A Steve Smith post-game interview to amaze you and confuse your dog

Lost in the excitement of the Panthers’ win over the Vikings on Sunday night — and the Brett Favre drama therein — was the mystifying post-game interview with Carolina’s Steve Smith. Smith’s answers to Andrea Kremer’s questions were a riddle more baffling than the DNA molecule; the Gordian Knot of interviews.
Favorite quote: “This is why I feed my family.”
Even better, though, is the commenter controversy over at Football Outsiders, where I found the transcript of the interview. Many jumped in defending Smith, saying that the series of nonsensical responses were due to “game exhaustion.” It really gets quite heated. Let’s watch the fun.

Andrea Kremer: “Thanks very much, Bob. Well, Steve, coming in at 5-8, what does a win like this mean for the Carolina Panthers?”
Steve Smith: “You know, first, you know, I just gotta thank my Lord Jesus Christ, you know, without him we wouldn’t be here. But, 5-8 or 8-5, you gotta play. This is why I feed my family. This is why I grew up on the B. You know, I wanna be on this field, I play for keeps. And so, it’s just an opportunity to display my God-given ability, and also, uh, the whole team, and, uh, what our fans mean to us. That’s our job, and we gotta play no matter what the score is or what the record.
Andrea Kremer: “You were fired up. I mean, after the third quarter, you were just going nuts on the field, on the sidelines. What was going through your mind?”
Steve Smith: “You know, uh… [smiles] You know, #22 [28-year-old Vikings cornerback Benny Sapp] had something to say to me on the field. So, little youngster… [Smith is 30 years old]
Andrea Kremer: “What did he say?”
Steve Smith: “Ah, you know, just telling me who he is, so I had to establish the rules and regulations of the game…”
Andrea Kremer: “Which were?”
Steve Smith: “Which was 89.”
[pregnant pause]
Steve Smith: “Bottom line. That’s why he going home.”
[No, I'm pretty sure he's going home because the game is over.]
Andrea Kremer: “You know, it’s funny because coming into this game, the thought was you had to run to win this game. But why was the passing game so effective, obviously, led by you.”
Steve Smith: “Ay, you still gotta run to win this game, you know, you gotta have runs after the catch, and the bottom line is, is team with the most, most points at the end or the most yards. The team that makes the least amount of mistakes.”
Andrea Kremer: “Thanks a lot for your time, Happy Holidays.”
Steve Smith: “Appreciate it.”

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Some Football Outsiders commenters got into the spirit of the interview and registered their joy.

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

Others, presumably Panthers fans, were not amused.

* What’s the point of posting this? To show that it’s almost impossible to carry on a coherent conversation while still catching your breath after a huge, exhausting, physical football game while you still have, and I’m guesing that Steve Smith has way more than most, adrenaline surging through your veins? I challenge the OP to jog around the block just once and see how intelligent he sounds in an interview. — Morganjp

* Amazingly, they don’t pay Steve Smith for his eloquence and wit. Honestly, though, these questions are garbage. — New_Guy.

And my favorite:

* Come on, folks. Who wasn’t wondering why Steve Smith feeds his family? — Tim F.

When Miss Teen South Carolina gave similar nonsensical answers to an interview question, she was eviscerated by the media and readers alike. I guess the rules are different for football players.
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Full transcript of Steve Smith’s post-SNF interview [Football Outsiders]