Marty Smith on the Humanity, History, and Authenticity of LSU-Alabama + LSU defensive line coach Bill Johnson
Hey Fightin' Podcast Network: The Official Podcast Network of LSU Sports
LSU Sports
4.9 • 537 Ratings
🗓️ 7 November 2019
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Stay away from brick walls while listening to this one, because after hearing Marty Smith, you'll want to run through one.
No one in sports has more passion or compassion than ESPN's Marty Smith, today's guest on the show. He views sports as a vehicle to understand people, and big games – like LSU vs. Alabama – are, for him, stages on which we see the very best qualities humanity has to offer.
Authenticity. Vulnerability. Passion. Pride.
All of that comes through in today's conversation with Marty, and I'm grateful to have been able to get him for a few minutes.
We talk about, among many other things:
- Ed Orgeron as an American treasure
- Joe Burrow, the ultimate competitor, something Marty saw long before Joe wore purple and gold
- The magnitude and rarity of No. 1 vs. No. 2
- His incredible book, "Never Settle: Sports, Family, and the American Soul," and how the proceeds are benefiting students across the country
After that, we sit down with LSU defensive line coach Bill Johnson and run through the men in the trenches who will help determine Saturday's outcome.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | He embodies the culture. And one thing that we all appreciate as human beings because, quite frankly, |
| 0:10.2 | it's not something that you experience all the time is authenticity. And so when you see it, it's so |
| 0:16.0 | striking. When you engage within it, it's so dynamic and impactful because it's unstoppable. |
| 0:24.5 | Authenticity is unstoppable because authenticity is vulnerable. |
| 0:29.5 | And his story is amazing. |
| 0:32.1 | And if you learn his story about everything he's overcome and the mistakes he's made and the triumph over those |
| 0:40.0 | mistakes, then you take this guy and it takes him from, man, this is a really endearing personality to, |
| 0:48.6 | man, I all the way. |
| 1:04.3 | Hey, fighting podcast, the official podcast of LSU football. |
| 1:10.7 | As always, I am Cody Wersham, |
| 1:12.1 | digital media reporter for LSU athletics, and I can't tell you how excited I am for today's |
| 1:18.5 | show. Got the chance on Wednesday to sit down with Marty Smith of ESPN, who I have long admired |
| 1:24.9 | from afar going back to his time on SportsCenter doing stand-up hits. |
| 1:29.9 | I remember the first time I saw Marty on SportsCenter. |
| 1:31.9 | I was like, who is this guy? |
| 1:33.3 | He kind of sounds like some people that I know from around here. |
| 1:37.0 | Really, to me, was the first taste of the South that I saw on SportsCenter all the time. |
| 1:43.0 | And watch Marty as he moved from NASCAR to college game day and college football and |
| 1:48.8 | always really appreciated the work that he did, the stories that he told, the effort that |
| 1:53.1 | he took to get beyond the sports and to get to the root of who was playing the sports and |
| 1:58.7 | coaching the sports and the humanity behind everything. |
| 2:01.3 | So also a big fan of The Levitart show. |
... |
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