Full Transcript of Steve Smith's Post-SNF Interview

Awesome. Can we start an Interview of the Year award?

In the words of Jim Rome: "EPIC."

Um if I were the team doctor, I would get a CT scan of his head.

What's the point of posting this? To show that it's almost impossible to carry on a coherent conversation while still catching your breath after a huge, exhausting, physical football game while you still have, and I'm guesing that Steve Smith has way more than most, adrenaline surging through your veins?

I challenge the OP to jog around the block just once and see how intelligent he sounds in an interview.

Bill, you've never actually done anything remotely athletic in your life have you? Or even listened to the typical post-game on-field interview. I'm going to let you in on a little secret. It's pretty well established that most post-game interviews with people who actually exerted themselves are all pretty much gibberish.

A better question is why are you letting your personal hatred of everything Panther goad you into taking this cheap, completely classless shot at one of the greatest athletes of our time?

Are you going to start posting every post-game on-field interview that sounds like gibberish when transcribed word for word?

But thanks for the personal cheap shot my direction as well.

Amazingly, they don't pay Steve Smith for his eloquence and wit. Honestly, though, these questions are garbage. Just think, if they were posed to an anonymous football columnist...

Kramer: Well, dude, having already been eliminated from Pulitzer consideration for the year, what does writing this article mean to you?

Anonymous Football Column Writing Dude (AFCWD): Well, uh...I dunno. I get my week's pay and feed my family, I guess.

Kramer: You sounded really angry in this article. Why was that?

AFCWD: Well, this other writer said my articles are devoid of both purpose and prose. But I've been writing a lot longer than him, and he's a poopoohead.

Kramer: Coming into this article, we thought your total inability to write interesting prose would make good content your only option. Clearly, though, people liked your prose in this article.

AFCWD: Well...you kinda need both. In the end, if people like it, I get to write another article next week, and continue to feed my family. I'm not really sure you can have an article with just facts or just prose...

So it's not like Kramer is out there digging for the story of century.

So you are holding the position that 1) most post-game on-field interviews with athletes who just exerted themselves are coherent and intelligent;

and 2) that physical exertion and adrenaline does not diminish an individuals ability to communicate in an eloquent manner.

That's amazing, Bill. Truly amazing. The medical establishment disagrees with you, but what do they know, they're just doctors. You're Bill Barnwell. Perhaps you can enlighten us on this new insight into the chemical effects of adrenaline on the body.

Or you can actually listen word for word to a statistical significant number of randomly selected post-game on-field interviews with exhuasted athletes and determine that Steve Smith's interview was in fact extraordinary.

Also you might note, if you were doing this as anything except a classless cheap shot, that Steve Smith couldn't hear the questions being asked. The crowd was roaring in the background.

@everyone in the comments,
I know a great place to get chill pills for free.

I thought this interview was friggin hilarious. Who cares why it was funny. There is no need to make personal judgment on Steve or anyone in the comment thread.

diminishing steve smith's passion and desire to compete for a 5-8 team through this twisted post which clearly is trying to make him appear as an imbecile is a classless cheap shot....bill...get a clue....this is a premiere athlete who has given a better interview with even that incoherence(only incoherence given the situation) than 90% interviewed these days....you're a dumbass digging for dogshit....grow up and just give the damn man his dues for his professional effort day in and day out, dick.

Ok, here's my beef with the whole "if you're winded you can't talk" argument.

1: Smith is generally inarticulate to start with. It's not like he's got commentating in his future even if he just got done laying down on the couch for three hours. Therefore, claiming that he's inarticulate simply because "he put his heart on the line" is ridiculous.

2: Why is he winded? Yes, he should be tired. More tired than I've probably ever been. Or even Bill himself has ever been (as if that's relevant somehow). But the guy has had about 5 minutes of rest time before this interview. He blocked on a running play, sat through the two minute warning, then his team knelt three times. He should be at least somewhat recovered at this point, and certainly recovered enough to give at least a decent post-game interview. He did not. He gave the worst post-game interview I've ever seen.

The fact of the matter is that he just can't speak, no matter the situation. This was funny regardless.

But yes, Barnwell's ego is overbearing at times. I didn't really see it in this instance, but the assertion that he has a overbearing ego at times is certainly a valid one in my opinion. But honestly, I think everyone gets a bit full of themselves at times. We just generally don't publish our ideas and comments to huge audiences multiple times a day, so it's less noticeable to ourselves.

Everyone needs to realize that their opinions are not mutually exclusive.

1. This interview is funny and awesome.
2. Saying funny things doesn't mean you are a stupid person.
3. If you watched the game, you could see that Steve Smith obviously had ungodly amounts of adrenaline pumping throughout. It is fair to assume this was still the case at the time of the interview. Since most of us posting on an internet message board have never been NFL athletes, how about this: how many of you have ever been REALLY pissed off? How many of you stammered or said/did stupid things at that time? That is probably the closest most of us feel to what Steve felt after this game. Lucky for us, there weren't tv cameras around.
4. The questions were moronic. There is a reason Tom Brady occasionally runs away from these idiots after games.
5. A lot of this is less "stupid" than most of you are implying, and it is just colloquialisms that I personally find awesome. When he says that 89 is the rules/regulations of the game...that isn't dumb at all, that is called talking trash. And it is fantastic.

Agree that everyone on both sides needs to chill. But also no need to get personal and assume that someone tripping over their words in a breathless interview makes indicates stupidity. Grow up.

Bottom line is this: He's not paid to give speeches. He's paid to play football. And beyond that, honestly, he would look a lot less foolish trying to perform my job than I would look trying to perform his.

Count me in the, 'He's not paid to give good interviews' camp.

Besides as far as insane athlete interviews go, that isn't even close to the top. Anything Ron Artest as has ever said easily tops that.

this post game interview was great! being a panthers fan for quiet a while and living in charlotte you get to see steve smith and his hot headedness more than others. this is a guy who punched cornerback ken lucas while he was a teammate with smith. seeing him out at nba games he is more than willing to sign autographs for kids. if you were laying next to him on the football field, he may kick you in the back which did happen, i believe against the falcons. as others have noted this is a guy who, at the time, was coming down off an adrenaline high. he was still pumped up that he got the best of the vikings secondary, a luxury he hasn't had many times this year. he was just venting for a long season as a good player on a bad team. great athlete yes, sitting at a desk with chris berman no. it would almost be as bad as emmitt smith's attempt as a studio analyst. i think we can all agree that post game interviews are typically boring and don't get half the attention that this already has. it's funny and entertaining, which i believe is why the nfl is around. let's enjoy it and be glad he didn't "legarrett blount" someone.

I find this the oddest link I have ever seen on FO. Is it funny, yes. But what is the point of singling this one out? Do you link or have you ever linked/transcribed any other players post-game interviews?
If this were epic say "Playoffs...playoffs!" Or "You play to win the game!" or "They are who we thought they were!" I could see it. But, WTF?
Oh well, odd, but, go U of U! Die BcS!

He's not paid to give interviews, but good lord, he should be after reading that. I can't wait until Steve Smith retires and becomes the 15th man on the NBC or ESPN All-American Football America Night, Live From London.

Seems like Bill posted a funny, incoherent interview. He didn't make any editorial comments; the commenters inferred that on their own. I personally like Extra Point postings like this. If you just want humorless headlines, then please frequent the 500 million other NFL sites on the Internetz. Injecting some levity into the proceedings is always appreciated on my end.

And the "You try giving an interview after running around the block!" line is completely ridiculous. I've interviewed plenty of high school athletes after big games that don't give utterly insane and great answers like Steve Smith.

89 played a great game and then uttered some potential quotes of the tear. Let's not break down the DVOA of the intentions of the writer who transcribed it. Take a breather!

To some extent it seemed like she was trying to get him to repeat contents of some trash-talking which were likely wholly unsuitable for television. So in the sense that he sort of tapdanced around that I have to give him credit. He did come out in the end sounding kinda insane though ;o)

next to last smith line "gotta have runs after the ctch" when first read it it made me tgink Smith talking about diarrhea.

Smith saying funny things after game probpaly similar to most people on this message board when tlaking right after drinking after watching most NFl games on couch

I don't know which is funnier; the interview or the comments...

Football is entertainment. The players are entertainers. This interview was entertaining.

If the claim is that by repeating Smith's comments the player is being mocked I don't know how that flies given that every interview is repeated in some form at some time. That is why interviews happen. For observers to hear from the participants.

>>Steve Smith: "Ah, you know, just telling me who he is, so I had to establish the rules and regulations of the game…"

Andrea Kremer: "Which were?"

Steve Smith: "Which was 89."<<

There's a "Leon" commercial in there somewhere.

Bill, don't engage. You post, then let us argue. That's the 89. The fact that you're right doesn't mean that you should violate the 89.

Come on, folks. Who wasn't wondering why Steve Smith feeds his family?

This interview has everything you could want from an NFL interview in under a minute. Brilliant.

You don't argue with Ochonueve.

Usual Barnwell Jibberish.

Smith is rather coherent when he's not superfiredup like that.

We should all be thankful that Steve Smith took the time to serenate us with his wisdom. Its not anything to get all debacled up with each other about.

Awesome interview. "just telling me who he is, so I had to establish the rules and regulations of the game…" "89" What a animal. Greatest interview i have seen in a while.

I doubt that the people I want to see this will, but seriously... posting one interview (which, let's be honest, it was humorously incoherent as compared to most post-game interviews I see), doth not a mocking make. And nowhere does FO accuse him of being an idiot or a terrible interviewer. If someone wants to draw that conclusion based on that ONE interview, that's not FO's fault. And I've also noticed a pattern of some of the same posters consistently complaining on LOTS of comment boards. For you, please either leave the site and stop complaining (anonymously) to the (anonymous) masses or if you really feel strongly that there's a fault with the site, take it up with FO, and stop with your polemic Peter King-styly "Randy Moss is dogging it", "Favre threatens Chilly to retire on the sidelines", "Steve Smith needs a CT scan (ever met a professional athlete who doesn't?)" comments.

I have no joke here, I just like saying "This is why I feed my family."

"This is where I feed my family. This is what I grew up wantin to be." Barnwell, you need to update your ebonics translating software. And everyone else should see video before assuming that Barnwell heard it right. Get you rinfo FIRST HAND!

I respect Smitty for what he does on the field, whether he stumbles through an interview afterwards or not. And yeah, it's smack talk. We should be glad that he didn't drop any f or s bombs during that interview as he was clearly still fired up.

He was funny, and I thought intentional in mocking his opponent and hyping himself up. I got a kick out of it. Yeah he's nuts, but who cares?

When my father was at Wisconsin in the '50s, he heard an interview with a defensive lineman who said:

"I just grabs at all the guys until I finds the one with the ball, and I keeps him."

That was always his gold standard for the post-game interview. Someday, I hope to find something to match it.

I don't get some people. So posting funny athlete quotes on "This Week in Quotes"-- Fine, hilarious, thanks! Post an extra point with a funny athlete quote-- hey, stop that! Can't you see he's winded? This isn't funny, how dare you?

If you don't think it's possible for someone you like to do or say something unintentionally funny, I'm sorry, but you're a humorless douche.

This comment section is sorely lacking in accusations of racism. We get that taken care of, we'll be as ridiculous as Steve Smith's interview. Come on, everybody. We can do this.

This would be hilarious if it wasn't so sad.

The thread, I mean. The interview is just marginally out there, but it's certainly worth ridicule.

But then this morganja person makes it worse by being the single largest apologist I think I've ever seen.

Dear morganja: Steve Smith is not a Rhodes Scholar. We get that. He's an athlete. He exerts himself. Wow. This is far from the worst interview of all time, but the reason it's worthy of ridicule is because THE THINGS HE'S SAYING MAKE NO SENSE to anyone who doesn't live on whatever planet this guy is from.

The reason this is notable is because - HELLO - no, it is NOT true that most postgame interviews sound like this. They just don't. I realize you feel persecuted, but that's your fanboyism coming through.

Really, Steve Smith's not brilliant. You could give him two weeks' notice as to an interview, and I figure he'd be only marginally more lucid.

Am I the only one who thinks that his comments made more sense than many, many other dumb post-game interviews out there? The 89 comment, as pointed out by a couple others (kudos to you!), is a brilliant piece of trash-talk, not an ignorant spouting of randomness. Have any of you ever actually played sports before? Go to a field, find some amateurs playing with heart, grab a basketball and play some streetball, hit the sandlot, whatever it takes -- you'll find gems like that all the time. Not sure why this is seen as "insane" or "gibberish." He answered the questions, which is more than you can say for so many others.

I, um, don't get it. Marginally more incoherent than usual sportsman gobbledigook, with predictable references to God, content-free trash talk about an obscure opponent and some muddled platitudes. I don't see posting it as in some way a diss of Smith or offensive or any such - I just really, utterly don't get it.

Not a great effort by Steve; he'd recovered too much. Normally his nonsense is more entertaining. Maybe losing it with age. Proves he's nowhere in Emmitt's class, too.

I came to the comments board, wondering how unusually jacked-up people would get over this interview.

None of you have failed me. Well done.

Post-game press conference with Steve Smith starts at 0:54. Stop hating, I love this little guy. He's all heart, he's a little nuts, but he is coming to play every single down.

http://www.nfl.com/videos/carolina-panthers/09000d5d815238f7/Panthers-postgame-press-conference

Wasn't the point of posting this because Smith's assertion that the "rules and regulations" of the game were "89 . . . That's why he going home" is clever?

Without passing judgment on Smith's conditioning, oratory, or intelligence, I think I can safely say that this thread is deeply, deeply strange.

Paul R: That quote is actually from a Flintstones episode, where Fred joins the Princestone University football team. The other players are all portrayed as giants, and this quote is in response to a coach asking a player what he should do on a certain play.

It's slightly embarrassing that I remember that, but there you go.

This is small beer compared to the time he said he was about to poop on himself.

I think Steve (who, remember, earlier in the interview thanked "his Lord Jesus Christ") was drawing a parallel between Jesus and his performance in the game. Jesus was once referred to (possibly by himself, I'm too lazy to look it up) as the "Alpha and Omega". That reference is not so different as Steve claiming the "rules and regulations" in the game "was 89".

By the way, my captcha was "president joke". I will withhold comment, but that's actually what it was.

wow. what a bunch of pansies. you guys need to get a grip and stop trying to dissect a postgame interview. the interview was of the highest rewatchable order. as soon as he said "89", he just gave this murderous look to andrea kremer that had to pucker up her sphincter. definitely a gem.

all foreshadowed by the team intros..."little playmaker"

I've always wondered why it's considered so much worse to make fun of someone's intelligence than to make fun of their looks, personality, athleticism, etc. It's as if being smart is the only thing that matters in life.

I really don't get it. I'm pretty sure I have a much higher IQ than Steve Smith, but if I could trade my intelligence for his athleticism, I'd do it in a heartbeat, but I doubt he would be willing to make that trade, especially considering that I'm unemployed and he's a millionaire.

I guess all you cok sided hoz must be venting because you lost or you hate the Panthers. This was not a presidential interview it was a post game interview. This is football bitchez. This is a simulated war game that's fun to watch. Carolina won and Steve Smith can kick your ass so get over it.

I never understood why ppl make a big deal out of the simplest shxt. Like okay, wtf. The interview sounded fine to me..Except for the dumbass questions Andrea was asking."89..bottom line" was the best part of his trash talk. And it made PERFECT sense. If you don't understand that statement then you just don't understand life. God i have to get out more. It's a shame i live in Charlotte and i've never seen him in person.