WEBVTT - Renaldo Nehemiah 0:00:00.360 --> 0:00:02.600 This is cut to It with Steve Smith Senior at 0:00:02.640 --> 0:00:08.879 production of The Black Effect and I Heart Radio. I'm 0:00:08.920 --> 0:00:12.200 Steve Smith Senior and I'm John and this is cut 0:00:12.240 --> 0:00:16.600 to it. Good do it, Good do it. Let's getting 0:00:16.640 --> 0:00:19.919 down to do it. Good do it. We asked the 0:00:20.040 --> 0:00:23.880 questions you always want to know, but no one ever asked, 0:00:24.000 --> 0:00:29.600 let's cut to it. You ain't heard them about it? 0:00:29.640 --> 0:00:39.440 Then we're about to let you know. It's all. Are 0:00:39.520 --> 0:00:43.800 you ready? Cut to it? Cut to it? I love 0:00:43.840 --> 0:00:45.879 our themes, so man, really, we never really talked about that. 0:00:45.920 --> 0:00:49.080 We got Anthony Hamilton on our track. Man, that's cool, 0:00:49.200 --> 0:00:51.960 it's super cool. But why did you try to sing 0:00:52.000 --> 0:00:54.480 it though? Hey I just felt like that sometimes. Don't 0:00:54.520 --> 0:00:58.560 do that again. No, sorry, I'm not gonna be boxed 0:00:58.600 --> 0:01:01.200 in refresh all in February. You're not boxing me in 0:01:01.440 --> 0:01:05.280 listen what you what? What you did? Not hit? I 0:01:05.319 --> 0:01:12.680 want to box an You ain't hitting nor hater you 0:01:14.840 --> 0:01:19.039 actually yes, because my ears hate to hear that. My 0:01:19.080 --> 0:01:21.160 ears love and the hamblen See what you got on 0:01:21.160 --> 0:01:25.440 your tell you what happened to me? I'm telling you 0:01:26.560 --> 0:01:29.959 there are some times I just sit back and giggle, giggle, giggle, 0:01:30.200 --> 0:01:34.160 grown man giggling. Oh it's it's some giggly stuff out 0:01:34.160 --> 0:01:39.440 there now, all right, all right, so just you know, 0:01:39.520 --> 0:01:43.800 Steve goes out out into the world. I gotta buy 0:01:43.920 --> 0:01:49.240 some stuff, alright, got the honey dudeless. So, um, you know, 0:01:49.760 --> 0:01:53.680 driving around Charlotte looking for some some items, and you said, hey, 0:01:53.680 --> 0:01:55.160 we should look at this, and so I go to 0:01:55.240 --> 0:01:59.760 a store. We're gonna buy all right. I sent her 0:02:00.080 --> 0:02:04.720 your do to measuring it fits. Okay, it's on sale. 0:02:05.680 --> 0:02:09.040 It's always a good thing, that my combination if it's 0:02:09.080 --> 0:02:13.360 in sale, boom right as they say, you know in 0:02:13.360 --> 0:02:19.120 the mobster business, by the being by the back. Because 0:02:19.160 --> 0:02:24.480 I was buying the freezer, right, So the gentleman who 0:02:24.560 --> 0:02:27.560 helped me what was his name, um, the guy that 0:02:27.639 --> 0:02:30.920 helped me. No, No, he was actually he was really 0:02:30.919 --> 0:02:34.440 healthy to was extremely helpful. So I was like, hey, 0:02:34.440 --> 0:02:36.520 can we measure this? I just need I'm getting a freezer, 0:02:37.280 --> 0:02:39.320 um for the garage. I need to see how deep 0:02:40.480 --> 0:02:45.080 the freezer is to see and because you know, looking online, 0:02:45.160 --> 0:02:47.120 you it doesn't really have I mean, you know you 0:02:47.160 --> 0:02:50.320 get measurements, but it really doesn't. You got an eye test, right, 0:02:51.000 --> 0:02:53.760 So I look, okay, perfect I said, all right, I 0:02:53.760 --> 0:02:56.440 gotta load this up in my car, so can we 0:02:56.480 --> 0:03:01.839 just take it out of the box, just be easier. Right, 0:03:03.040 --> 0:03:05.280 He's like, all right, we could do that, take it 0:03:05.320 --> 0:03:08.000 out of the the box. So I pay for it, and 0:03:08.080 --> 0:03:10.440 I pay for it in the area. Got to receive 0:03:10.800 --> 0:03:14.280 the guy uh staples his card on there is Hey, 0:03:14.320 --> 0:03:17.799 if you need anything else, come to me. Absolutely, he 0:03:17.840 --> 0:03:20.160 took care. He was excellent, what a smile. I had 0:03:20.200 --> 0:03:22.239 a great time. He had a great time, and we 0:03:22.400 --> 0:03:26.720 chickchat a little bit. Boom. So mine of my business. 0:03:28.240 --> 0:03:30.880 And this is where it gets interesting. You got the 0:03:30.919 --> 0:03:34.600 little flat bed and so I'm pushing it going through. 0:03:35.200 --> 0:03:39.440 So I got on sweat pants and sweatshirt and hat 0:03:39.440 --> 0:03:46.320 and I'm in public mask ah. So I go. I 0:03:46.600 --> 0:03:49.440 go past the little scanner things that you can scan 0:03:49.560 --> 0:03:52.720 and you know, the ch self checkout, but I pay 0:03:52.800 --> 0:03:55.520 for I got to recede in hand. I know who 0:03:55.560 --> 0:04:03.280 I am, meaning not Steve Smith, but guy individual person. 0:04:04.200 --> 0:04:08.600 I'm black. Let's put the cars on the table. I'm black. 0:04:09.280 --> 0:04:15.440 It's all going there. This woman says, can I help 0:04:15.480 --> 0:04:19.800 you on your way out? On my way out? No, 0:04:20.920 --> 0:04:26.000 And that's how I said it. No. Now when she says, 0:04:26.160 --> 0:04:31.240 can she helps me? She has now stepped in front 0:04:31.360 --> 0:04:34.560 of the flat bed that has this freezer on it? 0:04:35.160 --> 0:04:41.760 Can I help you? What's it? No? Oh? Well, do 0:04:41.839 --> 0:04:45.279 you have a receipt? Mm hmm? I said, I know 0:04:45.279 --> 0:04:49.560 where this is going? I said, yes, m were you 0:04:49.640 --> 0:04:54.599 gonna let me see it? I said, what you didn't ask? 0:04:55.560 --> 0:04:59.600 You said, do I need help? A totally different questions. 0:05:01.400 --> 0:05:04.680 I know what the public school? You toss not killing 0:05:04.720 --> 0:05:09.719 them in the yell department. But she goes, it's the 0:05:09.800 --> 0:05:14.880 same thing. Yeah, not really, but okay, no, not okay, 0:05:15.320 --> 0:05:22.680 and not really. I said, you didn't ask me if 0:05:23.120 --> 0:05:25.360 I paid for it? Or can I see the receipt? 0:05:26.040 --> 0:05:30.680 You said, do I need help? And I didn't need help? Well, 0:05:30.760 --> 0:05:32.640 I was asking the same thing, so you should you 0:05:32.680 --> 0:05:35.839 should know the difference. And in my head, I'm going, 0:05:36.640 --> 0:05:48.359 you should know the difference because help and prace on 0:05:48.480 --> 0:05:53.880 that half of bets are pretty different. H and all, 0:05:55.000 --> 0:05:56.720 so you've already paid for you trying to make your 0:05:56.760 --> 0:05:59.560 way out. She's basically has walked herself in front of 0:05:59.560 --> 0:06:03.480 them and walked. She stopped and said, you know, can 0:06:03.520 --> 0:06:05.400 I help you? I said no, ma'am, I said no, 0:06:06.120 --> 0:06:08.400 we'll let me see the receipt I said, here's the receipts, 0:06:08.440 --> 0:06:10.599 actually trying to prove your purchase as well. She's trying 0:06:10.640 --> 0:06:14.040 to prove your purchase, which is nothing wrong with proving purchase. 0:06:14.880 --> 0:06:19.320 But then now you're mad at me. But because the 0:06:19.400 --> 0:06:24.839 way you asked me was I got I got not 0:06:25.080 --> 0:06:29.560 racially profiled, I just got profiled. Let me see if this, 0:06:30.440 --> 0:06:32.800 let me see if he's telling the truth. Yes, you 0:06:32.839 --> 0:06:35.160 want to hear them still profiling, Yes, you want to hear. 0:06:35.160 --> 0:06:37.880 The best thing about it she never even looked at 0:06:37.880 --> 0:06:42.640 the receipt because the freezer and what it was scanned, 0:06:44.240 --> 0:06:48.200 it's not visible anymore. All the skill numbers were on 0:06:48.279 --> 0:06:54.120 the box that the salesman has. And so now she 0:06:54.200 --> 0:06:56.920 has an attitude with me standing in front of the 0:06:56.960 --> 0:07:00.760 flat bed with a freezer on it. Do you think 0:07:00.839 --> 0:07:02.840 did she think you'd be that bolt to get a 0:07:02.920 --> 0:07:05.479 freezer off the shelf, unboxing, put it on a flat 0:07:05.520 --> 0:07:09.440 bed and just walk smoothed out of this retail established. 0:07:09.440 --> 0:07:12.640 I'd like to use the word waltz, however you want 0:07:12.840 --> 0:07:19.640 jaywalk moon walk? And what what bothered? What bothered me morning? 0:07:19.720 --> 0:07:22.360 You thing is how she approached me as if like 0:07:22.440 --> 0:07:25.720 I was in the wrong, and I understood, she's got 0:07:25.720 --> 0:07:27.240 to do her job. She gotta do a job, but 0:07:27.280 --> 0:07:29.560 don't say can I help you and then tell me 0:07:30.040 --> 0:07:32.240 that helping and let me see the receipt is the 0:07:32.280 --> 0:07:37.960 exact same thing when it's clearly not. And it's just 0:07:38.000 --> 0:07:39.880 like this, she had an attitude with me. We'll have 0:07:39.960 --> 0:07:43.520 a nice day if i'd ran her Scott over with 0:07:43.600 --> 0:07:47.360 that flat bed in that freezer, didn't it be headlines, 0:07:47.720 --> 0:07:52.320 assault with a deadly weapon, or you know, whatever the 0:07:52.360 --> 0:07:54.760 case may be. And I just and what it brought 0:07:54.760 --> 0:07:56.800 it up to me is there's been times that I've 0:07:56.880 --> 0:08:03.320 also looked extremely tacky walking into it into a designer 0:08:03.400 --> 0:08:07.920 purse store to buy something and you got questions, Oh, hey, 0:08:07.920 --> 0:08:10.360 how much can I see that back? Oh yes, it's 0:08:10.360 --> 0:08:12.640 such a Yeah. They love to give you the price first, 0:08:12.640 --> 0:08:15.960 don't they. And here's my problem with the price of 0:08:16.040 --> 0:08:23.720 a person. As in a designers store, you behind the register, 0:08:26.040 --> 0:08:30.920 you are gathering that product to show me your name 0:08:31.040 --> 0:08:38.719 ain't Louis or Tom right, you work for them? And 0:08:39.080 --> 0:08:42.480 I walked in here, so clearly I have some sort 0:08:42.640 --> 0:08:47.600 of but I'm thinking about it, but it's not that 0:08:47.720 --> 0:08:51.320 person's place to make that distinction. No, I'm you know, 0:08:51.520 --> 0:08:54.920 all they know is that's a customer. Yes, now I'm 0:08:54.920 --> 0:08:58.920 a TACKI customer. It doesn't matter. Yeah, it doesn't. But 0:08:58.960 --> 0:09:02.880 I've walked in I I'm giving them my out. I've 0:09:02.880 --> 0:09:07.600 walked into a Louis Vauton Gucci store, bron sweatpants, house, 0:09:07.640 --> 0:09:13.160 shoes in the hood, and the hat looking like I 0:09:13.400 --> 0:09:19.160 just strolled out of bed. But to assume that someone 0:09:19.480 --> 0:09:22.520 does not have it, they obviously are pondering them or 0:09:22.600 --> 0:09:25.600 thinking about making that purchase. So why are you gonna 0:09:25.640 --> 0:09:32.319 base off the way they look at least gonna discredit 0:09:32.600 --> 0:09:36.199 or or take away for them thinking about making that purchase. 0:09:36.840 --> 0:09:38.680 Because you know, when you're going those stores, you don't 0:09:38.679 --> 0:09:40.320 go on those stories. You know you're going to that 0:09:40.400 --> 0:09:45.040 store a while in in that places a thousand dollars, 0:09:45.080 --> 0:09:46.720 So when you go on that store, you're going that 0:09:46.760 --> 0:09:49.960 store going if I buy this, I need to make 0:09:50.000 --> 0:09:54.640 sure it's the right choice. Correct. And I went to 0:09:54.720 --> 0:09:57.560 this department store or I went to the store and 0:09:57.600 --> 0:10:01.199 the lady profile man and I literally got out of 0:10:01.240 --> 0:10:04.800 the car, lifted the freezer in the in the trunk 0:10:04.840 --> 0:10:06.920 and drove off and I stopped, you know, and I 0:10:06.920 --> 0:10:10.960 got out the red line process and I got profile. 0:10:12.280 --> 0:10:14.720 And how often that happens, right, Like I've I've been 0:10:14.920 --> 0:10:17.960 plenty of times. I've been the stories and I get 0:10:18.000 --> 0:10:20.480 followed around or I get asked to you much like 0:10:20.640 --> 0:10:23.439 what you just described. I'm walking in the store and 0:10:23.559 --> 0:10:25.320 I asked to see something and they said, oh, well 0:10:25.440 --> 0:10:28.760 this isn't on sale. Well how do you could have 0:10:28.920 --> 0:10:31.839 cash in my pocket? About the whole thing, I've done 0:10:31.880 --> 0:10:36.200 that before, right, So to automatically say, well, as if 0:10:36.200 --> 0:10:39.040 the microaggression is oh, you can't you can't afford, you 0:10:39.200 --> 0:10:42.319 can't be able to afford. It was more than anything. 0:10:42.360 --> 0:10:45.400 That is how she tried to flip it on me, 0:10:45.920 --> 0:10:50.640 as if me, being a little bit apprehensive, was in 0:10:50.679 --> 0:10:54.000 the wrong and she was asking me all the right questions. 0:10:54.400 --> 0:10:57.720 She wasn't asking me all the right questions. Right, Maybe 0:10:57.720 --> 0:11:00.520 I wonder I'm to get dressed to go up in there, 0:11:00.679 --> 0:11:06.200 just like just just put on full suit. Can I 0:11:06.280 --> 0:11:09.760 help you? Know? You cannot help me. I'm looking for 0:11:09.800 --> 0:11:14.120 the I'm looking for the CBS c P A department. 0:11:17.280 --> 0:11:20.840 That's that's how you combat it self identifies something completely 0:11:20.880 --> 0:11:28.360 different identify as a person who's getting everything in here 0:11:28.400 --> 0:11:34.199 for free. That's how we come back profile. That's what 0:11:34.240 --> 0:11:38.120 I'm gonna do. I'm gonna walk around demanding discounts. I 0:11:38.200 --> 0:11:44.800 think it'll work, all right. Who we got coming up 0:11:44.800 --> 0:11:47.480 on the Cut to A podcast, We've got Ronaldo near Mayah, 0:11:47.840 --> 0:11:50.559 former world record holder in track and field and the hurdles, 0:11:50.800 --> 0:11:53.800 a wide receiver for the San Francisco Forts in the eighties, 0:11:54.160 --> 0:11:57.600 and he's currently a sports agent for athletics managers. Ronaldo 0:11:57.679 --> 0:12:08.400 Nei A Mayah. On the Cut to It podcast, Let's 0:12:08.440 --> 0:12:11.480 Go Here we Go. Near our first segment, Ronaldo is 0:12:11.520 --> 0:12:18.640 called I really Hi, You don't understand how HiPE I 0:12:18.720 --> 0:12:23.840 am to do this? Sit down? Right? So it's gonna 0:12:23.880 --> 0:12:26.680 get out of stuff. It's our version of ice breakers. 0:12:26.679 --> 0:12:30.040 So okay, you know all about this, So I'm not 0:12:30.080 --> 0:12:32.640 gonna wait any longer me to go him and get 0:12:32.679 --> 0:12:34.720 him the first question A right, They're gonna be questions. 0:12:34.880 --> 0:12:36.920 It is an open book test. It is about you, 0:12:37.480 --> 0:12:44.120 so if you fail, it is your fault. Okay, what 0:12:44.280 --> 0:12:48.960 does success look like for you? So success to me, 0:12:49.040 --> 0:12:52.960 it means that, uh, you know, when I'm walking uh 0:12:53.240 --> 0:12:57.600 through the mall, and someone's whispers. That's Ronaldo and m I. 0:12:57.720 --> 0:12:59.439 And the second thing they talked about it is that 0:12:59.520 --> 0:13:02.199 I would say a good guy or a humble guy 0:13:02.320 --> 0:13:04.520 more so than what I did on the field to play. 0:13:04.600 --> 0:13:06.800 So that means that I feel that my mission was 0:13:06.840 --> 0:13:10.720 accomplished because I said earlier, if that's all you're talking about, 0:13:10.840 --> 0:13:13.240 is what I did as an athlete, and I failed 0:13:13.240 --> 0:13:16.160 to actually let people know who I really was, because 0:13:16.400 --> 0:13:18.680 athletes is what I did. It wasn't who I was. 0:13:19.880 --> 0:13:25.880 That if you knew today today was your last day 0:13:26.280 --> 0:13:32.400 of your life, what would you spend it doing. I 0:13:32.400 --> 0:13:38.440 would spend it with my immediate family and my daughter's wife, 0:13:39.440 --> 0:13:41.200 as many of my immediate family, as files with my 0:13:41.240 --> 0:13:44.160 brother and my sister everyone. I would be around everyone 0:13:44.200 --> 0:13:47.559 that I love and that loves me. Mm hmm. I 0:13:47.720 --> 0:13:51.320 like that. All right, Let's get to something a little 0:13:51.320 --> 0:13:56.280 bit less serious. What's in your fridge right now? It's stopped. 0:13:56.280 --> 0:13:57.880 I just got back from the Whole Foods a couple 0:13:57.880 --> 0:14:01.600 of hours ago, so it's uh, lots of fruits and 0:14:01.640 --> 0:14:07.360 berries and salads and uh fresh wild caught fish. Okay, 0:14:07.360 --> 0:14:10.400 hold on, I always want to ask this question, how 0:14:10.400 --> 0:14:16.360 do you know it's fresh cut, fresh caught wild cat fish. 0:14:16.600 --> 0:14:19.440 If if it's in the grocery store, I've been I've 0:14:19.440 --> 0:14:23.280 been debating that with my wife. Sometimes that's just packaging 0:14:23.360 --> 0:14:26.240 because you know, she's misorganic, and you know, I usually 0:14:26.240 --> 0:14:28.600 just buy stuff, and she's like, is it wall caught? 0:14:28.680 --> 0:14:30.600 And I'm like, what does that mean? You know, like 0:14:30.680 --> 0:14:33.920 they can say that, but you know, you know, it's 0:14:33.920 --> 0:14:36.800 been in a refrigerator freezer before I knew it, so 0:14:36.840 --> 0:14:40.040 I don't know it. Just we're buying labels, and you know, 0:14:40.320 --> 0:14:44.120 we're I didn't sink or no puny times, We're just caught. 0:14:44.600 --> 0:14:46.240 So I go in there and everything. You know, when 0:14:46.280 --> 0:14:49.040 I come home, my wife knows after this many years 0:14:49.040 --> 0:14:52.120 that it's it's organic number one. And she didn't even 0:14:52.120 --> 0:14:53.960 have asked me if it's wild caught, because I just 0:14:53.960 --> 0:14:56.200 look at the sideways, like, yes, you know it is 0:14:56.240 --> 0:15:02.760 because somebody, somebody caught it. Somebody. They now they have 0:15:02.920 --> 0:15:06.480 like fish farms, yeah, fresh fresh farms and all these 0:15:06.480 --> 0:15:10.240 other terms. Yeah, but it's it's it's it's literally just 0:15:10.280 --> 0:15:13.160 like our our vegetables. They go up there and go 0:15:13.920 --> 0:15:18.120 I called James, I'll call it. Let me throwing the 0:15:18.280 --> 0:15:25.240 Ronaldo's refriger. Uh. Do you have any nicknames? Yes? I 0:15:25.280 --> 0:15:27.480 had one up until I became a Niner. My nickname 0:15:27.520 --> 0:15:32.600 was Skeets and uh s k e E T S. Skeets. 0:15:32.720 --> 0:15:34.240 When I was a little kid, you know, the skeet 0:15:34.280 --> 0:15:37.720 at the rifle ranges when they say pull. Yeah, I 0:15:37.760 --> 0:15:42.000 crawled really fast, so that my real name Skeetze within 0:15:42.040 --> 0:15:46.040 the family. And then for years I was Ronaldo Skeets 0:15:46.120 --> 0:15:48.480 near Maya, and they called me Skeets because it was 0:15:48.560 --> 0:15:51.600 less formal than Ronaldo. And then I remember my first 0:15:51.680 --> 0:15:54.760 day signing with the Niners, and two I decided I 0:15:54.840 --> 0:15:56.920 was old enough to be called Ronaldo and get rid 0:15:56.920 --> 0:15:59.600 of the kid name. And I've been Ronaldo ever since. 0:15:59.600 --> 0:16:02.480 So unless you're close to my age or a fan, 0:16:02.680 --> 0:16:04.840 you wouldn't even know Skeets. My wife didn't even know 0:16:04.880 --> 0:16:08.560 who Skeets was. Don't. Yeah, we do. I don't know why. 0:16:09.200 --> 0:16:12.960 So as a key, what was your favorite sports team 0:16:13.000 --> 0:16:16.960 in any sport? Wow? I grew up a Jet fan 0:16:17.200 --> 0:16:21.520 Joe Namath, and then I was a it's for weird, 0:16:21.560 --> 0:16:26.000 and I was a Met fan with Tommy aig. Uh. 0:16:26.040 --> 0:16:28.760 It's kind of weird combination. Usually you're you know, you're 0:16:28.800 --> 0:16:31.440 not a Jet and a Met fan. You're you know, 0:16:31.520 --> 0:16:34.160 you're met in a Giants fan or something. But I 0:16:34.280 --> 0:16:37.400 was met in a Jet fan. I'm from New Jersey, 0:16:38.080 --> 0:16:40.040 so okay, you know where are you from in a 0:16:40.120 --> 0:16:45.040 place you call your hometown. I'm from a little parochial 0:16:45.080 --> 0:16:50.600 town called scotch Plains, New Jersey, which is uh, probably 0:16:51.080 --> 0:16:56.440 forty five minutes south of Manhattankay, Well, tell me the landmark. 0:16:56.520 --> 0:17:00.720 Tell me something that you would identify with north Plainfield, 0:17:00.760 --> 0:17:06.200 New Jersey. Nork. Oh yeah, I'm just below Nork, about 0:17:06.200 --> 0:17:10.640 thirty minutes south of York. Alright, so growing up there, Um, 0:17:10.800 --> 0:17:15.600 how did that? How did it shape your perspective on 0:17:15.800 --> 0:17:20.600 the world today? Because you've been through a lot, You've 0:17:20.600 --> 0:17:24.400 seen a lot, You've been through a lot. Um that places. 0:17:24.640 --> 0:17:29.159 Has it started you? Yeah? It was? It was interesting, Steve. 0:17:31.880 --> 0:17:35.919 I was the first black quarterback at my school. I 0:17:36.040 --> 0:17:40.280 was the first black homecoming king at my school. The 0:17:40.480 --> 0:17:43.000 town next to us was Clark and over the weekends, 0:17:43.359 --> 0:17:45.840 our parents forbade us to go over there because there 0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:50.679 was a cool because Klan activity on that way. Um, 0:17:51.880 --> 0:17:55.520 and so you know, team sports kind of insulates you 0:17:56.400 --> 0:17:59.359 from a lot of that because true then and true today. 0:17:59.400 --> 0:18:01.720 As long as you winning, you know, they tolerate whatever 0:18:01.760 --> 0:18:05.000 you might look like. And so I guess I was 0:18:05.960 --> 0:18:09.040 privileged because I had an abundance of talent and was 0:18:09.160 --> 0:18:12.520 doing things that brought attention to my team. I didn't 0:18:12.560 --> 0:18:18.080 feel it within my school. We had probably about people 0:18:18.080 --> 0:18:22.560 in the school and maybe about two plus people of color. 0:18:22.840 --> 0:18:26.600 But yeah, being in the one of the star athletes 0:18:26.600 --> 0:18:29.280 in the school system, you know, you know how that goes. 0:18:30.359 --> 0:18:33.520 I was insulated to some degree, but it was on 0:18:33.560 --> 0:18:36.280 the periphery, so I knew it was around, and you know, 0:18:36.320 --> 0:18:42.520 here we are in you know it's still around. M Now, 0:18:42.560 --> 0:18:46.320 do you go back, you know, to your hometown any 0:18:48.160 --> 0:18:52.720 I see? Um, yes, and no, I haven't been back, 0:18:53.560 --> 0:18:56.680 uh as far as regularly visiting. Both my parents are 0:18:56.680 --> 0:18:59.880 deceased and my parents are buried in my in my 0:19:00.040 --> 0:19:02.160 town Hillside Cemetery. I was just there a week ago 0:19:02.440 --> 0:19:05.320 visiting as they put out the winter wreaths. But that's 0:19:05.320 --> 0:19:08.800 the closest I really get to my hometown. I passed 0:19:08.800 --> 0:19:10.439 through it on the way to New York, you know, 0:19:10.480 --> 0:19:13.560 on on occasion for different events. But most of my 0:19:13.760 --> 0:19:18.720 family immediate families are no longer there summer in playing field, 0:19:18.760 --> 0:19:20.879 but most of them moved out of the states, So 0:19:21.000 --> 0:19:23.000 I don't. I have some friends obviously, and go back 0:19:23.000 --> 0:19:26.200 from my high school reunions and all that. So yeah, 0:19:26.480 --> 0:19:31.560 that's the only connection. Well, um, you know we talked 0:19:31.600 --> 0:19:35.359 about you talk about your parents. Man, Um, you had 0:19:35.400 --> 0:19:39.720 an Earth Sharing event at the age of fourteen. You 0:19:39.840 --> 0:19:43.560 walk us through and tell us what happened. Yeah, you know, 0:19:43.600 --> 0:19:45.400 when you're a kid and your mom. In this case, 0:19:45.440 --> 0:19:48.000 my mom was sick, and I just thought she was sick. 0:19:48.400 --> 0:19:52.560 I didn't really understand the implications and the severity of cancer. 0:19:52.720 --> 0:19:57.440 My mother suffer through both lung and breast cancer. I 0:19:57.480 --> 0:20:00.560 guess the lung cancer first filtered into with her breast. 0:20:00.640 --> 0:20:04.159 My mother used to smoke cools, and I remember used 0:20:04.200 --> 0:20:06.160 to go into the store to buy here the cools, 0:20:06.240 --> 0:20:10.879 not knowing the effects of it. And you know, watching witnessing, 0:20:11.160 --> 0:20:13.479 you know, one mestech to me, then the second mistec 0:20:13.560 --> 0:20:16.800 to me, and then she's bedridden. I was the oldest 0:20:16.800 --> 0:20:19.959 of three, so I was the closest to her and 0:20:20.000 --> 0:20:23.000 she My mom groom me years in advance, and she 0:20:23.119 --> 0:20:26.560 was sick for about five plus years. And she told 0:20:26.560 --> 0:20:29.679 me how to cook and so. And I was inquisitive 0:20:29.720 --> 0:20:31.640 kid anyway, so I wanted to know all these things. 0:20:32.320 --> 0:20:34.840 And so I was coming home from football practice one 0:20:34.880 --> 0:20:37.840 day in ninth grade ninety three and going to the 0:20:38.160 --> 0:20:40.960 local store that we used to go to just before 0:20:40.960 --> 0:20:43.080 we got home, and some kids I don't even know 0:20:43.320 --> 0:20:45.920 came up to me and said, hey, skeeze, They said, 0:20:45.960 --> 0:20:50.560 your mom is did And I remember that empty, instant 0:20:50.600 --> 0:20:52.640 feeling that I had in my stomach, and I dropped. 0:20:52.840 --> 0:20:55.240 I dropped the cupcakes and whatever I had in my hand. 0:20:55.760 --> 0:20:58.119 And I lived about three blocks from the store, and 0:20:58.160 --> 0:21:00.480 I just ran all the way home. I knew my 0:21:00.480 --> 0:21:03.280 mom had was sick. And I get there and I 0:21:03.320 --> 0:21:05.960 see all these different cars around our home, so I 0:21:06.000 --> 0:21:08.520 knew something is up. And then when I come in, 0:21:08.560 --> 0:21:10.960 I see family members. And then my father takes me 0:21:11.000 --> 0:21:14.080 to my room and tells me what happened and that 0:21:14.119 --> 0:21:17.320 my mother had passed. And my mom those last two years, 0:21:17.320 --> 0:21:21.119 she we had a living nurse because she wanted to 0:21:21.119 --> 0:21:22.879 be with her children, you know, all the way to 0:21:22.920 --> 0:21:26.800 the end. And you know, as a youngster, twelve, thirteen 0:21:26.880 --> 0:21:29.280 years old, fourteen years old, you're still thinking that you 0:21:29.320 --> 0:21:31.919 know mom is going to be there. You don't understand 0:21:32.000 --> 0:21:34.840 death at that point. And so that was my first 0:21:34.880 --> 0:21:39.040 time experiencing it, and as the oldest, I think I 0:21:39.119 --> 0:21:43.639 kind of it was numbed to the pain of the loss. 0:21:43.920 --> 0:21:46.040 And you know, for years used to tell my friends 0:21:46.040 --> 0:21:48.080 when I see them speaking back to their moms, sa, 0:21:48.200 --> 0:21:51.359 hey man, you need to cherish your mom because you 0:21:51.400 --> 0:21:54.280 don't ever want to feel the loss of a mom. 0:21:54.320 --> 0:21:57.040 And uh, you know, so I had to grow up 0:21:57.119 --> 0:21:59.639 very quickly at fourteen. You know, my father was working 0:21:59.680 --> 0:22:01.879 and then I was like a surrogate mom to my 0:22:01.920 --> 0:22:04.040 brother who was a year and a half younger, and 0:22:04.119 --> 0:22:08.159 my sister who was five years younger. And yeah, it 0:22:08.240 --> 0:22:10.080 was tough. It was tough, and I grew up fast. 0:22:10.119 --> 0:22:13.240 I mean I had to be really mature my teen 0:22:13.359 --> 0:22:16.080 years at that point. All the way to college. I 0:22:16.160 --> 0:22:18.920 kind of skipped by them. As far as being a teenager, 0:22:19.040 --> 0:22:23.840 I was a young adult. You know, through circumstances. We 0:22:24.040 --> 0:22:27.240 have to take a break and morning anything. We gotta 0:22:27.240 --> 0:22:35.400 pay some bills check. I love cut to it, and 0:22:35.800 --> 0:22:38.679 I love it even more when you download us and 0:22:38.800 --> 0:22:42.680 subscribe and you can follow us on social media to Smithie. 0:22:42.680 --> 0:22:45.720 Where where at that's at? Cut to it on Instagram? 0:22:45.880 --> 0:22:50.920 What about Twitter? At cut to it Facebook? Cut to 0:22:51.080 --> 0:22:54.960 it featuring Steve Smith singr. What about online? And you 0:22:55.000 --> 0:22:57.400 can follow us at cut to It podcast dot com 0:22:57.520 --> 0:23:00.879 where you can buy merch and can subscribe to this 0:23:00.960 --> 0:23:06.160 wherever you listen to podcasts. I got all my answers questions. Um, yeah, 0:23:06.359 --> 0:23:09.679 I got all my questions answered. That's what I'm here for, 0:23:09.720 --> 0:23:14.960 a brother, cut to a podcast dot com. You played football, 0:23:15.000 --> 0:23:18.960 but obviously you ran a little bit of track. Track 0:23:19.040 --> 0:23:22.240 became my real love, my first love with football, and 0:23:22.520 --> 0:23:26.720 my father introduced me to it. Um, I loved football. 0:23:27.400 --> 0:23:32.520 I became I was. I became quarterback, uh, because we 0:23:32.600 --> 0:23:35.200 had an injury to a quarterback and I could quarterback. 0:23:35.560 --> 0:23:38.080 I was a wide receiver, but we needed a quarterback. 0:23:38.160 --> 0:23:41.399 So that's why I played quarterback. Um. And then I 0:23:41.400 --> 0:23:45.119 would have probably played in college had I graduated a 0:23:45.200 --> 0:23:49.520 little bigger. And I was five nine, maybe five hundred 0:23:49.640 --> 0:23:53.080 fifty five pounds, so can wet as a senior. And 0:23:53.359 --> 0:23:57.199 when I had chosen Maryland, um, they were more of 0:23:57.240 --> 0:23:59.880 a running team at that time, and so I'm like, well, 0:24:00.040 --> 0:24:03.080 there's no need for me to go through trying to 0:24:03.080 --> 0:24:07.840 play football. But yeah, my first love has always been football. 0:24:08.400 --> 0:24:12.400 My father was kind of surprised when I picked going 0:24:12.400 --> 0:24:16.760 to college to run track over football. Um. But then 0:24:16.800 --> 0:24:20.760 as I started, you know, ascending through the ranks internationally 0:24:20.760 --> 0:24:24.199 and globally, um, my father and the rest of my 0:24:24.240 --> 0:24:26.840 family all of a sudden learned the support a track. 0:24:27.240 --> 0:24:34.320 Hold on, hold on, No, you glossed over work globally internationally, yes, 0:24:36.160 --> 0:24:39.480 break break that down, because you know we usually talked 0:24:39.480 --> 0:24:45.800 about internationally globally, you know, Steph Michael Lebron. Yeah, when 0:24:45.800 --> 0:24:51.760 you're traveling Germany and all these different places as a kid, 0:24:52.000 --> 0:24:55.160 as a yeah, as a teenager, you can't speak the language. 0:24:55.240 --> 0:25:00.080 You know, the food is horrible. Machine guns common this 0:25:00.160 --> 0:25:03.280 country is they have machine guns Poland where you can't 0:25:03.280 --> 0:25:08.560 go out of your hotel without a passport, and yeah, 0:25:08.640 --> 0:25:11.520 it's very ominous. And uh, I'm sitting up there going 0:25:11.760 --> 0:25:13.800 what I don't even understand these people. I don't know 0:25:13.840 --> 0:25:15.679 what they're saying, I don't know what their food is. 0:25:16.240 --> 0:25:19.560 I really just want to go home. I don't I 0:25:19.600 --> 0:25:22.359 felt like one of the uh, what's the rocky one? 0:25:22.400 --> 0:25:24.480 He says, I must break you and That's why I 0:25:24.520 --> 0:25:27.320 felt those foreigners would be looking at us, you know, 0:25:27.440 --> 0:25:30.480 like they had this historic look. The Russians look one 0:25:30.520 --> 0:25:33.240 way all the time, looking like they're looking through you, 0:25:33.359 --> 0:25:37.000 not at you. And uh, I'm like, okay, well, let's 0:25:37.080 --> 0:25:39.760 let's tie these up and get it, get it going. 0:25:40.119 --> 0:25:43.920