by Troy Rogers
After flying under the radar for the first two
episodes of Celebrity Apprentice, legendary baseball
star Darryl Strawberry found himself in the heat
of Celebrity Apprentice fire last week when Strawberry
took himself out of the celebrity game. Although
Darryl Strawberry is a winner after stellar seasons
with the New York Mets and Yankees, Strawberry
shocked Apprentice fans when he volunteered to
leave Celebrity Apprentice early when it appeared
that Donald Trump was about to fire Olympic sprinter,
Michael Johnson.
In a Celebrity Apprentice boardroom showdown that saw Trump focus on everyone but Darryl Strawberry, Strawberry confessed that he actually wanted to leave Celebrity Apprentice early due to being exhausted and tired.
Interestingly, when we joined Darryl Strawberry for a quick Celebrity Apprentice chat, Strawberry admitted that it was a long year that caught up with him. As a result, Darryl Strawberry felt that he should take one for his Celebrity Apprentice team mates and bow out early to save celebrity strength.
THE DEADBOLT: When did you start feeling exhausted? Was it right from the beginning or after the first loss?
DARRYL
STRAWBERRY: No. No, it was doing that task.
I mean, it's a grueling schedule. It's a wake
up call every morning at 5:30am, 6:00am. You've
got to be up and on your feet and ready to start
moving and putting things into motion. In the
middle of that task, I just kind of felt I had
hit a wall. I was running into a wall.
My year had been long and it was a lot of work and you get stressed. I didn't want to get stressed out and start coming off the wrong way. That's when I realized it's more important for me to continue to show class and step up and do what I thought was the right thing to move forward and step out.
THE DEADBOLT: Donald Trump mentioned that if it wasn't you, Michael [Johnson] would've been fired. Do you agree with that decision, or should it have been Rod or someone else?
STRAWBERRY: I totally agree, because it all falls down on the project manager on those particular decisions but it depends on which project manager. If the project manager really wanted to get fired, he would throw his own self under the bus.
I
believe Michael Johnson didn't want to get fired
and I believe he did a good job of trying to
keep us together as a group, because we had
lost the last task. I just figured, why not
me? Why not me take the opportunity? As you
can see, I said I was totally exhausted and
I figured they need to go forward. If they're
going to go forward, they need to have strength
to go forward and I didn't want to be a weak
link.
THE DEADBOLT: You talked about how you're presented on TV. How do you feel about them showing you smoking? Were you surprised?
STRAWBERRY: [laughs] Very surprised.
THE DEADBOLT: [laughs] I was surprised, too.
STRAWBERRY: Very surprised, but that's a habit I have, you know? I'm not going to deny it. Just TV, I'd rather smoke than to come out of my mouth filthy.
THE DEADBOLT: If you were chosen as the project manager, how would you've done it differently?
STRAWBERRY:
If I was chosen project manager, I would have,
no question, involved everybody. I wouldn't
have put anyone to the side about their opinions,
because I think everybody should be able to
have a part in [the project]. I think sometimes
guys felt left out and I think that's where
the problem comes.
I wouldn't have left anybody out. I would have had Bret in. I would have had the Governor in, Bill, everybody would be on and bringing their opinions to the table and let's agree as a team. Of course the project manager is going to be the one responsible for it, so why not involve everybody and make everybody feel comfortable?
THE DEADBOLT: When we spoke to Sinbad, his frontrunner was Holly. How well do you think she'll do?
STRAWBERRY: I think Holly will do well. I think Holly is strong. I think she's poised. I think Holly laid back from the first couple [episodes] and I think she'll probably pick up the pace and I think she'll do well.
