Around the Barrel - Transcript: Ep027 Marty Smith

 

Marty Smith: The small little nuggets of kindness can change the world. And they can be unbelievable reminders that, “Oh my gosh. That person made me feel really good. I'm going to do that for somebody in the next 10 minutes.” And then they do it for the next person and the next person and the next person. And a moment becomes a movement.

Lucas Hendrickson: Passion and energy for your life's work is hard to manufacture. You either have it or you don't, and when part of your job puts you in front of millions of people who share a similar passion, you'd better be ready to turn that energy dial all the way up.

 
On this episode, we talk to Marty Smith from ESPN about how his day to day work life has changed while live sports takes an unforeseen pause; how one minute of mentorships set off an avalanche of support; and how he looks forward to gathering buddies in a small middle Tennessee town as soon as possible Around the Barrel.

Welcome back to Around the Barrel, the official podcast from the makers of Jack Daniel’s. I'm your host, Lucas Hendrickson. With the everyday world still very much in a holding pattern in response to the coronavirus situation, it's easy to point out the things we miss about what we consider normal.

For much of the United States, sports falls into that category. And when your business is looking at the ongoing landscape of live sports, the lack thereof could stoke some ill feelings about the current state of affairs, but not if you're Marty Smith.

As a longtime reporter for ESPN and now host of the Marty Smith's America podcast, Marty is used to constantly being on the go. That has changed of late, but it hasn't dimmed his passion for storytelling or his advocacy for good people doing great things, be they in the sports world or, right now, the medical profession.

And it hasn't slowed his enthusiasm for the primary reason you're listening to this podcast. Marty has a historical link to the Jack Daniel Distillery, plus a love for authenticity and connection that shines through in his work. It even informs what he hopes to do with a little free time he enjoys once the world starts to look a little more familiar.

Marty: I'm Marty Smith with ESPN. I'm a host, reporter and writer for the worldwide leader in sports. Originally from Pearisburg, Virginia out in Appalachia, and I currently live in Lake Norman, North Carolina.

Lucas: Marty Smith, welcome to Around the Barrel.

Marty: I love it. I'm so appreciative that y'all are giving me the time, and to say I'm a fan of the brand is an understatement. I think anybody who knows anything about me knows about my undying affinity for Old No. 7.

Lucas: Well, we appreciate your time. We appreciate your fandom. And certainly looking forward to getting your insight on a lot of things going on in various worlds right now, not only the world of, you know, what we're dealing with currently, but also, you have – and we've talked a lot about people who have fantastic jobs on this show.

You have a job that so many people from the American South would kill to have covering NASCAR for, again, the worldwide leader, and now fully engaged in the world of college football. How did you get started? Where did you come from as far as your path to journalism and storytelling? How'd you get here?

Marty: It's a very unique path. And I will tell you that very often when I'm on college campuses covering college football games or college basketball games, I'm a part of one of the broadcast teams for ESPN’s college basketball coverage as well. Students approach me and they want to know, “How do I get your job?”

Lucas: Sure. 

Marty: It's an impossible question to answer, because I'm a grain of sand. Most of us are grains of sand. There are certainly more attractive people. There are better reporters. There are better writers. But I've made a career off of passion.

And I will – I feel like in this world there are so many uncontrollables, but there are three and four things that we control every single day. We control kindness, we control effort and we control passion and respect. 

And if we give – if we are nice to other people, and we give every last ounce of everything we got and we do it with an undeniable positive energy, we cannot be stopped. I truly believe that. I don't care how hokey that might sound.

That is the truth.

Lucas: No, not at all.

Marty: And I stand here as proof.

Lucas: I'm certainly, as a fan, glad you did it. Like I said, I always like seeing you pop up on my screen cause I know the next few minutes or so, A: the information is going to be good. It's going to be fun. And whatever you're covering – that is going to be useful but away from the norm. So, like I said, I'm a fan and I'm glad to see you on my screen every once in a while. 

Marty: Well, thank you so much. 

And I'm so blessed that so many people believed, from Ray Cox, who was the writer at the Roanoke Times, who covered preps, who covered high school sports and saw something in me and gave me an opportunity there, to the folks at the Washington Post, who gave me an opportunity, to my boss at the Lynchburg News and Advance, to Paul Brooks to everybody involved along the way. 

There've been so many people who saw something and gave me – just cracked a door for me. And when they – once somebody cracks the door for you, it's your job to kick the door in.

Marty: And I've just been very fortunate that so many people believed and offered me those opportunities to succeed and grow.

Lucas: Right. So, in the midst of everything else you're doing for the various ESPN platforms, you have your own podcast these days, Marty Smith's America. You're a hundred and some odd episodes deep into that. 
But I reached back into the archives a little bit and pulled up an episode from a man we're pretty familiar with around here: Jeff Arnett, the master distiller at Jack Daniel Distillery.

So, obviously – it's funny. It struck me that here's a guy who is used to, you know, talking to some of the biggest names in the sports world. And yet you had Jeff on that show, and you treated him like a rock star. 

Marty: He is a rock star, man. C’mon.

Lucas: He is a rockstar. Oh yeah. You know, your passion for this brand – and it's not just about the whiskey, it's about the authenticity, the Americana of it. You know, it really did shine through in that episode from – I guess it was October of 2019.

Talk a little bit about your fandom. Talk, tell us – you know, you mentioned that you are a Tennessee Squire. How did that come about for you? What's your take on the world of Jack Daniel’s?

Marty: I have been a fan of the brand for a very long time, even well before I consumed it. And I'll tell you why.

Lucas: Sure.

Marty: This is actually the same reason that I'm a squire. So my grandfather, James Cameron Massey, was the preacher man in George Patton's third army in World War II. Battle of the Bulge. And I never knew my grandfather to take a drink. Not one.

Lucas: Okay.

Marty: But I've never seen anyone prouder of his heritage in the industry than my grandfather. My great, great, great grandfather was Dan Call. And Dan Call, for those of you listening who may not know who that is, was –

Lucas: This crowd probably – if you're listening to a podcast about Jack Daniel’s, you might know.

Marty: You probably have a good idea.

Lucas: But it's a name that's familiar in the history books. But go ahead and detail him for us.

Marty: He's a gentleman that was entrepreneurial who owned a general store and also was a man of the faith and was a preacher. And there came a moment where he kind of took in this young man, teenager, early teenager. 

And that teenager helped out around the general store and during that process learned the distilling trade from Mr. Call, who happened to have a – he ran a little bit of whiskey out back. When it came time to kind of choose the faith or the fermentation and what he might do with that store, Mr. Call ultimately decided to stay with the church.

And the general store and the distillery went to that young man named Jack Daniel. I hope and pray that that means that Dan Call’s lineage has TSA precheck at the pearly gates. I hope St. Peter goes, “Man, your great, great, great, great granddaddy was such a wonderful Christian that you – come on in. Just come on in.”

But no, you know, what the brand represents is so important to me. It is one of the strongest brands on earth. It is one of the – what I love about Jack people is the loyalty to the brand.

Lucas: Right.

Marty: And I love the –  I mean, look, I love it because it's – to me, the greatest taste in the world, right, is Jack and Coke. It's the greatest taste. There's nothing that tastes better than that.

And I've made tremendous friends through the brand. I have made tremendous memories through the brand. The way that I became a Squire was because I told that Dan Call story once on a platform on nascar.com.

Lucas: Okay.

Marty: And Greg Luehrs in Jack marketing happened to see it, and he reached out to me. And he's like, “Wait a minute, are you kidding me? Is this real? How do you even know that name?” And the next thing you know, a little package shows up in the mail, and I have a foot by foot plot out there in Lynchburg, Tennessee, man.

Lucas: Oh sure. And yet as you mentioned to us – well, as you mentioned on that episode and before we started talking, rolling tape, you have not yet been to Lynchburg. So, you have not visited your plot down there.

Marty: No. It’s embarrassing. I'm embarrassed.

Lucas: To be such a friend of the brand, friend of Mr. Jack, and haven't visited the hometown yet. We gotta fix that.

Marty: I'm going to. It's a goal of mine in short order once we get past our current climate and we're able to gather again, because we will.

Lucas: Sure. Yeah.

Marty: I'm going to gather up my friends, and I'm going to get my buddies down there in Lynchburg to pull up some of those – what do they call those trailers?

Lucas: Oh, those Airstream trailers that we’ve got up there on the BBQ Hill.

Marty: Airstream. I was going to say Streamline. That’s it. I'm going to get them to pull some of those Airstreams out there, bring some of my buddies and play some country music and sample the product.

And, you know, Jack’s an amazing conduit. It's a very important link for me to other emotions in my life, both beautiful and sorrowful. And I'm not alone. 

Lucas: No, not at all.

Marty: That's what it represents to millions of people all around the globe.

Lucas: Sure. You mentioned a little while ago gathering eventually, hopefully sooner than later, kind of bringing somewhat of a normalcy back to our lives here eventually. Doing what you do, how has that changed in this moment? You know, what's been different with how you approach your podcast, how you approach, you know, prepping what could and should happen in the fall?

You know, what would you normally be doing right now as it related to covering college football? You know, the spring games are canceled. The campuses are empty. The recruiting trail is a little bit cold right now. How has that changed your approach to your day to day work with ESPN?

Marty: It's been a paradigm shift that's unprecedented and never been seen before. Nothing has ever stopped sports. World War II was the closest thing.

Lucas: Sure.

Marty: But this is unlike anything any of us have ever experienced. And it hasn't changed my podcast dramatically because I already recorded that at home anyway. But it's changed my job to an unparalleled degree.

I haven't been on an airplane since March 13th, 2020. That is the longest increment of time in my adult life that I haven't been on an airplane. Prior to the coronavirus outbreak, pandemic, I was on about eight – between eight and 12 planes a week every week for the last at least 10 years and certainly since I'd been doing football. 

So, it's been dramatic. And we're still doing a lot of TV. We're doing a lot of interviewing. It's all done remotely at home. I haven't gone anywhere since this thing kinda took over. And I'm doing a series of stories now, of which I'm very proud, of former collegiate athletes who are now working on the front lines of the pandemic.

Lucas: Hm. Okay.

Marty: The first one was former Auburn punter Kody Bliss, who is now at LSU Health in Baton Rouge. He contracted coronavirus himself, was quarantined for 15 days at home and now his entire mission is, “I want to be the first guy in every room. Anybody takes a cough to the face right now, it should be me.”

Lucas: Sure. So, what other things, as it relates to the sports world, are kind of keeping your spirits up? You know, you're doing these fantastic features on medical professionals, and that's, again – put that in the context of the sports world. I was a huge fan of Myron Rolle, the former, Titans cornerback.

Marty: Same. What a hero.

Lucas: Yeah. And, you know, he's literally on the front lines of doing that. I believe he's in New York state now as well. So, those are things that we can look at as sports fans and draw, as you say, perspective and hope from. 
But what kind of things are keeping your spirits up even though you're not covering NASCAR, you know, full time anymore? Looking at college football, what excites you about those worlds and the kind of the innovations that are taking place in them in this moment?

Marty: Well, everybody's had to make tremendous adjustments. We've seen what the NBA is trying to do, what major league baseball is trying to do in order to at least get games and events back without fans.

Lucas: Right.

Marty: I don't know what's right. I don't know what is fair. But I just hope – I don't know. There's plenty of things giving me hope. And part of that hope is that so many outlets are working tirelessly to try to find a vaccine. That's ultimately the – that's the bottom line here.

Once we have that, then we can return to some sort of normal life or what was normal. We'll find a new normal. But again, I just hope we get to gather again sooner than later.

You know, there's plenty of hope out there, and that hope is the new definition of our perspective on doctors and nurses and grocery people and truckers and everybody right now who is still working that way.

Lucas: Right.

Marty: But we need sports, man. I think when you look at what happened with the NFL draft, you can see how desperately we all want it. I mean, it was the highest rated NFL draft ever on ESPN. And the reason is because of what you're saying. It's a vision of hope.

Seeing those young men achieve a childhood dream and have sacrificed and worked so hard to hone their skill, to have that opportunity and to see the families – it was cool to see it in a different way, because we got to see the families in their element achieving the dream as units.

Lucas: Yeah. I was just about to make that point.

As much as we loved having the NFL Draft here in Nashville last year and it was such the visual spectacular that it was, it may have been more impactful to watch those families see, you know, so many years of work and sacrifice and torn muscles and disappointment come to fruition in the form of a family member.

It made it that much more impactful, emotional, whatever term you want to use for it.

Marty: It did. And you know, selfishly, knowing some of those young men personally and knowing their families personally and having gotten to engage and immerse with them about their respective journeys, it's all the more beautiful. Kids like Joe Burrow and Tua Tagovailoa.

Lucas: Sure. I know their parents. And so to get to see them have those moments is very special. And again, the idea right now of sports – and I want to tell you something. I give my company – I give ESPN so much credit, because our entire business model is live sports and everything that surrounds it.

So, when you don't have that, how do you adjust? And the way that our company adjusted – I couldn't possibly be more impressed and grateful with all of the unique new content that we're producing and moving up the production and the unveiling of “The Last Dance” with Michael Jordan.

Lucas: Right.

Marty: You know, that was supposed to debut in June. We did it in April, and holy cow are they amazing. So, I'm just really grateful for the vision and for the leadership that we have at that company.

Lucas: Yeah. So, I do have a question specifically related to the SEC. You are a fixture within the SEC network and certainly their game day shows on that network, but we saw in that recent NFL Draft that almost half of the first round picks came out of the SEC.

Is there a danger in our kind of college football focus continuing to narrow down from, you know, from Division 1 a few years ago then to the Power Five – now we're almost down to a Power One in the SEC these days. I mean, is there a danger in that for, you know, the future of college football as a whole?

Marty: No. I think it's – SEC is pretty dominant right now along with Clemson, along with Ohio State. There are a couple of PAC 12 schools that do – that sustain good records annually. I think Penn state is a great program. Michigan.

So there are some programs that are really good and are good annually. Now, in terms of the talent pool, what the SEC is doing is unbelievable.

Lucas: Sure.

Marty: They recruit great players. They take great players and make them elite, good players and make them great. And they take zero star guys that nobody wanted, like Justin Jefferson, and make them the 22nd pick in the NFL Draft. That is the LSU wide receiver for those of you who may not be familiar.

So, what it is is guys like Nick Saban, is guys like Ryan Day and Urban Meyer up at Ohio State who – look, they had the first three picks in the draft. You know, we're sitting here. We laud the SEC, but the fact is that Joe Burrow, Chase Young and Jeff Okudah were all teammates in 2017 at Ohio State.

Lucas: Right.

Marty: And that's Mark Pantoni, who's one of my dear friends who will come to the Jack Distillery with me, by the way. He is the director of player personnel at Ohio State who is really kind of the umbrella over recruiting.

They are amazing, and it is the tireless effort to go find and secure great players. There are great players all over the country. This is the – you know, it's funny. Even though the SEC is sending this unbelievable talent to the league and growing this unbelievable talent and putting teams in the college football playoff, what you think about too is this is the greatest parity in the history of the sport.

Yeah, okay, however – I should know off the top of my head. I should know how many SEC players it is. Heaven forbid I don't. But there's also young men coming from UNC Charlotte and Liberty University. And there are diamonds everywhere. And so I don't think there's a danger.

Now, who knows? Maybe someday the Power Five will break away from the NCAA. That might be a whole other conversation. You never know. But I think right now, you can find really good players all over the place. But certainly the SEC is churning them, man.

Lucas: Last year you got some notice, some attention for some advice that you gave to a young reporter, Jack Patterson, who was just trying to do his wrap up after a game and you stopped, passed behind the shot, which is very cool. But also saw his struggle, saw him, his setup.

You jumped in there when he took a break and was kind of berating himself a little bit on that video clip and that – you know, I remember seeing that, and as somebody who has done some broadcast work, has done a lot of writing, been around the sports world, I know how much that has meant to me in the past where I've had mentors stop and go, “You're doing great.”

You know, the look in his eyes when you were giving him that perspective, that meant a lot. And you know, that clip has been viewed 2.5 million times as of today.

What has the reaction to that meant to you down the road now? Do you find yourself, when you have those opportunities to be, you know, a minute-long mentor for somebody, jumping in and doing that? What's your mindset when something like that presents itself to you?

Marty: It's just what we're supposed to do. I didn't even know I was being taped. I certainly didn't know that Jack would disseminate it.

And I'll never forget that morning when I woke up. I was talking about Shane Beamer a minute ago, the associate head coach at Oklahoma. I had all these texts. I mean, it was like 200 text messages. I was like, “What in the hell?” 
And the very first one at the top of the page was from Shane. And it basically said, “I'm so happy that people get to see exactly who you are.” Yeah. And there was an internet link there, and I was like, “Oh lord. What is this?” And Shane's known me a long time.

And so I open it, and I couldn't believe that Jack put that on Twitter. And at first I was – I didn't know how to react. I was a little bit embarrassed. But then I realized what was happening with it.

I realized the movement that was, if you just take a second – if you just take a second, whether that's letting somebody in to traffic or opening the door for someone or offering a smile or saying thank you to the barista who makes your coffee, asking them about their day, the small little nuggets of kindness can change the world. 

And they can be unbelievable reminders that, “Oh my gosh. That person made me feel really good. I'm going to do that for somebody in the next 10 minutes.” And then they do it for the next person and the next person and the next person. And a moment becomes a movement.

Lucas: When we take that moment to let that become a habit for us, you know, we can keep that momentum going, you know, without even thinking of it. It just becomes a reflex. And we see those opportunities to have to take that moment of kindness for somebody. It can immediately brighten somebody's day.

So, I know I was very pleased when I saw that. Again, having no idea that I'd talk to you around a year later. But it just, you know, showed the kind of person that you are in that moment. And so I was mightily pleased with that.

Marty: Well, thank you. It's been a tremendous blessing. I'm just glad – everybody wanted me to respond or whatnot, and I never – I didn't respond on social media. I got Jack’s number and called him and I thanked him. 
I'm glad that Jack had that moment of people just building him up. If you look at the response to it, it was such an amazing moment of wrapping your hands around someone and building them up.

Because what he was doing is hard. I've been a professional broadcaster for 15 years, and what do I hate the most even still? The taped on camera stand up. Why? Because for those of you listening who may not understand, if you're doing a live shot and you misspeak, you misspeak. You plow through it. I mean, it is what it is.

If you're taping it, not only does your employer have the expectation of perfection, but so do you. So it might be three, five, six, ten – hell, I've probably – I've had stand ups where it took me 15 tries to get it right. 

And so I wanted him to know, “Hey, man, what you're doing is really hard. And you're killing. You're doing a great job. Just stay at it.”

Lucas: Yeah. 

Marty: Little did I know that it was the first time Jack had ever covered an event as a reporter.

Lucas: Really? Oh, I didn't know that part of it. Holy cow.

Marty: He had been at the station for a long time, for years, as a camera guy and a production voice. But this was – they had just made him, I think, the third reporter or something. And it was the first time he'd ever gotten to cover a game on camera.

Lucas: And it was a game of the century kind of thing.

Marty: You’re dadgone right.

Lucas: So, yeah, that's a lot of pressure on him on that moment. I had no idea that that was the first time for him. Holy cow.

Marty: Total stud, man. I'm proud of him. He’s got a very bright future. He has a beautiful personality, and I can't wait to see him continue to ascend. He's just a great soul.

Lucas: Yeah. Well, Marty, I could spend the rest of this day just picking your brain with all of this stuff. We appreciate your time. We appreciate, you know, your love of the brand. And again, as soon as we can make it happen, hopefully you can make it down to Lynchburg and just spend a little time soaking up the hollow.

And I'm sure Jeff and others around there – if I can hitch some wagon down there myself, I'd love to come hang with you and see your reaction to the home of Jack Daniel’s.

Marty: I can't wait. I'm bringing an army. It's going to be on.

Lucas: Awesome.

Marty: Thank you guys for having me so much. I do love the brand and have for a very long time. It's very special to me, and I appreciate it.

Lucas: No problem. If people want to follow you on the various social medias, where all can they reach out and see what else you're doing other than being on their TV screens on a Saturday morning?

Marty: I'm on Twitter and I'm on Instagram. MartySmithESPN. Same for Facebook. I'm an old man. I don't have TikTok. I don't have Snapchat. I don't have – I've cut it off at three. Three is more than I can handle.

Lucas: Fair enough.

Marty: So, yeah, Instagram and Twitter at MartySmithESPN. I'd love to hear from you guys, and I like interacting on there. I don't look at my Twitter mentions a ton cause I don't need to be told that people want me to fall off a cliff or wreck my car or go to places where the sun don't shine. But you know how it is. That's part of the business.

Lucas: Absolutely. Marty, again, thank you for joining us Around the Barrel.

Marty: Pleasure's all mine. Thank you.

Lucas: Around the Barrel is the official podcast of the Jack Daniel Distillery. Follow the podcast on the web at jackdaniels.com/podcast.

If you like what you hear, please subscribe, rate and review at Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you gather your on-demand audio. Always remember with great podcasts and great whiskey, please enjoy responsibly. Join us next time for more conversations Around the Barrel.

Your friends at Jack Daniel’s remind you to drink responsibly. Jack Daniel’s and Old No. 7 are registered trademarks, Copyright 2020 Jack Daniel’s. Tennessee whiskey, 40% alcohol by volume, 80 proof, distilled and bottled by Jack Daniel Distillery, Lynchburg, Tennessee. Around the Barrel is intended for listeners 21 years of age and older.