Transcript of Kordell Stewart: Reclaiming My Story | Mick Unplugged

You know, you know what made the loudest noise in all of this? It's my silence, right? My silence made the most noise in the history of noise.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of Mick Unplugged. And today, I'm talking to a guy who's changed my life and didn't even realize he did it, man. We're talking about a guy that changed the course of college football history, made a statement in, in the NFL, but more importantly, has shown that no matter what, that smile is infectious and it can change lives. We're talking to none other than my guy, Mr.

Cordell Stewart. Cordell, how you doing today, brother?

What's going on, Mick? How you doing, brother?

Man, I'm trying to live in your world, bro.

No, you don't wanna come over here, man. You good where you at. We can make this work like this here.

Yes, sir. Man, so, you know, on this show, I like to talk about that thing I call your because, your purpose, that thing that's bigger than your why, right? Like if I were to say, what's your why? You tell me, but then I say, well, why is that important?

And that sentence usually starts off with, well, because, And I care about that. So if I were to say, Cordell, bro, it's 2026, you've accomplished a lot. You're letting the world into your world. What's your because today? Like, what's your purpose, your mission today?

Well, if you look at today and you look at the game today compared to what it was way back when, my footprint is somewhere in there. I would like to say the trajectory in which I was going in way back when was kind of altered by some stuff. Right? And I think rightfully so, to be able to storytell, to allow folk to dive into that space with no malice, no anger, no frustration, no even disappointment for the sake of conversation, but just storytell. Because sometimes when you have stories such as mine that was so controversial, more times than not, it very seldom have opportunities to be— the story to be told. I thought, with something that myself, my agent, Nick, that we've been working on since, like, 2008, trying to get this story out there. Some platforms were good, but nothing like this one. HBO and HBO Max did an outstanding job of allowing this to come to fruition. Having Brian Rivera, who's with NFL Films, that was a production company along with HBO, working together, collaborating, to be able to allow me to— over so many Zoom calls, try to put this in its right context.

Um, 28 years, make— 28 years since a lot of stuff that transpired in Pittsburgh took place that I never had a chance to really speak. You know, so many times the pundits have opportunities to tell stories, and it's told from their opinion, as opposed to told from what actually did or didn't happen. And a lot of stuff didn't happen, which, you know, and did you have an opportunity to look at the documentary? Did you have a chance to see it?

Bro, we've watched it 5 times. So your team sent it to me the day before it came out. And so I got to watch it privately. And then last night I had family and friends over and we watched it like 3 times, man, because it's so powerful and there's so many, great moments, and then there's so many questions, and it's just like, dude, like, there's gotta be a— this has to be a miniseries, right? Because it was like, there was so much that you could have gone into and that you could have talked about. Yeah. But, but man, like, this is one of the things we kept saying last night. Even like, we all remember when everything was transpiring, and obviously we don't know the things that we know, but like, I had an uncle who played in the NFL. I have friends who played in the NFL and they all will tell you this. And you know this, if the police ever just talk to you, the team knows. Not even just bring you in or have anything. If the police talks to you, everybody knows, bro. And so we're sitting there like—

In Pittsburgh now, we talking Pittsburgh though. We're not talking New York. We're not talking these big metropolitan cities. We talking about Pittsburgh. Keep going, I'm sorry.

Right, right. Like, like, I don't think the world understands how the NFL and professional sports just work when it comes to the police and stuff.

Yes. Like, it's almost like this. Let me help you out. Here it is. So the National Football League, let's just say it, we have true security. The teams have security. They have FBI agents, whatever we need, CIA, almost like the government. Because these are ran by very powerful owners. And so our connection to what's right and safety is almost paramount when it comes to making sure we dot our i's and cross our t's. In 1998, when this rumor got started, this started off with a phone call to my house phone from a gentleman— he's passed away— by the name of Dr. Frank Sessoms. He was a home visit doctor. He goes into the barbershop And, you know, if you know Pittsburgh, you know, just like any other city, for the sake of conversations, gossip in the barbershop is normal. Like, it's not a— it's not— it's a place of secrecy when it comes to conversation about ball, about relationships, about money, about the hustle, lifestyle, cuts. It's a cultural thing. Whether it's on either side, whether you have straight hair or you have You know, knotted up hair, if you want to call it that, whatever you choose to preface it as.

It's a cultural thing, right? You know, you go to a barbershop, if your name is Tim, you go to Supercuts, you're gonna have a conversation with the barber. You know, you go to the mom-and-pop ribs and joint spots to get your hair cut, you're gonna have that conversation. Right. And it normally stays there, 'cause when you leave, you got so much other stuff you need to take care of. You jump on the phone, you forget about that dialogue, right? Well, This happened in the barbershop and a phone call that came to my house. This was never anything. All of this stuff that I saw or heard on that documentary— well, I would say heard at home and saw in the documentary, especially with the George Michael piece, bro. I was like, I didn't know that happened in the springtime in 1998. I had no clue. Like when my director, Brian Rivera with NFL Films, they end up finding and capturing that piece in that moment in time. I'm like, yo! I'm like, this is— this Trump set, like, this is game over. Like, there was no questioning of anything. And most importantly, Poppy Annie, who's a beat writer in Pittsburgh, to Coach Cowherd.

We have in the law firm, Mr. Rooney's law firm, which is one of the biggest law firms in the Western Pennsylvania area, uh, to even, uh, Jerome telling the story what I told the team, to the guy LZ. And him telling his story about that community, bro, like— to have to hold on this for 28 years, Mick, man. Just imagine you hold your breath for 30 seconds, and we count, right? 1,001, 1,002. I held that thing for 28 years to be able to have a chance to collaborate with being able to revisit this place, man, at a time where it was, you know, 28 years ago, which way back when, it was very unique and cathartic, to say the least. Uh, when it comes down to hearing what was being said, people saying, I saw it, I know the— I know the spot. And then they switched the parks even. They went to North Park. Like, they started going everywhere, bro. And I'm like, I'm not good enough to follow this stuff. Like, I'm not that good, bro. I like to say I'm a superhero on the football field. I like to say I'm my form of Clark Kent going into the phone booth and come out with my slash cape on.

But bro, I'm not that good to follow it. So being that I'm a believer, bro, you know, in real time, I had to, I had to go inward to, to pray about this, man, and ask God to just keep me safe. And, you know, once I, I, you know, because it became real, it wasn't like people saying I was, oh, he's too dumb, or, or, or he have a big enough arm, you know, or, or, or he's too short, you know. I never, I never, I never was able to engage into that foolishness, right? Yeah. I mean, Doug Flutie, you know, Doug Flutie ended up killing that part because he ended up being the shortest if you want to say who's a shorter guy, or even Kyler Murray. But—

Right.

Respectfully to those guys that I've met before. But dog, you went way left. Like, you went in a stratosphere that I'm like, I don't even know nothing about that life, let alone that life existing, being that it's a blue-collar city, in that city. Like, I don't know that. I mean, but this is 2026 now, right? And if there was a time 28 years later to tell the story about that life, Bro, at this time? At the height of being accepted in this space? You know, bills being passed for people that live that life, making, you know, if you will, queer people be comfortable, you know, about being who they are? This is the time to have that conversation. This ain't it.

Right.

You know, I'm sorry for those who thought it was true. Like, this never, ever in my life existed. That rumor was just that. But for it to run, rampant like it did. Like the San Diego fires in those drive hills, the hill, bro.

Yeah.

Like it's un— and I got a 23-year-old son now, you know. And you look at the game today and how guys are being drafted number 1 overall that look and play like me. They're in the top 5, they're in the first round. Like before me, I never saw that before, you know. It was— it, it never— it never— I mean, Randall Cunningham was in the second round. John Elway was in the first round. Steve Young, I don't know where he got drafted. Um, but to say the least, you know, I went play wide receiver, you know, and, and I did it better than most according to a lot of, you know, whether it's Dick Holk, who's the running back coach who played for Penn State. He played with the Steelers, then he coached for the Steelers. He even said, Cordell, you know, if you're gonna play receiver, you could have been a Hall of Fame wide receiver. But yet I was the starting quarterback for that franchise. I was one that was the best in that division. I was one that was sometimes the best, arguably the best in the conference to one of the top in the league.

In 5 years, I went through 4 different coordinators. I had 20 touchdowns passing, over 10, over 20, over 10 rushing. That was the first time that ever was done in the history of the game. I gave you 3 touchdowns throwing. I gave you 2 rushing. The first time that's ever— twice. First time that ever was done repeatedly in the history of the game. I mean, you go back to Otto Graham, who, who did it in 1954 in the championship game where he threw 3 and rushed for 3. But now we have Josh Allen, who's done it 4 times now. But this was 20— this was 20 years ago where I had the audacity to ask, can I compete to be the starting quarterback on that football team? In a climate where that style of quarterback that was mobile always changed positions or did not last that long. And you dropped that seed, you dropped that seed and salt and pepper of information on top of that style of player. Oh, you're supposed to be obsolete. I wasn't supposed to be having this conversation. I wasn't supposed to have the MVP season I had in 2000.

It wasn't supposed to happen this way. So now there's a lot of people that are uncomfortable, Mick. All right, there's a lot of people that are uncomfortable. I was uncomfortable for 28 years. Well, let me tell you something, that movie, that, that short film, because that's what it's considered, is a short film, was for 40 minutes. So you've got 27 years, 364 days, 59 hours, and 20 minutes to sit back and deal with the 28 years that I've dealt with this, with you being uncomfortable for watching this for 40 minutes. Don't, don't pass out after a month. When you get to 3 years, I don't want you to go in a straitjacket, okay? When you get to 10 years, I don't want you to admit yourself into the hospital. I don't want you to get counseling in 20 years because you still gonna have 8 more before you could utter the sentiments of anything that's involving that rumor. Like, that's tough because a lot of my friends are saying people are uncomfortable with hearing this and they're so ashamed and embarrassed. Well, I was embarrassed. I was ashamed. I was frustrated at one time. But being that I was a kid back then, I was puzzled by what the hell was going on.

So now, here I am, I'm a grown man, just turned 54, October 16th. You know, I invite this dialogue in this conversation because a lot of fans that were Cordell Stewart fans were— they were bullied. You know, a lot of conversations were being had at the schools, and they were embarrassed. You know, they— So now, it's a time where I would love in Pittsburgh, Truth be told, for there to be at least 100 fans that were Cordell Stewart fans to put on their jerseys and take a picture together, figure out— throw out the bat sign. I don't know what signal— the Steelers signal. I don't know which one it is. But find me 100 to 200 people that are bold and brash enough to put on a Cordell Stewart jersey, turn backwards, point at the name on the back, post it on social media so I can repost it. So then I will fly back into Pittsburgh, and sit down and have lunch, orchestrate some type of lunch or dinner with them of some sort, and just give them at least 20, 30— just to fly in town, 20, 30 minutes, maybe an hour of their time to tell them how much I appreciate them for standing, for fighting a good fight, uh, of believing in everything that I was doing out on the football field, uh, to know that they went through some of that stuff too, for them to be celebrated by me, um, and spend some time, bro.

That, that really what my heart desires for those fans because That was tough in that city, man. I mean, it was tough, bro. It was tough, man. It was tough, dog. It was tough. And I'm not saying tough as in I couldn't deal with myself or, you know, whatever. But just to know that now that I'm a dad and I'm coaching, I'm like, people really had time to come up with that foolishness, bro, to make that mess up and not talk about the greatness of what I did on the football field. Like, that's blasphemous. It's crazy. As the kids say now, it's diabolical.

Hey, it was, man. And here's what's, here's what's crazy. And I've always wanted to ask you this question.

Yeah.

You're the leader of the team, right? You are the quarterback. You're the person that everybody has to trust.

Yeah, trust.

But now you have reason not to trust others. And knowing the Cordarrelle Stewart the way that I do, trust was everything to you. What was that like for you now to look in the eyes of not just the players, but the organization and the leaders and to feel some type of way, bro? Because we're all human, but we all, to your point, didn't have to go through it. Only Cordell Stewart had to go through it. Like, what is, what was that like for you as somebody that trust meant everything to now all of a sudden have to second guess and look people in the eye, but still Got a job to go do on Sunday.

That's, that's why I said it wasn't me. I had to put God in the middle of this, bro, because my natural being, my person wanted to do something, man. Like, I didn't— and I didn't know what to do. I ain't know what to say. I ain't know how to feel. I ain't know how to act because I don't know where it's coming from. And then you got new guys coming on the team. You got guys in the locker room that don't know for sure how they should feel about it. They cool, you know, they ain't— they're not pushing away. They're not— They're not turning their backs, but you can see the conversations that are being had. And then when you come around, how they turn. Like, I'm not crazy. Like, I'm a human being. Like, I, I'm getting paid a lot of money because of my eyes and my brains and my ability to think, you know? So, um, a normal person couldn't handle that. You notice sometimes we say that a weak person couldn't handle it. No, no, no, no. I'm gonna say a normal person could not handle that, bro. I'm an African-American man and come from New Orleans.

That we pride ourselves in how we handle ourselves when it comes to our families, going to church and being good stand-up young men. Like, that's the world I come from. I come from honor and respect in the household of people that you're going— take your shoes off at the door. Like, be home before the lights come on if dad's not home. Like, go inside and do your homework before you come outside. Matter of fact, change your school clothes to your outside clothes. You know what I'm saying? Compete against dude and get bullied and fighting to compete for something that's bigger than the game, but just to tighten and toughen you up kind of stuff. That's where I come from. So to sit here and hear these people candidly talk about this stuff like it's cool, it's beyond me. You know? So all I can say is I didn't trust nobody. You know? All my responsibility was to go play ball. And allow my winning to disturb all of their feelings and emotions. And Coach Cowherd said that I'm the most winningest quarterback that he's had since he was at Pittsburgh. Said it on the documentary.

And when you hear those sentiments, like, you know what, I need to— that need to be said again. That need to be said a little bit more because people don't appreciate that work. Like, do you know how hard it is to go play receiver and then to set your behind up behind center and be a quarterback? Do you know how hard that is? I'm not talking about going to play receiver, then DB, or play receiver and punt return, or playing tight end and then play linebacker, or tight end and play running back. No, I'm talking about the cerebral position that they all talk about and say that if you have too much talent, you might go play another position. As they said in the draft with Mel Kiper and Joe Theismann, they said it like, I'm almost too athlete— too athletic to play the quarterback position. Yeah. Like, when you hear that, you know what you're up against. I didn't know this part was gonna come in there, but you know what you're up against as far as defying the odds of doing it. But you add that, you know, that whipped cream on top of it with a cherry, you know, of, you know, negative conversations and just trying to say what it's not.

Man, that's crazy. But the beautiful part about all of this, It's HBO and NFL Films with Brian Rivera being my director. In our Zoom call conversations, they were able to capture the moment exactly the way I needed it to be captured, bro. Like, you know how sometimes when you watch these documentaries make— people sometimes say, man, that's not what I meant. No, they captured everything to a science. I've never seen Schindley Park before. I didn't even know what a Schindley Park was like. And then when I saw it, I'm like, we driving up the hill, I'm seeing a little gazebo where they got the tables and the benches with the grill. And then I see the circle and all this stuff with the tree in the middle. I'm like, I don't see a park. Like, I've never— I come from New Orleans. We have sand pits. Right. With swing sets. You know, we have, we have the field with a track around it. We have a baseball diamond, you know, over here with the red dirt in it. I ain't see none of that stuff. So when people say the park, I didn't know what the hell they were talking about.

When I saw it, I saw this shit, I said, what the hell?

Yep.

And then when, you know, I was being asked the questions about, you know, it not being grammatically correct and talk about Froot Loops, I said, you gotta be shitting me. I'm like, really? This is what they talking about? Like, this is what, this is what they stooped down to try to demean and diminish or to undermine and to try to disrupt all of this trajectory that was on this height. It was going this direction. I mean, commercials, video games, to, you know,

AFC

championships, conference championships. Yes.

Like, people don't understand that franchise, right?

Like, they don't understand it. Yeah.

At the time, the winningest franchise in NFL history at the time. And you are the face and the leader, and you're doing it the right way.

The right way. I wasn't outside. I wasn't outside. I wasn't going out to drink often. I was— if it was socially with my teammates or family and friends that came in town, but I never was— I never got caught up into nothing stupid. Like nothing that would say, what the hell was he thinking? You know, I didn't get caught up in no cases and, you know, nothing that, that, that deemed I was not worthy of being a model citizen in that community to being a model citizen to be the face or even the starting quarterback for that franchise. But I tell you what, for those who are uncomfortable, that's their fault.

Because you shouldn't have talked about it, and you shouldn't have believed that mess that wasn't true. So you gonna be uncomfortable for a long time because we outside now having this conversation. It's not, it's not hidden anymore. It's not tucked away, you know. I'm— and, and, and I knew God was going to allow me to have this chance, and I still have to be mindful of the words that come out of my mouth because, you know, I want other opportunities to do other great and big things. You know what I'm saying? Just because I may be a little sideways in remembering all that kind of stuff, I still got to be mindful because I got kids listening. I got, you know, kids on my team that I coach that's listening, and I want them to understand how to handle themselves when it comes to adverse moments. But I don't expect this to happen to the kids. All right? Yeah. But they know they have a coach that really stand on what he speaks when he speaks and the things that he speak about, man. Because that's a respect thing and that's grace, you know? And that's the stuff I have to always stand on, brother.

You could be mad for me and cuss everybody out, but, you know, as much as cussing I've already done, I don't have too much cussing left in my cussing box. Because that was rough, bro. That was rough.

Nah, I believe it, man. And, you know, I told you offline, my uncle Randy Jackson is your biggest fan, right? Like—

Tell him what's up.

He's got 3 Steeler jerseys. He'd been a Steeler fan all his life. Me, Joe Greene, and Cordell Stewart. And I don't know if he's ever washed either of those jerseys, but every Sunday he's in one of them. And here's what he and I had talked about when everything was going down, man. Like you couldn't, you couldn't say he wasn't a great quarterback because he was right. To your point, you never got in any type of Not forget trouble. You never got any drama. And what I think, and this is, these are the words of Mick and Mick only, and it's my show, damn it. So I can say what I want. Say what you want, bro. Because Cordell Stewart never made the game of football about Cordell Stewart. People had a problem with that. Meaning you were not flashy. You were not, you were not throwing your hands up in the air every time you did something like you were, the same way that a Joe Montana was, that a Steve Young was. Like, you were, you know, you were supposed to go out there and win games. That was your mindset and your mantra.

And people wanted you to be the flashy person. People wanted you to be the hype, it's about me. I personally think that was the problem. But again, those were the words of Mick and Mick only.

Well, let me say this, Mick. You know, you know what made the loudest noise in all of this? It's my silence.

Right.

My silence made the most noise in the history of noise. It ran like wild. All I had to do was talk and it would quiet down. But because I didn't say a word, it affected so many people. Even— you know how it is. If he doesn't say anything, it must be what?

It must be true. Right. Right.

So now I don't say nothing. And they'll come back and say, well, he ain't saying nothing, so he must like people talking about him like that. He might. And I'm still not saying nothing about it because there's nothing to talk about. I don't defend lies. I don't defend anything else other than you get in my space too close or you bother my family.

Right.

That's it. I don't, I don't get caught up into all that noise and talking stuff, but this— my silence Had the greatest resounding noise in the history of noises because everybody talked about this stuff, bro. Everybody from my neighborhood back at home to parts of Pittsburgh, Erie, pick a spot. You can pick it anywhere. Sometimes to the point where people didn't even want to hear it. It was almost like it was some places I wanted to go do to actually even shoot the documentary. And they said, man, we ain't got time to be hearing that. Nobody want to talk about no, no, none of that stuff, man. And whoo, ain't nobody. And it's cool, it's fine, it's fine, it's okay. But you're gonna hear about it now because it's outside now, you know. The conversations have been had. And for those who believe it, keep on believing it, stand on it, don't move off of your spot. But the problem I do have is they fed that stuff to those kids. I was about to say something else. They fed that stuff to those kids in some of those schools. Okay? And when I hear some of my friends tell me, man, you should have heard the stuff they was saying in school and the teachers and all of these different places and spaces of being— so now all of a sudden, you know Pittsburgh?

Come on, man. Meadville Green. I remember growing up and Meadville Green had the Coca-Cola commercial.

Right.

You hear a few stories that he took a bottle, threw it at the kid. It wasn't the shirt, it was the bottle. You heard that story too, right? So it's almost like— I'm like, you hearing stuff and— You don't know the truth of anything. But I'm like, ain't no way that man threw no Coca-Cola bottle at anybody. Like, that man threw the jersey at the kid, right? So you start hearing stuff, man, and that's what you're gonna remember of Cordell Stewart slash in Pittsburgh? Really?

Right.

That I was up in Schenley Park, Froot Loop Circle? That's, that's what you're saying, right? And so it's like, it's, it's, it's laughable. That's why when you heard on the documentary, I was like, really? I was like, this is some bullshit. You know, like, this is laughable, bruh. Right. And so, this is why, for me, when even hearing that again, I'm so glad that we did this. HBO gave me the opportunity to do this documentary, bro. Like, I love them. They don't know it, but I love them so much. NFL Films, them so much. Brian Rivera, him so much, to where it is beyond crazy To know that that opportunity came about. And for me, at the end of the day, I'm just happy that it was able to be said, to be heard properly, and for everybody to have their opportunity to have their last conversation about what they heard, what they understood, and how disappointed— because you should be. You should be embarrassed. You should be disappointed. You should be— you should feel all types of ways. if you spoke on something that was so ignorantly brought up and created and falsified, it never was true, to the point where you just— see my silence, my quiet, how I move?

I shook hands. I gave my boys love. I hugged them when we scored. I smiled all the time. Yeah, that ain't cool in Pittsburgh. You know, you can't smile too much. You know, you gotta wear steel-toe boots, have broken knuckles, and, you know, you gotta look like something's wrong with you. You know, like you're a blue— No, no, man. I'm that kind of guy. You know, I know when to get serious and time to get serious. I'm gonna smile all the time. You know, I'm, I'm gonna do all the things that's, that's godly when I move. You understand what I'm saying? And I'm gonna still stand on that as I tell this story and not give them that venom that they gave me. I'm gonna stand on the cool stuff, you know, and I'm gonna keep it the way I'm supposed to keep it. What my mother and my father taught me is don't let no one control your disposition and how you move. One of my guys who was a limousine driver up there, he said, don't let them rent no space upstairs. You know, it's already occupied. You know, there was no space ever rented upstairs.

So while you thought you had it and you thought it was gonna go off into the sunset and you were gonna have this as your dream to be the conversation, no, you got the truth now. And sometimes the truth— the truth is a powerful mechanism that causes people sometimes to get real uncomfortable in the seat they're sitting in. And if this is what's causing people to become uncomfortable because this is what they believed in, well, you gonna be uncomfortable for the rest of your life. Because I was uncomfortable for 28 years, but you got a lifetime to be uncomfortable with this one. And trust me, I'm coming back to the Burg, and I'm gonna come see them kids. I'm gonna tap into those kids because they need to see Cordell. You understand me? They need to see me. They need to have the opportunity to know that the guy that everybody may have either said something crazy about or they said something great about, he's gonna— he exists. I'm alive. I'm here. Here I am. Raise my shirt so people can see me. Here I am. You know, and, um, I appreciate that city in more ways than one.

Um, people think I'm mad now, but I go back to Pittsburgh all the time. The Rooney family, Dan Rooney III, he reaches out to me all the time, tell me Merry Christmas, happy birthday, um, ask me how my son is doing. Art Rooney, when I see him, when I go to games, he invite me into the box. I go and hang around the team. I saw Coach Tomlin. I haven't met Coach, uh, McCarthy yet. But you know, I'm still around, I'm still involved, and I'm not going nowhere. You know, I'm not going nowhere.

Well, here's what I wanna do, because I'm all about giving you your flowers, bro. I'm on the record, I'm a huge Cordell Stewart fan. Everybody that knows me knows that. And here's what I also need to let people know too. Don't just Google Cordell and his stats, go watch some of these Colorado games, man. People don't realize triple option team, right? You go in there and you're setting records with the Heisman running back. Like you were doing the thing at Colorado. Go watch Cordarrelle first year starting quarterback with Chan Gailey. Go watch the 2000s. Like go watch Cordarrelle Stewart play quarterback. I promise you there's not been many like him. I just promise you like he is that guy. But Cordarrelle, this is what I wanna do, bro. I'm, I'm on the record. I'm a Cordell Stewart fan. I got full disclosure. I'm a Patriot by birth. I had an uncle who played for the New England Patriots, Stanley Morgan. So I'm a Patriot guy through and through. But I'm about to rock a Cordell Stewart jersey. Cordell said he wants 100 people with the Cordell jersey on at a game. I wanna lead this and make this happen.

I'm gonna be there. I need 150 people to message me and we're gonna choose the game and we're gonna show up for Cordell. And we're gonna do this because it's the right doggone thing to do. If you are in the Pittsburgh area listening, if you're not in Pittsburgh, but you're a Cordell fan and you don't have a Cordell Stewart jersey, message me on Instagram, Cordell Stewart, and I'm gonna order you a jersey and we're showing up. We're doing this for you, dude. Like, because not only do you deserve it, to your point, those kids deserve it, man.

That's

right. The legacy of Cordarrelle Stewart is bigger than football. Because when you know the things that he does off the field, when you know the things that he does in the community, when you know what he's doing with youth and making impact, then you know who Cordarrelle Stewart is. You know who his mom is and you know who his dad is. And to me, that's the most important thing. And I wanna keep that legacy going for you, bro.

And I just wanna say, I thank you there, brother. That was very, very, very, very well said and very kind. But when you guys get there, try to find a way to go to a certain spot at the stadium and have somebody take a picture of you and post it and tag me. And once you tag me, add it to where I can add it to my story. And I can post that on my page. So make sure everybody turn around, point at the back of the jersey with Stewart on the top. All of you guys together, if you can do it, it shouldn't be hard because if they're listening, they'll come out and have it at a game, a certain game. And, uh, send that to me. Yeah. And then I'll make this work for us, me coming back and come and spend some time with you guys and have some lunch and just, and just hang out, man. You know, close off a spot for everybody to come in and have a good time. That's Because I wanna show you how much I appreciate you guys for standing on 10. You know, standing on 10, that's the number.

You know, standing on 10.

Standing on 10.

And making it work.

I'm a Cordarrelle Stewart fan and I live in South Carolina. So my family, we gonna choose a game, we're going, everybody's in Cordarrelle Stewart jerseys. Again, if you're in Pittsburgh, message me, we'll figure it out.

We're gonna make it happen. And if it's not in Pittsburgh, it can be in South Carolina too. I come right up the road, Sterling Sharp. One of my good buddies, he's right there in the area. I can always find a way to make it work. Trust me.

Well, we'll make that happen here then. No problem.

Make it work. Make it work so we can make some magic, bro.

Yes, sir. Man, I appreciate you, like I said, more than you know. I'm so proud of you. I'm so proud of your team, HBO, NFL Films, the directors, like everybody that had a piece in this, man.

Yes, sir.

It's gonna win awards because it's so well put together, but it's you. And that's— I'm mostly proud that it's you, man. Like, you got to begin to exhale. I'm not even gonna say you've exhaled yet, but you got to begin the process of exhaling, bro. And I know you need it.

You said something right there, brother.

I'm not gonna say it, but you need it.

Oh no, oh no, you said something right there. Trust me. No, if you saw how vulnerable one of my friends and one of the girlfriends of mine in Colorado, she saw it, she's like, my God, it was just so, You were so raw and so vulnerable. Like, goddamn, you almost not want me— I don't want to be a friend no more. I just want to be a friend of who you— I said, listen, I've always been this way, you know what I'm saying? I've always been open. I've been an open book. Like, I don't have anything to hide. And I'm not saying it to justify anything, but, you know, like, life is too short to be playing games, you know, to be lying. I'm not— I never would lie to myself. This is a time in a climate in society that whoever you are You can openly be that person. I'm a real man. Like, I don't know how to be anything else. Yeah. You understand what I'm saying? Like, I don't get caught up into that space of, oh, you're trying to figure out— no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

I'm a real man. And I live by those principles in honoring that, you know, based on my beliefs and how I live for me, how I live for me, not for no one else, for me. And, uh, you know, I have a kid, a full-grown young man, 23 years old, and he had to get here some kind of way. Hello. So for me and how I live and how I am, there's no indictment on any other human being and how they live their lives. This is 100% about me. But that is not the life in which I live, the one in which we've heard those rumors be said. I, I don't live that life, man. So, um, respectfully— This is why this documentary— it encouraged me to fight for over 16 years to try to get this thing developed. And my agent, Nick Antichilla, he came in and really did a great job of sticking by my side and burning the midnight oils and making phone calls and doing my book to doing the piece with Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. And And, uh, all of a sudden it was captured by the NFL Films. And most importantly, I don't want to say most importantly because I don't want to take it away from NFL Films, but the way they— the pixels and how the stuff was shown on the television, bro, it was so beautiful, man.

I'm like, yo, I don't know if my TV ever showed that colorful. I don't, I don't know if the color differential and everything I had on in my clothes, you know, whether it was my, my Q-Side Fire hoodie that I had on, you know, and my Everything, man. It was just so— it was just so well— you know, I kind of removed myself. You know, I didn't allow nepotism to get in play, uh, but I removed myself from it being me. I tried to. And I just wanted to watch it for the sake of just watching it. Like, it was so well lit, you know, and it was so well—

It was beautiful.

Directed.

Like, it was just—

Yeah, bro. It was pretty, man. It was very nice. It was very eloquently, very articulate. I think my communication teacher, my professor, would be real excited about how well I went across on that film. I think they would pat me and give me a high five. I think I did a swell job, I would say, Mick.

Hey, you did great, brother. You did great. It's beautiful. Everybody make sure you watch it. Go, go, uh, check when it's available in your area on HBO Max. It's amazing. You know, on HBO, they're gonna show it live. They're gonna show it on the West. So if you got HBO West, it's gonna pop up there too. Like, I promise you, watch it, watch it, watch it. Let me know if you love it. Hashtag Standing on 10. We're gonna make that hashtag viral because that's what we're about to do. That's right. Cordell, I know you're busy. I know you got a lot going on. I'm gonna get you outta here on my rapid-fire top 5. You ready? Let's go. This is the Club 5. All right. New Orleans. Who makes the best gumbo in the city?

The whole city. Bro, anywhere you go, you got it. Everybody, well, they make it. Well, you know, the best gumbo I would say is the family-made gumbo. But you have so many spots like Dini's, Drago's. You have so many nice places. Mother's. You have so many spots.

Drago's and Mother's, bro.

There's some really great spots, man. Seafood everywhere. So it's not really one spot, 'cause I don't wanna not— I don't wanna subject you guys to go to one place and not give the whole city the love. So when you ask me about any type of cuisine at the crib, 5, New Orleans, 4, New Orleans. 3, New Orleans. 2, New Orleans. 1, New Orleans.

So truth be told, it's home for me. So anytime I get a chance to get some, I go home first, but when I'm out, I don't care where it is. It's always good. All you need is some filet. Throw some filet on top of some filet on top of it. You'll be all right. You'll be just fine, brother. So, so everything New Orleans when it comes to any cuisine that you want, we got it at the crib.

Hey, shout out to Drago's. Best oysters I ever had, Drago's. Mother's. Every time I'm in New Orleans, I have breakfast at Mother's 'cause you give me Some debris and grits, bro. I'm there all day long.

That's right, bro. That's right. Good stuff, man.

Question number 2, and I'm gonna make these really quick. You went to Colorado. This is pre-NIL. Who gave you the second biggest bag? If you didn't go to Colorado, where were you going?

Well, there was no second. Colorado was second. You know, it was crazy 'cause you were in South Carolina, right? So what's crazy is I got recruited by South Carolina Gamecocks first, and then it was— I think it was Syracuse Orangemen. And so McPherson, Coach McPherson, he passed away. The dad, you know, passed away, and I kind of fell off. And then South Carolina, they had all the pictures of Sterling Sharpe wearing number 2 on all of their— stuff that indicated that, uh, that he was the man at South Carolina, which everybody knows that. But, uh, I went on a trip to Arkansas, I went on a trip to Oklahoma, went on a trip to Nebraska. When I went to Colorado, that was it. So Colorado was my second best team. Like, I wasn't going to Oklahoma because they just beat them. I wasn't going to Nebraska because they just beat them. And Arkansas was 3-8-1 at that time. They was trying to figure it out. But Colorado won the national championship, so I couldn't go nowhere else. I was their number one choice. I was the top recruit that year. So I, I mean, I don't, I don't believe into the, to the B-list of stuff.

I go straight to the A-list.

Yes, sir. Number 3, who's the NFL defender that still gives you nightmares?

None, because there wasn't too many that I had to deal with like that, you know. And I know people talk about Ray Lewis, but we, we, yeah, I mean, we, we played Baltimore 14 times, we beat them 9. I mean, and the one we missed, my field goal kicker Chris Brown missed that field goal. So I'm like—

Yeah, he did.

So if there was any team out there that was one of the tougher teams to play against, it was Baltimore because that was in, in region, in division rival. So, uh, but there was no one player that scared me, man. Like, I, I just had no fear, man. Like, seriously, like, I really didn't. Like, for me to say I would help at receiver and then ask to go back to quarterback, that's You gotta have, you gotta have a few of them on you to, to say that you're, you're willing to go, you know, you, you confident in yourself. So I— there was not too many that, that, that, uh, that gave me any fear, man. I didn't play that way.

I like it. You always get the truth from Slash, brother.

That's right. 4th question.

I know, I know your love for music. What's in your ear right now? Like, you got to get hyped up, you got to go get ready to do the thing. What you playing?

I'll be playing some 50 Cent. I'll be playing Jay-Z. You know, I play the stuff that, that got some good ringtones to it. I love Tupac. You know, all the old school stuff that we all grew up on, you know. Um, this new age stuff is really good, but I'm a big— I'm a big time 50. I like 50. I love Tupac. Jay-Z is just smooth with it. You know, H to the S-O, V to the S-A, you know? So, yeah, so Hov, you know? So it was, it was, it was, it's that life right there for me. Mm-hmm.

Yes, sir. Last one. I'm speaking this to existence. When you win the award for best film, What's one person aside from mom and dad that you gotta make sure you thank when y'all stay?

God. God. God. Yeah. 'Cause he kept me through this whole process. You know, I lost a mom at 11, lost my sister in '96. Brothers, you know, brother went off to work and go to school. I was home by myself all the time. I had decisions I had to make, you know, be inside at a certain time and do my homework. Had to still stay encouraged and engaged in schoolwork because I lost my mom. Family kind of went this totally different direction. And then this stuff, you know, we're just wanting to play the friendly game of ball, and these people throw this stymie stuff out there on you. And you stuck with this for so much time, for so long. And now all of a sudden, I finally got a chance with HBO to relive this life and to revisit it. Man, it's so surreal. But When it comes down to the moment in time where I have someone to thank, I'm gonna thank God, man. You know, because his grace and mercy on me, you know, he's— you know, the things that he displayed to me in my life and shown me and kept me and was my bodyguard in his own right.

You know, aside of my mom and my dad, bro, shoot, first it is him. You know? First is your— first we say it like they say, we say, first is God. You know, second is your family, third is your career, and you choose whatever it is after that, in that order. God, family, career. Yes, sir. Boom. So he's getting, he's getting all that love, bro. He better— they gonna be sick of me being up there because— but they gonna get a mouthful. They gonna hear that. They gotta hear that because I couldn't do this by myself. It was no way possible. Even thinking about it now when we talk about it, I'm like, yo, I really been through some mess, man. You know, I mean, I really had to— and I didn't go through anything as far as, you know, being self-inflicted or anything, me doing it, but just the stuff that I had to travel through to navigate through those detours and, you know, those dead ends and all of that stuff of being able to, you know, levels upstairs, downstairs, jump out the window, you know, fires, you know, snowstorms. I had to deal with so many different things to just get to this point of satisfaction.

And, uh, I gotta be honest with you, brother. Mick, pretty satisfied, bro. I think there's more to come. And if we do win one, Mick, we gotta come back on here again to talk about this. 'Cause, uh, there's a lot of awards to get out there.

We will come back.

That's my guy. There you go. Enough said. Enough said. Enough said. I'm never gonna mess this up. Enough said, brother. Appreciate you, man.

Well, I know you got a Jet. I appreciate it. I appreciate your team. I'm always here for you, man.

Alrighty, man. I appreciate you, mate.

You got it.

Yep.

And to all the viewers and listeners, remember, your because is your superpower. Go unleash it.