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Steve Smith Says Mike Tyson Inspired Him To Start Podcast

“Smith Sr. was on the latest episode of the STUPodity podcast with Stugotz and Dan Stanczyk.”

Ricky Keeler

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When people listen to former athletes talk on a podcast, they want to get to know the athlete beyond the playing field and relate to them on a personal level. That is the case with former Carolina Panthers and Baltimore Ravens wide receiver/current NFL Network analyst Steve Smith Sr. 

Smith Sr. was on the latest episode of the STUPodity podcast with Stugotz and Dan Stanczyk. In addition to talking about Smith’s interest in fruit preserves and how he could do if he played with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, Smith had the chance to talk about his podcast, Cut To It

Stugotz asked him why he got into doing a podcast and originally, Smith Sr. was not on board initially to host one after his playing career was over.

“My team and good friends had said you should do a podcast for about 2 years. I’m like a kid. If I don’t like it, I don’t have to taste it. I was like no, I think they are stupid. They were like, have you listened to one? I was like no, I just don’t want to do them.”

However, there was one podcast he listened to that got him into wanting to host a podcast and it involved a famous athlete that he enjoyed watching as a kid and getting to know more about him as a person: 

“So, right before COVID hit, someone said man, Mike Tyson’s podcast HotBoxin’ is awesome, so I listened to it, and the one that got me was the one with Mike Epps and they were talking about how when they were both incarcerated in juveniles (juvenile detention centers) in Indiana. Mike was talking about what he went through and I really connected because I saw part of Mike. I’ve always admired Mike Tyson because I grew up watching him. When I heard him talk and just got some insight on him, it really spoke to me.”

Smith Sr. wanted to host a podcast where he can learn more about the athlete away from the playing field because he is interested in other people and “what makes them tick, how they operate, why are you what you are.” The reason he said that was because he felt people “put me in a box and they don’t really know me.” Plus, he wanted to reveal the many layers that athletes have.

“Every businessman wants to be an athlete and every athlete wants to be a businessman. I also have survivors’ guilt because of where I grew up in LA, so I want to give back to my community. You combine all of these things and I really think there are so many layers to people that sometimes athletes don’t get to reveal them because they just want to know what it’s like to catch a pass?

“The game is not what’s intriguing, it’s all the little things that you go through day to day with these players when you are spending so much time with them. I said I will do one, but I will do it my way. I want to interview and learn about these individuals. I don’t want to root for the player, I want to root for the man or woman who just made the game-winning shot.”

While Smith Sr. might be more famous for his pass-catching and trash talking on the gridiron, the now media member is working on making sure people get to talk about their own stories and introducing the listener to a different side of a player. 

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Dan Le Batard: ‘Does Sports Media Care if Interviews Are Done Well?’

“An exclusive interview with Ja Morant, who hasn’t talked to anybody after his controversy, is going to get eyeballs, so it doesn’t matter how good it actually is.”

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Mike Greenberg had praise for Jalen Rose this week. He said that no one but his ESPN colleague could have handled the interview with Ja Morant that has been airing on the network. Dan Le Batard has the exact opposite opinion of what he saw.

“What I saw was soft and didn’t seem to serve anybody except ESPN,” Le Batard said on his Thursday show. “This seems to be a lot of people around the economy of basketball and Ja Morant orchestrating an interview so Ja Morant can move onto the next stage of his branding.”

Whereas Greenberg thought the shared experience of an NBA career made Rose more likely to get answers from Morant, Le Batard said it created a problem. He accused Rose of letting Morant get away with using “talking points” in lieu of answering any actual questions about the string of erratic behavior and disturbing incidents the Memphis Grizzlies star has been involved with.

It wasn’t the only interview that Dan Le Batard pointed to. He noted that Pat McAfee’s interview with Aaron Rodgers may have drawn an audience of nearly half a million, but very little substance was offered.

“Does anybody in the audience, in sports fandom, or even, at this point, in sports media companies, care in a real and legitimate way whether the interview is done well or not?”

He added that the standard has changed for these interviews because the goal has changed. They are no longer about journalism as much as they are about branding, particularly in the case of ESPN’s exclusive interview with Ja Morant.

“An exclusive interview with Ja Morant, who hasn’t talked to anybody after his controversy, is going to get eyeballs, so it doesn’t matter how good it actually is,” Le Batard concluded. “All you need, if you’re the media partner, is please get me the famous guy to sit down.”

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Jomboy, Aaron Boone Partner For Weekly Podcast Appearance

“I thought it was a really interesting opportunity, and a cool idea. These guys have been innovators in this business and they’ve built a massive, young following.”

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It isn’t unusual for a professional sports team to partner with a local radio station for weekly interviews with team personnel. Even though Jomboy Media is a digital outlet, it didn’t stop the company from inking a deal to have Yankees manager Aaron Boone on one of its signature podcasts.

In a move announced Thursday, Jomboy Media has signed a deal for Boone to appear on its popular Talkin’ Yanks podcast — hosted by founder Jimmy O’Brien and Jake Storiale — once a week throughout the baseball season.

“I thought it was a really interesting opportunity, and a cool idea. These guys have been innovators in this business and they’ve built a massive, young following,” Boone told The New York Post. “I think Jimmy and Jake are both really good guys. And they’re passionate about what they do, and they love the Yankees. And, sometimes they’re a little misguided and it’s my chance to set the record straight every now and then.”

Previously, Boone had a weekly spot on 98.7 ESPN New York’s The Michael Kay Show, which reportedly paid him six figures.

“It’s going to be really fun and it kind of goes with the changing landscape of media,” O’Brien said. “The fact that two fans can create a show and in five years get to the point where they get to ask questions to the manager of the Yankees and bring whatever insight we can get out of that to our audience — it is pretty wild, a little surreal.”

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Sports Online

Sports Media Reacts to Aaron Rodgers Telling Adam Schefter ‘Lose My Number’

“Here are some of the best responses from Schefter’s sports media colleagues to the tweet.”

Jordan Bondurant

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Quarterback Aaron Rodgers appeared on The Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday and revealed that if he gets his way, his time with the Green Bay Packers is done. He intends to play for the New York Jets in 2023.

Rodgers told McAfee that the hang-up lies with Green Bay, which is trying to determine the appropriate compensation for trading for a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

Rodgers also revealed that he had an interaction with ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter. Schefter, who was obviously digging as much as he could to get the scoop on what was going on with Rodgers’ future, texted Rodgers trying to confirm the information he had.

“I didn’t respond to Dianna Russini I think her name is,” Rodgers said. “But I would say the same thing that I told Schefty. Lose my number. Nice try.”

Upon hearing Rodgers’ account, Schefter followed up with a screenshot of Rodgers responding exactly how he said, and that sent social media into a whirlwind.

Here are some of the best responses from Schefter’s sports media colleagues to the tweet:

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