This week’s Q&A spawned from the reaction to a particular story from our post-deadline mailbag involving a trade that nearly happened that the world never knew about.
Tony Gonzalez, the most productive tight end in NFL history, pulled a “Khalil Mack” in his last year with the Chiefs, and Kansas City, like the Raiders with Mack, agreed to trade him …. until they sabotaged those talks at the trade-deadline wire.
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Kansas City had agreements with the Eagles and Andy Reid as well as the Packers and Mike McCarthy. Gonzalez believed the trade had occurred… until it didn’t in a wild slew of events as the trade deadline clicked near.
Gonzalez has never fully gone into details of what transpired until now. He takes us inside the mindset of a player who asks to be traded but isn’t, and shares with us the experience of what it’s like to actually be traded (which he was the next year).
Plus, Gonzalez, now a cast member of The NFL on FOX, can speak to what Le’Veon Bell will need to do after wanting out and not getting his wishes and what it’s like for a player like Amari Cooper to suddenly have to relocate to a new city in a day.
Okay TG, I told this story in our mailbag from this week, but most of the world doesn’t know about the trade that almost was… involving you and either the Eagles or the Packers.
Yeah, I went to Carl Peterson (former Chiefs GM and President) my last year in Kansas City and he gave me his blessing, he said he would go out there and look for some suitors.
Why were you asking out?
I thought I was at the end of my career and only had about year or two left, and I wanted to play for a contender. This is Year 12 of my career, so let me go out there and go out on top. At least I thought he was letting me do that.
I remembered the Chiefs originally agreed to trade you for a third-round pick.
What Carl told me was, “I’m not just going to give you away for a fourth or fifth round pick, you’re still playing pretty well.” I think I was first-team All-Pro that year. I was also thinking about retiring and it didn’t matter to me how well I was playing, I was only going to do this for a couple more years anyway so I told Carl you might as well get something for me because we’re in full rebuilding mode.
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So that was the strategy?
Yeah, that was the strategy.
Ok, so then you have an idea of what he’s doing, how many teams do you remember were in the thick of it?
I remember three teams: Philly, the Packers, and the Giants.
I recall that Philly and the Packers were in it but the Giants passed.
Oh yeah, that’s right, Jerry Reese didn’t want to do it because he’s stupid. Where is Jerry Reese now?
Glad to see you’re not still mad about the Giants passing on you.
My ego was saying, I’m absolutely worth it because of what I’m going to bring to your team from a leadership standpoint, from a production standpoint, and I could be that final push for you to get to a Super Bowl, so why wouldn’t you give up a third-round draft choice? It’s a crapshoot with those picks anyway.
I’m at peace with it now … but I’m not over it.
The Eagles with Andy Reid and Mike McCarthy with the Packers, were both fully in on you. I think I remember the Chiefs told both teams they’d deal you for a third-rounder and something else.
The Eagles offered a three and L.J. Smith, the tight end. The Packers offered a three and whoever their tight end at the time was. It might have been their backup tight end, but a decent tight end.
Yeah, from what I heard, it was getting down to crunch time, it’s the trade deadline and I’m thinking for sure I’m getting traded. I’m in Kansas City and I’m thinking I’m going to be getting on a plane tonight. It turns out, about five or ten minutes before the deadline, the way I remember it is, the teams said yes, they pulled the trigger and gave in to the Chiefs’ demands for a third-round pick.
What I heard was the Packers said ‘ok we’ll do it for a three’ at the last second. That’s when Carl Peterson said “alright if you give a three, how about a second-round draft choice?”
The problem is that the paperwork was already being drawn up. Even if a team now agreed to Carl’s new terms there wasn’t enough time to counter or renegotiate so Carl blew it out the water.
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I see Carl now, I’m not upset with him. Of course it bothered me, especially if I had gone to the Packers because they ended up winning the Super Bowl a year later. I would have been on that team. I would have been able to play with someone like Aaron Rodgers. It’s worked out for me anyway, I got to play with Matt Ryan in Atlanta. But yeah, I was obviously very upset by that.
That’s an understatement. I remember talking to you right after the trade didn’t go down, angriest I’ve ever heard you in my life.
Absolutely, I was pissed off. I was absolutely angry, it felt like he was just trying to pacify me, was never taking me or the other teams seriously, was just screwing with everyone. That’s how I felt about it, and I believe that. That’s exactly what happened. I still stand by that.
And for about five hours that night you retired.
Yeah, I was going to say screw it. I was not going back. I was being a baby.
I fully believe in letting it all go and getting it out of your system and of course, I was going to retire and I was going to go spray paint the front door of his office, I was going to go slash tires (laughs) I went full psycho mode for a couple hours, but then you calm down.
So what happens when it sinks in?
You have to come up with a plan. Everyone knew about this too, this wasn’t a secret. I have to go back and figure out a plan for how I’m going to address my teammates and the media because the fans know it too.
Take us through that. A player says he wants out, like Le’Veon Bell, if it doesn’t happen and he ends up coming back, you then have to go back and address your team and the media. What’s your plan?
I went in, Herman Edwards was the coach, I talked to Herm and told him the truth. I had been forthcoming, I’m sure Herm knew about it anyway, but I had been honest with him. I’m sure he didn’t like it but that’s the business. At the same time they could cut me at any point, that’s just the business.
So I went to him and told him I needed to talk to my team alone. Herman said ‘ok, I think that’s a good idea.’ He came in said, ‘alright guys, you guys know about Tony, everyone knows about what’s going on with it, he wants to talk to you.’ He made all the coaches get out because that’s what I had said, I said get all the coaches out of here, I’m going to talk to my teammates alone.
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I sat in there and I had an honest conversation with my team. I told them where my head was at and exactly where my head was going to be going forward. I basically recommitted to the team. I told them, yes, I wanted out of here, it wasn’t personal, had nothing to do with you guys. We are in full rebuilding mode, there’s no doubt about it, I think we had won one or maybe two games at that point. We only won two games that year. This is just how it goes and I had been around long enough to understand where we’re at as a team and where we’re going to be in the next couple of years. I’m in year 12, I’m only playing another year or two, so I hope you guys can understand… if you can’t I understand that, but know this, when I go out there on that field I will give my ultimate effort. No one will play harder or be more dedicated than me, like I’ve always been. I still went out, I had a great season, I was first team All-Pro on a 2-14 team.
Six months later you’re traded to the Falcons. Take our readers through the process of a player when he actually gets traded?
It was during the offseason so the new regime came in, Todd Haley and Scott Pioli.
When a trade happens, who calls you? Does the GM call you? The head coach? Your agent?
The GM Scott Pioli called me. It was quick conversation, literally, I think we were off the phone in 20 seconds. I say, hello? He says, hey Tony, Scott Pioli. I said, hey, how are you? He said, good, hey, just wanted to let you know we’re going to trade you to the Atlanta Falcons. Okay? I said, yep, sounds good to me. He said, alright, good luck to you, thanks. I said, good luck to you.
That’s it? Just like that, boom, you’re gone?
With one sentence.
People don’t realize how hectic it is to be traded. You have to move your entire world in a day.
I got on a plane and flew out there right away. They sent the private plane for me, which I was pretty impressed with. I think I might have been in New York and I flew down to Atlanta to do the announcement and meet everyone, meet the coach, meet Arthur Blank, the owner.
Yeah, your life is turned upside down. You’ve got to find a place to live, you’ve got to learn a new offense, you’ve got to meet all these new players. You go walking in that locker room, even as a 12-year vet, you’re still walking into that locker room not knowing anyone, but everyone knows you. It was uncomfortable. It was somewhat scary but it was also exciting at the same time.
How long did the whole process really take to uproot yourself?
It’s like being a rookie all over again as far as the process goes. They’re like, here’s a realtor, she knows the area and suddenly now you’re looking for houses. It’s a whole process, it’s stressful.
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For me at that time, it was really stressful because the unknown is coming. It’s a big change. It’s not easy to do. You better be mentally strong and it takes a while to get comfortable but I always had football. I knew when I got on that field, that was the only time the stress left, when I was practicing with the team. The other part was that uncomfortable getting to know you stage. It was like being at an eighth-grade dance. You’re sitting there up on the wall, you don’t know who to talk to, it’s awkward at that point.
Now that you know what it is to be traded, if you had to do it during the season, for all these guys that got traded, the Amari Coopers and the Khalil Macks, how hard would it be to compartmentalize for these guys in the middle of the season getting traded somewhere?
It’s tough, but at the same time, maybe it would be a little easier during the season, because now you have a schedule. You have no choice but to adapt. Of course, the playbook would be a little bit harder, to consume all those plays in that short of a time.
You brought up earlier talking to your teammates when the trade first didn’t go down. What would your advice be to Le’Veon Bell if he were to return to the Steelers?
If Le’Veon Bell comes back to the Steelers he has to go and talk to his team alone. You don’t want that to be a distraction. You have to go in there and let everyone know where your head is at, right away. Tell them your full plan.
Stand up there and say, “You guys know what I’m about. I’m going to be there for you guys and we’re going to try and win a Super Bowl this year and we’re going to try and make a playoff run.”
Also, in front of everyone, I would pay respects to James Conner and what he’s done. Point out what he’s accomplished.
Last question, because you’ve been through it, which trade did you like best before the trade deadline?
The one I’m most excited about is Amari Cooper to the Cowboys. I want to see what he can do but probably more because I want to see who Dak Prescott really is. Who is this guy? I want to see if he is that franchise quarterback. I really believe he has only the rest of the season to prove he’s worth $25 to 35 million dollars a year. Now he’s got that deep threat to go along with Cole Beasley. It lines up nicely for him to have success, which is what I want because I like the kid.
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