speaker 1: have that luxury of just doing whatever because it's like
Speaker 1: you gotta be the best at whatever you do. Plus,
Speaker 1: my freaking brother was there. He was a genius. He
Speaker 1: was an academic All American, he was an athletic All
Speaker 1: American playing Basketball's worst thing ever happening to me. Every
Speaker 1: time I would get the ball and dribble, I would
Speaker 1: just hear shad oh, shad oh, because they're like you're
Speaker 1: living in your brother's shadow. So I was like, oh god, um,
Speaker 1: so yeah, that was that was college. Man, what's the
Speaker 1: most memorable moment on the field. That's a question. That's
Speaker 1: a question. Ye, that's a question. UM, my senior year
Speaker 1: at Missouri. This is how I ended up a third
Speaker 1: team All American senior at Missouri. UM, the field was terrible.
Speaker 1: Bro our captain running back towards M C L A
Speaker 1: C L pcl earlier in the game, star linebacker next
Speaker 1: to me, Keenan Robinson. He got drafted to Washington in
Speaker 1: the fourth round. He broke his thumb, and he broke
Speaker 1: his thumb, but it broke out of the glove. Like
Speaker 1: the thumb was no longer in the glove. And that's
Speaker 1: my dog, Like Keenan was my dog. I was in
Speaker 1: his wedding all that. So Star linebacker Tears was holding
Speaker 1: up Keenan's thumb is out of his glove. He runs
Speaker 1: off the field, darning the play. He's like, ref, ref,
Speaker 1: my thumb, my thumb. He runs off the field during
Speaker 1: the play. I sit there. The ref doesn't stop the game. Um,
Speaker 1: they throw a now screen. I run over to the
Speaker 1: now screen. I forced the fumble. I see my team recovery.
Speaker 1: I don't even wait for the ref to singal recovery,
Speaker 1: and I just run off to the sideline to check
Speaker 1: on my dog. That was the most memorable. Like he
Speaker 1: got hurt, ref didn't stop to play. They throw a bubble,
Speaker 1: I forced a fumble, don't even care about the ball.
Speaker 1: I see my other little young bro recovered and I
Speaker 1: just from like, hey, what happened to keenan? Um? That
Speaker 1: was that was wild? Yeah, that was the most valuable
Speaker 1: takeaway from your four years as a long horn. Most
Speaker 1: valuable takeaway. Um, you have to be consistently good to
Speaker 1: be great. Mm hmm. You gotta be consistently good to
Speaker 1: be Everybody wants to be great, but what's being great?
Speaker 1: Looked like? Being great looks like being consistently good. You
Speaker 1: turn on it. You turn on a tube every day,
Speaker 1: and if you watch, speak for yourself like, oh he's good.
Speaker 1: The next day, Oh he's good. It's kind of good,
Speaker 1: the next it's kind of good. All of the stuff.
Speaker 1: It's like, you know what, because might be great. You
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying, Like, you gotta be consistently good
Speaker 1: to be great. Stack. When I was playing ball, I
Speaker 1: knew the normal plays would come to me, but I
Speaker 1: would try to find one to two highlight plays a game,
Speaker 1: right if they line up in a certain offset formation.
Speaker 1: I know exactly what they're gonna do. I'm gonna make
Speaker 1: the big playing tax for loss sacks something like that. Um.
Speaker 1: And now I take the same thing on TV every block,
Speaker 1: every conversation. I know it's gonna be I but you
Speaker 1: gotta find the one quotable sound bite that makes somebody
Speaker 1: like you said stop twice and say, hey, y'all, make
Speaker 1: sure go run that back. Um. You gotta be consistently
Speaker 1: good to be great. You said something off off camera
Speaker 1: now that since you talked about, you know, kind of
Speaker 1: finding your magic um in this space now that I
Speaker 1: thought was really interesting because you know, although you know,
Speaker 1: our job is to talk sports, for the most part,
Speaker 1: not everyone is interested in sports. So you try to find,
Speaker 1: well exploit I don't want to I'm gonna take your
Speaker 1: words from you, but explain that. Yeah, man, not everybody
Speaker 1: cares about sports, but everybody cares about life. And so
Speaker 1: I really just use sports as a man ask arraid
Speaker 1: to get to the root of life because everybody wants
Speaker 1: to talk life. Everybody had an opinion about Shaky Richardson.
Speaker 1: Nobody knew Shaky Richardson was before three weeks ago. I
Speaker 1: did because I watched sports and I walk track, watch track.
Speaker 1: But now everybody ride for Shaky. I'm like, what college
Speaker 1: she go to y'all since y'all ride for us so hard.
Speaker 1: But everybody cares about life because the marijuana issue is
Speaker 1: a life issue. Naomio saka. Not everybody knows who Naomi is.
Speaker 1: But everybody has mental health issues or has somebody who
Speaker 1: has one, and we all do a degree do right,
Speaker 1: like we all can work on our mental health. So
Speaker 1: sports to me is just a it's an avenue to
Speaker 1: get to life because life is a vehicle there it is.
Speaker 1: It's a vehicle to get to life. Everybody cares about life.
Speaker 1: Not everybody cares about your favorite team. You know like that?
Speaker 1: I like that. So drafted sixth rail and two thousand twelve.
Speaker 1: And obviously I caught what you said earlier in the interview.
Speaker 1: It was calculated. You had kind of taken your calculations
Speaker 1: and understand who you were as a football player. You
Speaker 1: have that for your run three years, four years run
Speaker 1: um and was ready for what was next. But in
Speaker 1: that for your run, what stood out to you the most? Bro?
Speaker 1: When I got traded, Because when you got traded, you
Speaker 1: you just think that's a video game. You know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying, like, oh, you trade people on video game,
Speaker 1: not a big deal. I'm in Cleveland my first year.
Speaker 1: They drafted me and I get the athletic trainer comes
Speaker 1: in and it gives me like the handshake pad on
Speaker 1: the bag. I'm like, hell like that. It's been nice.
Speaker 1: Know when you y'all know that I wasn't the good old.
Speaker 1: I had to the to the general manager had coaches office,
Speaker 1: and they're like, hey, I just want to notify you
Speaker 1: you've been traded to the Philadelphia Eagles. I'm trying to
Speaker 1: hide my JUBI League because I'm like, get me the
Speaker 1: hell out of Cleveland, Like, we've got to go to Philly.
Speaker 1: They got Lashawn McCoy out there, Mike Vick out there
Speaker 1: like some real stars. UM. Craziest thing though, like your
Speaker 1: flights in three hours? I left bro when you got traded, y'all.
Speaker 1: I don't know if y'a was traded when you got
Speaker 1: traded flights in three hours. I went to Philly. I
Speaker 1: didn't go back to Cleveland for five years. Somebody packed
Speaker 1: up my stuff, they moved it. I get to Philly,
Speaker 1: I stay in a hotel and it's it's like, you're
Speaker 1: just good you're just packaged good. So that was probably
Speaker 1: the craziest and most memorable thing of the four years. Man,
Speaker 1: it was a wild was did you know that sports
Speaker 1: media stepping into this space was something you wanted to
Speaker 1: do or to just kind of falling your lap and
Speaker 1: fell in my lap? Man, I do what I'm good at.
Speaker 1: I told people, I'm like, if I was great at math,
Speaker 1: i'd be an accountant. You feel me Like, if I
Speaker 1: was very gracious, i might be a secretary. But I'm
Speaker 1: a good communicator. Um, And I study it and I
Speaker 1: work at it, and I'm just good at putting words together.
Speaker 1: It kind of fell in my lap or even even
Speaker 1: uncomfortable conversations like y'all realize people move to l a
Speaker 1: just to creative video and hopes that it goes viral
Speaker 1: and hopes it Oprah calls them and hopes that they
Speaker 1: get nominated for an Emmy and hopes that they win.
Speaker 1: People sell their whole lives and dreams to do that.
Speaker 1: And I stumbled into it, you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 1: Like I tripped and fell into it, and so I
Speaker 1: just do what I'm good at, And like I said,
Speaker 1: I'm bad at a lot like don't get it twisted
Speaker 1: and bad at a lot um, but I know what
Speaker 1: I'm good at and I leaned into that, tripped and
Speaker 1: fell into a few things and much our support bills
Speaker 1: are crazy now it's sick. What was it like joining
Speaker 1: the Longhoun Network as analysts? It was cool. I had
Speaker 1: to transition, you know what I'm saying. I wanted to
Speaker 1: get to you know, the highest of heights and whatnot.
Speaker 1: And I knew at the end of the day sports
Speaker 1: since in my end all be all and I think
Speaker 1: y'all know that, Like y'all wrapped with me enough on
Speaker 1: camera off camera to know that. But Longhoun Network was
Speaker 1: a vehicle to be great. Like everybody wants to have
Speaker 1: success without the process. Everybody does everybody. It's crazy how
Speaker 1: many people just want to have success without the process. Um,
Speaker 1: But that for me was the process refining your skills.
Speaker 1: And now when you're talking in front of millions, I've
Speaker 1: been doing this so like I'm humbled because I was
Speaker 1: giving that opportunity and stack if not for that opportunity,
Speaker 1: I'm trying to figure out my life after I retire.
Speaker 1: So it was dope. So you had, you know, pits
Speaker 1: us for ESPN Dallas boys, that the network we talked
Speaker 1: about June. Um, you're not sure leaving the ESPN to
Speaker 1: join Fox? How did that happen? Man? How did that happen? Honestly, honestly, here,
Speaker 1: if I'll be real and I'll be real solid smoke,
Speaker 1: you'll get the real. Um. I was told my name
Speaker 1: is not big enough? What I was told in the
Speaker 1: ESPN circles? Yeah, by by bye, I was told your
Speaker 1: name is not big enough. I want I wanted to
Speaker 1: move from where I was. I wanted to move to
Speaker 1: higher to higher programming, and UM, I talked to an
Speaker 1: exact there and they were like, essentially, people watched this
Speaker 1: certain show for big names, and your name is not
Speaker 1: big enough. And then five months later my name was
Speaker 1: like the biggest in sports. Um, but that's neither here
Speaker 1: nor there. So bro, I'm so petty too, Um the
Speaker 1: pettiest moment, So I know when the pettiest. Um. Now,
Speaker 1: mind you all. Like the people that worked at ESPN
Speaker 1: were great, good to me, like they were good to
Speaker 1: your boy, and a honestly, the person who told me
Speaker 1: my name is not big enough, I low key respect
Speaker 1: them because they were just transparent. They were like Hey,
Speaker 1: it's no eight. It's just you're not a gold jacket guy,
Speaker 1: and we need gold jacket guys more than anything. So
Speaker 1: I was like, it's all love. But when I left,
Speaker 1: I left with a rap video thanking everybody at ESPN. UM,
Speaker 1: and I did it in this like high quality studio
Speaker 1: production and it was like a fifty second video changing
Speaker 1: out fists and it was just like that's fire. Got
Speaker 1: a million views and I had no followers. Um, and
Speaker 1: so like I left wrapping thinking them because I had
Speaker 1: to leave with class. Um. And yeah, ESPN was good
Speaker 1: to me, man, and it gave me my start. Um,
Speaker 1: but that's really Foxes dough. Though. I got a billboard
Speaker 1: with a billboard and I actually look good on It's crazy.
Speaker 1: I don't know how it happens. Stumbled into a good
Speaker 1: looking photo shop. Um, but I got a billboard like
Speaker 1: foxes dope. Speak for yourself. What's that been? Like? It's
Speaker 1: challenging because that be on the joint. He knows like
Speaker 1: I'll be up there arguing with Marcellus every day. Um, enjoyed.
Speaker 1: It's been cool. Marcellis my my big bro, my co host. Um,
Speaker 1: he's older than me. The hardest part to Speak for
Speaker 1: yourself is trying to keep up with the movie references
Speaker 1: because I was born in ninety and marceli is. First off,
Speaker 1: he was quoting like raw and delirious Eddie Murphy never saw.
Speaker 1: I had to watch him in the middle of in
Speaker 1: the middle of the season because he's quoting Eddie Murphy.
Speaker 1: I was like, I know Eddie Murphy from like the
Speaker 1: Nutty Professor, like Comedian den still like quote all these
Speaker 1: old school songs I never heard of. But Speak is dope,
Speaker 1: especially when we bring on Cats like Stack. The biggest thing,
Speaker 1: the biggest compliments Stack pays and Cats pay is you'll
Speaker 1: make me laugh doing the show because you can go
Speaker 1: on other shows and it's buttoned up and it's the stiffest.
Speaker 1: But like, when you come on Speak, you're gonna talk
Speaker 1: to one of the guys, just like you're back in
Speaker 1: the locker room. We don't get the real out of you,
Speaker 1: like I don't want to hear like well, you know,
Speaker 1: when I watched Steph Curry play, it's just very enlightening
Speaker 1: because you know he's just such a no no, no, no
Speaker 1: no no. When you come on the show, I want
Speaker 1: the real Stack that the world see, just without the
Speaker 1: curse words. We can pay the bills, but outside you
Speaker 1: that much. No more it though I heard him cuss
Speaker 1: in a minute. To be honest, i've you put the
Speaker 1: weed down in the cust wards down said you change man.
Speaker 1: Better you than me. Somebody had to do it. Um.
Speaker 1: For those who don't know, tell us, obviously, you told
Speaker 1: us how uncomfortable conversation with the black man came about.
Speaker 1: But tell us what the show is man, Uncomfortable conversation
Speaker 1: with a black man. It is just a the biggest
Speaker 1: disconnect in our society, I think, between black and non
Speaker 1: black people or white people communication. Bro. So let's let's
Speaker 1: go back to high school. Matt. Let's go back to
Speaker 1: high school. Stack. Remember when you have to take a
Speaker 1: foreign language, your Spanish teacher, they would tell you, if
Speaker 1: you want to be fluent in the language, you have
Speaker 1: to immerse yourself in the culture. See real talk. My
Speaker 1: name is Manuelito Um in Spanish class a little bit,
Speaker 1: but go ahead. I took my years. You're not gonna
Speaker 1: play me anyway. But I was immersed in white culture
Speaker 1: in high school. I was immersed in black culture in
Speaker 1: college and in later on in high school and in
Speaker 1: the league. So I realized there's a communication barrier, So
Speaker 1: all uncomfortable conversations is what the black men is. I'm
Speaker 1: going to answer the questions that white people are either
Speaker 1: too scared to ask A or B don't have a
Speaker 1: black friend to ask too. So the first episode, I
Speaker 1: answered why can black people say the N word but
Speaker 1: white people can't? Why are black people rioting? What is
Speaker 1: white privilege? But what about black on black crime in Chicago?
Speaker 1: Because I know white people have those questions generally speaking,
Speaker 1: because I was in those white spaces. But they're not
Speaker 1: gonna go ask Stack, Hey man, how come y'all can say?
Speaker 1: Then where but we can't. They're gonna do that if
Speaker 1: they know Stack at all. They're not gonna go ask Matt. Okay,
Speaker 1: but why are your rioting? So it's like, you know what,
Speaker 1: let me preemptively answer those questions. Every episode after that
Speaker 1: touches a different issue inter racially, Like I talked to
Speaker 1: a couple white man, black woman, black man, white woman,
Speaker 1: same episode, because they're different racial stereotypes. You see a
Speaker 1: black and with a white woman, you know, it's it's
Speaker 1: a little more socially acceptable than if you see a
Speaker 1: woman with a white man. You see a black woman
Speaker 1: with a white man. You kind of like, you know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying. So I just tried to touch to
Speaker 1: talk to a commissioner of the NFL about Colin Kaepernick. Like,
Speaker 1: here's the other thing, man, and this is my approach.
Speaker 1: But everybody has different approaches for everything. I would rather
Speaker 1: be like a covert operative. Let me change something from
Speaker 1: the inside out, like a CIA agent. You feel me
Speaker 1: go to a foreign country, mix and mingo and then
Speaker 1: change things. I want an apology to Kaepernick. You can
Speaker 1: tweet it all day, Probably best you sit down with
Speaker 1: the commissioner of the NFL. That's why people knocked my
Speaker 1: approach because they get mad at me for like being
Speaker 1: too nice to white people and being too friendly. I'm like,
Speaker 1: if you want to change something, you gotta speak to minds,
Speaker 1: you gotta speak to hearts. You know what I'm saying. Yes,
Speaker 1: it's crazy because similar me being by racial but when
Speaker 1: I first grew up, I was around nothing but black
Speaker 1: Mexican Asian, and when I moved to Sacramento, although I'm
Speaker 1: half Italian, i was the first time I was ever
Speaker 1: around white kids. And my parents always had the wherewith
Speaker 1: all to put me in the white schools, and I
Speaker 1: hated it, but I didn't understand it until I got older.
Speaker 1: And now I can comfortably move in cold conversations in
Speaker 1: several different rooms because of that. That's the secret. That's
Speaker 1: until again, now having a conversation with black people about things,
Speaker 1: until you know, we continue to evolve as a society
Speaker 1: where our black brothers and sisters are really in hiring
Speaker 1: and firing power and positions in society kind of incubated
Speaker 1: in and of itself. You better learn how to navigate
Speaker 1: and communicate with everybody. You better learn it. Like the secret,
Speaker 1: Matt is, like you said, you can be in navigating
Speaker 1: these spaces and you can go navigating these other spaces.
Speaker 1: That's the secret. Like the biggest thing I got from
Speaker 1: private school wasn't my education. It was being able to
Speaker 1: be around billionaire white people and not feel lesser than
Speaker 1: everybody accountable. M HM said, what's it like being cool
Speaker 1: with Oprah? Your's wild? And the crazy thing is like,
Speaker 1: whenever I talked to Oprah, she'd just be trying to talk.
Speaker 1: I called Oprah one day before talking to the commissioner
Speaker 1: of the NFL, and I'm sitting in my house that
Speaker 1: she actually answered the first time he called to I've
Speaker 1: missed more of Oprah's calls then she's missed of mine.
Speaker 1: It's crazy, but she just we talked for like forty
Speaker 1: seven minutes, and she'll just start talking and just start going.
Speaker 1: And I don't like taking people's times, especially important people,
Speaker 1: because I know how valuable my time is. So like
Speaker 1: when I'm talking to Oprah, I'll just let her go
Speaker 1: and I'm like, I'll be trying to get off the phone,
Speaker 1: but she'll just have another gem for me. When I
Speaker 1: first met her, I emailed and I said, Hey, what
Speaker 1: do you want me to call you, your honor, your majesty,
Speaker 1: oh Oprah, And she's like, call me Oprah. Because if
Speaker 1: you don't know what to call somebody, you don't really
Speaker 1: know him, you know what I'm saying. Um, Like if
Speaker 1: people come up to you and call you like Mr Jackson,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying. So that's um, it's crazy, bro. Also,
Speaker 1: like Oprah is the greatest that ever did it like
Speaker 1: Oprah's and Michael Jordan's you know what I mean. Like
Speaker 1: and so black woman who's a billionaire like and everything
Speaker 1: and everyone Oprah touches turns to gold, you know, what
Speaker 1: I mean, whether Rachel Ray rather Dr Phil, whether doctor
Speaker 1: Ross to a degree like, see, I'm not gonna play
Speaker 1: with you. I'm you're not gonna get me in trouble. Okay,
Speaker 1: you're not gonna mess up my coins. Um So, now
Speaker 1: Oprah's incredible. I don't blow her up often, but when
Speaker 1: I when I need her, all reach out. And what's
Speaker 1: one gym you don't mind sharing with us? That she
Speaker 1: said that kind of really opened your eyes several. The
Speaker 1: only question you should ask everyone first? What is your intention?
Speaker 1: When I sat in this chair, the really the first
Speaker 1: thing y'all should have asked. Let Oprah tell you is
Speaker 1: a man, what's your intention for this conversation? Because when
Speaker 1: you know somebody's intention, you can help guide the conversation.
Speaker 1: When I sat down the host of Bachelor after the
Speaker 1: final rows, I said, Hey, what's your intention? I talked
Speaker 1: to the first black Bachelor, but four went out there,
Speaker 1: Hey what's your intention? I need to know your intention.
Speaker 1: The other thing that's just interesting and also probably help
Speaker 1: you all some time down the line. Oprah was telling
Speaker 1: me this person came on her show trying to sell
Speaker 1: a book, and because they were trying to sell this book,
Speaker 1: every ten seconds, they would bring up the book. Yeah, Oprah,
Speaker 1: thanks for asking me about life, but I'm writing this book.
Speaker 1: Yeah no, Oprah, I really think Political Landscape is great,
Speaker 1: but my book. So after that, she was like every
Speaker 1: guest that would come on trying to sell something. He said,
Speaker 1: I'll sell the book. You don't worry about I have
Speaker 1: the book. You don't worry about selling the book. I
Speaker 1: will do that. Let's have a conversation, um the other
Speaker 1: thing man. In all honesty, I people just tell me, Okay,
Speaker 1: here's I'll tell you my only my greatest Oprah story.
Speaker 1: After I did my app open and I did U
Speaker 1: some show together, the Oprah conversation made uncomfortable conversation for
Speaker 1: Apple TV. She calls me as soon as it's done.
Speaker 1: It's an hour long conversation. I missed the phone call.
Speaker 1: How do we miss oph his call? She calls me again.
Speaker 1: I pick up. She says, you have the thing to
Speaker 1: my friend, you have the thing, and coming from someone
Speaker 1: who had the thing and has the thing, you my friend,
Speaker 1: you you have the thing. And I was like, yo
Speaker 1: as wild, but I gotta figure out what the thing is. Well,
Speaker 1: I don't know whether what does somebody tell me, what
Speaker 1: is the thing? Um? And she said, you have the
Speaker 1: ability to tell people about themselves, but they want to
Speaker 1: hear more as you do it. And I think that
Speaker 1: was kind of Oprah's trick. Oprah had an ability to
Speaker 1: make everyone just kind of feel safe and comfortable. Now,
Speaker 1: I still got to sharpen my sword, sharpen my tools
Speaker 1: when I when I did The Bachelor, I ran out
Speaker 1: of tools during a moment, so I still got to
Speaker 1: refine those with like Oprah's just she's a genius? Is
Speaker 1: a genius? Was it a perfect time for a Black Bachelor?
Speaker 1: This leads to another conversation that I don't know if
Speaker 1: we'll have, but realistically, remember they had the Black Bachelor,
Speaker 1: probably in response to society. It's called spadeus bade. Matt
Speaker 1: James has never this conversation offline. We can have it
Speaker 1: online we have wherever um, Matt James hadn't been associated
Speaker 1: with the franchise the first Black Bachelor, So how you
Speaker 1: have the first lead of a show ever that hasn't
Speaker 1: been associated with the franchise. But I think it was
Speaker 1: probably just like a rash decision. Understandably, so a lot
Speaker 1: of people made rash decisions in response to the murder
Speaker 1: of George Floyd. But I don't think it was fully
Speaker 1: thought through, and obviously we saw what happened as a result.
Speaker 1: Favorite NBA teams are players to watch. Man, Come on, man,
Speaker 1: don't get him start. I can answer that for which
Speaker 1: one Greek freak? Okay? First off, he's not Greek. That's
Speaker 1: that's what they call us. What they call him because
Speaker 1: they can't say his last name Kubo Okay, so jest
Speaker 1: is truly birth certificate Nigeria. He moves to Greece, they
Speaker 1: have change his name to Greek. Defyatt. Now, we don't
Speaker 1: like pronouncing long last names, as we've noticed on are recently,
Speaker 1: and as a result, as a result, we just call
Speaker 1: him the Greek freak. Uh nah, honestly Lebron James Steph Curry.
Speaker 1: But but bump all that. I love excellence. I love
Speaker 1: watching excellence. Anybody who's excellented anything. One of the dopest
Speaker 1: concerts everyone to two of them. A Taylor Swift concert,
Speaker 1: Wild bro Let Me Tell You and Kevin Hart Comedy
Speaker 1: and Show Let me tell you why I walk into
Speaker 1: the Taylor Swift Concert'm not even a Taylor Swift fan,
Speaker 1: but I'm just like, how the hell does the whole
Speaker 1: world love this woman? Who's I mean, I'm not gonna
Speaker 1: speak on her attraction level, but who's just like, seems
Speaker 1: very normal, sings very normal. How the heck does everybody
Speaker 1: love her? I gotta find out that I'm trying to
Speaker 1: figure out her secret. I walk in. They hand everybody wristband.
Speaker 1: She's in, uh Philadelphia Stadium because she grew up in
Speaker 1: reading Pennsylvania. Right out the p a. They hand everybody
Speaker 1: a wristband as soon as she she's doing her whole set.
Speaker 1: As soon as she starts singing bad Blood, the song
Speaker 1: with Kendrick Lamar, whole stadium lights up red and white
Speaker 1: because the wrist bands were coordinated to the set. So
Speaker 1: now when I go on there, if I know it's
Speaker 1: going to be a serious show, my outfit is coordinated
Speaker 1: to my mantra, my persona. If I know it's gonna
Speaker 1: be a loose show, I'll go on with glasses and
Speaker 1: a vest and a tie not tied all the way up.
Speaker 1: Because everything has to communicate together. So I didn't go
Speaker 1: to a Taylor Swift concert just to listen to Taylor Swift.
Speaker 1: But what can I learn from her because she's clearly
Speaker 1: she's clearly excellent. Kevin Hart, people say he's not funny anymore.
Speaker 1: You know, you can have that conversation, but he's clearly excellent.
Speaker 1: So what can I learn from somebody excellent? So as
Speaker 1: it pretends to basketball? Lebron because he's excellent, Steph, because
Speaker 1: he's excellent. I just love watching excellence. Thoughts on this playoffs, man,
Speaker 1: look bro First and foremost, this year was and this
Speaker 1: year was affected drastically because of last year because the
Speaker 1: season was so short. Right, Never in NBA history have
Speaker 1: four teams who went to the finals a year before
Speaker 1: returned and been this slow of a seed when the
Speaker 1: four teams who go to the finals returned the next year,
Speaker 1: on average, Matt, they are a two seed. Really the
Speaker 1: two point seven, so we can round down to a
Speaker 1: three seed. This year, on average they were a sixth seed.
Speaker 1: It's not coincidence. Cast is tired. The cast is hurt.
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying. When you see Kauai get
Speaker 1: hurt off a minimal contact injury, when you see uh
Speaker 1: Harden with his hamstrings again, when you see Jamal Murray
Speaker 1: off a no contact injury, cast is hurt. And so
Speaker 1: I like, I just told you I like watching excellence.
Speaker 1: I want to see everybody at their best. We didn't
Speaker 1: get to see that this year. You know what I'm saying, Like,
Speaker 1: are the two teams that are in the NBA Finals
Speaker 1: the best two teams? Or were they just the healthiest
Speaker 1: two teams? You feel me because I want to see
Speaker 1: the best, no indictment on them. Shout out to the
Speaker 1: sun Set out to the Bucks. But like, did we
Speaker 1: really get to see the best this year? I'm not
Speaker 1: convinced the Milwaukee was that close from having their start injury.
Speaker 1: But he just built different. Fact, y'all know that Cody
Speaker 1: last Yeah, I told you now, he's just be He
Speaker 1: just build different. But it's not to the people that
Speaker 1: can have a hyperstated k need come back. Y. No, Look,
Speaker 1: y'all don't remember an X men. They went to Nigeria
Speaker 1: and they went and found and to Mantium. Are you saying,
Speaker 1: oh my god, how do you think he came back
Speaker 1: in the weeks? That hey thing came back in a week.
Speaker 1: They then came back in a week and he got
Speaker 1: hurt in Atlanta. Atlanta has direct flights on Delta straight
Speaker 1: to Lego, straight to Legos direct. I take it every summer.
Speaker 1: They got direct flights from Atlanta to Legos. We didn't
Speaker 1: hear from you, honest for a day. Where do you
Speaker 1: think he went? So? Why why did John's play on
Speaker 1: the Nigerian team? He probably won't branding. He probably where
Speaker 1: Where did he play in the past though, Greece and
Speaker 1: something like that. You know, but he's confused, Hey six,
Speaker 1: He's why people say I'm young. He's going he's confused.
Speaker 1: You know, he's trying to figure out his life. You know,
Speaker 1: they called him the Greek free Like when people called
Speaker 1: me Manny, I was confused, like, man, that's not really
Speaker 1: my name. But as I got later in life and matured,
Speaker 1: I understood, you know who I really an. That's where
Speaker 1: your honest is. He's trying to figure out who he
Speaker 1: really is. He'll come back home. I'm funny, come back
Speaker 1: home because blaite. People used to call me Maddie. I'm
Speaker 1: like maddie because all right, that's funny. He said that
Speaker 1: ship All right, quick hitters man. First thing to come
Speaker 1: to mind, Let us know, best football player you ever
Speaker 1: played against? What Sean McCoy he jump at you? He
Speaker 1: called him cut on a dime for a reason. Shawn McCoy,
Speaker 1: he was scary, went crazy. He did you bad. I
Speaker 1: would guess. I'm not I thotic enough to keep up,
Speaker 1: so I would guess. But think about Shady. Remember I
Speaker 1: told you I was smart. If Shady went up and
Speaker 1: gave you an outside move first, he was gonna go outside.
Speaker 1: He comes up and he squares you up. He's going inside.
Speaker 1: So I would just study the hell out of Shady
Speaker 1: and I would guess every time and got it and
Speaker 1: got it. He said I could cover him best, but
Speaker 1: I was just guessing. I just found out to tell
Speaker 1: and she did nice. Five favorite artists Musical John Legend,
Speaker 1: I'm a gospel cat, so Kirk Franklin, Um, Little Wayne, Um,
Speaker 1: Kanye Prime, pre you know, Early Kane, early Kanyem, early Kanye.
Speaker 1: And lastly, because I'm an R and B guy, I'm
Speaker 1: a true lover at heart. I'm muna say uh can
Speaker 1: boys the men count? Yeah? Top five most uh most
Speaker 1: important sports moments to you? Top five most important sports moments. Um, okay,
Speaker 1: let's start historically. Let's go Jackie Robinson. Let's get that
Speaker 1: out the way. You know what I'm saying, Like, what
Speaker 1: that meant? For the Game of Baseball, integration of the
Speaker 1: Game of Baseball. Um, let's go with the cast on one.
Speaker 1: Let's go with Lebron James coming back from down three one. Yeah,
Speaker 1: let's go there. Um Okay, see, now I feel bad.
Speaker 1: A lot of people use that. Don't like to be
Speaker 1: like a lot of people. Now I gotta go obscure.
Speaker 1: Now you just challenge me. Um, Let's go with um
Speaker 1: greatest you said sports moments. Let's go with the thrilling Manila.
Speaker 1: Let's go with thrilling Manilla like that joint like, let's
Speaker 1: go with thrilling Manilla. Um, let's go with Tom Brady
Speaker 1: getting drafted to the Patriots. Right. If he doesn't get
Speaker 1: drafted there, maybe he never becomes Tom Brady, never gets
Speaker 1: hurt or blessed on, never gets hurt. And let's go
Speaker 1: with Since we're talking about greatest, let's go with the
Speaker 1: Bulls hiring Phil Jackson, because I think the Bulls. If
Speaker 1: the Bulls don't hire Phil Jackson, Jordan is still a
Speaker 1: great but Jordan's not Jordan's But like realizing that after
Speaker 1: Phil Jackson showed up, Jordan never sniffed his points for
Speaker 1: a game average, you'll realize that right like game to
Speaker 1: slow him, that slow his touches down thirty seven points
Speaker 1: per game his third year in the league, thirty five
Speaker 1: points per game. A year after that at four. Clearly
Speaker 1: Jordan's got better, but he never touched that many points
Speaker 1: per game again. He just touched a whole bunch of championship.
Speaker 1: I always ask people what happened? What happened if Phil
Speaker 1: never went with Shack and Kobe bro what would have had? Okay,
Speaker 1: I got this view with y'all, COVID shock, and Jordan
Speaker 1: was gonna beat in regardless of the fucking Pepe Herman
Speaker 1: was on the sideline. No, we're not talking about You
Speaker 1: don't get the numbers, get their numbers. Do they get championships?
Speaker 1: The numbers are, Yeah, they're gonna get there. They don't
Speaker 1: get their numbers, of course, but I don't know if
Speaker 1: they get chips plural? What else is interesting? If Jordan
Speaker 1: don't go play baseball, y'all think he wins a straight
Speaker 1: I think so much luck goes into that kind of ship, health,
Speaker 1: getting along chemist. There's a lot that goes into Jordan.
Speaker 1: I don't doubt that it's only one Jordans. I don't
Speaker 1: doubt that what he could do. But I'm saying a
Speaker 1: lot goes into You know what else is why you
Speaker 1: gotta have left to win the championship by geting that
Speaker 1: some somewhere who don't get enough creditor is phil because
Speaker 1: you win three Jordan leaves, you win three, Spurs win one,
Speaker 1: then you win three again. Like we don't talk about
Speaker 1: that on any show. Enough feels gotta come feel, you
Speaker 1: gotta come smoke a joint with us. I know you've
Speaker 1: seen some of this ship. Jennie probably told you to
Speaker 1: come mess with us, So you gotta come mess with us. Man. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't want to know why you don't want to
Speaker 1: shake my hand after we beat y'all scars. Yeah, I'm
Speaker 1: just saying, I just want to know what message you'll
Speaker 1: put on the billboard for the world to see. You're
Speaker 1: asking a man who lives by quotes to give you one,
Speaker 1: and a man that's got a billboard right now cheesing
Speaker 1: one message. Um, the reason most people fail is because
Speaker 1: they give up what they want most for what they
Speaker 1: want now. The reason most people fail is because they
Speaker 1: give up what they want most for what they want now.
Speaker 1: If that was one message, it would probably be that
Speaker 1: like people don't fail because they're not talented or skilled
Speaker 1: or whatever. It's like you give up what you want
Speaker 1: most for what you want now. I think the other
Speaker 1: thing is, and this is Einstein quote, but everybody is
Speaker 1: a genius. But if you judge a fish by its
Speaker 1: ability to climb a tree, it too will live its
Speaker 1: whole life believing it's an idiot. M hm. My mama
Speaker 1: told me, youngster, nothing beas of failure but to try
Speaker 1: and lick your lips. This is all script. But like
Speaker 1: I said, I just I know why I'm doing this podcast,
Speaker 1: while I'm doing ESPN, while I'm doing complex for my
Speaker 1: ultimate goal is what do you do all this stuff
Speaker 1: you're doing down? What's your ultimate goal in this space?
Speaker 1: I don't believe in goals. I believe in objective without limitations. Okay,
Speaker 1: well where are you going from this? Uh? The thing?
Speaker 1: The thing? If you set a goal, it best to
Speaker 1: reach the goal and it worst. You'll ruin your self
Speaker 1: esteem and self africacy if you don't reach the goal.
Speaker 1: My senior year, I put a piece of paper above
Speaker 1: my bed. I looked at it every day before I
Speaker 1: went to sleep, and every morning when I woke up
Speaker 1: because I wanted to go pro. My junior year sheet
Speaker 1: of paper from the NFL that says you will not
Speaker 1: be drafted in the first three rounds. So I was like, like, hell,
Speaker 1: I won't put that sheet of paper up there after
Speaker 1: my in your year, your boy gonna go drafted first
Speaker 1: three rounds. I get to the combine to turn my
Speaker 1: quality drafted in the sixth round my brother was pick
Speaker 1: one oh four. I knew I needed to be picked
Speaker 1: one oh three, I get I end up being picked
Speaker 1: two oh four. At that point in times said I'm
Speaker 1: done in goal setting. So I'm done with it. Um,
Speaker 1: So what is my objective? I want to be the
Speaker 1: greatest person the industry has ever seen, the greatest creative
Speaker 1: the industry has ever seen. But the beauty of that
Speaker 1: is objective, which means it's subjective. It's not objective because
Speaker 1: who you to say is the greatest You say pox's
Speaker 1: the greatest rapper. He might disagree, so I wouldn't agree.
Speaker 1: Disagree ahead, But but but it's like, I don't want
Speaker 1: anything finite. I want to be when you think about
Speaker 1: the greatest television personality, I want you to at least
Speaker 1: have to mention my name and is it just strictly
Speaker 1: sports you trying to transition more into life as we
Speaker 1: talked about and we um we passed, well, we haven't
Speaker 1: passed sports four here right now. I love sports. I
Speaker 1: love it, Yes I do. Um, But like I remember,
Speaker 1: I won the Sports semi. But I'm probably more happy
Speaker 1: just to be nominated for the prime time because it's
Speaker 1: one thing to be good at sports, but it's another
Speaker 1: thing to go into another field and be good there.
Speaker 1: But that's what I say. I basketball is great, want
Speaker 1: a championship in Ali, But what I'm doing now it
Speaker 1: means way more than any basketball, any shot I've ever shot.
Speaker 1: Facts And like the dopest thing when people come up
Speaker 1: to me and say like oh my god, or like
Speaker 1: when I get introduced to do something like author Manuel Acho.
Speaker 1: I used to be NFL, but now it's all the title.
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying. Um, Like, that's really when
Speaker 1: you have a listen, that's the growth all right, back
Speaker 1: on track. Five dinner guests that are alive. This is
Speaker 1: gonna be interesting. Five dinner guests dead or a lot
Speaker 1: and they can't please don't let him all they can't.
Speaker 1: I'll be Nigerian. No, no, no no, no, no, no, not no, Bressie.
Speaker 1: If they are not food food, gotti goat meats. I
Speaker 1: don't want I want steak. Um. Five dinner guests that
Speaker 1: are alive. Can I get comfortable? Come on, snoop, light
Speaker 1: on that motherfucking cost the whole interview. Look back at
Speaker 1: us like this bad longest as long as young clown
Speaker 1: is ripping my James. It wasn't supposed to rip this much.
Speaker 1: You know my quads, I squad a lot. Um. Okay,
Speaker 1: five dinner guests that are alive. One, let's go with
Speaker 1: m Okay, I'm okay has to be there. I'm a
Speaker 1: i'm a I'm a biblical man. But I'm not gonna
Speaker 1: go Jesus because that's a cop out. So I'm gonna
Speaker 1: go with Paul. He wrote the majority of the New Testament. Um,
Speaker 1: so I'm gonna go with him. Um. I'm going to
Speaker 1: go with Albert Einstein. I gotta learn something. Somebody teach
Speaker 1: me something. I'm gonna at Einstein. That makes three Um
Speaker 1: oh easy, uh Will Smith and um, Jamie Fox, you're
Speaker 1: gonna laugh. You definitely want to laugh. I want to learn.
Speaker 1: I think that the most I think Jamie Fox Kirk
Speaker 1: Franklin or the two most those who I patted my
Speaker 1: life out of bro Amie Fox that you think I
Speaker 1: have quote Jamie Fox that this I watched this interview.
Speaker 1: He said he was playing the piano with Ray Charles
Speaker 1: one time, playing the pianos with Ray Charles one time
Speaker 1: and he hits the wrong key. Rachels like, what would
Speaker 1: you do that for? Right? And and Jamie's like, my bad. Ray,
Speaker 1: I was just vibe and I was just in the mood.
Speaker 1: And Ray Charles said to Jamie Fox, all the keys
Speaker 1: are underneath your fingers. Take the time to play the
Speaker 1: right now. He told us that story on the on
Speaker 1: the show, I think all the keys or take the time.
Speaker 1: At that point in time, I realized stack every word
Speaker 1: is in my vernacular. It's in my dick. Take the
Speaker 1: time to say ever, like all the all the keys
Speaker 1: a running. It just take So Now when I go
Speaker 1: on there and I'm about to say something, I'm always like,
Speaker 1: take the time to say that right, because you have it.
Speaker 1: People just rush through it, people rush through life. Take
Speaker 1: the time to respond to the person properly. Take the
Speaker 1: time to use the exact right word, because all the
Speaker 1: keys are underneath your fingers. People don't take the time
Speaker 1: and so that's just that's how I live my life.
Speaker 1: It's like take the time to say to play the
Speaker 1: right note. Last question, who do you want to see
Speaker 1: on All the Smoke? And you have to help us
Speaker 1: with yours. You have to help us get the answer
Speaker 1: on the show. Um, who do I want to see
Speaker 1: on All the Smoke? Um? Well, we just saw Joy
Speaker 1: Taylor on All the Smoke, so you know I would
Speaker 1: have been great to see her. We did see her,
Speaker 1: so I think I did my job. Then guys, okay, Stacks,
Speaker 1: you're not getting away with that one. Who do I
Speaker 1: want to see on All this? Okay? I got a
Speaker 1: couple of people I gotta see. Um, I want to
Speaker 1: see Seal because I want to see Matt and Sell
Speaker 1: go at it. Um, that would be phenomenal. I know
Speaker 1: they get I don't know. Y'all have beef, but y'all
Speaker 1: have disagreements. Don't have respectful disagreements. When I when I
Speaker 1: went on the show, the most uncomfortable I've ever been
Speaker 1: on television, True stories can allowed to tell us that
Speaker 1: bro we a are Stack comes on. It's the first
Speaker 1: time Stack didn't come on. Producer came up to me beforehand.
Speaker 1: I was like, hey, Stephen Jackson, you know, thinking about
Speaker 1: being on blah blah bla blah blah. I said, Yo,
Speaker 1: I love Stack. I met him. I met him at
Speaker 1: a Super Bowl. We crossed past in Miami. I think
Speaker 1: dapped each other up real quick. But I was like,
Speaker 1: but um, I think him and my co host might
Speaker 1: have an issue. But it's fine anyway, bra So Stat
Speaker 1: comes on the show. Before we go on, there were chill, Stack,
Speaker 1: what's good, brother, you're good, family, how you living? You're good?
Speaker 1: You're good. Stacks like, real quick, if his voice got deep,
Speaker 1: you know, somebody voice get you start to get scared.
Speaker 1: Plus said, you know I've seen videos of Stacks. I'm like, god,
Speaker 1: is he dangerous? You know, I know he's refined, but
Speaker 1: you know, I'm not sure how refined is he. You know,
Speaker 1: I went to private school, so you know. Um, so
Speaker 1: Stack's voice gets real deep. Hey, Sale, you know I've
Speaker 1: seen what you said about me, about me and about
Speaker 1: me and Matt Marcel's like what I say? Stacks said,
Speaker 1: you know you know what you said? Man. You know
Speaker 1: I'm like, oh God, I'm sitting here, I'm texting the
Speaker 1: producer like, yo, I don't know if he's gonna go.
Speaker 1: It's like, I know what you said. Marcelf's like, hey,
Speaker 1: tell me what I said. I'm like, oh God, don't
Speaker 1: do this. Um Stack keeps sad. You know, Matt told me, no,
Speaker 1: be careful. What you can't trust, you gotta out of die.
Speaker 1: Damn he said I can't trust. I said watch out
Speaker 1: something like that same thing, man, So you know, watch
Speaker 1: out out to die. Anyway, it all, it's all good.
Speaker 1: Just that in the third they handle it. But that happened, Matt.
Speaker 1: Just you put me in a very compromising position, all right.
Speaker 1: So Marcell's wildly and the last person I'm gonna say,
Speaker 1: who do I want to see on all the smoke?
Speaker 1: Who'll be talking at real talk? Who were talking at
Speaker 1: real talk? Who were talking about real Who are we
Speaker 1: talking about real man? Athletes be faking bruss. So I
Speaker 1: don't even really pump fake athletes be fake. I don't
Speaker 1: really know who really be talking that talk like that. Um,
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers will be a good one if y'all getting
Speaker 1: to be real, Aaron Rodgers will be one. You know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying, Like he bout it. I love marcellis,
Speaker 1: but like we talked about before, like he said stuff
Speaker 1: sometimes that I don't agree with, but I'll text him
Speaker 1: or we'll DM each other and we'll go back and
Speaker 1: forth and you know, we'll spit our ship. But I
Speaker 1: always gotta love from Marcellus. But didn't stay there, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean, It will stay there. It won't
Speaker 1: get disrespectful like that, and if if even we're about
Speaker 1: to close the biggest things, like everybody can have adult
Speaker 1: intellectual conversations, disagree without being without being disrespectful. That was
Speaker 1: the thing when when Stadt brought up this thing with
Speaker 1: with sale, right, but when we're right before we went live,
Speaker 1: it's like if it would have got ugly, We're going
Speaker 1: on national television three to one the state respectful, stam
Speaker 1: so like you can disagree and still And that's why
Speaker 1: I was glad to come up here because I was like,
Speaker 1: the show is called all the Smoke. I have none
Speaker 1: of these smoke, and I'm about to go sit down
Speaker 1: with you. I got enough, but nobody man, you man,
Speaker 1: we really appreciate, really feel like this is one of
Speaker 1: the interviews, Like I really feel like I learned a
Speaker 1: lot today. Man. We thank you for your time and
Speaker 1: everything you're doing in this space. You know you're making
Speaker 1: us look good. You were called an athlete, but now
Speaker 1: you're the author and you're an Emmy nominating. You wanted
Speaker 1: me so. Man. We we salute you. We appreciate what
Speaker 1: you're doing this and keep being great fellas, keep keeping
Speaker 1: it real. Man. We need you all. We need the dialogue.
Speaker 1: I'm encouraged by it and I just think they're different
Speaker 1: ways to speak the same message. You all speak of
Speaker 1: Joe's way. I speak in my way. It's all love.
Speaker 1: I learned something from you today though, and what I'm
Speaker 1: what I'm gonna take away from this interview is you
Speaker 1: know what to say and you got the right words,
Speaker 1: to take your time, to stay with the right word.
Speaker 1: I use that. Well that's a wrap. Thank our guests,
Speaker 1: Emmanuel I show you can find him one if that's one.
Speaker 1: Every day, right, every yourself, every day speak for yourself
Speaker 1: with Hey and Marcellus Wiley. You can catch all the
Speaker 1: Smoke on Showtime, Basketball, YouTube and the I Heart platform
Speaker 1: Black Effects. See you all next week. Piece. This is
Speaker 1: All a Smoke, a production of The Black Effect and
Speaker 1: our Heart Radio in partnership with Showtime