Tosh Show - My Favorite NFL Player Turned Chef - Derrell Smith

Episode Date: November 26, 2024

Daniel huddles up with former NFL player Derrell Smith to discuss his transition from the gridiron to award-winning chef, TV host, and food entrepreneur.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Skylight Frame is more than just a photo frame. It's the perfect way to keep loved ones close, no matter the distance. Whether it's grandparents who adore seeing the grandkids' latest antics, or friends capturing every moment, the Skylight Frame is the perfect gift to bring joy and connection into any home. For a limited time, save up to $80 on your Skylight Frame when you go to au.skylightframe.com slash comedy. That's right, to save up to $80 on your Skylight Frame, go to au.skylightframe.com slash comedy. The 2025 iHeart Podcast Awards are coming.

This is the chance to nominate your podcast for the industry's biggest award. Submit your podcast for nomination now at iHeart.com slash podcast awards. But hurry, submissions close on December 8th. Submit your podcast for nomination now at iHeart.com slash podcast awards. But hurry, submissions close on December 8th. Hey, you've been doing all that talking, it's time to get rewarded for it. Submit your podcast today at iHeart.com slash podcast awards.

That's iHeart.com slash podcast awards. Hello, my undeadly darlings. It's Teresa, your resident ghost host. And do I have a treat for you. Haunting is crawling out from the shadows, and it's going to be devilishly good. We've got chills, thrills, and stories that'll make you wish the lights stayed on.

So join me, won't you? Let's dive into the eerie unknown together. Sleep tight, if you can. Listen to Haunting on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. You find Thanksgiving stressful? No. Okay. What is a... Go ahead. Don't take this offensively. I'm gonna take it offensively. Ask me about white people Thanksgiving. What is that like? Tosh Show! Tosh Show!

Tosh Show! Yep, there's product in my hair. It must be Tuesday. Tosh Show time! Eddie? Yep? Guess what? What? Thanksgiving right around the corner. Hit me with the gobble gobble. You went authentic. Oh gee. That turkey sounds good. You excited for this Thanksgiving? I am excited. I love

Thanksgiving. We're sharing it together. We are. Oh our families are gonna be Are you excited for this Thanksgiving? I am excited. I love Thanksgiving. We're sharing it together. We are. Oh, our families are going to be together. We're going to, yeah, be thankful. Oh, we're going to watch a lot of football? We're going to watch all, nothing but football.

Let's go to Bears Lions. Now Detroit has been playing on Thanksgiving Day since, are you ready for this? 1934. There were only two teams back then. Wow. I don't know who the other team was, but Detroit was losing on Thanksgiving Day. That was the tradition. For 90 years they've lost

every single game by double digits. Well this year's going to be different. They're going to destroy the Bears. They are on their way to the Super Bowl. Now they won't get to the Super Bowl this year. They'll probably lose in the first or second round. No, they won't lose in the first round because they'll probably have a bye but uh Yeah, they'll make it to week two of the playoffs in the town will be like yeah, it's good enough Motor City. Let's build a car Okay, all right. The next game is the Giants and Cowboys. These are two bottom feeders in the NFC East.

They have fallen. Cowboys are unwatchable at home, just unwatchable. And the Giants, well, they got rid of Saquon Barkley for Daniel Jones, who's now a third stringer. Congratulations, General Manager. Way to really eyeball talent. Congratulations, General Manager. Way to really eyeball talent.

Now the final game, the entree of Thanksgiving, the reason that we slaughtered the indigenous people, the Dolphins versus the Packers. There it is. There it is! Give thanks, and ye shall be thanked upon. Yeah, I like getting thanked upon. Okay, the Dolphins go up to Green Bay, probably the most depressing city in America, past October 31st.

In the overhead shots, try to paint it as a cute quaint town, but it is fucking horrible. Thank goodness it's at night, so the dolphin players won't be super depressed when they see the nothingness that is the Green Bay area. Now you know that team is owned by the fans. Right. And that's incredible.

I just wish the fans would move and then bring the team with them and we could have the Montecito Packers. That would be fun. I wonder how many people have to move from the city of Green Bay to bring the team with them. What if it's just four or five influential families? You know what? We're thinking of getting a timeshare down in Baja. Could we move the the Packers to San Jose del Cabo? That would be delightful. Right. No players are gonna complain about doing some some sweet deep sea

fishing, you know, and then getting to play a football game against the Packers down there in San Jose Del Cabo. The point is I need to get the Green Bay Packers out of Green Bay. For a while there they were like, you know, two games a year in Milwaukee. That was always silly. Where would I want the Green Bay Packers to move? I mean, does it have to be near a bay? Yeah, it probably does need to be near a bay. It's not going to Oakland.

Maine? That's a good idea. Bring them over to Bar Harbor. The Bar Harbor Packers. That sounds great. Bring them to Maine. Maine is so much more fun to visit than Green Bay. Now Appleton, Wisconsin, don't get me started. Love it. Oshkosh, love it. Madison, heaven on earth. Milwaukee, I'll be honest with you. I enjoy it. But Green Bay, oh, depressing. Here's the thing, when you're in Green Bay and you're like, wow, this couldn't get any worse. Realize there's a whole country above you. By the way Thanksgiving is probably you know one of

the worst holidays but the food. What's your favorite piece of food that day Eddie? I think I like stuffing. The stuffing? Yeah. Ah! I'm in your wheelhouse, mine is the rolls. Oh yeah. I just like the rolls. If the rolls aren't good, I'm furious at the meal. And they need to be plentiful. I need at least four rolls to get me through a fucking horrible Thanksgiving meal.

And you know where we're gonna be, Eddie. We're gonna be in the beautiful state of Hawaii. Right. We're gonna be in Maui. The rolls that I want, I want the local rolls. I want the King's Hawaiian. Yep. Oh, it's so soft.

Those King's Hawaiian, if you get the round loaf, that'll make you the best French toast you've ever had. By the way, if you're gonna do the wishbone, you break the wishbone? I do. By yourself? Yep. Just go with the...

That way I win either way. Eh, good point. Now, me, I got a little strategy with Wishbone. You gotta grab up real high. You know, you see the other person pinching the bottom of it, and that's like a sucker. Another thing I'm gonna say about Thanksgiving. The sweet potato casserole. If you put marshmallows on it,

you know, you might as well sit at the children's table, because that's fucking clown food. Nobody wants that. All right, let's get into the show. Today's guest knows everything about football and Thanksgiving dinner. Enjoy. Skylight Frame is more than just a photo frame.

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For a limited time, save up to $80 on your purchase of a Skylight Frame when you go to au.skylightframe.com slash comedy. That's right, to save up to $80 on your Skylight Frame when you go to au.skylightframe.com slash comedy. That's right. To save up to $80 on your Skylight Frame, just go to au.skylightframe.com slash comedy. That's au.Skylight frame.com slash comedy. The 2025 iHeart Podcast Awards are coming. This is the chance to nominate your podcast for the industry's biggest award. Submit your podcast for nomination now at iheart.com slash podcast awards.

But hurry, submissions close on December 8th. Hey, you've been doing all that talking, it's time to get rewarded for it. Submit your podcast today at iheart.com slash podcast awards. That's iheart.com slash podcast awards. That's iHeart.com slash podcast awards. Jenny Garth, Jana Kramer, Amy Robach, and TJ Holmes bring you I Do Part Two, a one of a kind experiment in podcasting to help you find love again.

If you didn't get it right the first time, it's time to try, try again, as they guide you through this podcast experiment in dating. Hey, I'm Jana Kramer. As they say, those that cannot do teach. Actually, I think I finally got it right. So take the failures I've had, the second or even third or whatever, maybe the fourth time around. I'm Jenny Garth. 29 years ago, Kelly Taylor said these words. I choose me. She made her choice. She chose herself.

When it comes to love, choose you first. Hi everyone, I'm Amy Robach. And I'm TJ Holmes and we are, well, not necessarily relationship experts. If you're ready to dive back into the dating pool and find lasting love, finally, we wanna help. Listen to I Do Part Two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

My guest today is one of those guys who's annoyingly good at everything he tries. His resume includes NFL player, executive producer, cooking show host, and founder of his own company, please welcome Chef Derell, aka Uncle Rell, aka Relly Crocker. Ah, I love that intro. I'm gonna steal that. How are you? I'm good. How about yourself? I'm well, thank you. How many people call you Relly Crocker?

A couple. They only know me from Instagram. Not many. Ah! Ah! First question, Derell. okay. Do you believe in ghosts? Yes, you ever seen a ghost? I felt ghosts. I haven't seen them before Have you always believed in ghosts or did something happen? You're like now I believe I think gradually over time You you hear the rumors as a child, but then as you grow older you start to feel I mean, you know

We're not alone. Can't be. I believe we're alone. Yeah. You're originally from Philly. Yes. You were jumped. Yep.

So I- Much like the Fresh Prince. Just like the Fresh Prince. I actually grew up in Overbrook, where he's from as well. And I went to a school called Lamerton. And one day at lunch We had this big mound of snow and I we had a snowball fight And I hit this kid in the face with a snowball he was a part of this gang our school was k-12 So he uh k-12 is is a horrible idea absolutely

I agree with that and this kid he was part of this gang hit him in the face couple weeks later He's like man man, we fighting. It's like, all right, bet. So we went to this place called The News Nook, which is across the street from the library near Lamberton. And he was there with all his gang and everybody's in a circle and me and him one-on-one, and I whooped his ass.

And then all of a sudden- And nobody jumped in? Nobody jumped in for a couple minutes. Okay. And then they felt bad for him, I guess, and they came out of everywhere. First somebody hit me in the back of the head, then somebody came from this way, somebody came from this way, and they stole my book bag with Pokemon cards in it.

How many Pokemon cards? I had a book, like a binder of Pokemon cards. I just went to get some Pokemon cards for my kid the other day, literally. Yeah. And they're like, oh, we don't sell small packs, we just have this big pack and it's $80. I'm like, that isn't... I said, no, thank you. Yeah. I'm not spending $80, my kid the other day literally. And they're like, oh, we don't sell small packs, we just have this big pack and it's $80. I'm like, that isn't, I said, no, thank you. I'm not spending $80 my kid.

That's crazy. All right, wait, wait. What grade were you in during this jump? The seventh grade, man. And what grade was he? We were all in seventh grade. Oh, he was in seventh grade too? Well, his, the bigger gang was in 11th grade.

So the young gang was seventh grade. We were all seventh graders. The big gang was 11th grade. I remember my sister was trying to jump in the fight. She had to be around like six, seven at that time. And my friends are holding back my young sister. Long story short, my parents sued. So we got money for those Pokemon cards.

Hopefully at least $80 for the Pokemon cards I had. Fighting's never been my thing. I've always been like, if in school as a child there was like, there was a kid that would like, I could tell he wanted to fight and would instigate with me. And you always hear of like, kind of tougher parents saying, oh don't back down. I had parents that were like, yeah you can back down, just who cares. If you don't want to do it, just like, you don't wanna get in trouble, just walk away. It's okay. And I did.

I always was, I'm not gonna fight. That's admirable. Well, it might be. I felt like a pussy quite a bit, but you know, there's worse things than- It worked out. What the fuck? And then they moved you to Delaware.

Delaware. What was life like in Delaware? When you first moved there, were you like, oh, this is different? Delaware is different. It's interesting because in Philadelphia, it's very segregated. So you got black community, you got white community, you got rich folks, non-rich folks, whereas in Delaware, everybody's forced to be together. And it's beautiful.

Like, it's a cool place. It's a lot of farmland, no taxes. So everything's cheap. Gas is super cheap. I know nothing about Delaware, really. Although I did date one girl from Delaware. She's... oh my goodness. Now that I think about her. Was she a farmer? No.

And she was from Delaware? No, but she had cystic fibrosis. Oh, okay. That was bad. Okay. I got you. Anyway, it was a good time. We met in Philly. Anyway.

Alright, you were a star athlete in high school. Oh, yeah. When did that start? When did you feel like, oh, I'm different, I'm better than the rest of these kids that I'm playing with? At birth. Mmm. So my biological father played football at Cheney. I remember as a kid, we would play catch, and every time I'd drop the ball, he'd make me do five push-ups. And around seven years old, my stepfather came into my life and he put me in organized football.

And once I got in organized football, I wasn't scared to get hit. And when you play football, once you get hit that first time, you either you say, I like this or I don't like this. And I liked it. And so after that, you just keep getting better and better. And by the time I got to high school,

I was salivating at the mouth. You're running back all through high school? Only in high school, actually. Growing up, I was a center. And once I got to high school, never carried the ball in my life, my coach was like, man, we're going to turn you into a running back. And by my senior year, I was the number one ranked player

in the state. I was Gatorade Player of the Year, got a full scholarship to Syracuse. But that was Delaware, right? Delaware. Mm-hmm. It ain't Florida, but if I would have been in Florida, I would have got Gatorade player of the year too. All right

Did you play you play sports? No, no I can see you as a kicker or even a wide receiver No, I think a wide receiver that would have been nicer to lead with that No, extremely athletic but didn't play football and you're tall too. Yeah punters are tall Punters are dogs. Don't care. Oh. Fair enough. Football's not my thing. Love it. Love watching it. Yeah. No desire to play it. You know what killed me with team sports? I always liked individual sports. I hated listening to

coaches. Give me the rah rah thing. I'm like, yeah, I get it. We need to have more points at the end of the game. Is that the objective, coach? Got it. So I never enjoyed losing because of knuckleheads. Fair enough. Oh, I hated it. Were you a swimmer? I did surfing.

Okay, okay. I competed there a little bit for a while. I liked all those things. I liked tennis. No, granted, I live for watching football. Who's your team? The Dolphins. Okay.

You think too should have walked? Hell yeah. That's not something to play with. Too young. I'm 36. I'm pretty sure once I get to like 45, my body are hurt even more. And I didn't play long in the NFL, right? When that adrenaline is flowing and you feel invincible when you're young, it's all fine and dandy. But when the OGs tell you how they feel, you see people who retire from the NFL walking with canes or compression sleeves on their knees or wonky and like got to eat their food blended.

That's a different experience, man. You got to listen. Syracuse, is it considered prestigious amongst safety schools? Amongst safety schools, what does that mean? It's throwing shade. I would say, now that I live in LA, I would say Syracuse is the USC of the East. Like a private school in the middle of the ghetto, but the only difference is our students don't stay in Syracuse, whereas USC students probably stay in LA. Our students just go back to New York City.

But in terms of prestigiousness, Syracuse is, our network is ridiculous. Now, did you know Pete Reilly? You were a freshman at Syracuse when he was a senior. He works on this show. Oh, really? No, I didn't know him. Oh, man. He was a big man on campus. What's up, Pete? I love that. By the way, what was it like being a star athlete at a Division I school?

Were you just swimming in women? Yeah. Did you cook a lot in your kitchen on South Campus? Yes, I would actually cook for my teammates. I remember there was one time we cooked for some lady friends that came over. I'd never fried chicken. It's a mess. It's a mess.

But if you put the heat too high, it'll give the illusion that it's done when it's not. Oh, no. So this chicken, I fried it, it came out perfect golden brown. And when they went to bite into it. Everybody got salmonella. Possibly. You ever shit yourself as an adult? As an adult?

I've never shit myself, but I remember when I was in school, one time I went to wipe and a little guy on my finger and it got on my shirt and I had to go back to class Oh, man, and I had to like take off my shirt and like wash it. That's put it under the dryer. That's no good That's no good at all. I mean, how old was this? Ships probably about like 21 22. Oh, oh geez. Okay. All right. It's embarrassing You made it to the NFL by the way your first year that you didn't get drafted But you made it to a team and you're on the Bucs Yep, practice squad. Yep. What's the practice squad make? Not much. They make uh

Make like nine thousand every two weeks back then. That's good money. It's great money But it's not life-changing. You never have to work again money, obviously 9,000 for two is that just during the season during the season you don't get paid in the offseason Okay, but I went get paid in the off season. Okay. But I went to school in the off season, so I was okay. And then I went back to Syracuse, finished up my masters during the off seasons, and then I would just fly back to,

by my second year I was with Houston. So I flew back to Houston, played on the team, and then off season would just go back to school, finish up. What was your playing weight? With the Bucks, I was in a 4'3", so I was about 230. The linebackers are super small there. And your weight today?

About 240. Less muscle. You want to not have that cane at 50. Well, I ride a bike now. So I ride a bike a lot. I had two knee surgeries in college. The way I ended my career is in practice, I compressed one of my vertebrae,

put my neck down when I hit somebody and compressed the vertebrae. So that still is painful, but like this morning I did some yoga. If I could right now snap my fingers and get you to the weight that you wanted to be, what would it be? This one?

I look good. Well, you look good, but 240 is still a lot of weight to carry around. Yeah. On the knees especially new knees. Well I'm big bone. That's not a thing. If you see my lady her bones are like this big like her arms. I showed you your skeleton. I'm gonna let you know it's not different. Is it the same? Yes it's the same. I don't believe that. I would have to see this. I would have to see this. I feel my bone.

That's a bone. That's a big ass arm. That bone is big in there. I know it's big. You're telling me your bone is the same size as my bones. Probably. Really? Am I wrong?

I'm looking at it. Any scientists? It's not that different. I'm seeing big bone is a thing? It's not that different. I'm seeing big boned is a thing. Big boned is a thing. See? Yeah. It's not a medical term, but it's a thing.

People have bigger bones sometimes. People have bigger bones. Okay, but is it like drastically bigger? Whatever. You see my lady in me, my bones are much bigger. Okay, well that's male-female. Maybe it's male to male. Maybe male.

Maybe. How brutal is the NFL? Describe what it feels like when you're just going against another top athlete just collisions What does that feel like NFL is brutal? But everybody there is prepared for that the NFL is the best professionals in the world and so a hit It's a hit but it's a hit, but it's a perfect form hit. And everybody practices perfect form. They practice coming in, being in the right position. And so it's not necessarily painful.

Yes, yes, it is painful. Because just by nature, a hit is painful. But as a professional, you know how to do it the right way. You know how to take a hit the right way. And it's not as bad as it sometimes looks or seems. It's just the fact that everybody is so good and so big, the injuries happen. Those things just happen because that's the nature of the game.

But most of the time you practice the right form, right things, so it's not as bad as it seems. That seems scary. Man, it seems fast. Very fast. Are you still quick? Oh yeah. I'm an athlete at heart. I feel like...

You feel like if you get out there right now, you feel like you'd be good for a game? Hell no. No. Hell no. Not even one play. Because those are elite athletes. I'm not an elite athlete. But I'll say this if you and me were to race There is the athlete in me would make sure that I unless you'd super fast. I'm pretty quick. You are yeah

Yeah, I raised the fastest Paralympian with no legs. I smoked him. Oh nice, but I raised him with his blades in the sand That was nice. But I raised him with his blades in the sand. That's hilarious. So he didn't stand a chance. He didn't stand a chance. He thought he could. Well, that's a strategy, man.

Listen, I did pick the place. My mother, her whole life, she's always told me, she's like, I could be a running back. She's like, I just have the ability to get out of the way. Yeah. This woman's like 80 years old, and she's like, I can still, I know I could do it. I'll tell you this. If I was a linebacker and I saw your mom,

I would light up. Light her up? Oh my gosh. I would tear her ass up in the hole. Go through the A gap. I'm a killer. Can't believe I'm tearing my mom's ass up. I'll tear it up, man.

When your career ends in the NFL and you're not a star player, how do they take care of role players or people that have small role on the team post the NFL? Is it nothing? Is it like, all right, see ya? NFL Players Union does a good job because anybody who makes it to the NFL, that's not, that's hard to do. It's not easy. I don't care if you're practice squad

or whatever level you're at, NFLPA does a good job of protecting anybody who makes it to the NFL. So now, for instance, I get 50% off Kohan shoes because I'm a part of the NFL. That's good. I know, right? Kohan's a comfortable man.

Oh, that's a very comfortable shoe. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Absolutely. I know right. Kohan's a comfortable man. Oh that's a very comfortable shoe. Absolutely. So like things like that man you still get discounts they still there are like insurance plans that you can get through the NFLPA and so I'll say that the NFLPA they do a really good job of taking care of everybody who makes it to the NFL. NFL I don't know, that's a different entity. And once you're out of the league, I don't think that's their problem anymore. Do you like football now? Oh yeah. I like watching college football more than NFL. I'll actually be in Syracuse this weekend.

Okay. I like being on the sideline. The energy of a stadium is like none other. And Syracuse is cool because we have probably one of the loudest stadiums in the country we have a dome and being on the the sideline of a game I still love it still love it so who's your favorite pro team Eagles die hard die hard Eagle so is Eddie oh yeah oh sing it Eddie E-A-G-L-E-S Fly Eagle, Fly Sing it and then he just does this weird Eagles

Alright you know I always liked Barry Sanders when he was interviewed when I was a kid. They're like, do you ever watch football? He's like, nope. And he's like, you ever seen the Super Bowl? He's like, nope. He wasn't into football. Some people liked it. But he made it to the top of the profession and was like, listen, I'm great at this. It's given me a wonderful life and I respect that. But I mean, the two don't have to go hand in hand. You don't have to love what you're great at this, it's given me a wonderful life and I respect that, but I mean,

the two don't have to go hand in hand. You don't have to love what you're great at. Yep. You know what's wild? I'm a chef now, right? And I love food, I love to cook food, but I don't eat out a lot. Like I don't necessarily go to a bunch of restaurants.

I appreciate really good food. Maybe you can make good food, so why go out? But that's the same as me. I go out because I I appreciate really good food. Yeah, but you can make good food, so why go out? But that's the same as me. I go out because I can't make good food. But that's the same as Barry Sanders. Of course he could make good plays, but he doesn't necessarily watch good plays. It's more so to him, I would say, in relation to it,

food for me is a feeling. It's not something where it's a obsession. Like I'm not relation to it, food for me is a feeling. It's not something where it's a obsession. Like I'm not obsessed with it, but I'm good at it. It's kind of spews out of me. The same way Barry Sanders played football, it's kind of the same way that I kind of do food now. And so I can appreciate his stance on not watching the game, but still being great at it.

I mean, to make it to the top and then walk away, I think you did pretty good. Oh, hell yeah. Talk to me about after you finished football, you had finished getting your masters at Syracuse, and then you went to work for a bunch of agencies throughout the... Yep, so I worked in advertising.

I have a master's degree in advertising. After college, went to Boulder, Colorado, worked as an intern in production, and then I moved to New York City. Talk about the women in Boulder, Colorado. Harry. Oh, yep. But kind.

Harry, kind. And uh. But kind. And shoeless. Oh yeah. Yep. How'd you get into meatballs? One day after class, I made a really good recipe.

When I. Out of the air? I had everything in the fridge. I remember making it and calling my best friend, like, yo, come over, we got a winner, man. And, uh, and, but at the time, I had an Italian girlfriend. Okay. One time, her mima made meatballs for New Year's, which was, like, a special time.

Like, she never made meatballs. She would only make them for, like, special occasions. Okay. And they were like, yo, me and my mom made meatballs. And everybody was like super hyped about it. And I remember eating this meatball and I was like, I didn't know meatballs could taste this way. Like mine were good when I tried it.

The sauce was really the driver. But when I tasted that meatball, I knew the potential of a meatball. And after that, I just like, I became obsessed with meatballs. And over time, I practiced it so much and I got so good at it that I would just, I would bring it into my core because I knew it was good. Where were you working at the time?

I was in New York City at an agency called 360i. And my boss, there was a competition coming up, meatball competition coming up. And she was like, yo, these meatballs you bring in, you should enter them in this competition. And I did, and I won. And I started the company. And also bought you a little gift. We started the maize balls based on the, it's for the fridge.

That's grandma. That's your grandma? That is, it's based on the women in my family, yeah. Okay. The idea is that whenever you eat my food, it makes you feel as though grandma made it. Amazing balls. It matches the colors.

I'll be honest with you, I don't have a... A fridge? It's cladded in the wood, the same as the cabinets. Oh, that's cool. Yeah, it's nice. I believe it, that's cool. Thank you very much for this. You're very welcome, man.

All right, no one in here ever brings anything in other than a receipt to be like reimbursed. That's hilarious. So how did you transition from making these people enjoy it, winning a con, or was winning the contest where you're like, okay, I can make this my full-time job being a chef. Not necessarily. When I won the competition, I still had a job. Right. But I knew that if these people liked it, all we need is more people to taste it and more people would like it. You did a pop-up while you were still working and were pumping out thousands.

Yeah. So I worked in advertising, but then on the weekends there was something called Smorgasburg. Uh-huh. Smorgasburg. have you heard of it? So Smorgasburg, LA versus Smorgasburg, Brooklyn, two totally different experiences. At that time, I would say it was probably harder to get into Smorgasburg than it was to get into Harvard. Like this thing was very competitive,

10,000 people per day every single weekend. And meanwhile, when I started making meatballs, I'd only made meatballs maybe like ten people. Here we are like making meatballs for thousands of people every weekend. How many people did you have to help you? Two. I had a my girlfriend at the time and then my sister would come up from Delaware and help me roll meatballs and and I have four roommates. She's always had your back. Always had my back. Since six years old trying to jump and scrap. That's a back, man. Shout out to my sister, Deshonte.

Did you have the oven space for this? No. But I mean, if you really want something, you make it work. I know. I always just appreciate people with that type of drive. Yeah. I mean, I guess I had drive at some point in my life. I just don't remember.

I grew up watching Tosh.0. I remember that show. Right? Like as an artist Whatever your form of art is or whatever your form of expression is you figure out ways to just like to do it I don't know if before Tosh. I don't know if you're getting like big-ass checks, but it was probably days We were like poor or or like damn. I don't know. I'm a pay rent, but fuck it I'm still gonna put out this piece of art because

People want it and it's a form of expression that I have to get out. I can't explain why I have to get it out, but I have to get it out. And for me, I feel as though meatballs was that thing. It sounds crazy, but I knew I was really good at it, and I knew from this competition I was the best at it, at least in my region. And so I did what I had to do.

And now I could look back at it and say like, that was crazy, like I would never do it again now. But in the moment when you have to do something, that was what it was. I had to get my food out to the masses and we did some crazy shit to get to it, but I did it. You ever had Ikea's meatballs? They're tasty.

Are they good? They are, yeah. I'll be honest, I know about them just because of pop culture, but I don't know if I've ever had Ikea's meatballs. They're good. With the mashed potatoes gravy, and I think it's Lindenberry,

that shit is delicious. And they're like a dollar for like 20. They're tasty, man. What are they doing over there at Ikea? Are your meatballs in stores? No, not yet. Okay, is that a plan? Uh, potentially in the future.

You'd be okay with that? Oh yeah. You're not like, no, I want to do this whatever version, smaller. No. You, so how'd you land a cooking show on Taste Made? Again, your career is fascinating. After meatballs, Smorgasburg, I was let go from that job so they made it easy to do it full-time. That was April 2017 and

Bed Bath Beyond and Sunset Park because they had opened up a studio kitchen, first of its kind in America, and their resident chef had retired. Before that they had me come in do a demonstration to Dimmuid with Meatballs. They liked it. They liked my personality and so they bought me back to take over his job as resident chef at Bed Bath Beyond Sunset Park. This is not like, not every Bed Bath Beyond has this. There's only one. Only one. Yep. There's like a full working kitchen.

You can come in and just see somebody and they're filming this, they have cameras. They have everything. Whole audience, live audience. And I would cook the food and they would film it. And I owned the content. A friend of mine who was at Taste Made saw it, passed it on to their team.

They reached out to me, came out here, did some content with them. And then over the years, we just kept building a relationship. 2020 hit, everything shut down. By this time, Amazeballs, which is the company, we were in Smorgasburg again, got back in Smorgasburg. We had a licensing deal with Levy Restaurants at Barclay Center.

And we were also doing corporate catering at offices around in the city. And so I was like, move to LA. Why not? I want to get out of Brooklyn. It's tight here. It's everybody, everything shut down. When I moved to LA, I had a shoot with Tastemade. During lunch, they were like, yo, we want to offer you a TV show. I was like, all right, cool. I like that.

And so we came up with the show, shot it a few months later, and then season two came, season three came, we just... How about the producers? Did they understand what they were doing with you? You would go off the rails and... Oh, absolutely. And they couldn't,

they didn't really know how to capture that gold. Is that fair? Yeah, kind of. I would say it's like, show that I have was kind of like this, like, you're prepared, right? You have notes, but along the way, you just kind of like riffed off and you freestyle. We're talking about fucking getting shit on our fingers.

Exactly. But with the show, it's the same thing. Like they give you kind of a guardrail, but then once you get into the moment, like a different character comes out. I don't know what it is. Like anybody who goes on film, like, whatever your caricature, like the big personality, big whatever,

that's what comes out on camera. And I really can't control it. And so we would just be in the film room, and whatever came to mind, I'll just say it. And sometimes they keep it, sometimes they take it out, but... Did you have to fight for stuff? Oh, yeah. By my second season. I got an executive producer credit Oh, so I was able to kind of come in and be like nah, let's keep that your catch phrases

We're unlike anything I've ever heard on a cooking program. Yeah included a my god I'm a tear your ass up. Oh, and that's the stuff. That's it Catch phrase I'm to tear your ass up. It's instinctual, too. I love it. Most of the time you eat, you want to say it, but you never hear people on TV say those stuff. Most of the time you see a cooking show, it's like, hi, y'all. We're here to make some cornbread. But in my TV show, I'd rather just give you my real personality versus giving you the standard cooking show template.

Ah. Tell it how it is, man. Dude, that's up. How? You find Thanksgiving stressful? No. You cook? Sometimes.

You have like a special way you do the turkey or no? I brine my turkeys. And then I do low and slow. And then the final hour I'll put a little salt on the crust on the skin Crisp it up turn up the heat and then you come on nice and brown. I don't do any of it crispy That sounds good. Yeah, that sounds good. I like a traditional Thanksgiving meal, but I have no desire to do it What is a? Go ahead don't take this offensively take I'm gonna take it off as this ask me about white people Thanksgiving. What is that like?

Is it do you have like candy yams or is it pumpkin I fucking hate pumpkin almost of any kind, okay I don't like pumpkin pie. It is disgusting say um no I all the true You know the the green bean casserole the fried onions on top of the cream of mushroom soup inside it, the mashed potatoes and gravy, the yams, all of that stuff. The sweet potatoes, we'll do all that. Get a little individual crock pot of the sweet potatoes. I like that, if the chef is whipping something like that up. What about music? Do you all play like certain,

do you have like a playlist for Thanksgiving? No, not a playlist, but I like to have some music on at all times and then I'll'll out of respect for The family I will mute the football Yeah, same up when we eat that my mom makes us mute the football Which is but luckily like where we sit you can kind of still see the game But uh, yeah, that's the same miles. We mute the football. Now. Look at that. We're not that different

And no pumpkin that was a surprise I'm not going live but I'm sure a lot of fucking people love the pumpkin Yeah, like pumpkin. No, I hate it. No, see there's Half-and-half speaking your grandma before what what did she cook that you would miss? So my grandma was from the south so grits grits. She cooked a lot of grits since that's my it's kind of like my default I can eat grits with any I put meatballs so grits. Grits, she cooked a lot of grits, hence that's my, it's kind of like my default. I can eat grits with anything. I put meatballs on grits. Oh yeah.

Oh, I'll prove her that. Yeah, grits, catfish. My mom actually makes the best mac and cheese I've ever had. So like southern style food for big bone people. Everyone says that they have like the best mac and cheese thing, and then I taste it and I'm like, yeah, right, it's good. Yeah. It's not that different. It's not, but I think it's just nostalgia. Okay. I would say that and cheese thing. And then I taste it and I'm like, yeah, right, it's good. Yeah. It's not that different.

It's not, but I think it's just nostalgia. Okay. I would say- That's the thing. Once it feels like home. Yeah, once it feels like home, there's a frequency that comes through the food when you taste it and you're like, yep, that's it. You ever had a chitlin?

Have I had chitlins, Eddie? I don't think you have. I don't think I have. Yeah, I've only had them once, but don't eat those. Talk about these crazy parties that you used to cater. I remember this one party I did at the Chelsea Hotel. It was um my doctor at the time He's my chiropractor him and his partner would do these underground weed and burlesque parties And so he invited me to it

He was like, oh we would like to be recater it and they tell me the location of a day of and so I'll pull up to the hotel and I have this My sous chef was like the super Christian lady like old-school Christian lady Guaranteed she'd never seen anything like this. So we go into the party and We're next door to the dressing room We set up our table and I'm serving the food and people walking in everybody's in masks and like suits and shit like that and It's a sex party. It wasn't a sex party. It was a burlesque party. We weren't in the main room So we don't know I don't know it's just people coming in they're masked up and We're serving the food that all of a sudden

everybody goes in there and they take their seat and everybody goes in there and they take their seat. And out of this room comes like this woman dressed as a clown with like a bousier, like super tight and like a thong on and high heels dressed like a clown, just like walking in the room. Behind her is another woman runs out the room with like tassels on her nipples and like runs into this room and does her dance thing.

And then you see like these two guys come out just fully in leather, like, red leather, and high heels, and one's walking like a dog, and the other one's just, like, behind him, like, hitting him with his whip, and I'm serving food right next to this. White people?

White people. All of them. And I was like, man, this is some crazy shit. And I guarantee that woman next to me was like, I'm never doing this again. Because I hit her up again after that, and she was like, no, I'm busy, man. I was like, damn.

Did they enjoy the food? They loved the food. Oh, sure. Absolutely, yeah. Love the food. That's the cool thing about food. Like, once, before I got into it, you wouldn't know these little worlds exist.

But at the end of the day, everybody got to eat. And it's cool to be able to serve. Even the guy walking like a dog. Yeah, that's a fact man. The guy's got to sit up and eat at some point. He's got to take a little fucking apple out of his mouth and feed it. Yeah man. Did you do any new catch phrases while you were there?

I didn't say tear that ass up. I'll tell you that. No. Everybody's on the show. I try to bring them stuff. I just give you stuff that No, no. Everybody's on the show, I try to bring them stuff. I just give you stuff that's laying around my house. It's never exciting. See what I got for you. First thing I got for you, we never use this.

It's this fancy spice rack. I don't know if you've heard of March Pantry, but if you look it up, it's hundreds of bucks. Okay, and I have this. Yeah, it's yours. Shout out to you. This is a heavy ass stand. Well, yeah Yeah, well don't scratch my beautiful table. I just got this table enough. Yeah, put that on floor You can put that on floor, please

You have a you ever fuck with chili? Hell. Yeah. Okay, then this way I gotta get you this right here Malibu chili cook-off my man, you know, I won a chili competition to next next year. It's in September Okay, you're entering boom. Oh you do this No, I bet my friend Mona shout out Mona. She'll get you make sure you're in. All right. Look at that. You got to tighten it up My head's bigger. Oh, yeah, you had this only a yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it is big You interviewed, I saw you posted with Ricky Williams. Yep.

One time I was doing something with Ricky. We were shooting something, and he knows that I'm a diehard dolphin fan. And he said to me, honestly, he was like, hey, you know, when I left, when I quit, were you mad? And I was like, I was like, what? I was like, absolutely mad. Mad And I was like, I was like, what? I was like, absolutely mad. I was like, they destroyed you.

They forced you to run through the middle for a decade and just hammered you because you were the only person on the team that could do anything. He was after Marino before whatever. And I'm like, I was like, this notion that I, as a fan, of fanatic care Like I don't want I don't want them to destroy themselves

I was like you're nonsense for you now with toa he should take his 96 million and go is guaranteed I got some money. No, no, no, he's got 96 guaranteed and the other hundred is like, but here's you know Here's the thing with him. You know that he is Hawaiian. They've got this culture. His entire family is geared around football. I've heard stories about his father raising him and it wasn't do five pushups. It was, it was a little more intense.

500. Or it was, or it might've been something else. I'm not, well, I'm not speaking on what I don't know, but I'm just saying, their whole livelihood is football. Their whole family lives it. He's got a lot of mouths to feed, and I don't think he's gonna walk away under any circumstance.

I mean, if you can't feed him with 96 million. How big are these mouths? I know. It's crazy big mouths. I know, and you got no income decks there too. Listen, I always thought it would be great if someone came out like a Heisman trophy winner Waited for the draft got drafted number one and then said no. Thank you. I'm not playing That'll be lovely in fairness that what really what did happen Charlie Ward?

Yeah, he got the Heisman went to basketball said, you know what? I'll sit on the bench in New York for two decades and just make bank collect checks Brains intact with a Heisman what this is why I've always felt bad is not the right word But whatever a little sad toward football player whenever you play Your last football game whether it's high school or college or pros That's it. You rarely it's one of the, nobody has, oh, a fun pickup game of tackle football. You're done for the rest of your life.

Yeah, unless it's Thanksgiving. Right, but it's not, it's still not, I mean, you still go, you go all out still. No, hell no. Of course not. That'd be the scariest Thanksgiving. Yeah. Thank God. I just, you know, I've always been grateful.

Like comedy where it's like, oh, I can do this till I'm an old man if I want to. I think it's great that while you made it to the mountaintop, you're like, I found something else. Cycling. Meatballs. All right. Oh, meatballs, yeah. Fuck cycling. Yeah. Okay. Cycling really, does that get you going you're like you love it hell yeah

oh man I see you guys on the PCH in your Pelotons oh groups of you and I'm just like oh shit I'm gonna I'm gonna hit them I'm gonna get over get over I don't do that I'm not like a you don't race with people no I do by myself and I wear like this hat I have no shirt on like so I'll ride my bike like a fucking Huffy. I'll ride expensive bike like Huffy. It's funny to me though that they do all like wear the tight gear and everything like that. It's like well, you're not actually in a race. Why does it matter? I don't care for those people either. Okay, but I ride my bike.

You're not wearing the pants? No. You don't have the butt thing? I wear this shit, man. You don't have a pad in your pants? No. You don't have the butt thing? I wear this shit, man. You don't have a pad in your ass? No. Oh, OK. That's really... I wouldn't say I'm a cyclist. I like to ride bikes.

I like to ride my bike because it's like, it's my form of meditation versus it being like, I'm going to this destination and trying to be a douche and take over a lane. I like to be in a cut. I ride on the beach, not near cars not near cars and especially LA these people drive crazy Well, we got we got text to send out as a fact that today the lady was sitting right next to me But yeah, I had a guy on a bike once when I was first moved to LA He was riding and I wasn't going fast

But I turned into a gas station and he was going straight and I clipped him knocked him off the bike and He was a he probably was unhoused. Yeah, he jumped off his bike looked at me And got on his bike and rode away Monster if you um Could play a different professional sport, not one that you're necessarily good at, but what would be like, that would be a pretty fun professional sport to be.

Baseball, man, that check, what? And I'm built like a baseball player. I look like Stanton. We have the same build. And by the way, 45, doesn't bother't bother them the fucking go out there and still Act swing in it. Oh, yeah, I could do that. All right, so baseball that would be your that would be the one. Mm-hmm And I I love to swim so I love swimming. Yeah, but there's no money in swimming That's the opposite of what you're saying for baseball swimming is like there's no money

Why would I would probably do like the Olympics not the Olympus what's the cathalon one of those Athelon? I don't know where you run swim and I bike that one. I would like to do that Well, you can do a triathlon this week. Yeah, we go you want to do that I would love to do that but what that but I think the thing is when you're an athlete You're born that way like I can't help but be a competitor and everything like like if I have children I would never let my children win at anything until they actually can. Even then, I'll fucking break a hip trying to beat them.

That's big talk until you have that kid, and then you want to see their face light up. No, I'm not. See them mad as fuck. What I'm saying? Come on, run at me. You gonna have children? Yeah, hopefully soon.

Yeah, hopefully soon? I mean, we practicing, man. I'm shooting that shot. I'm Steph Curry, boy. Oh. You thank God after each shot? Amen. Amen.

Good for you. I'm not shooting my shot anymore. I had my shot snipped. Yeah? Yeah, how was that? It wasn't so bad. Is it like a dog where you become like super nice after they neuter you? No? I'm just as horny as I was before. My shot snipped. Yeah? Yeah. How was that? It wasn't so bad. Is it like a dog where you become like super nice after they neuter you?

No? I'm just as horny as I was before. Horny as before? That's good to know. I love that. I waited until I was 44. Are you happy with that decision? No.

God, I wish I was still single. That's hilarious. No. If you could go back, would you have had children earlier or would you have waited to? No, no, I would have waited. I would have liked six more months of being single. That's it. And I needed to know that I was going to be locked up

after that so I could have gone like a madman for six months. Yeah, that would have been nice. Get the Rolodex just with tons of extra. Hey, big head. I have a serious question. No. What is your advice to a first time male parent, especially dealing with a pregnant, significant other?

You have to suck it up, because she's gonna be a bitch. I believe that, okay. Her innards are changing. Like where like organs were are now completely in a new spot in her body She's gonna be it's gonna be awful for a year and a half and you just have to embrace that awfulness Have grace and have fun. Okay, and then it's just it's silliness. Do you like kids? I love it. Yeah, you like your kids

Yeah, I like I like kids in general Yeah But I like my kids a lot more than the other kids when you when you watch them Is it interesting that do they like do things that you do and you're like, oh shit or it's somewhat I don't notice it as much as my wife will point it out to me, but it really is A time machine in the sense that you all of a sudden. Oh fuck I get to relive life again. Yeah, huh, so that part of it's neat You're like, oh, this is different and I always knew that you were gonna care more about them than yourself

But when I was just my own self, that's all I wanted to care about and I was good with that Yeah, but then when you get the kids like oh, this is fun seeing all their silliness. I look forward to it. That's good You'll be good. Thank you. You'll be good. I appreciate that. All right. Well listen Darrell We appreciate you being on the show and I look forward to seeing at at the Malibu Chili Cook-Off. Hell yeah, brother Thank you The 2025 I heart podcast awards are coming This is the chance to nominate your podcast for the industry's biggest award Submit your podcast for nomination now at iHeart.com slash podcast awards.

But hurry, submissions close on December 8th. Hey, you've been doing all that talking, it's time to get rewarded for it. Submit your podcast today at iHeart.com slash podcast awards. That's iHeart.com slash podcast awards. On Thanksgiving Day 1999, a five-year-old boy floated alone in the ocean. Awards. Elian Gonzalez. Elian Gonzalez. Elian Gonzalez. Elian Gonzalez. Elian Gonzalez. At the heart of the story is a young boy and the question of who he belongs with. His father in Cuba. Mr. Gonzalez wanted to go home and he wanted to take his son with him.

Or his relatives in Miami. Imagine that your mother died trying to get you to freedom. At the heart of it all is still this painful family separation. Something that as a Cuban, I know all too well. Listen to Chess Piece, the Elian Gonzalez story as part of the My Cultura podcast network available on the iHeart radio app,

Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Marie. And I'm Sydney. And we're MESS. Well, not a mess, but on our podcast called MESS, we celebrate all things messy. But the gag is, not everything is a mess. Sometimes it's just living. Yeah, things like JLo on her third divorce. Living.

Girls trip to Miami. Mess. Ozempic. Messy skinny living. Restaurants stealing a birthday cake. Mess. Wait, what flavor was the cake, though? OK, that's a good question. Hooking up with someone in accounting

and then getting a promotion. Living. Breaking up with your girlfriend while on Instagram Live. Living. This kind of mess. Yeah. Living. Mm, it's kind of mess. Yeah. Well, you get it. Got it? Live, love, mess.

Listen to Mess with Sydney Washington and Marie Faustin on iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Pasha. Thank you, Darrell. I hope he wins that cook off next year. Then I'll feel I'll take some ownership in it. We're gonna do that segment we haven't done in a while. Hello from Tosh show from Sydney and Justin.

They invited me to their wedding. The invitation was in both English and French. So I who knows where the wedding is. I didn't click on the link because I'm I'm terrified of that stuff. I don't click on links. Anyway, nice of you to reach out. I wish you all the best. Zero chance I'm going to be at your wedding. All right, boyswearpink.com, ToshShowStore.com. Guys, get your gear. I saw my father-in-law out walking around town

with his horrible knees wearing a ToshShow sweatshirt just this morning. I'm like, look at you. He's like, I'm spreading the word. Just want people to ask me about it. I told him right where your office is. I'm like, God damn it. Ah, what else? Eddie's tour, tour go to his website go to our website

Daniel Tosh comm check out our tour and now You ready? You ready Carl free plug. Let's do the free plug hit the music. Oh Wow That is depressing Oh, wow. That is depressing. That is extremely depressing music. Well, it's free. Okay.

This week's free plug is from the Wheeling Turkey Trot, a 5k on Thanksgiving morning in beautiful Wheeling, West Virginia. Where is that exactly? What's that near? What real city? Near Pittsburgh. Oh man, Wheeling. Uh, join his Thanksgiving day at the Alma Grace McDowell Center located on the beautiful Wheeling University campus. The event kicks off at 8 30 a.m. with a 1k children's fun run. Look at that. I've never been involved in a 1K. You get a shirt for that? Do you have to wrap up an aluminum foil at the end of a 1K?

All right, then the 5K run and walk begins at 9 a.m. sharp. You think they let the walkers go out in front? No, they make the runners go in front, but they should do it the opposite way so that the walkers go out in front? No, they make the runners go in front, but they should do it the opposite way. So that the walkers are getting passed. It's scary. Today is the last day for virtual signup, which is $35 plus a $4.60 processing fee.

Or you can just come with a sweaty wad of cash on race day, I'm guessing. All proceeds benefit the Wheeling Parks and Rec. Yeah, so get yourself out there, burn off some calories before you sit down and gorge yourself while your uncle rattles off some light hate speech. Yeah, I don't know what you guys do. We all have traditions. Anyway, happy Thanksgiving! See you next week. Eddie, do the gobble gobble again. But hurry, submissions close on December 8th. Hey, you've been doing all that talking, it's time to get rewarded for it. Submit your podcast today at iHeart.com slash podcast awards. That's iHeart.com slash podcast awards.

Hello, my undeadly darlings. It's Teresa, your resident ghost host. And do I have a treat for you. Haunting is crawling out from the shadows and it's going to be devilishly good. We've got chills, thrills, and stories that'll make you wish the lights stayed on. So join me, won't you?

Let's dive into the eerie unknown together. Sleep tight, if you can. Listen to Haunting on the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On Thanksgiving Day, 1999, five-year-old Cuban boy, Elian Gonzalez, was found off the coast of Florida. And the question was,

should the boy go back to his father in Cuba? Mr. Gonzalez wanted to go home, and he wanted to take his son with him. Or stay with his relatives in Miami? Imagine that your mother died trying to get you to freedom. Listen to Chess Peace, the Elian Gonzalez story, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.