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 John And this is cut
Speaker 1: to it. Good do it? Good do they's getting down
Speaker 1: to do it. Good do it. We asked the questions
Speaker 1: you always want to know, but no one ever asked,
Speaker 1: let's cut to it. You ain't heard them about it,
Speaker 1: then we're about to let you know. It's all you
Speaker 1: needed it. But you needed a black nickname anyway. Now
Speaker 1: your name Scooter. It's always a black school. Hey, how
Speaker 1: you guys doing. Steve Smith Senior here and g um,
Speaker 1: welcome to the podcast. And when those us my Spanish
Speaker 1: is Ussey, so I don't know that right when those deals,
Speaker 1: when it's startest if it's afternoons, you know I was
Speaker 1: a little bilingual. You ain't boy ling anyway. We got
Speaker 1: our bookie manager on here, Joe Fushi nicknamed Scooter ak
Speaker 1: a backstage Joe. He was backstage, backstage. We brought him.
Speaker 1: We brought him to the limelights. So Joe's Joe's want
Speaker 1: of homeboys and good dude, very talented businessman. Yeah, it
Speaker 1: makes a lot of this happen I'll tell you what
Speaker 1: his ass is not. What's that he is not a
Speaker 1: good communicator on this subject at hand. So we were
Speaker 1: talking this weekend, and Joe has a boat, and Joe
Speaker 1: loves to go on this boat. Now, Joe loves to
Speaker 1: play golf with Smitty, but Smithy ain't as good as Joe.
Speaker 1: But Smitty got the membership and Joe got the boat.
Speaker 1: So it's a nice boat. And so Joe loves being
Speaker 1: on the boat. He beautiful wife Kim says, look, if
Speaker 1: you get the boats, you can't have a country cutup membership.
Speaker 1: So Joe's all, you know, Joe's my golfing buddy. I
Speaker 1: love hanging out with him. Great dude. Business as well
Speaker 1: helps me a lot of stuff. So me and Joe chilling,
Speaker 1: and I know, so I get some shoes, uh do
Speaker 1: some yard work, and so they have these cool like
Speaker 1: boots but their waterproof and so I can hold them
Speaker 1: down and not get my socks well, and I hate
Speaker 1: wet socks. Like that is like like I'm like two
Speaker 1: things like yard that y'ard work that I hate wet
Speaker 1: socks and picking up dog poop. But I got a dog,
Speaker 1: so I pick up dog poops. So the only thing
Speaker 1: I can really get away with is not having wet socks.
Speaker 1: So I say, man, these these shoes. And then I
Speaker 1: discovered that this these boots, they also make boat shoes.
Speaker 1: So I'm gonna read your text, good morning Joe. Quick question,
Speaker 1: what shoe size are you? Morning, Steve? I am a
Speaker 1: ten and a half two eleven and a half depends
Speaker 1: on the style. So at this time Joe did not
Speaker 1: know I am trying to order these shoes as I
Speaker 1: am texting him. So now I'm like, you just need
Speaker 1: one size? Yes, So I said, all right, let me
Speaker 1: gather up something that we can all identify with generally Nike's,
Speaker 1: depending on Nike's run small. So I said, what size
Speaker 1: are you? And Jordan's And here's where it gets interested, scooter, Okay,
Speaker 1: here we go up? What's he goes? I said what size?
Speaker 1: And I even s z in Jordan's. So now I'm
Speaker 1: mentor like cutting into like specifics. What side to it?
Speaker 1: I got the laptop up, It got two pair of
Speaker 1: sizes left. I want to get my boys some some
Speaker 1: some boat shoes. All right, I wear eleven and the
Speaker 1: eleven half if I tighten them up. Now, so I
Speaker 1: go back up, and I said, first of all, he's
Speaker 1: a ten and a half to eleven and a half
Speaker 1: and now he's an eleven. But if I tighten them up,
Speaker 1: eleven and a half. So here is I don't ever
Speaker 1: want to Here is my reply. Here is my reply.
Speaker 1: What blankety blank size are you? Bro? I don't want
Speaker 1: the hood size when you can't afford to pass up
Speaker 1: what they're giving you, grown ass man, you're walking you
Speaker 1: walking into a true store to get a pair of Vans.
Speaker 1: What size can I get you? Sir? Joe? Reply is
Speaker 1: you can get me size eleven eleven? I said, not
Speaker 1: in between sizes. I've looked that up. There is no
Speaker 1: slides between ten and a half and eleven and a
Speaker 1: half and there's definitely no size for eleven and a half.
Speaker 1: When I tightened them up, He's like, damn, why are
Speaker 1: you on me so bad? I said, we read your replies.
Speaker 1: See why dot dot dot this whole time I'm trying
Speaker 1: to order you a pair of shoes and I gotta
Speaker 1: read this. Can I jump in here for school? First off,
Speaker 1: your georgie's tied tight right now? No, they are not.
Speaker 1: And guess what shoes he's wearing currently? Right now vans,
Speaker 1: thank you. So I really don't have an excuse for this.
Speaker 1: I really really thought I was being good friend Joe,
Speaker 1: because you know, like when somebody's gonna help. I felt
Speaker 1: the vibe somebody was getting me something. You know, how
Speaker 1: you want you get that gift from an ant and
Speaker 1: like it's a sweater with a V neck and like
Speaker 1: you don't want to act like you don't. And I
Speaker 1: know Steve knows me well enough to know it's gonna
Speaker 1: be nice. So I'm just trying to be open guy.
Speaker 1: And then I go back and read and I was thoroughly,
Speaker 1: thoroughly embarrassed. I was stuttering. If you can do that
Speaker 1: in text? Says, how do you studying a text message?
Speaker 1: I was giving nine eleven sizes, like he said, I
Speaker 1: felt like growing up when your big friend gives you
Speaker 1: them old shoes. Man. I put four pair of socks
Speaker 1: on as long as I can get him, and they fit.
Speaker 1: So um, I'm you're grown ass man. Why are you
Speaker 1: tightening up? Yeah, don't don't ever see you tightening up?
Speaker 1: I said, what size are you between? Ten and a
Speaker 1: half and he left ten and a half is a
Speaker 1: size three sizes ten, seven, five, even if you're even
Speaker 1: if you're your right, you still have to buy two
Speaker 1: different pairs of shoes to discover which he tried to
Speaker 1: give you a damn fitted hat size. And it's a shoot,
Speaker 1: I said, I said, we read what you're saying. I did,
Speaker 1: and I apologized, and I'm thankful for the gift I'm receiving.
Speaker 1: I didn't even wanted the shoes because I was so irritated.
Speaker 1: I didn't even get them. I wasting ll not in
Speaker 1: order because the whole time I'm going through this batch,
Speaker 1: like what's what size do you wear? Man? This is
Speaker 1: like eight thirty in the morning, and I'm like, I
Speaker 1: was getting Saturday ripped up, Sunday Sunday. I was ripped
Speaker 1: apart for like this one. I'm like twenty minutes and
Speaker 1: it's all my fault. It's one I take ownership, my fault.
Speaker 1: It's COVID. But the best part about it is when
Speaker 1: I finally got it down, I'm eleven. We did all
Speaker 1: of this, that's your size. Just cut to it, bro,
Speaker 1: That's all I had to do. I know, awful. Let's
Speaker 1: just cut to our guests now, Yeah, who is our guests?
Speaker 1: Coming up? On the Cut to It podcast, we got
Speaker 1: mark Ingram running back for the Baltimore Ravens. He's a
Speaker 1: three time Pro Bowl winner. He was a Hosman Trophy
Speaker 1: winner in Alabama, and he's married to his wife Chelsea.
Speaker 1: They got four beautiful kids. Mark Ingram, want to cut
Speaker 1: to a podcast. Thank you for joining the podcast, bro
Speaker 1: sure man, appreciate you having me on. So we're gonna
Speaker 1: go into a segment we called get Iced Up. It's
Speaker 1: our version of Icebreakers, man. So what we're gonna do.
Speaker 1: We've got some random questions that might be a follow up,
Speaker 1: might not? You know how Agent eighty nine is, so
Speaker 1: I'm gonna let him go ahead and give you the
Speaker 1: first one. All right, all right, all right? If you
Speaker 1: are an animal, what would you be and why? I'll
Speaker 1: probably be like a grizzly bear something because that thing fast, strong, lucive,
Speaker 1: and ain't nobody hunting grizzly bear. I things just the
Speaker 1: ultimate predator. So probably like that, or a lying or
Speaker 1: something something that ain't gonna be on the food chain
Speaker 1: getting eating up by other animals like that. So do
Speaker 1: you prefer baths or showers? I need a shower after
Speaker 1: I'm working out, but I do love my EPs. And
Speaker 1: soap salt soaks, so you know, showers is mandatory, but
Speaker 1: you know I love being in that bath with the
Speaker 1: EPs and salt and you know, putting together that that
Speaker 1: soft you know, that secret sauce to help their body recover.
Speaker 1: So I might have to go with both on that
Speaker 1: he just gave us to understand because the man answer
Speaker 1: has been a shower. Hey man, Shoot, I don't know.
Speaker 1: Maybe you're too manly to have that EPs and soft
Speaker 1: soap after sore day in the heat. But I ain't
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, I'm retired. I'm an tradition,
Speaker 1: so I never eat no more. You never did, bro,
Speaker 1: Yeah I did. I didn't say it was anything wrong
Speaker 1: with it. I just wanted to know, would you be fourth? Right?
Speaker 1: That's all? Yeah? Yeah, I'm good like So the last
Speaker 1: book you you did not finish, and you cannot say
Speaker 1: the Bible the last book I did not finish. Shoot,
Speaker 1: that's tough. I mean the last book I picked up.
Speaker 1: I've read the whole thing, flew through and I ain't
Speaker 1: picked up another book since. So which one give? Not
Speaker 1: a fan? Um? It's basically a book about you know,
Speaker 1: being a devoted follower to you know the Christ and um, basically,
Speaker 1: are you a fan of Jesus Christ or you a
Speaker 1: follow Jesus Christ? Man? It was just very convicting man. Um.
Speaker 1: It was just numerous chapters of just you know, encouragement
Speaker 1: and and and obviously you know, being convicted. Like you know,
Speaker 1: a lot of guys say that they they followed Jesus.
Speaker 1: But do you pick up your cross daily? Do you
Speaker 1: follow him? Do you um spread his word to others?
Speaker 1: Do you do you talk how you're supposed to be
Speaker 1: talking around people that don't know you. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: it's his light shining through you. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1: It just dives into that and many different aspects and
Speaker 1: many different examples on how to be I'm a completely
Speaker 1: devoted follower and not just a fan. I like that.
Speaker 1: I like that's all right. Last one, tell me one
Speaker 1: person not in your media family a confidence that you
Speaker 1: trust and name that individual. Well, other than my blood relatives,
Speaker 1: this guy is like a blood relative to me. His
Speaker 1: name is William Nelson. That's my uncle. Um. I called
Speaker 1: him my uncle because he's like my uncle. He's my
Speaker 1: father's best friend. Uh was there uh you know for me?
Speaker 1: You know, it's been every single one of my football games,
Speaker 1: my professional football games. And he lives in Baltimore, so
Speaker 1: he could always fly all my games. And all of
Speaker 1: a sudden, I'm here in Baltimore, So I just drives,
Speaker 1: you know, if your teen minutes up the road to
Speaker 1: the stadium. But that's my uncle Bubby. I'll call him Bubby,
Speaker 1: Uncle Bubby, nickname uncle Bubb, but his real name William Nelson,
Speaker 1: So shout out to Bubb. All right, let's let's get
Speaker 1: into who you are, where you are, and where are
Speaker 1: you from? So where are you from and where do
Speaker 1: you consider your hometown. I'm from Flint, Michigan, and that's
Speaker 1: what I consider my hometown. That's where all my families living.
Speaker 1: My mother and my father, and my sisters, um, aunt's cousins, grandma, grandpa.
Speaker 1: Basically that's where I'm from. And that's what I claimed Flint, Michigan. Hey,
Speaker 1: we'll know all day Flint Stones. What experiences growing up
Speaker 1: in Flint, Michigan? Um, what that was experienced like for you? Man? Uh? Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's where I'm from. I have a long story of
Speaker 1: like you know, being you know, moving around as a child,
Speaker 1: but through my main years growing up as a young
Speaker 1: growing into a young man. You know, I was in Michigan,
Speaker 1: so um just um my father was incocetrated a little
Speaker 1: bit of time. So just being able to have to
Speaker 1: take a bigger role in my family from my younger sisters,
Speaker 1: UM pick up some way from my mom who's working
Speaker 1: two jobs. Just to make sure that I stay focused
Speaker 1: on what I need to do, to make sure that Um,
Speaker 1: you know, my dad always tell me he made no
Speaker 1: mistakes where I didn't have to make any. So I
Speaker 1: always just trying to stay focused on the right people
Speaker 1: from myself, for positive people and people who love me.
Speaker 1: So um, you know, I just always learned how to
Speaker 1: you know, keep a small circle, keep a circle of
Speaker 1: those who believe in you. And so I definitely learned that.
Speaker 1: And just um important to the importance of a dollar,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, Um, important to treat people
Speaker 1: the right way. Um, being tough. You know, it's not
Speaker 1: easy city to grow up in. I'm thankful that my parents,
Speaker 1: my mother you know, obviously worked two jobs to you know,
Speaker 1: move it like you know, into the servers away from
Speaker 1: my grandpa's house. Um that was in the heart of Flint.
Speaker 1: So we moved to the suburbs and Mom present me
Speaker 1: to a good school and stuff like that. So um,
Speaker 1: and everything that I've been through in my life basically
Speaker 1: shaped the man I am the day from my mother
Speaker 1: and my father and my grandparents. UM. Lots of ups
Speaker 1: and downs to our life that just helped me develop
Speaker 1: into our am today. So you use a key word
Speaker 1: for me, a shape? How it growing up? Shape you
Speaker 1: an impact your view on the world today. Um, it
Speaker 1: shaped me and helped me view the world today because
Speaker 1: I just always had positive influences in my life. And
Speaker 1: my grandmother was a you know, superintendent in the schools.
Speaker 1: My mother was a social worker. UM. My father had
Speaker 1: played tenures in NFL. Um. I have many family members
Speaker 1: and good friends around me that it's always you know,
Speaker 1: showing me with love and positivity. Never, um, did I
Speaker 1: have to you know, be in the streets or doing
Speaker 1: things that you know that I that uh, you know,
Speaker 1: it wasn't that wasn't good, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: My parents and my loved ones held me to a
Speaker 1: high standard. They expected high things in me. If I
Speaker 1: didn't have above a three point o g p A,
Speaker 1: they will let me play even play sports. UM. So
Speaker 1: you know, even though you might be elgible for school.
Speaker 1: I brought home that port card and I didn't have
Speaker 1: a three point oh um. Then my parents were shipped
Speaker 1: me out. So one time I brought out home, I
Speaker 1: had a couple of seeds, maybe a d on there
Speaker 1: and uh, whatever it was, they weren't happy. I was
Speaker 1: in I'm grade. I was in the sixth grade and
Speaker 1: we had a little AU game and I tell my
Speaker 1: teammates that I couldn't play, and they I wonder why
Speaker 1: I couldn't play, And I tell them my grades went
Speaker 1: right and so ever since that day, I knew they
Speaker 1: wasn't bluffing by my school and me being accountable, uh
Speaker 1: to handle my priority. So um, I know they might
Speaker 1: be long winded, but basically they shaped me to be
Speaker 1: a positive person who likes to be around positive people,
Speaker 1: people who love me genuinely for who I am, and
Speaker 1: I just like to be encouraging and positive and spread
Speaker 1: that same love, spread that same light to others around me.
Speaker 1: You know, do the best that I could do, and
Speaker 1: whatever it may be, whether it was sports, school or
Speaker 1: or you know, going the lawn or moving something for
Speaker 1: you know, our ontie or something that needed to move poses,
Speaker 1: whatever it may be, do do my best from myself
Speaker 1: with positive people and try to spread that positivity to
Speaker 1: others as well. We have to take a break and
Speaker 1: the morning think we gotta pay some ben h you
Speaker 1: got checks. I love cut to It and I love
Speaker 1: it even more when you download us and subscribe, and
Speaker 1: you can follow us on social media too, Smithie, Where
Speaker 1: where at that's at? Cut to It on Instagram? What
Speaker 1: about Twitter? At? Cut to It? Facebook? Cut to It
Speaker 1: featuring Steve Smith singr? What about online? And you can
Speaker 1: follow us at cut to It podcast dot com where
Speaker 1: you can buy merch and you can subscribe to us
Speaker 1: wherever you listen to podcasts. I got all my questions answered.
Speaker 1: That's what I'm here for, a brother, cut to a
Speaker 1: Podcast dot com. Would you would you share with us
Speaker 1: how your standards have shaped you into the man that
Speaker 1: you are now and even as the player that we
Speaker 1: know you to be. Yeah, like I said, man, my
Speaker 1: father you know played ten years. You know my grandfather
Speaker 1: was crucial in my life. My mother, Um, they's always
Speaker 1: helped me to a high standard. So to do my best,
Speaker 1: to perform at the highest of my ability, to put
Speaker 1: the work in, because nothing's gonna be given to you
Speaker 1: everything that you get, you don't have to earn it. Um,
Speaker 1: If you don't have something, everybody's gonna feel bad for you,
Speaker 1: and just you know, give it to you. So you
Speaker 1: have to put in the hard work. You have to
Speaker 1: put in the man or you have to put in um,
Speaker 1: you know, the labor in order to achieve the things
Speaker 1: that you want in life. And you know them is
Speaker 1: still in knows in me being tough on me at
Speaker 1: a young age when I ain't know you know why
Speaker 1: they're being tough on me. Um. You know, I appreciate
Speaker 1: it now being a parent of four and just being
Speaker 1: able to reach the you know, reach what I have
Speaker 1: in my career and in my life. I appreciate my
Speaker 1: mother and my father and my grandfather for being tough
Speaker 1: on me and for helping me to the hyperer standard
Speaker 1: because that's how that's how I live my life. Now
Speaker 1: that's how my children live their life. I want them
Speaker 1: to be the best they could be at whatever they
Speaker 1: choose to do. In order to do that, you have
Speaker 1: to put in the hard work. You have to have
Speaker 1: your priority straight. You have to have your mental you know,
Speaker 1: you have to have your mental uh focus, you know,
Speaker 1: in order mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, all those things. You know,
Speaker 1: you just have to believe in yourself, surround yourself with
Speaker 1: positive people. Surrounding yourself, people who genuinely love you, who
Speaker 1: don't have any al two of your motives and you
Speaker 1: know the world's yours. You know the sky's living for you.
Speaker 1: So I appreciate no, and uh, clearly I wouldn't be
Speaker 1: glam today without those people in my life. Tell me
Speaker 1: about playing high school football, because how it is for you?
Speaker 1: Because my son played college, he played high school soccer,
Speaker 1: and being a professional athlete, he was always dealing with
Speaker 1: people talking smack like Steve Smith can't help you out here,
Speaker 1: and it's like, bro, he's first of all, he's playing soccer,
Speaker 1: and second I'm on the sideline like this this is
Speaker 1: his game. So what what was it like to be
Speaker 1: the son of an NFL football player and then also
Speaker 1: playing football as well? Because you're trying to follow your
Speaker 1: follow follow in your father's footsteps, and then you got
Speaker 1: you got folks coming at you. One you're intimidating to
Speaker 1: them because now you have a lineage like a little
Speaker 1: become a little markets like big Mark. Yeah man um,
Speaker 1: but like you said, I can. I can empathize with
Speaker 1: your son. But one thing that always stood out to
Speaker 1: me was my father was like, you don't have to
Speaker 1: live up to me, you know what I mean. But
Speaker 1: that's easier said than done, you know, because where you go,
Speaker 1: you know, in any article that it was ever written
Speaker 1: on me, high school, you know, son of world champion,
Speaker 1: you know, tenure veteran mark Ingram, you know what I mean, senior,
Speaker 1: So everywhere you went you had that kind of stigma
Speaker 1: like you know, a little mark you know, or Mark Jr.
Speaker 1: You know what I mean. Um, But my father just
Speaker 1: did such a good job to keep me focusing, not
Speaker 1: necessarily uh, making me feel that pressure because he always
Speaker 1: told me that, like I just had to do my best,
Speaker 1: and he poured everything he had, all his knowledge, all
Speaker 1: his wisdoms, all his figures, all his successes. He poured
Speaker 1: that into me. And so um with the natural ability
Speaker 1: that I was blessed with from birth, from my parents
Speaker 1: and from the Good Lord, and along with just uh
Speaker 1: you know, great supportions and from my father, from my mother. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, I didn't feel that pressure from the outside world.
Speaker 1: I just felt like I had to do what I
Speaker 1: needed to do believe in myself working my butt off
Speaker 1: and that I'd be able to accomplish my dreams. I
Speaker 1: had high goals and high dreams for myself. It's it's
Speaker 1: it is. It is tough though, you know, being the
Speaker 1: son of a you know, a legend. You know, it's
Speaker 1: like C. Smith, you know, Hall of Fame agent eighty nine,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. So I can empathize with
Speaker 1: your son. But even playing football, even playing sports, like
Speaker 1: I felt like I got more respect from people than anything.
Speaker 1: Like really people really would mess with me, but like
Speaker 1: they were like mess around a little bit, but like
Speaker 1: I never really had no bad stories to somebody saying like, yeah,
Speaker 1: your daddy can't help you all here today, Like I
Speaker 1: ain't really had no stories like that because I don't know,
Speaker 1: I don't know. I was just you're the way your
Speaker 1: dad played and the way football at that time where
Speaker 1: you were growing up is nothing compared to that of
Speaker 1: today because like the highlights everywhere, well, the access has
Speaker 1: changed because our baseball used to be American's pastime. Now
Speaker 1: football is America's pastime and American's current We're consuming so
Speaker 1: much twenty four hours day, hard knocks um NFL films,
Speaker 1: all of the bro you got Mike, the center's miked
Speaker 1: up to be able to hear the cadence from the quarterbacks.
Speaker 1: Certain players each game are miked up, but then there
Speaker 1: are players like the centers consistently miked up. So when
Speaker 1: you have all of that going on, you know, I
Speaker 1: mean you see all the different streaming systems we have
Speaker 1: the access, the access was not the same social media.
Speaker 1: That's crazy, but we wasn't having hot mics. You weren't
Speaker 1: hearing everything. When hearing dudes over their dog cussing and
Speaker 1: talking about people, and like even looking at the the
Speaker 1: bubble for the NBA, you're hearing everything. Everything. You're hearing
Speaker 1: picking rolls, strategy conversations that in the stadiums were fake
Speaker 1: because they need all that content exactly. Some of the
Speaker 1: stuff that said on the field amen for people to hear,
Speaker 1: so they want you to be all this, but some
Speaker 1: of that stuff back an if he's scales and stuff, man,
Speaker 1: I've seen them him that people up by the faith
Speaker 1: mass everything you that. When you're in that heat, boy,
Speaker 1: you can't ain't no turning it off. If you're a
Speaker 1: real dog, you can't turn it off. You know, it's
Speaker 1: amazing is playing against Mark all those years in Carolina.
Speaker 1: He didn't really talk or hear him because I didn't
Speaker 1: play defense, but he would hear me talk and he
Speaker 1: played office and I would always see him. He'd be
Speaker 1: like looking like he wanted to say something, but he
Speaker 1: was on the other side, and it was one of
Speaker 1: those things. It's funny to see him now is a
Speaker 1: raven because he's like coming to his own. That's who
Speaker 1: he is. He always He's always been a talker because
Speaker 1: he's the lineage of football, Like he's from that old school.
Speaker 1: If his grandfather was in his life, his grandfather taught him,
Speaker 1: you better learn how to you better learn how to
Speaker 1: write checks. And even if you bounce a few, look,
Speaker 1: don't tell nobody, right Mark, Why do you think you
Speaker 1: was able to come into your own more so to
Speaker 1: what Smithy said as as a raven, because as a
Speaker 1: as a as a consumer football, I definitely see it
Speaker 1: more like you introduce him Lamar Big Trust, like all
Speaker 1: of a sudden you burst into the scene with Baltimore.
Speaker 1: Why do you think that's the case now? I just
Speaker 1: think maybe, Uh, I've always been the same person. I mean,
Speaker 1: you could ask any of my teammates from the time
Speaker 1: I was a rookie. But um, I just think maybe
Speaker 1: the ones was a little bit more conservative, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean, And and I just wasn't out there
Speaker 1: too much, like until I think, like the the year
Speaker 1: with me and Alvin was going off when he was
Speaker 1: a rookie, rookie year we both into the Pro Bowl.
Speaker 1: I think people started to see it. But that's how
Speaker 1: I am, like daily with my people, my guys who
Speaker 1: I trust and who I love, but who I you know,
Speaker 1: have blessed with and tears with. Like we always enjoying
Speaker 1: each other. Always high energy, always just good positive energy.
Speaker 1: And I just think when I came to the Ravens, man,
Speaker 1: I just fell into a great spot. I remember I
Speaker 1: used to watch the Ravens over the years, you know,
Speaker 1: a big football fan, and just I always admire the
Speaker 1: way they played the game. Tough, physical, you know, strong defense,
Speaker 1: um playmakers on offense, you know, running the ball, being physical.
Speaker 1: Um so I always like admired Ravens from Afar. And
Speaker 1: when I came here, man, my teammates except me the
Speaker 1: open hands, the organization and set me open hands. And
Speaker 1: you know, we had a great year and obviously generated
Speaker 1: a lot of content, like you know what I mean,
Speaker 1: generate a lot of content. And the thing with Lamar
Speaker 1: that was crazy. Man. Uh We're doing a presser after
Speaker 1: one of the big games and they told me, they
Speaker 1: were like, Mark, you need to go, like go up
Speaker 1: there and like introduce tomorrow when you're done. I'm like,
Speaker 1: you know, yeah, I'm like I'm like, I'm like, that's
Speaker 1: QB one bro, Like he should go to the ponium first,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. Like it's like now you're like,
Speaker 1: you know, veteran o G. I'm like, all right, whatever.
Speaker 1: So I went up there and I'm about to get
Speaker 1: off the stage and I'm like, oh, hold on, you know,
Speaker 1: I like to introduce you to the man, the myth,
Speaker 1: the legend and blah blah blah blah, and Matt Julian
Speaker 1: over there talking about yeah, big trust. I'm like, yeah,
Speaker 1: big trust. You know you know, you know Steve, you
Speaker 1: know whoop you know how we do whoop, breaking the
Speaker 1: team weet, breaking the team meetings, and so uh, Judo
Speaker 1: was like whoa And I was like whoa, whoa, Yes, sir,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. So, uh, I get home, bro,
Speaker 1: thinking you know my interview was over. I get home
Speaker 1: after the game, my phone is blow on night. It's
Speaker 1: all on Sunday. Now I'm like, man, this is crazy.
Speaker 1: I don't win viral. You improv the whole thing. You
Speaker 1: didn't You didn't know you was gonna say any of that.
Speaker 1: You improve the whole thing. I literally was just I
Speaker 1: was bullshit, like I was serious about what I was saying,
Speaker 1: but like I was really And he made the whole
Speaker 1: tagline for the whole season for the Ravens trust everything.
Speaker 1: It was crazy how it happened. It's crazy because, like
Speaker 1: I tell you all, I was serious about the words
Speaker 1: I was saying, but I was really bull crapping around
Speaker 1: like you know what, I'm just playing. Oh man, we
Speaker 1: gotta get you. We gotta get you. On the episode
Speaker 1: of Wild and Out. Then if you're that good at improv,
Speaker 1: it's funny. Though. It has to do with where you are, right,
Speaker 1: has to do the culture and all that stuff. Because
Speaker 1: we have this segment talk about let's talk Ball, So
Speaker 1: we're gonna talk about ball, which is you know, talking
Speaker 1: about kind of one of the some of the things
Speaker 1: that going on. And what's interesting is knowing knowing Mark
Speaker 1: and how he is and playing against him and being
Speaker 1: too offensive. Guys. Bro. They used to be some battles
Speaker 1: and conversations that I would have against the defense that
Speaker 1: I know them boys went on the other side. And
Speaker 1: that's why I say noting, Steve. I wanted to say
Speaker 1: something to you, but I want to make you matter
Speaker 1: because I know you're already mattered them. So I'm trying
Speaker 1: to keep it cordinal like dam and so it's funny
Speaker 1: as we literally and this is a story that doesn't
Speaker 1: really get out much. But the dude that I'm the
Speaker 1: coolest with is Coach Peyton. There were times in the
Speaker 1: middle of the game, me and Coach Peyton was dog
Speaker 1: custing each other. I already know Coach because Coach got
Speaker 1: your past. I catch you pass and I catch a
Speaker 1: pass on the sideline and I go, I got this
Speaker 1: weak ass corner. Coach covered me today, I'm gonna where
Speaker 1: his ass out and then the ball and then Peyton
Speaker 1: was somebody shut your ass up, and I turned back up.
Speaker 1: All that did is the next play I make Carolina.
Speaker 1: The next play we were doing a run play. Oh,
Speaker 1: I'm murking that that that corner into the sideline, just
Speaker 1: to show. And I used to do little things like that.
Speaker 1: And it was and that was because I was in Carolina,
Speaker 1: smaller market. It wasn't shown a lot, but there was
Speaker 1: a lot of conversations that were going on between me
Speaker 1: and coach Peyton. And it was twice a year every year,
Speaker 1: every year, twice a year every year. Then with some
Speaker 1: thug bral with some bras. You had some real dogs
Speaker 1: out there. All in Carolina, samets games. Man, you knew
Speaker 1: you have to bring your heart hat and your lunch pail, boy.
Speaker 1: But it was tough. But it was only those games.
Speaker 1: But yet you go to Baltimore and every game is
Speaker 1: like that. It's a black and blue division, which everything
Speaker 1: you see about balling and being in two organizations, loving
Speaker 1: two organizations, but I love both of them in different ways.
Speaker 1: Carolina is one of those places. Man, when you want
Speaker 1: a real good you want a real good cocktail or
Speaker 1: good um tailgate, right you go to you go to Carolina,
Speaker 1: they'll have the week wine. And but man, when you
Speaker 1: go to Baltimore, what's it like there? It's just it's different.
Speaker 1: When you compare to two. I'm not gonna say that.
Speaker 1: I'm definitely not saying I'm not saying one or two
Speaker 1: the better, but it's so different and you can and
Speaker 1: the reason I know'd differently because look at Mark, You're
Speaker 1: seeing a personality that Mark has. You've seen how who
Speaker 1: he is has not changed. He just has found he's
Speaker 1: comfortable finding his voice. So Mark, in the ball aspect,
Speaker 1: how comfortable were you in your own skin in New
Speaker 1: Orleans and then you seem to be cocooning into a
Speaker 1: true butterfly now in Baltimore. Yeah, man, I was super
Speaker 1: comfortable in my own skin in New Orleans. You know,
Speaker 1: obviously there was times early in my career. Um, I
Speaker 1: felt like, you know, my role wasn't always ideal, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean. Um, had some injuries early, but um,
Speaker 1: you know, UM, I love New Orleans. Man. They drafted me.
Speaker 1: I spent eight years there, man, and the goal is
Speaker 1: to try to stay um. But you know, it didn't
Speaker 1: end up working out, and I still got love for
Speaker 1: everybody in the organization, from Sean Pay to Mickey Loomis
Speaker 1: to Row Breach to every single other person. Alvin you know,
Speaker 1: Cam Jordan's my brother came into Draft two thousand eleven
Speaker 1: draft together but first round picks by the Saints. So um,
Speaker 1: those moments in that city. I've developed in relationships in
Speaker 1: that city that will last forever. And just being able
Speaker 1: to you know, free agency last year, Um, not knowing
Speaker 1: what's gonna happen, and Baltimore pursued me heavy. And when
Speaker 1: I got here, man, they we flew my family up here,
Speaker 1: my children, and we had big welcome baskets. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: just showing so much love to my wife and my children, everybody.
Speaker 1: And like I said, like the whole team Hole organizations
Speaker 1: is welcome me with open arms. That made me feel comfortable,
Speaker 1: and like they let you be yourself here up at Baltimore.
Speaker 1: You know that, Steve. Um, they let you be yourself. Man,
Speaker 1: as long as you're gonna be a professional and um,
Speaker 1: you're gonna go to work and play to the best
Speaker 1: your ability, they don't. They let you be yourself. And
Speaker 1: so I'm super comfortable in my own skin here. I know, um,
Speaker 1: everyone and everyone in this organization, man is just supporter
Speaker 1: and dope and it's just a great organization. Man. I
Speaker 1: remember meeting, uh knowing so many guys who played for Raven,
Speaker 1: from Ben Watson to Danelle elbri to Jacobe Jones. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, Steve, over the years you know. Um, I
Speaker 1: don't know if I mentioned Ben Watson again, but um,
Speaker 1: so many guys that spoke so many, so so highly
Speaker 1: the organization, and I can see why being here now
Speaker 1: for a year and uh you know, I'm here again
Speaker 1: for this year, so hopefully I could, you know, be
Speaker 1: here a while man, and uh, you know, win some championships,
Speaker 1: players some great ball. But I'm comfortable with my own skin,
Speaker 1: confident in myself, and I just try to prepare to
Speaker 1: play at the highest level, be the best person I
Speaker 1: could be. I think it's about that time. Just take
Speaker 1: a little breather. Good, good, let's getting down to do
Speaker 1: with two thousand nine. You're a sugar Bowl, y'all. Get
Speaker 1: y'all ask. And I was at the game in New
Speaker 1: Orleans with Peyton Jordan Gross and we see the game
Speaker 1: University Utah Beach Alabama doesn't matter because they came back
Speaker 1: the next year. And dont so tell us to that.
Speaker 1: Yeah he was gonna say that, thank you. Yeah. We
Speaker 1: we were. We we were, y'all. We weren't even addressed rehearsal.
Speaker 1: They were like, we might play them today. Okay, we're
Speaker 1: gonna play show up next year. Given the fact that
Speaker 1: we just were, you know, our heart, we were heartbroken
Speaker 1: because we could win that chance. No more. We might
Speaker 1: have took you all lightly maybe in New Orleans, you
Speaker 1: know what you want to say. We got that win.
Speaker 1: So that's all that corner over there, yes, uh, Sean
Speaker 1: Smith and about six fives in the corner, I'm like,
Speaker 1: damn yeah, yeah, yeah, y'all bought for sure. So too, man,
Speaker 1: is you personally were going to a lot and you know,
Speaker 1: you talked about your dad and what he's experienced, and
Speaker 1: he said he's allowed his failures and some of the
Speaker 1: things that he's done, and he's been been transparent. Um,
Speaker 1: he's been very transparent. Take us down that path and
Speaker 1: where you and your dad's relationship is, because you know,
Speaker 1: let's be honest, we have a lot of stigmas as athletes,
Speaker 1: a lot of stigma as black athletes that we don't
Speaker 1: know how to do things the right way or we
Speaker 1: we we don't utilize the opportunities. And so just kind
Speaker 1: of talk to us really about your relationship with your
Speaker 1: dad and really what he has, what he transpired for
Speaker 1: you as a young man, what that has done for
Speaker 1: you as now a father yourself. Right, man, my relationship
Speaker 1: my father is the best relationship you have with a father. Man.
Speaker 1: That's my dude, you know what I mean, that's my guy. Um.
Speaker 1: Obviously you know he's made some mistakes, um, but I
Speaker 1: don't hold that against him. Everything he did, uh, you
Speaker 1: know was to make sure our family was good. And UM,
Speaker 1: I'm not saying that was right or wrong, but I
Speaker 1: love my I love my dad regardless, good, batter and right,
Speaker 1: wrong or indifferent. That's my dude. And I wouldn't be
Speaker 1: who I am without him today. Every crucial decision that
Speaker 1: I made in my life, he was right there with me,
Speaker 1: you know, decided to prose the cons I wouldn't be
Speaker 1: here without him. I wouldn't have the success that I've
Speaker 1: had in my career. I may not have went to
Speaker 1: Alabama without him. I may not have transfer schools uh
Speaker 1: from my junior to my senior year without him, and
Speaker 1: all that is a ripple effected to where I'm at
Speaker 1: now to this day. So not only in sports, but
Speaker 1: in life. Like I told you, he said, he's made
Speaker 1: no mistakes for both of us, so um that I
Speaker 1: shouldn't have to make the mistakes. So just him pouring wisdom,
Speaker 1: pouring knowledge, pouring experiences, pouring uh, pouring successes and failures
Speaker 1: um into my life. UH just helped me elevate. It
Speaker 1: helped me develop into a man who appreciates the moment,
Speaker 1: appreciates people. And you know, every every every opportunity is precious,
Speaker 1: every opportunity you have to seize it and now you
Speaker 1: can't lose it, and you gotta take advantage of it.
Speaker 1: And you know, he taught me that, you know, several
Speaker 1: times over this Uh. This next segment we got coming
Speaker 1: up is called the Deep Three. There's three questions that
Speaker 1: we asked that even go a little bit deeper than that,
Speaker 1: but it goes beyond your jersey, goes beyond you know,
Speaker 1: your shoulder pads, your helmet, all that stuff. So Smithie,
Speaker 1: go ahead and give him the first one. When you
Speaker 1: are ninety five years old, what would you want little
Speaker 1: Mark Mark the third to say about you. I want
Speaker 1: him to say that I was a loving father of supporter, father,
Speaker 1: father that worked his ass off to UM get him,
Speaker 1: his sisters, his children and their children a head and life. UM,
Speaker 1: A man who loved the Lord and men who loved Jesus,
Speaker 1: who spread his life, you know, across the world. UM,
Speaker 1: and change lives for eternity. UM. I want him just
Speaker 1: to know his father, I love Jesus, that he worked
Speaker 1: his butt off, whether it was in football, where it
Speaker 1: was being a businessman, whether um whatever my post career
Speaker 1: holds from me. I want him to know that. UM.
Speaker 1: I want him to know and believe that I worked
Speaker 1: my butt off and try to be the best at
Speaker 1: every single thing that I did. When I worked out
Speaker 1: and uh whatever, I do you know what I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm striving to be the best. I'm trying to learn
Speaker 1: and grow and pass now knowledge, passing now wisdom, and
Speaker 1: I just want him to know that, like I said,
Speaker 1: like I said, man, that I was a hard worker,
Speaker 1: I love my family, that I love Jesus, and that
Speaker 1: you know, I created a legacy for him, his children,
Speaker 1: their children, and uh beyond, how are you impacting the
Speaker 1: world right now? And the second part of that is
Speaker 1: how do you want to impact the world in five years?
Speaker 1: Right now, I'm trying to be the best person I
Speaker 1: could be. I'm trying to bring positive light, positive energy
Speaker 1: to UM bringing change just in our world. You know,
Speaker 1: we're dealing with so much between the virus between UH injustice,
Speaker 1: between racism, UM I just want to be part of
Speaker 1: that change. And being a part of that change is
Speaker 1: going out and voting, electing our officials who prosecute people, UM,
Speaker 1: you know, choosing officials that will you know, not not
Speaker 1: not charge children as adults, who will will do away
Speaker 1: with mandatory minimums and do away with petty crimes and
Speaker 1: petty senses of such. And you know, it takes generations
Speaker 1: to do with racism, do away racism. And I think
Speaker 1: we're trying to um, get ahead of at right now.
Speaker 1: We're trying to use this momentum to really make positive
Speaker 1: change for for our future. But UM, one thing that
Speaker 1: we actively can be doing is voting, voting obviously for
Speaker 1: our president, but voting for your your your local prosecuting attorneys, UM,
Speaker 1: your local judges, UM, doing doing due diligence in that
Speaker 1: in that fact, in that way, you know, to make
Speaker 1: positive change. That's one way we can make change. And obviously, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, I love Jesus Christ, and you know I've
Speaker 1: been on a couple of missionary trips, so just trying
Speaker 1: to spread spread the word of the Lord, try to
Speaker 1: reach people who haven't been reached, who doesn't even know
Speaker 1: the Lord. And you know, to spread words and change
Speaker 1: lives for attorney that way. So, uh, trying to be
Speaker 1: the best father, the best husband, the best son, best brother,
Speaker 1: the best person, best teammate I could be, and you know,
Speaker 1: just making positive change in the world as well. Final question,
Speaker 1: where are you in the Book of life? And where
Speaker 1: do you want to go from here? In the book
Speaker 1: of life? Man, I'm throw driving. I'm thriving. Man, I'm thriving.
Speaker 1: So I'm thirty years old and I'm thriving. I'm feeling
Speaker 1: better liver. So I mean you're in the middle of
Speaker 1: the book. You have the forward. I mean I'm healthy
Speaker 1: and moving the agile around a hundred twenty years old,
Speaker 1: you know, So I'm in the first quarter of the book. Still,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. So I'm thriving. I'm in
Speaker 1: the first quarter of the book. You know I'm thriving. Man.
Speaker 1: I got a beautiful wife, I got four healthy kids.
Speaker 1: I feel like I'm in the problem of my career
Speaker 1: playing football. Feel like I still have a lot more
Speaker 1: great years ahead of me to play this game. And
Speaker 1: I don't know what's in the store for me for
Speaker 1: my post career, but you know, I'm excited. I'm thriving.
Speaker 1: I'm blessed, I'm healthy and uh trying to be the
Speaker 1: best I could be. Man, So I guess I'm you know,
Speaker 1: maybe it might start the second quarter of the book.
Speaker 1: You know, we appreciate your tibsolutely more. We appreciate you
Speaker 1: coming on. We understand you know, you up against everything,
Speaker 1: and we appreciate you taking all the time you had.
Speaker 1: We also, man, just love um, just love seeing this
Speaker 1: part of Mark that we haven't you know, it's eight
Speaker 1: nine years and then you get to Baltimore and there's
Speaker 1: just a part of you that we haven't seen before.
Speaker 1: It's always been in the national I will tell you, Man,
Speaker 1: don't change that. Keep letting us see that energetic you're
Speaker 1: talking about positive energy Man, great energy, Um doing a
Speaker 1: you know, doing it big and you know being a
Speaker 1: part of that organization and still part of that organization.
Speaker 1: You know, it's always respecting. You know what they say,
Speaker 1: Man who wants a raven away, he's high energy, but
Speaker 1: he's also a high energy in his life. His his
Speaker 1: desire to to to please the Lord, to please his family,
Speaker 1: to to be something, make something out of itself and
Speaker 1: also represent his represent his family and hearing everything and
Speaker 1: coming from a place of Flint, Michigan that we've heard
Speaker 1: some of the stories of Flint, Michigan, how much poverty
Speaker 1: is there are some of the things right, the things
Speaker 1: that they don't have, And to here a young man
Speaker 1: coming out of that part of the country who at
Speaker 1: times are not looked upon to be a ray of
Speaker 1: light and man, he just he came on our show
Speaker 1: and just just it was like a shot of it
Speaker 1: was a double espresso, man, just a shot of cafe.
Speaker 1: It was good. I'm I'm hyped right now. Yeah, but
Speaker 1: the only problem is I'll go out there and try
Speaker 1: to run around. I'm blowing both hand strings and some aculity.
Speaker 1: So you're in a deficit already. My right was structurally
Speaker 1: pretty good. My left on us. You're right though, just
Speaker 1: so much energy. We've got a chance to see Mark
Speaker 1: play with the Ravens going into year two and he's
Speaker 1: he's kept that same energy, no punt attended. He literally
Speaker 1: has kept that energy though, and you just love to
Speaker 1: see it. The most empathful thing he said that left
Speaker 1: a mark with me. The best relationship he's ever had
Speaker 1: with his dad. He doesn't hold any mistakes against him.
Speaker 1: It just got me thinking I had to write this down.
Speaker 1: I wish my son and my daughter who will say
Speaker 1: that about me when when I'm older. That's the that's
Speaker 1: the thing you want the most. So not only was
Speaker 1: he high energy, not only did he show his personality,
Speaker 1: but he also gave us some real profound nuggets and
Speaker 1: showed us exactly who he is and what to your point,
Speaker 1: was motored him. Pass flint, passes up, bringing passes Dad's
Speaker 1: mistakes and just saying we've got the best relationship ever. Man.
Speaker 1: That says a lot about that dude, his characters so
Speaker 1: appreciate it. I hope you guys enjoy and till the
Speaker 1: next episode, see you guys later. Cut to It Cut
Speaker 1: to It with Steve Smith, Senior. That Is Me is
Speaker 1: 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 my Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio Apple
Speaker 1: Apple Podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Speaker 1: From Cut to It Executive producer Steve Smith, singer co
Speaker 1: host Gerard little John, talent in booking manager Joe Fusci,
Speaker 1: social media manager Payton Smith from Balto Creative Media, Cut
Speaker 1: to It is produced by Brian Balta Chevic and Meredith Carter,
Speaker 1: with production assistance by Alex Lebrek, Production manager Sarah Pollock.
Speaker 1: Theme music by Alex Johnson, lyrics and vocals by Anthony Hamilton.
Speaker 1: You ain't heard about it, then, we're about to let
Speaker 1: you know. It's all