WEBVTT - BEST OF SEASON TWO 0:00:00.400 --> 0:00:02.640 This is cut to It with Steve Smith Senior at 0:00:02.640 --> 0:00:08.920 production of The Black Effect and I Heart Radio. I'm 0:00:08.920 --> 0:00:11.720 Steve Smith Senior and I'm a little John and this 0:00:11.840 --> 0:00:16.000 is cut to It. Good do it, Good do it. 0:00:16.120 --> 0:00:19.479 Let's get down to do it. Good do it. We 0:00:19.600 --> 0:00:22.920 asked the questions you always want to know, but no 0:00:22.960 --> 0:00:29.080 one ever asked, let's cut to it. You ain't heard 0:00:29.120 --> 0:00:31.040 am about it, then we're about to let you know. 0:00:34.479 --> 0:00:42.040 It's all we got on the podcast. Jonathan stewart Man, Welcome, 0:00:42.600 --> 0:00:46.640 Welcome to the Cut Too Podcasts. I kind of like this, Yeah, 0:00:46.840 --> 0:00:49.599 cut to it. You've been doing a lot of good stuff, man, 0:00:49.640 --> 0:00:52.159 I appreciate you. Listen. Yeah, I think a lot of 0:00:52.159 --> 0:00:54.320 the former teammates listen. They and they also had an 0:00:54.360 --> 0:00:57.280 opinion like why he ain't gonna have me on? Nah? Yeah, 0:00:57.280 --> 0:01:00.920 that you liar, I said, I know that. I lie. Nah, 0:01:01.160 --> 0:01:04.000 I'm talking about some of other people. I'm gonna have 0:01:04.120 --> 0:01:07.160 them one. I just don't. I just don't want to 0:01:07.160 --> 0:01:11.120 flood the panther market because that's easy. Yeah. And it's like, 0:01:11.160 --> 0:01:14.240 oh and then I'll be considered a homer. So I 0:01:14.480 --> 0:01:18.960 gotta just I gotta switch it up. You're very resourceful 0:01:18.959 --> 0:01:21.520 and I try to be. I try to be take 0:01:21.600 --> 0:01:23.640 us down that road to football because a lot of 0:01:23.640 --> 0:01:27.520 people don't know you've been overall picked by the Carolina Panthers, 0:01:27.800 --> 0:01:32.440 drafted and injured, has surgery prior to the draft. Now, 0:01:33.200 --> 0:01:35.920 the Panthers had some inside because the guy that did 0:01:35.920 --> 0:01:40.640 your foot world right now, Bob Anderson, who does most 0:01:40.680 --> 0:01:46.399 guys feet, they knew the recovery time. But they thought 0:01:46.400 --> 0:01:51.440 they knew the recovery time. But yet, just like anything else, 0:01:51.760 --> 0:01:55.400 that surgery for some people takes X amount of time. 0:01:55.640 --> 0:01:58.600 For you, particularly, how long did it take you after 0:01:58.680 --> 0:02:04.440 your surgery for you to feel right comfortable enough to 0:02:04.560 --> 0:02:07.840 become the player you ended up becoming Because people don't 0:02:07.920 --> 0:02:13.919 know drafted in April, when you have your surgery March March, 0:02:14.320 --> 0:02:18.200 right before the draft, you didn't become Jonathan Stewart until when. 0:02:19.240 --> 0:02:22.080 I mean I didn't have no time. I had from 0:02:22.160 --> 0:02:28.080 March until the third preseason game. But my rookie March 0:02:28.800 --> 0:02:36.200 so April, well actually April, May, June, July, August. They 0:02:36.400 --> 0:02:39.480 put you in September, October, so probably about December when 0:02:39.600 --> 0:02:42.119 you were and now the weather's change where you were 0:02:42.440 --> 0:02:49.560 expected to start impacting your team as a top fifteen pick. 0:02:50.800 --> 0:02:57.959 So how did you feel getting in the game. March 0:02:58.040 --> 0:03:04.280 of two thousand and eight, I was having surgery before 0:03:04.320 --> 0:03:09.560 my birthday, twenty first birthday, and I was in Eugene, Oregon, 0:03:10.360 --> 0:03:14.240 and I was hearing ESPN telling folks that I was 0:03:14.280 --> 0:03:17.679 a drifter and I have a foot injury, and I 0:03:17.720 --> 0:03:20.680 shouldn't be a top pick and all these things. And 0:03:20.760 --> 0:03:23.040 I have already committed to go for the draft early 0:03:23.200 --> 0:03:27.600 as a junior. And so you're hearing all these things 0:03:27.600 --> 0:03:31.280 for the first time about what you're not when you've 0:03:31.320 --> 0:03:35.360 been told what you are, what you are, what you know, 0:03:35.400 --> 0:03:37.440 what you could be for the recent time and until 0:03:37.480 --> 0:03:42.200 you got injured, right, and um, you know it was tough, 0:03:42.240 --> 0:03:45.240 you know, mentally, not really sure what to expect, where 0:03:45.240 --> 0:03:47.000 I'm gonna land and all that. And you know, I 0:03:47.040 --> 0:03:49.200 went to Pro Day and when I was at the 0:03:49.200 --> 0:03:52.160 pro day, Um, now you have pro Day not being 0:03:52.360 --> 0:03:55.880 Pro Day, Yeah, yeah, pro Day knowing you cannot perform. 0:03:57.040 --> 0:03:59.520 But I had calm, I had the combine and then 0:03:59.560 --> 0:04:02.280 Pro Day and I didn't have anyone talk to me 0:04:02.320 --> 0:04:04.760 that Pro Day or anything like that. But I did 0:04:04.920 --> 0:04:09.680 have my combine, which Doug Williams. He was there. He 0:04:10.400 --> 0:04:12.200 was with the red Skins or Tampa Bay at the time. 0:04:12.880 --> 0:04:14.720 Tampa he was with Tampa Bay at that time. And 0:04:14.800 --> 0:04:18.000 so I saw him in passing in the hallway and 0:04:18.040 --> 0:04:20.560 he had recognized me. That kind of threw me off, 0:04:20.760 --> 0:04:27.280 like that's get that. I'm like, man, he knows who 0:04:27.279 --> 0:04:30.800 I am. But it's more of yeah, but he hit me. 0:04:31.040 --> 0:04:33.520 He put me into the side, and he had must 0:04:33.520 --> 0:04:36.560 have heard about my situation from the training and all 0:04:36.600 --> 0:04:39.719 that stuff being there, that I wasn't gonna run because 0:04:39.760 --> 0:04:43.279 I had my toe injury and he had what was 0:04:43.320 --> 0:04:46.880 the toe injury? So I had turf toe white skirt 0:04:46.920 --> 0:04:49.640 to such a big issue because you have to as 0:04:49.640 --> 0:04:51.680 a running back, you have to be able to balance 0:04:51.720 --> 0:04:53.760 on the foot. You gotta be able to make cuts. 0:04:54.240 --> 0:04:57.200 So your big toe was just hurting. No, big toe 0:04:57.200 --> 0:05:02.440 ain't working. It's swollen, jammed up, ligaments, torn, all kinds 0:05:02.440 --> 0:05:06.880 of stuff. Right. Turf toe is not like, oh, I 0:05:06.960 --> 0:05:10.800 hit my foot on the coffee table trying to trying to, 0:05:11.400 --> 0:05:14.520 you know, get the remote. Turf toe is pretty much 0:05:14.520 --> 0:05:19.159 taking your phone, yes, and just having someone just smashing 0:05:20.160 --> 0:05:22.960 a bunch of times and so and and so now 0:05:23.000 --> 0:05:25.680 where your knuckle is and where you know, all of 0:05:25.720 --> 0:05:29.720 that everything in between your knuckle and your fingernail, it's 0:05:29.760 --> 0:05:35.920 pretty much Swiss sheets and swollen buff Yeah. With that's 0:05:35.920 --> 0:05:40.839 your big toe, man, Like, listen, your calves, your hamstrings, 0:05:41.600 --> 0:05:46.000 you're you're blower back that right. That big toe is 0:05:46.480 --> 0:05:53.920 activating all that. It's it makes you lopside it right everything, 0:05:55.600 --> 0:05:57.800 and then you compensate and then that and then you 0:05:58.000 --> 0:06:01.279 compensate because now you're left I has all of the work, 0:06:03.000 --> 0:06:06.080 and it's now doing the work of the left side 0:06:06.320 --> 0:06:09.919 and doing the work of the right side. So a conversation, 0:06:09.920 --> 0:06:13.760 now the left side gets overworked and it potentially start 0:06:14.200 --> 0:06:17.240 causes a strain. So now you gotta muscle strain on 0:06:17.279 --> 0:06:23.240 your left side. You got a non firing right side. Man. 0:06:23.320 --> 0:06:25.839 You you up, you up a creek without a pattern? 0:06:26.360 --> 0:06:29.560 Which is what? Which is? He eventually what I started, 0:06:29.760 --> 0:06:34.880 you know, experiencing Overcolm Satan from my toe. Um. But 0:06:35.640 --> 0:06:41.520 going back combine Doug Williams passing in the hallway, he said, listen, 0:06:41.920 --> 0:06:45.479 if you fast, you're gonna run fast no matter what. 0:06:46.320 --> 0:06:49.119 Go out there and run. I don't care, I said, 0:06:49.520 --> 0:06:53.760 all right, So I called my agent. I said, look, 0:06:53.920 --> 0:06:57.200 I called. I saw Doug run. He said, go out 0:06:57.240 --> 0:07:01.880 there and run. So Doug Trump, Well, my agent is like, well, 0:07:01.920 --> 0:07:05.640 if you feel comfortable run, I'm like all right. So 0:07:05.680 --> 0:07:09.200 I went out there and ran. I did the vertical jump. 0:07:10.400 --> 0:07:15.400 I ran a four or four six so on on 0:07:15.440 --> 0:07:18.200 a jam on a turf toe, turf toe. I was 0:07:18.240 --> 0:07:20.360 run on the side of my foot and then I 0:07:20.360 --> 0:07:22.920 did the vertical jump and I think it was like 0:07:22.960 --> 0:07:27.400 thirty seven and a half jammed turf toe and so 0:07:27.560 --> 0:07:30.360 what what I realized though, is Doug was really telling 0:07:30.400 --> 0:07:35.080 me if you're a dog, you're a dog, go out 0:07:35.120 --> 0:07:38.880 there and like, this is your opportunity. And so I 0:07:38.880 --> 0:07:41.560 think that helped me in the long run absolutely, for 0:07:41.680 --> 0:07:43.880 people fell in love with, for me to go through 0:07:44.520 --> 0:07:47.200 what go through injury and to show what I have. 0:07:47.680 --> 0:07:50.880 I'm a firm believer in whatever you're going through, God's 0:07:50.920 --> 0:07:56.480 preper right. And so like I'm hurt, I've been hurt, 0:07:57.280 --> 0:08:01.880 I've gotten through it. I've been hills and all those things. 0:08:02.120 --> 0:08:07.120 So I'm not gonna spend time, you know, focusing on 0:08:07.160 --> 0:08:10.200 what people are telling me that I'm not. I'm gonna 0:08:10.280 --> 0:08:13.080 take that, you know that advice that I got from 0:08:13.160 --> 0:08:17.200 Doug Williams improved to people what I am. Even though 0:08:17.240 --> 0:08:20.440 I am hurt, I'm still a dog. So just let 0:08:20.440 --> 0:08:23.840 me get healthy, right, And so that was my mindset 0:08:24.400 --> 0:08:29.400 during the combine. Pro date comes around at Oregon. I'm 0:08:29.440 --> 0:08:32.760 not even in the vicinity. I'm not even asked to 0:08:32.800 --> 0:08:36.160 come there. It felt weird, like like I was just 0:08:36.240 --> 0:08:41.160 almost kind of like forgotten, right, and then the Panthers 0:08:42.080 --> 0:08:45.160 take me off site to a hotel and I have 0:08:45.200 --> 0:08:48.840 a meeting with the Scott Scotting Department. I didn't think 0:08:48.880 --> 0:08:54.920 nothing of it. Don Gregory besides one team that I 0:08:54.920 --> 0:08:58.240 didn't even meet at the combine, you know what I'm saying, 0:08:58.880 --> 0:09:01.600 took me to the side and yeah whatever, like they 0:09:01.679 --> 0:09:04.280 checked on my my, you know, if I was rehabbing 0:09:04.360 --> 0:09:08.160 and all that kind of stuff. Um draft comes around. 0:09:08.640 --> 0:09:14.560 Sure enough, Carolina Panthers called me and I'm drafted. Go 0:09:14.720 --> 0:09:17.640 to O t a s. I didn't even go to 0:09:17.840 --> 0:09:20.960 like a ceremony or jersey hanging or anything like that. 0:09:21.080 --> 0:09:25.520 But because of my upbringing and the simple mindset that 0:09:25.559 --> 0:09:32.880 I had, my expectations were here. Okay from receiving anything, 0:09:34.559 --> 0:09:38.160 but I knew I had to work for whenever my 0:09:38.280 --> 0:09:40.160 time was come, whenever I was able to get on 0:09:40.160 --> 0:09:44.400 the field, I had to be ready. And so O 0:09:44.600 --> 0:09:48.760 T A S. I show up. Now, I remember John Beeson. 0:09:49.360 --> 0:09:51.840 He was coming off of a surgery and all those 0:09:51.840 --> 0:09:54.320 types of things, like he had like a shoulder surgery 0:09:54.400 --> 0:09:58.080 or something, and you know, and and because obviously I 0:09:58.120 --> 0:10:00.520 looked up, you know, players on the team and who 0:10:00.559 --> 0:10:05.719 is who, and you looked up guys. Yeah, damn, that 0:10:05.880 --> 0:10:09.480 was a dummy. I never looked at nobody, but like, 0:10:09.960 --> 0:10:12.040 but I just learned something. But it was my But 0:10:12.120 --> 0:10:14.079 I was excited. I knew I was coming to play 0:10:14.320 --> 0:10:17.800 football with Steve Smith, Julius Peppers, you know what I'm saying. 0:10:17.800 --> 0:10:21.840 Like I was like, Okay, this was up and so John. 0:10:21.880 --> 0:10:25.800 But seeing John in his situation, it kind of like 0:10:26.640 --> 0:10:29.680 took a little bit of pressure off me knowing that 0:10:29.960 --> 0:10:32.880 here's a guy that was drafted first round, that's hurt, 0:10:33.960 --> 0:10:37.320 he's rehabbing. This is how this thing goes. This is 0:10:37.480 --> 0:10:40.079 their off season. I have a little bit of time. 0:10:40.679 --> 0:10:45.400 I don't I'm not immediately needed, if that makes any sense. 0:10:45.800 --> 0:10:48.360 So I go back to college after O T A S. 0:10:48.720 --> 0:10:53.640 Finish up. What I gotta do there because in the league, yeah, 0:10:54.360 --> 0:10:58.400 you're not allowed to participate with the team out of 0:10:58.440 --> 0:11:01.679 college if your school within the quarter system, it's still 0:11:01.720 --> 0:11:05.440 in in session. Tried the same thing, and so go 0:11:05.559 --> 0:11:10.800 back and then I'm rehabing, um, working out. I get 0:11:10.800 --> 0:11:14.199 back to training and then it's June. Rookies had the 0:11:14.240 --> 0:11:17.520 report early, so I reported, stayed in the holiday in 0:11:18.440 --> 0:11:21.920 and all that stuff or whatever training camp and I 0:11:21.960 --> 0:11:26.960 was finally ready to practice, and so defense was looking 0:11:27.000 --> 0:11:35.880 their chops. Thomas Davis. I remember getting hit in the backfield. Immediately, 0:11:37.440 --> 0:11:40.840 I thought that it was a a gap blitz from 0:11:40.880 --> 0:11:46.679 tv M. He came off the edge. So that's how 0:11:46.760 --> 0:11:48.880 quick I got hit. I thought it was from the middle. 0:11:49.200 --> 0:11:51.800 He came off the edge, and so I was like, Okay, 0:11:51.840 --> 0:11:56.360 this football thing is really fast NFL and they can 0:11:56.480 --> 0:12:01.200 hit and I'm piste off right now. And the very 0:12:01.240 --> 0:12:05.480 next play, de' angelo was supposed to come in and Skip. 0:12:05.760 --> 0:12:08.439 I looked at Skip. I was like mad, and he said, yeah, 0:12:08.520 --> 0:12:11.440 stay in there. And the very next play I just 0:12:11.480 --> 0:12:14.600 went crazy and started stiff farming people and just that's 0:12:14.640 --> 0:12:18.480 kind of how that went. And man, so throughout training camp, 0:12:19.200 --> 0:12:22.439 you know, like watching how things were going and all 0:12:22.440 --> 0:12:25.520 that stuff with you know, the team. I started getting 0:12:25.520 --> 0:12:31.439 acclimated to the team, you know, and then preseasons going by. 0:12:31.480 --> 0:12:33.920 I missed the first preseason game, missed the second, the 0:12:34.320 --> 0:12:36.880 second preseason game, the third preseason game, I think we 0:12:36.960 --> 0:12:40.520 played Philly. In Philly, I got in there on the 0:12:40.679 --> 0:12:44.320 very last drive. I gotta carry. I got like a 0:12:44.400 --> 0:12:49.640 draw and it was just like in practice TV. I 0:12:49.679 --> 0:12:54.719 got hit immediately and then Skip took me out. He said, no, 0:12:54.960 --> 0:12:58.840 get out. And I say that because it takes the 0:12:59.000 --> 0:13:03.480 right people right, And I called, I'll beltur to Yeah, 0:13:03.640 --> 0:13:06.479 And I call that like a grace moment for myself 0:13:07.800 --> 0:13:11.400 by having a coach that understood the situation. I'm in 0:13:11.480 --> 0:13:15.880 there with the third stringline. The following game, we played 0:13:15.920 --> 0:13:20.960 the Washington the Washington Redskins washing football team. Well back 0:13:20.960 --> 0:13:23.400 then it was a it was a Redskins. That's when 0:13:23.440 --> 0:13:27.120 things started to get real for me, right and slowing 0:13:27.160 --> 0:13:30.199 down a little bit. Like I remember, like pre game, 0:13:30.480 --> 0:13:33.720 I remember seeing Sean Springs. He was still playing. I'm like, man, 0:13:33.760 --> 0:13:38.640 he's still playing sold like you know Jason Taylor then 0:13:39.600 --> 0:13:44.040 uh he was back there. Yeah, you got to see 0:13:44.360 --> 0:13:48.319 football life. So I'm not I'm not talking. He was 0:13:48.360 --> 0:13:51.360 with Washington, he said he was still yeah, but um. 0:13:52.040 --> 0:13:55.479 And so then I had a I had a outside 0:13:55.760 --> 0:13:59.880 you know zone play drawn up, followed Brad Hoover who 0:14:00.679 --> 0:14:06.480 and took it down the sideline, scored and it felt easy. 0:14:06.960 --> 0:14:10.000 And I'm not easy like like cloud, you know, just 0:14:10.080 --> 0:14:14.880 like like whatever. But it's just like what you knew. 0:14:15.080 --> 0:14:16.720 It felt like what I knew. I felt like I 0:14:16.760 --> 0:14:18.959 was in a zone. It felt like I belonged where 0:14:19.120 --> 0:14:23.000 I was, no questions. And then Smitty was the first 0:14:23.040 --> 0:14:27.360 person in the end zone pick me up. I'm like, wow, 0:14:27.400 --> 0:14:34.840 this man is strong, right, but obese. It was obese 0:14:41.280 --> 0:14:44.400 jump jump for me. But it was just like one 0:14:44.440 --> 0:14:46.200 of those moments where I was like, Okay, I can 0:14:46.240 --> 0:14:52.600 do this right. And then but it still didn't really 0:14:53.160 --> 0:14:56.200 like I still didn't stop you What do you mean 0:14:57.560 --> 0:15:03.520 you belong How does a guy who's drafted over the 0:15:03.680 --> 0:15:08.000 first round, first round pick you got? According to our listeners, 0:15:08.080 --> 0:15:11.480 you got You're getting paid a king's ransom to play 0:15:11.520 --> 0:15:15.680 a child's game, and you're telling me after scoring a 0:15:15.760 --> 0:15:19.320 touchdown it took a touchdown, not being drafted, not flying 0:15:19.400 --> 0:15:22.960 New York, not getting fitted for a suit, not getting 0:15:23.000 --> 0:15:25.640 put on first class from Washington all the way to Charlotte, 0:15:25.960 --> 0:15:28.760 not being picked up, not getting your locker, not signing 0:15:28.760 --> 0:15:32.800 thernarchy contract, not getting pick your jersey, not them fitting 0:15:32.840 --> 0:15:36.120 your helmet in your head, not for you eating in 0:15:36.160 --> 0:15:41.840 the cafeteria, and and Julius Peppers walks past you. Not 0:15:42.080 --> 0:15:45.800 any of that made you feel like you belong until 0:15:45.960 --> 0:15:51.640 you hit a touchdown. How I mean, my expectations, right, 0:15:52.160 --> 0:15:56.360 you know, my expectations weren't settling for getting the helmet 0:15:56.760 --> 0:16:00.000 or getting a jersey. You know, I remember you first, 0:16:00.040 --> 0:16:04.480 and jersey gonna be replaced unless you do something great, right, 0:16:05.200 --> 0:16:12.600 So my expectations was I want to prove to myself 0:16:12.840 --> 0:16:16.480 that I belong here because I just came from a 0:16:16.520 --> 0:16:20.800 real to recovery and a lot of you know, side 0:16:20.960 --> 0:16:25.320 questions as far as is he gonna be okay, is 0:16:25.320 --> 0:16:27.760 he gonna be ready? And all these things, And now 0:16:27.920 --> 0:16:32.320 I had an opportunity where I was successful in the 0:16:32.360 --> 0:16:35.320 beginning stages of me feeling like I belong you know 0:16:35.360 --> 0:16:39.040 what I'm saying, and so and then everything else added 0:16:39.080 --> 0:16:43.360 to it. Like I mean, that was the beginning stage. 0:16:44.560 --> 0:16:50.120 I would say, Monday night football my rookie year was 0:16:50.480 --> 0:16:54.240 the played the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Mine and Night football 0:16:54.440 --> 0:17:02.080 home game, and that was the moment where it for me. Yeah, 0:17:02.120 --> 0:17:06.400 that's when when me and with me and D'Angelo went ham, 0:17:06.440 --> 0:17:09.240 oh no, no, that was uh, that was I left 0:17:10.000 --> 0:17:14.800 my grandpa passed. Yeah, oh yeah, I remember. I was like, 0:17:15.000 --> 0:17:20.120 oh yeah, yeah, that was right after thanksgive right, yeah, 0:17:21.440 --> 0:17:26.960 And that's that's just amazing, right, like the realness of 0:17:27.000 --> 0:17:32.200 what actually transpires behind the lens, right, but what people 0:17:32.240 --> 0:17:35.720 go through, like we out here performing and doing all 0:17:35.760 --> 0:17:38.800 these things and living our dream in real life and 0:17:38.880 --> 0:17:42.240 real life is happening. How do you keep football the focus? Then, 0:17:43.240 --> 0:17:46.879 my injuries is what kept me focused because if it 0:17:46.960 --> 0:17:49.119 was if it wasn't for me that feeling great in 0:17:49.160 --> 0:17:52.560 the mornings or feeling great for practice or feeling great 0:17:52.600 --> 0:17:56.280 in the morning of the game, I wouldn't have had 0:17:56.280 --> 0:18:01.000 that focus to maintain and to get to the point 0:18:01.040 --> 0:18:04.240 to where I can actually perform. And so me being 0:18:04.320 --> 0:18:08.440 injured required me to focus on my injury. What does 0:18:08.520 --> 0:18:10.880 this mean that I can't move my ankle the way 0:18:10.920 --> 0:18:13.600 I used to? You, you know, what do I need 0:18:13.640 --> 0:18:17.800 to do? Right? And not getting the answers right up 0:18:17.800 --> 0:18:20.639 front and having to search and having to wait and 0:18:20.720 --> 0:18:23.600 having to to figure it out and be played mind 0:18:23.640 --> 0:18:27.240 games by the staff at times, right, because that's just 0:18:27.240 --> 0:18:32.720 how Football League like it. It. It pretty much stimulated 0:18:32.760 --> 0:18:35.679 me to just say, Okay, I have this thing that 0:18:35.760 --> 0:18:38.920 I've been blessed with, how can how am I supposed 0:18:38.920 --> 0:18:42.240 to be the steward of this? Right? And and so 0:18:42.720 --> 0:18:45.400 you look at my rookie year. You know, I went 0:18:45.440 --> 0:18:49.159 through what I went through, bounce back whatever, get on 0:18:49.200 --> 0:18:52.800 the planing field, start zone and start getting in the zone. 0:18:54.640 --> 0:18:58.280 Get an ankle injury? Oh man, how much supposed to 0:18:58.280 --> 0:19:03.159 recover from this whatever? So it's just a continuous, you know, 0:19:04.000 --> 0:19:08.840 time of just being stimulated by injury knowing that I 0:19:08.880 --> 0:19:12.600 have to be on the field. So my mind was, 0:19:12.960 --> 0:19:15.720 I want to go and play music. I want to 0:19:15.760 --> 0:19:19.240 go home and just edg out and play video games. 0:19:19.280 --> 0:19:22.080 I want to go and hang out and enjoy the 0:19:22.119 --> 0:19:24.800 fruits of you know, the labor that I've been in, 0:19:25.000 --> 0:19:31.640 you know having right, I think year three it all 0:19:31.720 --> 0:19:40.480 clicked in the sense of mind, body, spirit, right three things. 0:19:40.640 --> 0:19:44.080 Everybody talks about it, but for me, like if my 0:19:44.200 --> 0:19:47.800 body wasn't where it needed to be, that means spiritually 0:19:47.800 --> 0:19:51.639 and mentally. I needed to be on my a game, 0:19:53.280 --> 0:19:59.120 because if my spiritual sense wasn't right, I ain't got 0:19:59.160 --> 0:20:03.680 no everything. I'm up a creek without a path. Right. Mentally, 0:20:05.080 --> 0:20:08.240 I gotta be where wherever I am. Mentally, if I'm 0:20:08.280 --> 0:20:11.080 not there spiritually, my mentals are gonna be on a 0:20:11.119 --> 0:20:13.320 whole different path. So how did you get there? Then 0:20:13.560 --> 0:20:16.359 you have to put in the work. Just like you 0:20:16.440 --> 0:20:21.679 train your body, you work out just like you. I 0:20:21.720 --> 0:20:24.280 want to be the best football player. You go out 0:20:24.280 --> 0:20:27.399 there and catch balls and you run and you do 0:20:27.480 --> 0:20:32.239 your jilly cluts and all that right. Mentally, right, you 0:20:32.240 --> 0:20:34.800 have to stay sharp. So how do what do you? 0:20:34.960 --> 0:20:37.159 What do you do? What are you doing to to 0:20:37.280 --> 0:20:40.280 stay sharp to where you're not feeling the pressure? What 0:20:40.320 --> 0:20:43.200 did you do knowing? What did you do? You study? 0:20:43.680 --> 0:20:47.520 You study, So whenever you study your opponents, you go 0:20:47.640 --> 0:20:51.680 through your When I'm not practicing right, when I'm not. 0:20:53.720 --> 0:20:59.760 But but whenever, whenever you're not doing what you are, 0:21:00.119 --> 0:21:01.920 what you feel like you're supposed to be doing, you 0:21:02.040 --> 0:21:07.480 gotta mentally grasp that right, So you gotta envision yourself 0:21:07.640 --> 0:21:11.720 doing that thing. So playing football, I'm not playing football. 0:21:11.840 --> 0:21:15.040 I need to visualize that and stay on the game 0:21:15.080 --> 0:21:19.719 plans and stay in the classroom and actually take notes 0:21:19.960 --> 0:21:22.560 like I'm taking notes for the first time about the 0:21:22.600 --> 0:21:25.040 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. We played them the first time, but 0:21:25.119 --> 0:21:28.280 I'm I know exactly who's who, But I still gotta 0:21:28.320 --> 0:21:30.920 take notes and put things down and drop them down 0:21:31.359 --> 0:21:33.879 as if there's as if it's the first time me 0:21:34.040 --> 0:21:36.200 seeing it and experiencing it. So that way I stay 0:21:36.320 --> 0:21:39.280 fresh and still I stay sharp because part of the 0:21:39.320 --> 0:21:42.240 mental thing is I ain't got it no more. I 0:21:42.280 --> 0:21:44.080 probably ain't gonna be able to have it when I'm back, 0:21:44.200 --> 0:21:47.000 or am I gonna be ready? You know, the being 0:21:47.080 --> 0:21:50.440 uncertain because you haven't been on the football field for 0:21:50.480 --> 0:21:52.560 a couple of weeks now. So are you telling me 0:21:52.720 --> 0:21:57.640 as you are processing getting ready on the field, you're 0:21:57.680 --> 0:22:03.480 also honing in and learning how you learn how you 0:22:03.560 --> 0:22:09.560 can consume information and hold it, and it'd be part 0:22:09.600 --> 0:22:19.280 of making you good at your crime. I love cut 0:22:19.359 --> 0:22:21.880 to It, and I love it even more when you 0:22:22.440 --> 0:22:26.080 download us and subscribe and you can follow us on 0:22:26.119 --> 0:22:29.320 social media too, Smithie, where where at that's at? Cut 0:22:29.320 --> 0:22:33.399 to It on Instagram? What about Twitter? At? Cut to 0:22:33.440 --> 0:22:37.720 it Facebook cut to It featuring Steve Smith singr what 0:22:37.800 --> 0:22:40.760 About online and you can follow us at cut to 0:22:40.840 --> 0:22:44.440 It podcast dot com, where you can buy merch and 0:22:44.520 --> 0:22:47.240 you can subscribe to us wherever you listen to podcasts. 0:22:47.960 --> 0:22:51.320 I got all my answers questions. Uh yeah, I got 0:22:51.359 --> 0:22:54.720 all my questions answered. That's what I'm here for. A brother, 0:22:55.119 --> 0:22:59.679 Cut to a podcast dot com. We've got Arian Foster or, 0:22:59.680 --> 0:23:02.280 four time Pro Bowl running back for the Houston Texans 0:23:02.320 --> 0:23:04.960 and Miami Dolphins. He was first team All Pro in 0:23:05.000 --> 0:23:08.800 t and he holds the Houston Texans franchise records in 0:23:08.920 --> 0:23:12.320 rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. Where are you living these days? 0:23:13.280 --> 0:23:15.560 I'm still out in Houston, man. I got all my 0:23:15.600 --> 0:23:20.600 babies out there, so um, until they until they you know, 0:23:21.160 --> 0:23:23.120 are out on their own and experience in the world, 0:23:23.359 --> 0:23:24.760 I'm gonna be there. I gotta foot in there at 0:23:24.840 --> 0:23:28.280 least all right. How has life been for you for 0:23:28.320 --> 0:23:34.560 the last eighteen months? Oh? Man? Well, split with my 0:23:34.680 --> 0:23:36.399 lady and I think that was like one of the 0:23:36.440 --> 0:23:41.960 first times where UH really experienced heartbreak because before I 0:23:42.000 --> 0:23:46.960 think I have been Um, I don understand womanizing, man, 0:23:47.000 --> 0:23:49.119 but like I played the game a lot, right, and 0:23:49.200 --> 0:23:51.000 so this is the first time I was really like 0:23:51.160 --> 0:23:56.080 invested in a family like that. And so, um, long 0:23:56.160 --> 0:23:59.280 story short, Um, you experienced some heartbreak to where it 0:23:59.359 --> 0:24:01.560 was like really informative, and it kind of changed the 0:24:01.600 --> 0:24:04.200 way that I viewed things, kind of changed the way 0:24:04.200 --> 0:24:07.560 I looked at myself and um, you know, in the 0:24:07.600 --> 0:24:12.080 midst of it, just kind of figuring out um uh 0:24:12.200 --> 0:24:16.520 forgiveness and kind of meet people where they're at instead 0:24:16.560 --> 0:24:19.040 of where I expected to be and that that's that's 0:24:19.040 --> 0:24:23.240 been really helpful. So we already started off this way. 0:24:23.400 --> 0:24:26.040 I love asking asking it this way. You know, where 0:24:26.040 --> 0:24:29.000 are you from in the place you call your hometown. 0:24:30.400 --> 0:24:33.760 I grew up at Albuquerque, New Mexico. Um, went to 0:24:33.800 --> 0:24:35.960 high school in San Diego. So I kind of read both. 0:24:36.600 --> 0:24:40.159 Both kind of read me. So I called both home. Okay, 0:24:41.760 --> 0:24:51.000 how would you describe your childhood? Chaotic but um but fun, 0:24:51.240 --> 0:24:54.640 it's chaotic. Elaborate on that if you if you if 0:24:54.680 --> 0:24:57.399 you're there too, Yeah, yeah, So I grew up. I 0:24:57.400 --> 0:24:59.679 mean it's nothing the story that nobody's heard before. But 0:24:59.720 --> 0:25:05.520 I grew been a domestically violent household, uh, group of poverty. Um, 0:25:05.600 --> 0:25:09.080 and so kind of navigating those waters and and trying 0:25:09.119 --> 0:25:12.440 to uh hold onto a dream you have as a kid. 0:25:12.640 --> 0:25:17.639 It gets uh you know, it gets dramatic. There's just 0:25:17.680 --> 0:25:20.880 a lot, a lot of moving pieces, UM, a lot 0:25:20.920 --> 0:25:23.760 of emotional baggage you have to work through in your 0:25:23.840 --> 0:25:27.520 loat of years that that you were unable to UM. 0:25:27.600 --> 0:25:30.240 And then you know the family dynamic that comes with 0:25:30.280 --> 0:25:32.679 that as well as being a bread winning your family 0:25:32.720 --> 0:25:37.159 from somebody from first generation wealth to being able to 0:25:37.200 --> 0:25:40.040 manage all of those relationships and the expectations that come 0:25:40.080 --> 0:25:45.440 with that UM friendship. So uh yeah, man, I read 0:25:45.480 --> 0:25:48.560 something my my my research scene gave me that which 0:25:48.640 --> 0:25:51.800 was really good and I want to park on it. Um, 0:25:52.040 --> 0:25:56.840 you raised in an Islamic household? M hm yes, so 0:25:56.920 --> 0:26:02.280 my father and Muslim um I believe was raised Catholic, um. 0:26:02.359 --> 0:26:06.960 But his life. You can't just say that casually and 0:26:07.000 --> 0:26:12.920 they're skied over it like so so so so when 0:26:12.920 --> 0:26:14.879 I when I say, when I say Muslim in the 0:26:14.880 --> 0:26:17.280 house I grew up in, it was, It's not the 0:26:17.760 --> 0:26:22.440 like traditional Eastern Muslim, right, it's more so the americanized 0:26:23.280 --> 0:26:25.920 um fo I through the islam minister ericon, like it 0:26:26.040 --> 0:26:29.040 was that sect of Islam that I grew up underneath, 0:26:29.600 --> 0:26:33.440 which is basically the same thing, except that they are 0:26:33.520 --> 0:26:40.280 a little more um politically active, politically motivated. So like, 0:26:40.400 --> 0:26:43.560 in order to in order to to to be in 0:26:43.560 --> 0:26:44.919 the f O, I like, you have to have a 0:26:45.040 --> 0:26:48.359