WEBVTT - Brian Mitchell 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 --> 0:00:16.919 to It. Good Do, good do. Let's getting down to 0:00:16.960 --> 0:00:20.720 do it. Good do it. We asked the questions you 0:00:20.800 --> 0:00:24.200 always want to know, but no one ever asked, let's 0:00:24.200 --> 0:00:30.000 cut to it. You ain't heard about it? Then we're 0:00:30.040 --> 0:00:40.080 about to let you know. It's all class. All right, 0:00:40.120 --> 0:00:44.280 you're shot in the chair and fold of Jones, random 0:00:44.320 --> 0:00:48.080 precioal banner right now. It was Hey, what's up? Another 0:00:48.280 --> 0:00:52.120 episode of cut to It podcast? Super excited? All right, 0:00:52.920 --> 0:00:57.400 new accent? What's going on? What's on your mind? What 0:00:57.560 --> 0:01:00.760 is what's on your mental? My mental had a had 0:01:00.800 --> 0:01:03.360 a great weekend. Would you like to know what I did? 0:01:03.440 --> 0:01:06.320 What did you do? Nothing? I literally did nothing. Those 0:01:06.319 --> 0:01:09.319 are the best ones. I didn't do anything. Woke up 0:01:09.760 --> 0:01:14.560 on Monday. It was like, that's always a good thing. 0:01:14.600 --> 0:01:18.600 You wake up that. Hey, yeah, let's be real. Yeah, 0:01:18.720 --> 0:01:20.520 but if you if you don't wake up, do you 0:01:20.560 --> 0:01:25.200 technically complain? I don't know. I never experienced that. Just 0:01:26.680 --> 0:01:29.560 so woke up on Monday. My son Boston is U 0:01:29.920 --> 0:01:33.840 starting to drive? So he's driving us to school. So 0:01:33.920 --> 0:01:36.440 he's doing a really good job. Permit. Yeah, he gotta. 0:01:36.520 --> 0:01:39.319 He got his permit legal and he has to get 0:01:39.360 --> 0:01:42.360 so many hours. Um. I have not allowed him to 0:01:42.440 --> 0:01:45.640 drive at night. I'm not there yet. Um he drove. Yeah, 0:01:45.680 --> 0:01:47.600 he drove in the rain the other day and did 0:01:47.640 --> 0:01:52.000 pretty good. Now I kind of nudged him like, hey, 0:01:52.280 --> 0:01:55.240 slow down, as I said, hey, slow down a little 0:01:55.240 --> 0:01:58.520 bit raining. That's what I said in my mind. If 0:01:58.600 --> 0:02:00.600 someone had a heart rate mind on there that day 0:02:00.600 --> 0:02:05.920 it was like three hundreds. I was scared. Scared, but 0:02:07.200 --> 0:02:08.760 and just kind of sitting around and I was thinking 0:02:08.760 --> 0:02:11.680 about something, and so I read something in a in 0:02:11.720 --> 0:02:14.440 the Bible app and it had three things right, and 0:02:14.760 --> 0:02:20.560 it was really interesting because it's called understanding your limitations. 0:02:21.840 --> 0:02:24.239 He gave us three things then. The first one was 0:02:24.600 --> 0:02:32.320 acknowledging your limitations, okay, laying down your expectations. And the 0:02:32.360 --> 0:02:39.360 final one three is picking up God's declarations and really 0:02:39.400 --> 0:02:41.560 and and the last one that says, spend at least 0:02:41.600 --> 0:02:47.480 five minutes pouring over God's promise. Imagine putting them on 0:02:47.760 --> 0:02:51.840 like clothing, asking God to show you which one he 0:02:52.320 --> 0:02:54.799 which one he wants you to focus on that day. 0:02:54.840 --> 0:02:57.160 Some days it seems like God has a lot to say, 0:02:57.480 --> 0:03:00.000 and other days it makes you feel like God is quiet. 0:03:01.120 --> 0:03:06.320 Both are normal, natural things in a in a healthy relationship. 0:03:06.480 --> 0:03:09.280 And what I thought that was interesting is I'll kind 0:03:09.280 --> 0:03:15.240 of divulge in my own I I'm a believer, I 0:03:15.320 --> 0:03:20.960 love the Lord. I struggle with my heavenly father because 0:03:21.000 --> 0:03:24.000 I struggle with my earthly father. And what do I 0:03:24.120 --> 0:03:27.320 do with that? How do I manage those expectations or 0:03:27.440 --> 0:03:31.560 manage the lack of follow up or follow through or 0:03:31.680 --> 0:03:35.400 me guarding my heart because of what has transpired, what's happened. 0:03:35.800 --> 0:03:38.160 And it's not anything to put down on my dad. 0:03:38.160 --> 0:03:42.160 It's just really more of saying that Steve Smith singing, 0:03:42.240 --> 0:03:46.160 fourty one years old, four kids, wonderful wife. UH have 0:03:46.280 --> 0:03:49.280 a great team that's worked that I get to work 0:03:49.360 --> 0:03:55.520 with on the podcast, and yet still struggle sometimes, still 0:03:55.720 --> 0:03:59.320 trying to figure out how what went and where and 0:04:00.080 --> 0:04:04.160 laying down, you know, laying down those things and just 0:04:04.240 --> 0:04:06.560 trying to figure out things. So it's it's it's been 0:04:06.560 --> 0:04:10.080 really cool and it's been really difficult. But I think 0:04:10.120 --> 0:04:14.480 sometimes just kind of putting myself out there and saying, hey, 0:04:14.760 --> 0:04:17.880 I'm struggling the day. Yeah, you know, am I by myself? No? 0:04:18.160 --> 0:04:21.680 I think too often times we think that success is 0:04:21.800 --> 0:04:26.680 void of struggle. Is pretty much they end the twine together, right, 0:04:26.800 --> 0:04:29.440 So you can't you can't have success without struggle, and 0:04:29.960 --> 0:04:32.719 you can't struggle without some success. Right there, they're to me, 0:04:32.760 --> 0:04:34.440 they're one and the same. Too many people think they're 0:04:34.440 --> 0:04:37.640 polar opposite, and they're and and they're not. Out of 0:04:37.680 --> 0:04:43.520 those three examples, which one do you which one I 0:04:43.560 --> 0:04:45.760 guess caught your eye more or which one do you 0:04:45.760 --> 0:04:48.640 gravitate towards? Or which ones do you see or or 0:04:48.720 --> 0:04:51.880 or are more pertinent one stands on the day. I 0:04:51.960 --> 0:04:54.880 could tell you one that I always struggle with, and 0:04:55.440 --> 0:04:59.320 I could substitute picking up God's declaration, I could substitute 0:04:59.320 --> 0:05:04.560 I can remove and says and taking a compliment. I 0:05:05.400 --> 0:05:09.719 have been so ingrained and so programmed to the fighter's mentality, 0:05:10.000 --> 0:05:12.880 you know, fight or flight. I'm a fighter. I ain't flighting, 0:05:14.400 --> 0:05:20.880 but not hearing and accepting compliments. I've so much thrived 0:05:20.960 --> 0:05:24.240 on negativity and in in my back against the wall 0:05:24.279 --> 0:05:28.839 that I don't really appreciate sometimes the easy path, and 0:05:28.880 --> 0:05:35.760 it's not even an easy path. Sometimes for me it's easy, meaning, man, 0:05:35.839 --> 0:05:39.160 just take the compliment. It's like, no, they don't believe 0:05:39.200 --> 0:05:41.520 in me, so so what does that do to you. 0:05:44.240 --> 0:05:47.000 It's one of those things where I have strived for. 0:05:47.400 --> 0:05:52.719 I want to have so much perfection that I think 0:05:54.400 --> 0:05:59.720 accepting excellence is a downgrade. But I've had to settle in. 0:06:00.600 --> 0:06:04.520 Don't try to be perfect, riv in the excellence. Just 0:06:04.760 --> 0:06:08.320 be okay with extra for excellence. And but for me 0:06:08.400 --> 0:06:12.000 and my my mind, I'm like, oh, I'm settling, but 0:06:12.080 --> 0:06:14.640 I'm not settling. I'm just so jacked up in the 0:06:14.680 --> 0:06:17.520 head that I think and try to be so perfect 0:06:18.440 --> 0:06:23.000 that I can't pick up God's decoration, Like I can't go, Man, 0:06:23.040 --> 0:06:25.520 God loves me today, or my family loves me today, 0:06:25.560 --> 0:06:28.280 or somebody thought this was good, and so I'm going, 0:06:28.480 --> 0:06:30.320 I'm too busy trying to fight it. I don't even 0:06:30.600 --> 0:06:34.480 stop and take the compliment. Or you also can't self 0:06:34.520 --> 0:06:36.480 late yourself. You can't say, well, even just saying I'm 0:06:36.560 --> 0:06:38.000 jacked up in the head, you're not jacked up in 0:06:38.000 --> 0:06:39.600 the head. We all have our faults and we all 0:06:39.640 --> 0:06:42.000 have things that we need to work on. So I mean, 0:06:42.080 --> 0:06:44.640 even even in that right there. You can't you can't 0:06:44.680 --> 0:06:47.240 lock yourself in kind of that that that mental prison 0:06:47.279 --> 0:06:49.960 almost sometimes I've been living in a mental prison for 0:06:50.480 --> 0:06:55.520 thirty eight thirty nine years. I have yeah, I mean, 0:06:55.560 --> 0:06:58.239 that's one of the things that I loved. I love 0:06:58.640 --> 0:07:03.400 going to Angola once a year, and Gola is a prison. 0:07:03.960 --> 0:07:08.000 I've never been around so many men who have no 0:07:08.160 --> 0:07:12.160 opportunity of freedom on the outside, but yeah, I have 0:07:12.240 --> 0:07:15.080 so much freedom mentally and in their heart. I didn't 0:07:15.120 --> 0:07:18.080 really recognize freedom until I went to Angola. And now 0:07:18.160 --> 0:07:22.960 for me going to Angola three years ago, three four 0:07:23.040 --> 0:07:27.560 years ago, for me going that prison today, that's like 0:07:27.600 --> 0:07:31.400 a vacation. It's like a resort to me, because it's 0:07:31.480 --> 0:07:35.640 just remarkable that see these men who have made mistakes, 0:07:35.680 --> 0:07:39.680 who can never get them back, but yet they're walking 0:07:39.720 --> 0:07:42.920 so much freedom. Twenty five plus years they've been serving 0:07:43.360 --> 0:07:45.480 most of them have most of them are doing life 0:07:46.360 --> 0:07:51.680 because murder or whatever whatever, they armed robbery And they 0:07:51.760 --> 0:07:53.360 walk in there and I go see them, bro, and 0:07:53.400 --> 0:07:56.520 it's like, what else, Smitha, how you doing? And I 0:07:56.560 --> 0:07:59.120 see them, man, they got a bigger smile on their 0:07:59.160 --> 0:08:01.480 face to see me. When I first got there the 0:08:01.520 --> 0:08:03.720 second year than I ever have, and now it's like 0:08:03.720 --> 0:08:06.080 it's something I look forward to with something that I need. 0:08:06.120 --> 0:08:07.800 And we didn't get a chance to go this year 0:08:07.840 --> 0:08:09.880 because in COVID. But one thing that I think is 0:08:09.920 --> 0:08:11.960 really cool, and it's a testament to you, is you 0:08:12.080 --> 0:08:16.200 got a group of guys, all all your close friends, associates, 0:08:16.200 --> 0:08:18.400 all that stuff, and we lead the phones at the 0:08:18.400 --> 0:08:21.480 house and yeah we ain't this ain't this ain't something 0:08:21.480 --> 0:08:23.680 to talk about and show, Hey, look at us, you know, 0:08:23.800 --> 0:08:27.160 the checking it off on the good wheel box. We're 0:08:27.160 --> 0:08:29.920 just going. Man, it's it, bro. I look forward to it, 0:08:29.920 --> 0:08:33.240 and I tell you it is a It is like 0:08:33.320 --> 0:08:38.320 a men's retreat resort for me. You leave with more 0:08:38.360 --> 0:08:40.840 than what you went with. Is not a lot of 0:08:40.840 --> 0:08:43.880 people here quote unquote ministry trips and they think, oh 0:08:43.880 --> 0:08:45.720 we're gonna go help us people. You end up going 0:08:46.000 --> 0:08:48.000 and you learn way more about yourself than you think 0:08:48.040 --> 0:08:51.199 you did anything else. Yeah, I love it, man. So 0:08:51.640 --> 0:08:53.920 that's that's something that been on my mind. Man. And 0:08:54.320 --> 0:08:58.360 as as we continue to do these we're gonna do, 0:08:58.960 --> 0:09:02.400 I think for me, it's more one more doing these opportunities, man, 0:09:02.559 --> 0:09:04.640 checking in That's it. I was. I was just about 0:09:04.640 --> 0:09:06.280 to say that we gotta check in and we have 0:09:06.400 --> 0:09:08.440 some real funny banters like we can have we canna 0:09:08.440 --> 0:09:10.880 have jokes. We can joke about sunny d and and 0:09:11.920 --> 0:09:16.280 gators and backstage Joe turning up Jay's too tight. But 0:09:16.360 --> 0:09:19.040 I think it's also really important that we just have 0:09:19.160 --> 0:09:23.319 these real conversations because it's almost on people's minds. All 0:09:23.400 --> 0:09:26.720 these things have been compounded by the pandemic, and so 0:09:26.760 --> 0:09:28.200 you just have to take that time to just check 0:09:28.240 --> 0:09:31.199 in and and and have serious conversations about you know what, man, 0:09:31.240 --> 0:09:33.520 this helped me? Or you check me. I'll check you 0:09:34.000 --> 0:09:36.360 this beautiful thing. You're gonna check me. We both check 0:09:36.400 --> 0:09:39.560 each other. I don't know about your checking on about it. Okay, 0:09:39.640 --> 0:09:42.160 you're gonna do that. Hey, who do we have coming 0:09:42.240 --> 0:09:48.240 up next? Coming up on the Cut to It podcast, 0:09:48.320 --> 0:09:50.960 We've got Brian Mitchell, one of the best return men 0:09:51.040 --> 0:09:55.000 in NFL history. A veteran with Washington, the New York Giants, 0:09:55.120 --> 0:09:59.040 and the Philadelphia Eagles, Brian won a Super Bowl and 0:09:59.040 --> 0:10:02.400 he works currently as a TV and radio broadcaster. Brian 0:10:02.440 --> 0:10:09.920 Mitchell on the Cut to A Podcast. Hey, Brian, we 0:10:09.960 --> 0:10:14.240 appreciate you joining the Cut to A Podcast. No problem. Now. Hey, 0:10:14.320 --> 0:10:16.520 So our first segment that we have coming up is 0:10:16.559 --> 0:10:19.520 an icebreaker. It's called get iceed Up. The random questions 0:10:20.000 --> 0:10:22.000 may or may not have a follow up. I'm telling 0:10:22.000 --> 0:10:24.000 you they completely random. I don't even know what this 0:10:24.080 --> 0:10:26.040 dude has up is to leave, so Smith to go 0:10:26.040 --> 0:10:28.439 ahead and welcome Brian Mitchell to the to the podcast. 0:10:28.480 --> 0:10:32.200 Be what's going on? I like to say one those 0:10:32.280 --> 0:10:38.600 d s, one those no chests when star forgetting What's up? Man? 0:10:38.600 --> 0:10:41.480 How you doing? Alright? You ready? I'm ready baby, all right, 0:10:41.520 --> 0:10:44.840 buckle up, Buttercup, here we go. Let's go. What is 0:10:44.880 --> 0:10:49.400 your favorite hobby? Actually, my favorite hobby is playing golf. 0:10:49.440 --> 0:10:53.079 You know I would say that that was my favorite hobby. 0:10:53.200 --> 0:10:54.960 I would have to say riding bikes. Now, I've been 0:10:55.040 --> 0:10:58.240 riding bikes since April and I've gotten completely hooked on that, 0:10:58.559 --> 0:11:03.280 so golf has taken the back sleek. Okay, So so 0:11:03.360 --> 0:11:06.840 you do you got the biker shorts with the paddy Yeah, 0:11:06.880 --> 0:11:08.280 I do because it but was hurting when I was 0:11:08.360 --> 0:11:11.120 riding without the pass, so I had to go to that. 0:11:11.240 --> 0:11:15.640 And I've done over two thousand miles since April, so humble, 0:11:16.400 --> 0:11:18.959 just two thousand I'm trying to get some I'm trying 0:11:19.000 --> 0:11:20.640 to get some money on the on the bik and wave. 0:11:20.720 --> 0:11:22.160 He won't do it. I told him the same thing. 0:11:22.200 --> 0:11:24.040 I've been doing the same thing. I've been taking up 0:11:24.080 --> 0:11:29.120 biking since probably about uh, same thing. You won't do it, though, 0:11:29.160 --> 0:11:32.440 you you're on the runningway, which is cool. When you 0:11:32.559 --> 0:11:36.000 first went biking, Uh, did you have a real bike? 0:11:36.120 --> 0:11:40.240 Was the beach Cruiser? Was a BMX with I'm always well. 0:11:40.800 --> 0:11:43.800 I bought a bike in two thousand and fourteen, Lorenzo Alexander, 0:11:43.880 --> 0:11:48.720 He uh had a Yeah, Zoe had a charity bike ride. 0:11:48.679 --> 0:11:50.880 So I went out and purchased this bike and I 0:11:50.960 --> 0:11:53.400 rode it in and I didn't ride it again until 0:11:53.520 --> 0:11:57.040 this year. So when I got on it, I started 0:11:57.120 --> 0:11:59.360 riding and found out a few of my ex teammates 0:11:59.400 --> 0:12:01.760 were riding, and and we got into this little crew. 0:12:01.880 --> 0:12:03.760 And I've met a lot of people riding over in 0:12:03.800 --> 0:12:07.040 Maryland and every weekend, I definitely do it, but I 0:12:07.080 --> 0:12:10.240 do it at least four days during the week to Wow, 0:12:10.400 --> 0:12:13.319 that's pretty cool. That movie. All right, So here we go. 0:12:14.080 --> 0:12:20.400 Last book you didn't finish reading, and why I was 0:12:20.440 --> 0:12:22.880 reading all that? I started reading all these motivational books 0:12:22.920 --> 0:12:27.400 and John C. Maxwell it's a book called No Beyond Talent. 0:12:27.600 --> 0:12:30.959 It's what it's called. And uh, I just didn't finish 0:12:31.000 --> 0:12:33.200 reading it, got into some other stuff and left it. 0:12:33.240 --> 0:12:34.800 But I gotta get back to it because it talks 0:12:34.800 --> 0:12:38.000 more like, you know, those people that have talent, they 0:12:38.040 --> 0:12:40.600 depend totally on that, and it tries to get you 0:12:40.679 --> 0:12:43.199 to go beyond that to where it's like you get 0:12:43.200 --> 0:12:44.880 to the league, you find out everybody has talent, but 0:12:44.920 --> 0:12:47.600 everybody doesn't work and try to work on that talent. 0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:51.040 So some people are successful, some people aren't. And that's 0:12:51.320 --> 0:12:54.800 it's a book. But I will finish it soon, I'm sure. Alright. 0:12:54.840 --> 0:12:59.800 So last one, if you can teleport anywhere tomorrow tomorrow 0:12:59.800 --> 0:13:04.719 more you hit that teleport button, where do you go? 0:13:04.960 --> 0:13:09.240 And why I'm going to Hawaii hanging out in Maui 0:13:09.280 --> 0:13:13.280 because it's just when I'm there, so Tranquild my favorite place. Okay, 0:13:15.080 --> 0:13:18.080 Yeah that was that. That wasn't too bad? That was cool. Yeah, 0:13:18.679 --> 0:13:23.520 that's the ice break. Now here comes the big test. 0:13:24.880 --> 0:13:27.360 Where are you from and the place that you call 0:13:27.800 --> 0:13:31.720 what is the place you call your hometown? My hometown 0:13:31.800 --> 0:13:34.760 is Plaqueham in Louisiana. It's a little small town outside 0:13:34.760 --> 0:13:37.560 of bad Rouge. When you were growing up there with experiences, 0:13:37.640 --> 0:13:41.280 did you uh experience? Well, I would be honest with you, 0:13:41.360 --> 0:13:43.120 this is uh the times we're dealing with now, with 0:13:43.240 --> 0:13:45.280 all this racial stuff is something that I did grow 0:13:45.360 --> 0:13:48.160 up with in my hometown. But my dad taught me 0:13:48.160 --> 0:13:50.680 how to be strong in it and overcome different things 0:13:50.679 --> 0:13:52.640 and not let things bother me, but the focus on 0:13:52.679 --> 0:13:55.240 the things I can control. Um, you know, I was 0:13:55.280 --> 0:13:58.760 a quarterback at my school. My school is predominantly white, 0:13:58.800 --> 0:14:00.600 but I was the starting quarterback. As I went to 0:14:00.640 --> 0:14:03.040 my college and did the same thing. But my dad, 0:14:03.080 --> 0:14:05.920 being a military guy, taught me about hard work, believing 0:14:05.960 --> 0:14:08.079 in yourself and making sure you take care of your 0:14:08.200 --> 0:14:10.559 education and good things to follow you, you know, and 0:14:10.640 --> 0:14:12.760 not I wasn't one that was gonna back down for 0:14:12.880 --> 0:14:15.280 many people, so you know, when you grew up with 0:14:15.440 --> 0:14:17.839 the military father, And like I told I was telling 0:14:17.920 --> 0:14:19.920 Joe's story. We're probably getting to this later on. But 0:14:20.200 --> 0:14:23.360 my dad five for eight by a hundred and seventy pounds, 0:14:23.680 --> 0:14:26.920 boxed in the military for fifteen years, so he basically 0:14:27.000 --> 0:14:29.840 transferred all of that that he had in him into me. 0:14:30.760 --> 0:14:33.440 I'm one of seven kids, and I basically was exactly 0:14:33.520 --> 0:14:36.320 like my dad. So I had enough inside my head 0:14:36.360 --> 0:14:38.200 and nothing in my heart that I wasn't gonna back down. 0:14:38.200 --> 0:14:39.360 I was gonna go out and try to fight and 0:14:39.360 --> 0:14:41.360 deal with anything I had to deal with. So how 0:14:41.400 --> 0:14:45.840 did growing up your hometown impact and shape how you 0:14:45.880 --> 0:14:50.080 see the world today. Well, it showed me that everybody 0:14:50.200 --> 0:14:54.600 is not exactly the same way, you know, because along 0:14:54.680 --> 0:14:57.880 my life, I've seen black people that I did not 0:14:57.960 --> 0:14:59.640 like being around, and seeing white people that I love 0:14:59.680 --> 0:15:03.040 be and vice versa, you know what I mean, both 0:15:03.040 --> 0:15:04.720 of those sides, and I think it comes down to 0:15:04.920 --> 0:15:08.440 the heart of a person. And it taught me that 0:15:08.520 --> 0:15:11.560 because there were people and families in that town that 0:15:11.680 --> 0:15:15.280 did things for me, that it was not the ordinary 0:15:15.280 --> 0:15:17.400 way of a lot of folks in my town. And 0:15:17.440 --> 0:15:19.680 then on the other side, you know, there were people 0:15:19.720 --> 0:15:21.960 in the neighborhoods that I always hung out in that 0:15:22.320 --> 0:15:24.240 you have to always watch everything because they were trying 0:15:24.280 --> 0:15:26.640 to take what you had. So as I began to 0:15:26.720 --> 0:15:29.960 be a young man and become an older man, become 0:15:30.000 --> 0:15:34.000 a more seasoned man, I understand that you judge people 0:15:34.040 --> 0:15:36.600 based on who they are and what they what they 0:15:36.600 --> 0:15:38.920 show you, not based off of what somebody else told 0:15:38.960 --> 0:15:41.200 you about them, not based on what you thought think 0:15:41.240 --> 0:15:44.280 about somebody else. But I don't try to sit up 0:15:44.320 --> 0:15:46.520 there and say, well this person is this because of that. No, 0:15:47.000 --> 0:15:48.560 let me see who he is to me, because I 0:15:48.600 --> 0:15:50.800 don't know the experiences that they may have had with 0:15:50.880 --> 0:15:54.280 somebody else, Because a lot of times the experience make 0:15:54.320 --> 0:15:56.640 you deal with a person in a certain way. So 0:15:57.120 --> 0:15:59.600 you know, if a guy treated, you know, somebody when 0:15:59.640 --> 0:16:01.240 I was in school in college as that man, I 0:16:01.280 --> 0:16:03.440 don't like that dude, why you don't like him? They 0:16:03.480 --> 0:16:05.800 never tell you why they don't like somebody because and 0:16:05.920 --> 0:16:08.160 so it's something that they did wrong and the other 0:16:08.200 --> 0:16:10.320 person didn't do anything wrong and the person just checked 0:16:10.360 --> 0:16:13.160 them on it. So by becoming a person who pays 0:16:13.200 --> 0:16:16.280 attention to things around, pays attention to my surroundings, it's 0:16:16.280 --> 0:16:19.120 taught me to become a better judge of character from 0:16:19.120 --> 0:16:25.520 our people. Mm hmm. Did you expect me to be 0:16:25.640 --> 0:16:28.320 asking you all this like this? Be honest? I'll be 0:16:28.360 --> 0:16:31.000 totally honest with yes, because you know, look I told 0:16:31.040 --> 0:16:33.200 you before I was a fan of yours man, and 0:16:33.240 --> 0:16:35.840 the reason I say that is because you know, people 0:16:36.320 --> 0:16:38.160 just judge it by the way that you play the game. 0:16:38.160 --> 0:16:39.760 I judge by the way they played your game. But 0:16:40.080 --> 0:16:42.600 also listen to the stuff you say after something happened, 0:16:42.920 --> 0:16:44.800 and I figured you were a smart dude. You know 0:16:44.840 --> 0:16:46.520 what I'm saying. And that's the whole thing about it. 0:16:46.560 --> 0:16:48.720 When you start digging into somebody you want to find 0:16:48.720 --> 0:16:51.480 out about him, it's not the surface. Like John Thompson 0:16:51.520 --> 0:16:54.680 who just passed away recently. A long time. You say, man, 0:16:54.920 --> 0:16:57.400 don't let people judge you by sound clips of your life. 0:16:58.560 --> 0:17:02.840 And think about that. So if you say something, if 0:17:02.880 --> 0:17:06.560 you if you say something and somebody got there on 0:17:06.560 --> 0:17:10.120 on got a little recording of it, and there's always played. 0:17:10.480 --> 0:17:13.280 People judge you based off of that clip. They don't 0:17:13.320 --> 0:17:15.720 know all the terterrible things you do. They don't know 0:17:15.720 --> 0:17:17.359 how hard you have to fight to get to where 0:17:17.359 --> 0:17:19.160 you are, you know. And I think that's the whole 0:17:19.160 --> 0:17:21.640 thing about it. When you start paying attention to people, 0:17:21.640 --> 0:17:23.560 you can figure some things out instead of just going 0:17:23.560 --> 0:17:26.600 around judging them based off of what somebody else told you. 0:17:28.320 --> 0:17:33.000 As a kid, How did you see football as a sport, 0:17:33.760 --> 0:17:38.720 as a job, as a way out as I saw 0:17:38.720 --> 0:17:40.320 it as a way out. You know, my my mom 0:17:40.359 --> 0:17:42.960 and dad. I look, I always felt rich because of 0:17:42.960 --> 0:17:45.840 the love that I see from my family. I knew 0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:47.520 that my mom and dad didn't have the money to 0:17:47.600 --> 0:17:50.320 just send me to a college. So when I started 0:17:50.320 --> 0:17:52.280 playing sports, and like I said, I'm the youngest of 0:17:52.359 --> 0:17:55.960 seven kids and I have fo older brothers. So I'm 0:17:56.280 --> 0:17:57.960 five and a half years younger than my brother that's 0:17:58.000 --> 0:17:59.920 next to me. So when I'm playing with my relative, 0:18:00.080 --> 0:18:02.399 street was one way in, one way out. All forty 0:18:02.440 --> 0:18:04.639 homes were relatives, and they had a bunch of boys 0:18:04.680 --> 0:18:07.800 on the streets. So eventually little little little Keith that 0:18:07.840 --> 0:18:09.960 they called me my name Brian Keith Mitchon, they called 0:18:10.000 --> 0:18:11.920 me Keith. I had to start playing with the people 0:18:11.960 --> 0:18:13.800 that were older than me. And when I started realizing 0:18:13.800 --> 0:18:15.720 that I was kind of good at it, and my 0:18:15.800 --> 0:18:17.359 dad started saying, man, you might be able to get 0:18:17.400 --> 0:18:20.440 a scholarship one day. So I'm thinking, get a scholarship, 0:18:20.520 --> 0:18:22.520 I can go to the college. You know, I can 0:18:22.520 --> 0:18:24.359 get out and go do the things I want to do. 0:18:24.480 --> 0:18:27.080 So I saw it as a place of having fun 0:18:27.080 --> 0:18:29.560 and being around my friends. But my ultimate goal was 0:18:29.920 --> 0:18:31.520 to get a scholarship so I can be able to 0:18:31.520 --> 0:18:33.399 go to college without my mom and dad, you know, 0:18:33.520 --> 0:18:35.560 having to worry about that. I don't want to be 0:18:35.600 --> 0:18:38.960 telling of your your age. But you're born in nineteen 0:18:38.960 --> 0:18:43.840 sixty eight, You're born in Louisiana. How has Louisiana changed 0:18:43.880 --> 0:18:48.200 since you were a kid? Uh? I don't think it's 0:18:48.320 --> 0:18:51.719 changed drastically, To be totally honest with you, I think 0:18:51.760 --> 0:18:55.159 it's very similar as a southern state that's kind of lost, 0:18:55.760 --> 0:18:59.240 to be honest with you, But I think that you 0:18:59.640 --> 0:19:02.240 find that when you like what I was saying earlier, 0:19:02.240 --> 0:19:04.840 when you begin to deal with people on a personal level, 0:19:05.520 --> 0:19:08.399 you find out that it's not totally the way that 0:19:08.480 --> 0:19:11.000 people see the cover of it. You know, I have 0:19:11.040 --> 0:19:14.480 a bunch of friends there that are very prosperous, you know, 0:19:14.600 --> 0:19:17.560 both white and black, and uh, they try to change 0:19:17.560 --> 0:19:19.600 and they try to make a difference. And you know, 0:19:19.840 --> 0:19:22.080 I still love going home because the people are so 0:19:22.200 --> 0:19:24.440 much more hospitable down south than they are up north. 0:19:24.960 --> 0:19:26.600 I still love to go down. They eat the food 0:19:26.640 --> 0:19:28.360 because the food is the best that you're gonna get. 0:19:28.600 --> 0:19:31.760 If you've been to South Louisiana and North Louisiana two 0:19:31.800 --> 0:19:35.639 totally different states. You know, down south we have a 0:19:35.640 --> 0:19:37.600 little fun up north, they are a little dry up 0:19:37.680 --> 0:19:40.920 North Louisiana. Yeah, I hate to I hate to be dumb, 0:19:40.960 --> 0:19:43.400 but I go ahead. And what's the difference between the 0:19:43.440 --> 0:19:46.720 north and southe like, I've only been to so I've 0:19:46.720 --> 0:19:50.199 been to Uh, I've been Angola, so I I go 0:19:50.320 --> 0:19:53.359 there once a year. Uh huh to Angola, the prison 0:19:53.400 --> 0:19:59.240 down there, and then other than the Saints, I've never 0:19:58.880 --> 0:20:01.320 really gone even never going to pass New Orleans to 0:20:01.400 --> 0:20:04.840 ban Rouge. Like, I don't know, I don't know the difference. 0:20:04.880 --> 0:20:08.840 So what's the difference in North Louisiana South? To me? 0:20:08.920 --> 0:20:13.080 I'm like, I just thought it was Louisiana. Now when 0:20:13.080 --> 0:20:17.359 you're in South Louisiana is basically more of the you know, 0:20:17.560 --> 0:20:19.520 I think it's a combination because you can go to 0:20:19.600 --> 0:20:22.560 different little towns and areas and even New Orleans. When 0:20:22.600 --> 0:20:24.320 you're in New Orleans, you don't really think you're in 0:20:24.760 --> 0:20:28.000 in like Louisiana. You think you're like in like uh 0:20:28.440 --> 0:20:31.719 more of a Caribbean island where they have a lot 0:20:31.760 --> 0:20:35.040 of fun all the time. You get what I'm saying, Uh, 0:20:35.080 --> 0:20:38.480 it's a lot more fun and festive down south. Up north, 0:20:38.800 --> 0:20:44.240 they have dry parishes, you know, like county. It's counties 0:20:44.240 --> 0:20:47.760 in every state except United step Louisiana's parishes in Louisiana 0:20:48.000 --> 0:20:52.040 more of the French. Uh the French, I guess uh. 0:20:52.359 --> 0:20:56.080 Touch that goes there. So the drive means that they 0:20:56.119 --> 0:21:00.200 don't serve alcohol. There have no such things downside out. 0:21:01.200 --> 0:21:03.240 It served everywhere, and they probably still can serve it 0:21:03.240 --> 0:21:05.120 to eighteen year olds because they changed the laws when 0:21:05.119 --> 0:21:07.720 they when they change the law from eighteen one, they 0:21:07.760 --> 0:21:10.160 said private club that eighteen you could have beer and wine. 0:21:10.200 --> 0:21:13.080 They change it back the other way. Mhm, but I've 0:21:13.119 --> 0:21:16.440 know it. It's different. It's just totally different. Yea, we 0:21:16.560 --> 0:21:18.400 call it Lord can saw to be honest with you 0:21:20.119 --> 0:21:23.040 where they came from. We have to take a break 0:21:23.480 --> 0:21:26.680 and the morning thing, we're gonna pay some bills. You 0:21:26.760 --> 0:21:34.200 got checks. I love cut to It, and I love 0:21:34.200 --> 0:21:38.359 it even more when you download us and subscribe and 0:21:38.800 --> 0:21:41.040 you can follow us on social media too, Smithie, where 0:21:41.040 --> 0:21:44.000 where at that's at? Cut to It on Instagram? What 0:21:44.119 --> 0:21:49.239 about Twitter? At? Cut to It? Facebook? Cut to It 0:21:49.280 --> 0:21:53.159 featuring Steve Smith singr. What about online and you can 0:21:53.160 --> 0:21:55.840 follow us at cut to It podcast dot com where 0:21:56.040 --> 0:21:58.960 you can buy merch and you can subscribe to us 0:21:59.000 --> 0:22:04.200 wherever you listen to podcast. I got all my answers questions. Um, yeah, 0:22:04.359 --> 0:22:07.720 I got all my questions answered. That's what I'm here for, 0:22:07.760 --> 0:22:12.880