Speaker 1: This is cut to it with Steve Smith Senior at
Speaker 1: production of The Black Effect and I Heart Radio. I'm
Speaker 1: Steve Smith Senior and I'm ger a little John and
Speaker 1: this is cut to it. Good do it, Good do it.
Speaker 1: Let's get down to do it. Good do it. We
Speaker 1: asked the questions you always want to know, but no
Speaker 1: one ever asked, let's cut to it. You ain't heard
Speaker 1: about it, then we're about to let you. Now it's all.
Speaker 1: We got another California guy, year old from Stockton, California,
Speaker 1: all American from Oregon State, UH wide receiver, good friend,
Speaker 1: Manu the arrow himself right, always running past people running
Speaker 1: around him. Brandon Cooks, welcome to the cut to a podcast.
Speaker 1: How you doing that? I appreciate you having me you
Speaker 1: know a lot of respective Yeah, I appreciate you. Guys,
Speaker 1: have no problem, bro, it's a pleasure. This is Gerard's doings.
Speaker 1: G the co host. And then you got backstage Joe.
Speaker 1: But man, I'm gonna go ahead and just get right
Speaker 1: into it because nobody knows this. So a couple of
Speaker 1: years ago, k' well, here's it's been like eight years ago.
Speaker 1: So by eight years ago had had a group of
Speaker 1: wide receivers. Uh in in town, and and it was
Speaker 1: all working out, getting ready. I was getting ready for
Speaker 1: my I think my second to the last season season,
Speaker 1: the second of last season. And so we're going and
Speaker 1: uh Cooks is with me. Man he come in town.
Speaker 1: Let me tell you so this dude is so O
Speaker 1: c D. When I say O c D, he I
Speaker 1: mean walked through your stuff like this dude. He first,
Speaker 1: he getting the car, he crossing and taking the Lord.
Speaker 1: He put the seatbelt on, He thinking the Lord. Man
Speaker 1: hold on. He gets to the stoplight, he taking the Lord.
Speaker 1: He's looking right, he's looking like you can never put
Speaker 1: you on the anointing. Now, yes you can, at yes
Speaker 1: you can. I started worrying. It wasn't my driving. Are
Speaker 1: you I finally said something, probably about after the twentie
Speaker 1: of time, I said, are you okay? No, man, I'm good.
Speaker 1: I just you know, just gotta be thankful. I'm thankful too.
Speaker 1: But at some point you gotta keep your eyes on
Speaker 1: the road. I started like speeding, slowing down, stopping and see, look,
Speaker 1: is he gonna do it? He ain't remember. After this
Speaker 1: day I knew he was looking to me. I gotta
Speaker 1: keep on going. I knew. At some point he was like, man,
Speaker 1: you all right, what what to walk us through that?
Speaker 1: I mean, just just give us. I can't remember what
Speaker 1: you said. It threw me off, so I was kind
Speaker 1: of letting you live. But you know, now I don't
Speaker 1: have to go ahead. I gotta I gotta be honest
Speaker 1: with y'all. Think it was just a little bit too
Speaker 1: much to l c D. Because I dialed back on
Speaker 1: that a little bit, you know what I mean, even me.
Speaker 1: My wife started to kiss me and she was like,
Speaker 1: all right, now you all right? Really you know what
Speaker 1: I mean. I take a look in the mirror, like, man,
Speaker 1: am I good? Like I don't remember doing it this much?
Speaker 1: You know what I mean? Uh, but I dialed back.
Speaker 1: I dialed back, So what do you what do you think?
Speaker 1: What do you think that comes from? Like I would
Speaker 1: say truthfully, that probably anxiety. You need to be honest
Speaker 1: with you. I felt like, you know, those those early years,
Speaker 1: I was dealing with a lot of anxiety because I
Speaker 1: started to look back to myself like, man, and I
Speaker 1: were going to stay. I'm in high school. I wasn't
Speaker 1: doing all that, you know what I mean. I was
Speaker 1: still taking care of business just because I get to
Speaker 1: the league, you know what makes that change? And I
Speaker 1: just I think the anxiety, uh, you know, start to
Speaker 1: build as a young guy, and then I have to
Speaker 1: you know, like I said doll back, you know when
Speaker 1: when you got people around you, like you know, noticing
Speaker 1: now you start to question like, okay, what really is
Speaker 1: going on? Um? And uh you know how to rate
Speaker 1: a conscious effort on you know, dowaling that back. So
Speaker 1: I would really say it was probably of the anxiety
Speaker 1: to be honestly, I mean, use your first you know,
Speaker 1: your first round draft pick, you go to New Orleans,
Speaker 1: you're catching a thousand footballs. You know, you're playing in
Speaker 1: the offense, You're playing with Drew Brees, You're playing in
Speaker 1: the offense that is not short of yardage, right, and
Speaker 1: yet on an outside, on the outside looking in, everything
Speaker 1: looks great that you're telling me, on the inside you're struggling. Yea.
Speaker 1: Is it pretty much every single day? You know, yeah,
Speaker 1: early on, Yeah, because you just felt that. I just
Speaker 1: I wouldn't necessarily call it pressure. I think it's just
Speaker 1: the one to be perfect, you know what I mean,
Speaker 1: and you know do something you know, you think like
Speaker 1: that's never been done. But then again, when you think
Speaker 1: that way, as you know, you play this game for
Speaker 1: so many years, you're never gonna be perfect, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean. And the better that you can play relax,
Speaker 1: the better off you will be. But I thought opposite,
Speaker 1: you know, I thought to myself, well, you know, the
Speaker 1: more tense I am, the more locked in I am,
Speaker 1: the better off I be. And I think that's the
Speaker 1: kind of creative the anxiety. Uh you know, early on, Yeah,
Speaker 1: what if, what if anything have you put in place
Speaker 1: to try to circumvent that whenever you feel it like
Speaker 1: bubbling up or if you feel like, you know, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna take myself back down that place? What if you
Speaker 1: put in place within yourself too, Because it sounds like
Speaker 1: you're you're a little bit more removed from it. Oh no, yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm saying I'm far removed from a lot of that.
Speaker 1: And I think, just really, uh, you know, I listening
Speaker 1: to my wife, Uh you know, I'm really valuing her feedback.
Speaker 1: Once again, you earlier on, you're like, yeah, I hear
Speaker 1: you and all, but you don't understand it. Back the
Speaker 1: end of the day, they, as we all know, they're
Speaker 1: looking out the best, you know, our best interest. Um,
Speaker 1: so you know, she has stepping stone in that aspect.
Speaker 1: But even when I'm out there by myself, I just
Speaker 1: remind myself, like, man, I've been doing this for a minute.
Speaker 1: I'm a dog. Uh there, you don't need to create
Speaker 1: that extra uh you know, internal pressure you know we're doing.
Speaker 1: And I really started to uh hone in on that
Speaker 1: and truly believe it. So what did what did your
Speaker 1: wife say to you? That really started started to hit
Speaker 1: home because you know, sometimes we around people that surround
Speaker 1: us a lot, and there are habits that she just
Speaker 1: you know, they're just saying that we start to have
Speaker 1: selected hearing where we start to um, you know, kind
Speaker 1: of dismiss uh people who are around us a lot
Speaker 1: their input, especially evaluating ourselves. Yeah, the biggest thing stick
Speaker 1: with me today. It was like, you know, it's just
Speaker 1: a couple of words. You're like, man, you you're changing,
Speaker 1: like you ain't the same. And then when when she
Speaker 1: said that, I'm like, what you know what I mean?
Speaker 1: What you mean? She goes, just you just ain't the same.
Speaker 1: You ain't free no more, you know what I mean,
Speaker 1: You're not You're not you're not moving around like you
Speaker 1: know who you are anymore. You. You kind of you know,
Speaker 1: you confuse and you know in that conversation, you know,
Speaker 1: it's different between like hey you all right, blah blah blah.
Speaker 1: But once you you know, you you hit words like that,
Speaker 1: You're like, all right, now, this person with me every
Speaker 1: day and if they can see a change, Uh, you
Speaker 1: know that that means something like you're just putting too
Speaker 1: much on yourself. You ain't playing the same, you ain't
Speaker 1: coming home for practice the same. Uh. You know. Granted,
Speaker 1: you know we've been together since college, so she can
Speaker 1: truly say that, you know what I mean. She could
Speaker 1: say how I was coming home from practice back then
Speaker 1: versus uh, you know when I got in the league,
Speaker 1: and and that kind of hit home with me. Uh
Speaker 1: do you think some of I mean, you've been on
Speaker 1: you've been traded at three three times now, yea, you've
Speaker 1: been traded three times. How has that experience maybe played
Speaker 1: into that? Take us down each one? Not without I
Speaker 1: want you to be your authentic self. I don't necessarily
Speaker 1: want you to, you know, if someone here is just that,
Speaker 1: oh he threw such and such under the ye but
Speaker 1: but being but it's also what you've experienced, right, you
Speaker 1: experience what you experience, yea, but being traded three times
Speaker 1: and you you weren't traded because you can't play. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think you know, that's a great question, because through
Speaker 1: some of those trades early on, I started to notice
Speaker 1: some of that was coming back, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: I get traded from New Orleans, UM to New England,
Speaker 1: and I'm like at that point, I'm like, all right, well, look,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm going for a first round going to
Speaker 1: a contending team like that one didn't really you know,
Speaker 1: hit me that much, just because that's earlier on the career.
Speaker 1: But the one from New England to the Rams, you
Speaker 1: know hit me because, like you know, we get to
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl. Unfortunately, you know, uh, you know, I
Speaker 1: get hit and I get concussed, I get knocked out
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl. So I'm like, man, I'm just I
Speaker 1: was just your leading receiver, you know what i mean,
Speaker 1: first year being able to pick that offense up. I'm
Speaker 1: thinking to myself, at least I'm gonna fish my fifth
Speaker 1: year option, uh and get a chance at this again.
Speaker 1: You know, clearly that didn't happen. And so when I
Speaker 1: got traded to l A, I'm like, well, damn, I
Speaker 1: mean I just produce. Now, I get it. You know,
Speaker 1: they do things their way. They don't you know, pay
Speaker 1: guys markets. So I look at that and I said, okay,
Speaker 1: I understand that. So I'm at l A and I'm
Speaker 1: picking it up, and once again, we go to the
Speaker 1: super Bowl and uh, you know this is the one
Speaker 1: where really hit me. That super Bowl. You know, I
Speaker 1: feel like I didn't performed to my best um and
Speaker 1: out here again. Next year, I had another chance at it,
Speaker 1: and I feel like, in my opinion, I failed again.
Speaker 1: And going into that off season, bro, I was just
Speaker 1: I'm like, damn, what well, I can't get over this hump. Like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm producing throughout the season, but you know, the biggest
Speaker 1: stage that you want to play on, I didn't. I
Speaker 1: didn't make it happen. And I remember that year, you know, uh,
Speaker 1: targets was getting you know, taking away. So then I'm
Speaker 1: really in my head. Yeah, that year I think I had,
Speaker 1: uh two was the two to three concussions. And you know,
Speaker 1: I go see a specialist and they go, look, ain't
Speaker 1: nothing wrong with struct structurally is And this is without
Speaker 1: him even ask me any questions. You know, he did
Speaker 1: some tests like, man, your anxiety is through the roof,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, I'm thinking aboutself. Yeah, yeah, he ain't
Speaker 1: lying because that that O c D is starting to
Speaker 1: come back. I'm talking about pregame. Um I'm doing you know,
Speaker 1: I'm hitting across this too many times. Uh. Like I
Speaker 1: was in the car back then, and one thing he
Speaker 1: said to me, like, well, people don't understand anxiety portion,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. It's like you red line
Speaker 1: and already, so any little thing that that could take
Speaker 1: you over that red line is very minimal. You know.
Speaker 1: Most people start out here, you you can get some
Speaker 1: hits and then all of a sudden that you have
Speaker 1: the red line. But for me, I'm near already. And
Speaker 1: so he're like, look, I'm not worried about you. If
Speaker 1: you can get this downpack, you know, could everybody start questioning, like,
Speaker 1: you know, because should you keep going? And when he
Speaker 1: told me that, I took that as a challengs like,
Speaker 1: you know what, I let this game too much to
Speaker 1: be away from it this soon, I'm gonna get this fixed.
Speaker 1: So I start seeing the mental coade. So hold on,
Speaker 1: we're gonna go there. But let's go backwards. Your anxiety
Speaker 1: was so high that it was it was starting to
Speaker 1: infiltrate your whole body and your mind to the point
Speaker 1: of where and I say this tongue in cheek, but basically,
Speaker 1: somebody just breathes on you and it would and your
Speaker 1: body literally was responding, just ready to shut down. You're
Speaker 1: ready to shut down. So you were having not just
Speaker 1: you weren't having a concussion where your brain was hitting
Speaker 1: against you, having full yeah, yeah, yep, yeah, yeah, yep.
Speaker 1: And and at first I'm like man, but then I like, man,
Speaker 1: he got a point though, because I'm like, you know,
Speaker 1: it'll be some games I'm fine, some games I'm good,
Speaker 1: and in some games I'm just you know, I'm tricky,
Speaker 1: and I'm an say I'm ready to go because in
Speaker 1: my mind, like, all right, I gotta make up for
Speaker 1: these last you know, a couple of Super Bowl performances,
Speaker 1: and as you know now looking back at it, you
Speaker 1: can't make up with it and make it up in
Speaker 1: one game, or you can't make up you know, you
Speaker 1: can't really make it up, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: And as a receiver, you know, we depend on so
Speaker 1: many factors that to be successful, and so here I
Speaker 1: am putting that pressure on me and at the end
Speaker 1: of the day, I can control some of it, but
Speaker 1: most of it. I can't control play calling, I can't
Speaker 1: control with the quarterback throw. I can't control on any
Speaker 1: of those things. And uh, I have to really really
Speaker 1: see that for what it was, your face looking yourself
Speaker 1: in the mirror. Yep, you've seen a specialist, You've talked
Speaker 1: you've talked to boss Hog. The wife, you know, she's
Speaker 1: she's been around you, she knows exactly who you are.
Speaker 1: She you are known to her. And then now you
Speaker 1: just have to sit and you're left with not just
Speaker 1: professional decisions, but personal decisions that affects your your your
Speaker 1: profession that you're trying to control football which you have
Speaker 1: no control over, and the person and the things that
Speaker 1: the person you can't control as yourself, which which takes
Speaker 1: some time. So then after that, how do you harness
Speaker 1: and control and also let go of all these things
Speaker 1: that you're balancing that you have put you have um
Speaker 1: artificially and really tangible realistically put on your shoulders. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's a great question. I think just over the years, uh,
Speaker 1: it's been a little bit by a little bit because
Speaker 1: I think the biggest thing I was face was like Okay,
Speaker 1: if I continue to go down this road, I don't
Speaker 1: get to play this game that that I love. Right,
Speaker 1: So at that point you're thinking, well, I'm willing to
Speaker 1: do whatever I can fix that. And then you look
Speaker 1: at your family and and then you know, when she
Speaker 1: gets you know, boss Hall, like you said, give me
Speaker 1: the green light, I'm like, okay, I can't let her down.
Speaker 1: And when you have your first child, you think this, Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm too young to be not to be away from
Speaker 1: this game. So now I gotta think to myself what
Speaker 1: I what am I gonna do to be able to
Speaker 1: see to be able to let him see me play
Speaker 1: this game for a while. So it really just came
Speaker 1: down to a personal decision and seeing mental coaches and
Speaker 1: trying to just get rid of some of those things
Speaker 1: that I was, uh, you know facing, And every single
Speaker 1: year has been better. First of all, how long have
Speaker 1: you been How long have you been sent a mental coach?
Speaker 1: I would say going over three years. Ever since my
Speaker 1: last year in that l as I was getting traded
Speaker 1: to Houston, is when I started that process. That to
Speaker 1: my year with three years? And how did how did
Speaker 1: you go about that process? And was it was it easy.
Speaker 1: Was it difficult? Was it? Were you nervous? Um? Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know. At first I had a lot of pride,
Speaker 1: you know that go and then but I had to
Speaker 1: tell myself, you know, getting rid of that pride is
Speaker 1: gonna help me. And so I would say it was
Speaker 1: tough at first. Then went through an interview process, interviewing
Speaker 1: different people, you know, talking to guys who may have
Speaker 1: had one. Typically seems like the quarterbacks usually have one.
Speaker 1: So you know, I hit whether it's X quarterbacks or
Speaker 1: other quarterbacks around the league that I got respect for,
Speaker 1: found their guy, interviewed them, and then came down to
Speaker 1: a decision on what was best for me in the
Speaker 1: interview process. What were some of the questions or how
Speaker 1: did you come up with the questions? And I wouldn't know,
Speaker 1: I personally, I wouldn't know what what to ask a guy.
Speaker 1: Then I say I didn't I didn't know at all.
Speaker 1: All I knew was I was having anxiety problems and
Speaker 1: I'll just let them speak and you know, and and
Speaker 1: listen to them. And it was more so a listening
Speaker 1: process because I had no clue with the ask had
Speaker 1: no clue you know what I mean, I had nobody
Speaker 1: really lean on, um, you know, for questions to ask.
Speaker 1: You're known as a person who has a huge amount
Speaker 1: of faith, whether it's your your bow and arrow, you've
Speaker 1: mentioned your the crosses that you do. How did that
Speaker 1: come into play? And even on a practical level, because
Speaker 1: even when some people say faith, it's like this kind
Speaker 1: of whimsical kind of punt. But what what did that
Speaker 1: look like on a day to day basis with you know,
Speaker 1: I see, and that was a part that Um, you know,
Speaker 1: I look at myself as like I still held onto that,
Speaker 1: but it was clearly I wasn't trusting. I wasn't trusting.
Speaker 1: I would let me interject and let me say, from
Speaker 1: sitting on the outside in that's a fantastic question, and
Speaker 1: I would say, knowing him zero faith, I respect because
Speaker 1: and the reason why it is because if you if
Speaker 1: you're a believer, you can't be asking God every single
Speaker 1: stoplight to save me. Well, he gave you a driver's license,
Speaker 1: it ain't like you ain't got But I'm just saying
Speaker 1: it because I'm saying it in defense but also in
Speaker 1: a great conversation because you know, um, I've been the
Speaker 1: last I'm reading every month, I'm reading this new book.
Speaker 1: And one of these books they talked. They talked about
Speaker 1: when the game is called uh, when the game is over,
Speaker 1: and they put it back in the box, right, and
Speaker 1: it talks about um in your in your career, you
Speaker 1: have to whether you like it or not, you will
Speaker 1: be cheating something like if you if you are working
Speaker 1: a hundred percent of the time, that means you're cheating. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but it says you're cheating your kids from having their daddy. Right,
Speaker 1: you're cheating if if you if you at the house
Speaker 1: and you're not at work like you're supposed to be. Yes, no, no,
Speaker 1: but you're cheating. So that and so this book is
Speaker 1: basically saying you're gonna cheat something. Something is going to
Speaker 1: like you said, fall by the way, So you can't
Speaker 1: you can't, But but you also can't give your time
Speaker 1: and your talents to every single thing you do. It's
Speaker 1: not enough hours in the days. And so by saying
Speaker 1: by by saying that, I realized you have to you
Speaker 1: have to. You have to literally say if I choose
Speaker 1: to be one of the best friends, that I can
Speaker 1: be that to one person. That means a few other people. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm I'm still in that time from them right to
Speaker 1: give to that you know quotes that best friend. And
Speaker 1: so I'm taking this is it if you are trying
Speaker 1: to be picture perfect and everything you do on a
Speaker 1: football field, and you are having anxiety walking across the street,
Speaker 1: you praying you don't choke Paul's on this hot dog
Speaker 1: you're about to eat. Literally to everything you do, you
Speaker 1: are worried that the worst thing can happen you. And
Speaker 1: as a believer, you cannot say you have faith because
Speaker 1: your prayers are showing that you don't have faith in
Speaker 1: the Lord at anything, because you're scared of everything. See
Speaker 1: that means that you you are not walking in faith,
Speaker 1: You're you're actually praying in fear. And go ahead. I
Speaker 1: just that's just something that like I just kind to
Speaker 1: knowing you and going back like when I was we
Speaker 1: were with each other for three weeks, you know, he
Speaker 1: was like four or five days, bro, he had me shook. Yeah,
Speaker 1: yeah no, But and then double back on that. That's
Speaker 1: the truth. It's like, you know, it's like he talked
Speaker 1: about you, you can't have two items. You can't serve
Speaker 1: God and money, right, And and I'm saying money on
Speaker 1: situation because that's what they're saying in the Bible. But
Speaker 1: at that time, I was serving uh perfection, Uh my game.
Speaker 1: I was that. That's what I was putting my hope in,
Speaker 1: um you know most of the time, because I was
Speaker 1: so I was so hungry, you know, so ansty to
Speaker 1: be able to make up for something. Yeah, I am here,
Speaker 1: you know, going back into the Bookie Rey. Here, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna cheat my time, my quiet time. Why because as
Speaker 1: soon as I get up, I want to go straight
Speaker 1: to work because I think to myself, well, if I
Speaker 1: go do this, I'm gonna make up for If I
Speaker 1: do this, I'm care for. If I do this, when
Speaker 1: it gets to it, I'm gonna make up for it.
Speaker 1: So here I am forgetting about really the most important
Speaker 1: thing that got me to the position I'm in. And
Speaker 1: you know, so it goes back to that book. You're
Speaker 1: talking about you cheating something, and at that same at
Speaker 1: that time, I was cheating my faith. You know. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm still reading y'all, still praying. But what you know,
Speaker 1: what was there? You know what was I praying for
Speaker 1: and why was I praying? You know, clearly talk about
Speaker 1: do not have anxiety cash and anxiety on him because
Speaker 1: you care well clearly I wasn't casting on him because
Speaker 1: I was holding it all myself. And but you know,
Speaker 1: and that's real, and that's just being just being straightforward.
Speaker 1: I love cut to It, and I love it even
Speaker 1: more when you download us and subscribe and you can
Speaker 1: follow us on social media too, Smithie where where at
Speaker 1: that at? Cut to It? On Instagram? What about twitter? At?
Speaker 1: Cut to It? Facebook? Cut to It featuring Steve smith Senr.
Speaker 1: What about online? And you can follow us that cut
Speaker 1: to It podcast dot com where you can buy merch
Speaker 1: and you can subscribe to us wherever you listen to podcasts.
Speaker 1: I got all my answers, questions. Uh, I got all
Speaker 1: my questions answered. That's what I'm here for. A brother
Speaker 1: cut to a podcast dot com like you know also too,
Speaker 1: it's like, you know, I got I just finished this
Speaker 1: other book and it talks you about um it's like, uh,
Speaker 1: God and money and and it's talking about and then
Speaker 1: other ones, you know, keep the game and they bound
Speaker 1: the Brothers and all these different books. And one of
Speaker 1: the things that I really found it interesting is that
Speaker 1: we will hear a story of John who will say
Speaker 1: I walked in a hundred degree weather, I walked ten
Speaker 1: miles because I ran out of gas and then he
Speaker 1: walked ten miles came back. Yeah, he sweated, and then
Speaker 1: he re filled his car for the gas. But I
Speaker 1: noticed in these books at times it doesn't tell a
Speaker 1: full story of what happened in those ten miles. Doesn't
Speaker 1: say that how John made almost passed out to that
Speaker 1: John also um had a pair of shoes that all
Speaker 1: of a sudden it got so hot that the sole
Speaker 1: of his shoes started to melt, or that it also
Speaker 1: started to rain halfway through because he was living in Florida,
Speaker 1: and uh, a shower came through, and then a truck
Speaker 1: came by and it was and it was a puddle
Speaker 1: and it splashed on them. Like they're not telling and
Speaker 1: I'm not saying they're not telling a full story, but
Speaker 1: sometimes we hear the glorified glory Christian stories but leaves
Speaker 1: out some of the small details of what that person in,
Speaker 1: you know, Like I think the Bible does a great
Speaker 1: job with David talks about what he went through, how
Speaker 1: many years he stayed in jail, not just when he
Speaker 1: became king and he saw his family right, or just
Speaker 1: what he was feeling. Yes, yes, question, Yeah, you know
Speaker 1: I think a lot of times having this conversation about faith.
Speaker 1: It's not always honky doors. No, No, sometimes it is
Speaker 1: I don't have enough, like like Brendan just said, I
Speaker 1: wasn't casting it or I didn't even have it to give.
Speaker 1: And it can be a way, it can be up
Speaker 1: and down meter it doesn't have to be a blanket. Yes. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And I just and and I have a good enough
Speaker 1: relationship with him because when I was hurt, he was
Speaker 1: playing and I'm over here. He's like, hey, big bro,
Speaker 1: whatever you see hit me up And went to a
Speaker 1: point where I like, I'm tired of bugging this dude.
Speaker 1: And he was probably like, man, I know I need
Speaker 1: to get it fixed where it was literally because I
Speaker 1: was hurt. So all I was doing was watching a
Speaker 1: whole bunch of I had, like a hit I gotta
Speaker 1: I said, hitless ID like a hit list. All the
Speaker 1: receiver's talking about. I know you're sitting around, so let
Speaker 1: me know. And I'm like, bro, we on all of
Speaker 1: this stuff, and you're getting the game, and you you
Speaker 1: you're looking at like Brendan Cook and I'm hitting him.
Speaker 1: I'm hitting him. I'm hitting him and um and yeah,
Speaker 1: he's saying something, but then what I'm not. It goes
Speaker 1: back to I'm not, you know, trusting anything. At that
Speaker 1: point he's like, yeah, I hear you. So at that
Speaker 1: point I was just I was just basically, you know,
Speaker 1: wasting my breath and then making him waste his sign
Speaker 1: texting me. And I felt bad because I ain't got
Speaker 1: nothing but time on my hands, right I'm over here
Speaker 1: watching him and and and that. And that's why I said.
Speaker 1: That's why I said a little bit out of respect,
Speaker 1: but also just calling what it is, because I'm a
Speaker 1: believer and I have faith, but there's days where I
Speaker 1: have fear, and I gotta be I have to be
Speaker 1: big enough to say, am I operating out of fear?
Speaker 1: Or my operating out of a process and the procedure
Speaker 1: giving it to God? Waiting on it? You know sometimes
Speaker 1: you know I've heard at times, you know, you say, man,
Speaker 1: I'm praying and I'm waiting for an answer, And then
Speaker 1: you know that story there's a flood. Guy comes with
Speaker 1: a donkey. Now I'm waiting on the Lord. Then the
Speaker 1: water gets a little higher. He on the second floor.
Speaker 1: Then he comes with a boat, and man, you need
Speaker 1: a ride. Now I'm waiting on the Lord. You know,
Speaker 1: then God gonna save me. God got me. Then a
Speaker 1: dude he on the top of the roof with a helicopter.
Speaker 1: Ain't it all? The Lord will provide? Yeah? Man drowns
Speaker 1: goes to heaven, go hey, God, why are you I
Speaker 1: sent you the boat, the helicopter. How many other signs
Speaker 1: shall I send you? Yes? Right? And the biggest thing
Speaker 1: I remember hearing one time was if you're in a
Speaker 1: car praying, don't close your eyes. God does not allow
Speaker 1: you to pray and speak to Him and unplug your brain.
Speaker 1: And someone told me this, and I was like, what
Speaker 1: do you mean? He says, would you drive through a
Speaker 1: would you drive through a green or red light and
Speaker 1: pray to God something bad doesn't happen. I'll go, that's
Speaker 1: a great question. Why can't you? But it was more
Speaker 1: of sometimes we literally take blind faith as let me
Speaker 1: drive through this red light, closed eyes and praying God
Speaker 1: got me. No, that's not high work. But but you gotta.
Speaker 1: But if you're not careful, do that, Yeah, because the
Speaker 1: fear is greater. Show through this process, you interview some
Speaker 1: you interview some mental coaches, and what what is it like?
Speaker 1: What do you go through take us through that process
Speaker 1: of realizing after you've picked picked the guy or girl,
Speaker 1: what did it do for you? I think the biggest
Speaker 1: thing is really uh so one of the big processes
Speaker 1: like his brain training, you know what I mean, long
Speaker 1: story short, what it is called neuropeak, and you know,
Speaker 1: you just hook a lead up to you know, to
Speaker 1: your head and it's connected to your phone. But you're
Speaker 1: watching this video and if you you know, if you've
Speaker 1: got too much brain waves going, the video actually stop
Speaker 1: and go dark. So it basically it helps you consciously,
Speaker 1: you know, realize and get you know what that feeling
Speaker 1: is when you when your anxiety is starting to get
Speaker 1: up there, and so just through the time, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean, I'm like, Okay, now I know what
Speaker 1: that feeling is, because sometimes when you're sow in it,
Speaker 1: you don't know and then you look back, oh that's
Speaker 1: what it was. But when you ended, you you don't
Speaker 1: realize that. And so that kind of helps you realize
Speaker 1: when that's coming on and you know, just breath work,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, Uh, you know those type
Speaker 1: of things. And I truthfully felt like that it's helping
Speaker 1: because I've been blessed three years not one concussion since. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know l A and you know, so people ask
Speaker 1: me do it work? Well, you know, I've been three
Speaker 1: years with it free. When there's been two years back
Speaker 1: to back, I had two years, I mean two each year.
Speaker 1: So you know, the proof is in the putting. And
Speaker 1: you know what, it worked for me and may not
Speaker 1: work for somebody else, but I can tell you what
Speaker 1: it's worked for me. So how are you just feeling today?
Speaker 1: And I'm feeling good, it's feeling good. Why why are
Speaker 1: you feeling good? I mean I just think I got
Speaker 1: I just kind of went through We just go back
Speaker 1: to what we were talking about with stories like, Okay,
Speaker 1: how did I get to this point? I feel good
Speaker 1: today because of everything that I battle through, Um, you know,
Speaker 1: and being at that being at that low moment, those
Speaker 1: low moments, and realize what I felt like then and
Speaker 1: how I'm feeling out. It's like, it took a lot
Speaker 1: for me to get here. Took years. I mean it's
Speaker 1: going on my ninth year. You know, you can you
Speaker 1: can pay you cly say. It took me seven seven years,
Speaker 1: six seven years to get to this point. Uh, just
Speaker 1: going out there being able to play free, you know,
Speaker 1: and I truly I feel like I've been playing free again.
Speaker 1: You know, not as if I had a camera and
Speaker 1: I followed you around for a week. You ain't seeing
Speaker 1: it no more? What what what? What cooks am I
Speaker 1: getting in the day? Just just comparing the difference though,
Speaker 1: I mean, you're you're married man, married man, got a son,
Speaker 1: your father father, Uh, just you know, goofy cooks. You know,
Speaker 1: just goofy, you know, just schoofy cooks. So you know,
Speaker 1: so with every show, but then hold on, let me
Speaker 1: take it back now when it comes to the ground.
Speaker 1: None of these test was taken out away from me
Speaker 1: because I know that wasn't hurting me, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean. It was the thought of like, okay, I
Speaker 1: have to do this, this, this and now. At that
Speaker 1: those moments, I was organized, Yeah I was. I working hard,
Speaker 1: Yeah I was. You know it's like I'm running my
Speaker 1: head into a wall, but don't know the reason now, No,
Speaker 1: I'm still running. Got a purpose behind it though I'm organized.
Speaker 1: I wake up in the morning and things are organizing,
Speaker 1: and I'm trusting my process and uh, because that's one
Speaker 1: thing that's not gonna be taken away because I don't
Speaker 1: care what you know, mental coach said test say, at
Speaker 1: the end of the day, you gotta work. But it's
Speaker 1: what is your you know, what is your reason behind
Speaker 1: the work? Is you're working just the work or you
Speaker 1: got a purpose behind me? So you you said your dad? Now, yeah, man,
Speaker 1: you lost your dad when you were young, you know,
Speaker 1: below eight, you know, six years old, below ten years
Speaker 1: old being a father, but also a young man and
Speaker 1: that lost his father, you know, being so young. You
Speaker 1: don't really have that memory, right, a solid memory of
Speaker 1: of of of your dad. How has has not having
Speaker 1: your dad around because his passing, Yeah, I just had
Speaker 1: affected you as a father today. Yeah, I'll be honest,
Speaker 1: He's been one of the hardest things, uh, you know
Speaker 1: in my life. Not because it's because I I don't
Speaker 1: have no example, you know what I mean, or no
Speaker 1: example at home that I have, right, you know, I
Speaker 1: got family, friends and stuff, but it just ain't the same,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. You can get all the
Speaker 1: advice in the world, but you know, I don't have
Speaker 1: an example. So in my eyes, it's just like, Okay,
Speaker 1: this is trow and error, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: I know, if I love this kid to the best
Speaker 1: of my ability and my mind, he's gonna You're gonna
Speaker 1: turn out okay, you know what I mean. But that's
Speaker 1: where it goes back to our faith, you know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying. And that's where I would say, no, it's
Speaker 1: true faith to that aspect because I raised my hands
Speaker 1: and I say sometimes to my white man, I don't know,
Speaker 1: I realized it's okay not to know, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean. You know, I'm four deep and I still
Speaker 1: sometimes I'll be on that trawl in there. So it's
Speaker 1: it's it's hard, but at the same time it's it's
Speaker 1: it's a beautiful thing because it's like and the have
Speaker 1: and so you know what I mean, it's okay sometimes
Speaker 1: not to not to know. Um And and so from
Speaker 1: an everyday aspect, you know, every once in around you
Speaker 1: sit there this necklace. You know, he talked a little
Speaker 1: bit now, so he'd be like, he'd like dad that
Speaker 1: that like, no, it's pop, it's like and so from no,
Speaker 1: and you're getting moments like that, like man, that's tough,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, because you don't have that side.
Speaker 1: You don't have that side moving forward, then how do
Speaker 1: you I don't have that, but how do you instill
Speaker 1: your grand your son's grandfather. The biggest thing I remember
Speaker 1: a boy my dad, uh which not much is uh
Speaker 1: the time that he spent with us. It didn't matter
Speaker 1: what was going on, he was gonna make sure he
Speaker 1: spent his time with us. And just just his hustle.
Speaker 1: He Those are the two things that I can remember.
Speaker 1: Now I'm gonna start a hustle legally. I mean, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna start that legally. And the thing I always remember,
Speaker 1: even passing at such a young age, one thing I
Speaker 1: remember was he spent every time he got a chance
Speaker 1: to spend time with us. He spent time with us
Speaker 1: when nothing nothing else more important. You know, if it
Speaker 1: wasn't worked, he was with us. And so those are
Speaker 1: two things that I know I can take with me
Speaker 1: from a positive standpoint and installed my son love good,
Speaker 1: do good. Let's getting down to do it good. Hey Gerard,
Speaker 1: why did you get that T shirt? You mean this thing?
Speaker 1: Oh yes, I got it from cut to a podcast
Speaker 1: dot com where we have exclusive merchandise. Shout out to
Speaker 1: our guys at seven or four shot. But yeah, you
Speaker 1: can go on, buy you a T shirt, subscribe to
Speaker 1: us wherever you listen to podcasts how have you handled now?
Speaker 1: You know, how are you handling this sudden change? You?
Speaker 1: Sudden changes hit you in the face like no other
Speaker 1: no other guy, right, sudden change for you and the
Speaker 1: NFL has almost hit you like a practice squad player,
Speaker 1: where you know every couple of years you're somewhere new
Speaker 1: you've experienced that, but as your first round draft pick
Speaker 1: and producing it, getting contracts and so you know obviously
Speaker 1: that sudden change is something that you've had to adapt
Speaker 1: and it hasn't been It hasn't been always easy. No,
Speaker 1: early on the sun changes were easy. But now just
Speaker 1: I'm at the point like, look, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: I basically know who I am and I know what
Speaker 1: I bring to the table. You know what I mean,
Speaker 1: And you know, instead of thinking like man, why the
Speaker 1: didn't want me, it's like, well, if you don't want me,
Speaker 1: that that's your loss. That's the different mindset that you
Speaker 1: know for the first couple of trades. That's different from
Speaker 1: l A to Houston. It's like, well, I know what
Speaker 1: I bring to the table, and if you don't want me,
Speaker 1: then that you know, that's your loss. But does it
Speaker 1: still give you a chip on your shoulder? Absolutely? Absolutely absolutely. So.
Speaker 1: Now with all of that, what's your what's your outlook
Speaker 1: on this upcoming season? Yeah, I mean just you know,
Speaker 1: go out there and shock people. But I think it's
Speaker 1: a daily process, you know, being there this O t
Speaker 1: a s. One thing I was excited about was things
Speaker 1: is actually organized like a team to be you know
Speaker 1: what I mean. I'm just being real. He's organized. Love,
Speaker 1: you got a lot of respect for him. You know,
Speaker 1: he's coaching this game and um as we all know,
Speaker 1: you know, make no promises, but you know, I just
Speaker 1: feel like my look is more of a positive I
Speaker 1: look versus you know other times. Honestly, where are you
Speaker 1: at right now? I just left? Oh you was out here? Yeah? Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's nice. You're not trying to be in Houston too hot?
Speaker 1: Huh uh, I'll be I'll go the last two weeks
Speaker 1: before camp just to get used to the immenity again.
Speaker 1: But this this is my area right here there. In
Speaker 1: off season I get to get away. So just so
Speaker 1: Origans where you call them home? Now? Yeah, you say
Speaker 1: you know who you are? Yeah? Who is Brandon Cooks? Then? So,
Speaker 1: long story short, I'll take you back a little bit.
Speaker 1: I was reading this book, probably started three years ago.
Speaker 1: It's my nugget. Probably you can we read it within
Speaker 1: ten minutes. It's uh. It's uh the Self Forgetfulness by
Speaker 1: Timothy Keller. And one thing you talked about the in
Speaker 1: the uh and it's going back to my faith that
Speaker 1: goes you know, before Jesus did any sort of miracle
Speaker 1: when he was born, God said, this is my son
Speaker 1: going on with please right, And this is before he
Speaker 1: did any miracle any before he healed the blind, before
Speaker 1: he was the lame anything, And so that stuck with me.
Speaker 1: I keep that. I keep that with me are because
Speaker 1: no matter what's going on, I'm somebody that's walking around
Speaker 1: with that guy as well pleased with before I scored
Speaker 1: any touchdowns, before I did any of those things, before
Speaker 1: I made it to the league, he was well the
Speaker 1: well pleased with me? Why because I was walking in faith? Right,
Speaker 1: I was walking and my actions and my words were
Speaker 1: matching up. Was there gaffing there where that wasn't matching up? Yep?
Speaker 1: Absolutely absolutely? Was he still well pleased with me? Uh?
Speaker 1: You know the way I look at it, No, but
Speaker 1: you know most people would say, you know, yeah he was.
Speaker 1: But I think that's also taken the easy way out.
Speaker 1: But these last three years, that's that's where what I've
Speaker 1: been feeling well, regardless of what's going on. Uh, you know,
Speaker 1: he's well pleased with me because of the walk that
Speaker 1: i'm that I'm walking. But I don't say that to
Speaker 1: be soft though. You know some people take some people
Speaker 1: take that and be like, well, now I ain't gonna
Speaker 1: do nothing, you know what I mean. No, that's not
Speaker 1: what I'm saying. Your faith has to go as actions, right.
Speaker 1: It can't just be saying you know, you walk by faith,
Speaker 1: uh and and and nothing else. No, you gotta actually
Speaker 1: walk with it. And so yeah, I'm still working up Brian,
Speaker 1: and I'm still I still have a chip on my shoulder, absolutely,
Speaker 1: But regard to what happened, Uh, you know, I'm someone
Speaker 1: that that he's well pleased with. And if he's well
Speaker 1: pleased with, and my family is you know what, that's
Speaker 1: what I care about because I'm somebody's hero at the point,
Speaker 1: it's it's my son, you know what I mean, my
Speaker 1: brothers and uh, you know that's enough for me. It's
Speaker 1: enough for me. What's up? I like that I'm how
Speaker 1: much longer do you want to keep playing? I'm so
Speaker 1: I'm at now, I'm just gonna go four team for sure.
Speaker 1: Excuse me, Sorry, I didn't nickel for the insult if
Speaker 1: I'm going four team buddy, But no, I've been I
Speaker 1: don't mean to get uh too personal. But you know, Stevie,
Speaker 1: like I was a guy, I was a kid that
Speaker 1: really I didn't look up to people. Um, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean. But one thing, like I always told
Speaker 1: you know what I told you, It's like I don't
Speaker 1: know it was. It was something that was drawnky I got.
Speaker 1: I had a lot. I'll still do a lot of
Speaker 1: respect for you. The way that you played the game
Speaker 1: and I looked up to you and and obviously I
Speaker 1: know how long you played the game for it, and
Speaker 1: you know a little bit about your story and so
Speaker 1: you know you you've inspired me. Um. You know from
Speaker 1: the moment that I stepped into the league, and you
Speaker 1: still do. Um. I watched your highlights, you know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying, And any time anybody asked me like Okay,
Speaker 1: what is more receiver that you looked up to in
Speaker 1: this game? And anytime you can go back to interviews,
Speaker 1: always Steve Smith. So I also appreciate that, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean, The way that you went about your
Speaker 1: business in this game in adversity, that you battle do
Speaker 1: not just in this game, but in life. Uh you
Speaker 1: know what I mean. You also inspired me as well.
Speaker 1: So I can't see here and act like that ain't
Speaker 1: the truth. Well, I appreciate it. Um. Surprisingly, you were
Speaker 1: my first interview at NFL Network. I remember, I was,
Speaker 1: I was so nervous, never got a full circle moment.
Speaker 1: I was, I was, I was extremely nervous. Um, My producer,
Speaker 1: Trent wanted me to this is the story we talked about.
Speaker 1: Wouldn't take my hat off. He wanted me to take
Speaker 1: my hat off, and I'm like, uh, I'll take him
Speaker 1: my hat off. And so I had an opportunity to
Speaker 1: interview you, and I had like all these questions that
Speaker 1: had been nothing to do with for the ball and
Speaker 1: like I'm asking that, like, well we'll let him ask
Speaker 1: what what are you talking about it? And I was
Speaker 1: doing a football sit down and I didn't want to
Speaker 1: talk no football. I just wanted to know. I want
Speaker 1: to know Brandon Cooks the player. And then after that,
Speaker 1: but before that, you know, when I was in Baltimore,
Speaker 1: he came, he came out. I had some guys Baltimore,
Speaker 1: some guys in uh in Charlotte and we worked out.
Speaker 1: They worked out with my trainer and Cook stayed at
Speaker 1: the house and it was grind. Yeah. Yeah, them boys
Speaker 1: was hurt hurts yea. He was doing two of that
Speaker 1: a little bit. We well, Moss was out there. Moss's son,
Speaker 1: Thaddius was out there here in Charlotte. Yeah. Yeah, Josh
Speaker 1: remember that because I met you. I met him once
Speaker 1: before when he was in Charlota. Had the same time. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Josh Gordon, Josh Gordon was out there. Man. It was
Speaker 1: it was it was a it was a good group
Speaker 1: and it was an opportunity to see like guys, you
Speaker 1: always asked me like you know what, you know, let's
Speaker 1: let's work out. I want to do your stuff, every
Speaker 1: single one of them boys. After the work I was like, man,
Speaker 1: I'm not working out with Steve no more because it
Speaker 1: was all the stuff that we needed to do. But man, again,
Speaker 1: I've always respected your game. Um, I know how hard
Speaker 1: it is to play this game, and I know it's
Speaker 1: even harder when you care. Like there's a lot of
Speaker 1: players that don't care. They're just in it for the money.
Speaker 1: And you can get you can get money in this
Speaker 1: game and kind of just cruised through life. But he'll
Speaker 1: catch up with you. And you you haven't been one
Speaker 1: of those guys. You've always tried to you you worked
Speaker 1: your butt off and you're trying to figure out how
Speaker 1: and what and why. And you've you've enjoyed and learned
Speaker 1: and been taught through your own journey and you're you're
Speaker 1: coming out now. You know you're you're the Caliphillar and
Speaker 1: now you're that butterfly right And it's awesome, man, it's
Speaker 1: it's it's awesome to talk to you on this side
Speaker 1: of football now in the media, but it's also awesome
Speaker 1: to see right every every guy that I've interact with,
Speaker 1: I try to say this, anybody gets football when my
Speaker 1: watching ball. I want to make sure that I can
Speaker 1: say I knew that man, yea, and your wise man,
Speaker 1: I appreciate that. I I can't be proud of you
Speaker 1: because I had nothing to do with it, but I'm
Speaker 1: at I'm at all of which you will overcome physically
Speaker 1: but more mentally. Yeah, that's awesome. So you learn how
Speaker 1: to play some golf and because it'll comes from learning
Speaker 1: to fly right now, So I right now, why man,
Speaker 1: I don't. It's it's peaceful, it gives you. And then
Speaker 1: being here in Oregon, we got so many beautiful places
Speaker 1: around this instead of having to drive three or five hours,
Speaker 1: being able to fly thirty minutes is it's sound a
Speaker 1: whole lot better that wind though, was the wind? Did
Speaker 1: the wind aggressive? But this is the one I'm training in.
Speaker 1: Is you got a parachuteing, so you know, excuse me,
Speaker 1: o case you gotta dip out on that thing, just
Speaker 1: just in case, just in case. Every person who who's
Speaker 1: board that parachute correctly is walked away and had dinner
Speaker 1: that night. So what about the people who didn't. And
Speaker 1: that's a different story. Well it's a possible telling me
Speaker 1: it's a chance. Different story. Hey, hey, let me tell
Speaker 1: you something, man, I'd rather work trying to get around
Speaker 1: the offense alive and get a sack trying to get
Speaker 1: I'll stay. Yeah, I can drive that. I was about
Speaker 1: to say, I was about to say trail way about
Speaker 1: like now I ain't getting no sack on now. Well, man,
Speaker 1: we appreciate it, bro man, just awesome. Um. I love
Speaker 1: seeing your love doing, seeing what you're doing, and you know,
Speaker 1: obviously you're in Houston, where and that's interesting. But you
Speaker 1: know you your persevering, You're still putting them numbers man,
Speaker 1: and a lot of people can't say that. Yep, No,
Speaker 1: I appreciate. It's always good seeing you. You are a
Speaker 1: unique person, you are well worth it, you are competent,
Speaker 1: and most of all, your lovable. I'm Steve Smith Singior,
Speaker 1: I'm Gerald Little John and this is cut to It.
Speaker 1: Cut to It with Steve Smith Senior. That is Me
Speaker 1: is a production of Cut to It LLC, Baltold Creative Media,
Speaker 1: The Black Effect and I Heart Radio. For more podcast
Speaker 1: from I Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app,
Speaker 1: Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows
Speaker 1: from A to It. Executive producer Steve Smith, Singer, co
Speaker 1: host Gerard Little John, talent in booking manager Joe Fusci,
Speaker 1: social media teamer Wesley Robinson, and John Show from Balto
Speaker 1: Creative Media. Cut Too It is produced by Brian Baltaschevic
Speaker 1: and Meredith Carter, with production assistance by Alex Lebrec. Production
Speaker 1: Coordinator Taylor Robinson. Theme music by Alex Johnson, Lyrics and
Speaker 1: vocals by Anthony Hamilton. You ain't heard am about it,
Speaker 1: then we're about to let you know it's all