Now The Ball Is In Tony’s Hands
For the second time in a month, Tony Gonzalez did not get what he wanted.
The first occasion was the failure of the Chiefs coaching staff to make allowances and get him the career receiving yardage record at Arrowhead Stadium in the final moments of a victory over Denver.  Tony G. had all his family members and friends in the stadium that day. A big party was planned afterwards to celebrate the moment.
Gonzalez pouted after not getting the record, a pout that continued 24 hours later when he spoke publicly about it in the Chiefs locker room to the media. He said then that he didn’t feel he was being selfish.
Now comes strike two against Tony G. His desire to be traded away from the Chiefs so he would not have to suffer anymore the pains of rebuilding ended up in nothing. The league’s trading deadline passed at 3 p.m. CDT and he remained on the Chiefs roster.
On Wednesday, he reports back to the Chiefs facility at the Truman Sports Complex, pulls on the No. 88 jersey and gets back to work.
Now, the most important question is how Tony will handle this matter with the teammates that he wanted to abandon? Will he pout like he did after the Denver game? Or will he stand up and say in some similar refrain ‘Hey, I took a shot. It didn’t work out. I’m ready to go out and get a victory against Tennessee’?
These situations involving Gonzalez have established a very important lesson for any of the young Chiefs in the locker room who are paying attention. No matter how Tony G. wants to spin things, he was being selfish in wanting the record no matter the course of the game and he was being selfish in his desire to jump off what he feels is a sinking ship. There are a lot of people, a lot of fans, many in the media, and more than a few in the locker room who don’t begrudge Gonzalez looking out for No. 1.
But twice now the youngsters on the Chiefs have seen that being selfish doesn’t necessarily get you anywhere in this game. It doesn’t matter who you are, even if you are the biggest name on a the team, even if you are possibly the best receiving tight end in football history, even if you are a candidate for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, even if you hang out with Oprah, you don’t always get what you want.
Without wanting too, Gonzalez has taught them that valuable lesson. Now he can show them something else. He can show them how to deal with a situation when things don’t turn out the way you want them. He will have another opportunity to continue to be a true professional and set an example for dealing with negative situations.
That’s certainly a problem for the Chiefs at this juncture of their development.  Once something goes wrong in the game, this team does not handle the negative situations very well. One bad thing, seems to immediately lead to another bad thing. This team has not developed the collective psyche of clearing their hearts and minds after every play and moving on to the next snap.Â
Tony G. has the opportunity to show them the way. If he returns and goes right back to working as hard as he always has and continues doing the things that have made him the best pass catching tight end in the history of the game, then the young players will have learned another valuable lesson about being a professional.
Teammate Brian Waters expects Gonzalez to do just that. Herm Edwards says he expects Gonzalez to do that as well.
You know, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigates all planes crashes in the United States each year, from big passenger aircraft to one-seaters that go down. Over the years, they’ve tracked these incidents and have discovered one thing: normally it’s not the first mistake that leads to a crash, it’s the reaction to that first mistake, otherwise known as the second mistake.
For instance, a pilot does not take the time to fill up on fuel before he takes off because he’s only going a short distance and thinks he has enough. Once airborne however, wind conditions make it difficult to get to his destination. The pilot decides to go for it anyway and the plane crashes when it runs out of fuel. It wasn’t the first decision that caused the accident, it was the pilot’s poor second decision that brought the trip to a crashing halt.
Tony Gonzalez made the first decision to push for a trade. Whether it was a mistake or not, it now leads to another decision, the important one: how does he handle the aftermath when it didn’t go the way he wanted.Â
The ball is very much in Tony G.’s hands.
Great article Bob. You sum it up nicely. Whichever side of the fence you are on the Tony G issue, you must admit that this article makes a lot of sense. I think Gonzalez will bounce back and continue to work hard and play at a high level. Perhaps next offseason Carl makes the trade and gets fair value.
Sorry, a pathetic article. This just the usual chiefs spin on things. That said there was truth in it. Tony will bounce back because it is his nature not because of anything chief. Carl will not trade him because he has no value except for the chiefs and their fans. The battle between carl and herm will come to a head sooner than later. Herm wants a totally young team which translates to a lot of loses while they learn. Veterans will be cut or traded or retire, you have to wonder how supportive Waters will be when his time comes.
I do not want to waste more time because this soap opera could run for years. And I have to add anyone who thinks this group will come together next year is just dreaming, Colby.
Are you kidding me? We are talking about one of the most storied players in Chiefs history. He just figured the Chiefs aren’t going anywhere as long a Peterson runs the show and isn’t willing to take the fall for the organization. Like every great player he just wants that one super bowl ring to compliment his hall of fame career. This is the guy who has given millions to charity and always worked hard for the organization. Tony has put in his time and the Chiefs shouldn’t turn on him now. Give him the respect he deserves and he will continue to work hard until there comes a day when he can not work anymore.
Would you rather have T.O.? Cause if I am not mistaken the “other” Chiefs star just assaulted a woman for the THIRD time. Great.
Yes, the ball is in Tony G’s hands. And no doubt he’ll handle it with far more class than Carl did.
I can see some of you are very disappointed in Tony’s behavior lately. I am too. I pray to the football Gods this selfish display of behavior doesn’t spiral this team into another 12 game losing streak. I think they will have an easy time doing that without the distractions. This is the time the veteran players need to be leaders and not causing this b.s.
Tony is better than this, and I hope he proves it.
BEAT THE TITANS!!!!
Dear God…. nice article there, Bob. Way to stroke the hand that feeds you and tote the company line. Carl should give you a nice X-mas bonus for that one.
The cheap shots at Tony are just pathetic… yeah, the business with the record was silly…but I’d bet you NOBODY in that locker room things differently of him for trying to get out of this mess by being traded now…and make no mistake, KC is a mess with Herm Edwards at the helm. You know it, Bob…you just can’t say so b/c you work for them.
I’m betting that a lot of players know that, and the ones that don’t are too young to realize what a poor coach he really is.
I think the overly strong “selfish” comments on Tony were uncalled for. Sure, the things he did were “literally” selfish, but so is a starving man asking for a small slice of your pizza. These things are reasonable, not selfish in the way you paint them.
What is the old saying about the measure of a man who kicks his fellow man when he is down? I bet the boot mark on Tony’s back matches Bob’s shoe size.
Just ain’t right…
That was a good article Bob. Nothing insulting about it.
Completely agree with you Anon. TG is a probowl NFL player playing on a NCAA team.
After how hard he has worked, it must have been torture getting thrown passes by Tyler Thigpen against Atlanta, and knowing that the only times he is ever looked to do anything other than block is on 3rd down or too late (after the team is behind).
I think the Chiefs missed the boat on this one.
Tony G will finish the year playing like he always does, as a Pro.
But bet your sweet a** come the end of the year, he retires do to the miss treatment he most feel from not getting the record the way he wanted to and then no trade for ANY VALUE. If he was selfish as some of have stated then why would he him self go to the powers that be and advise them “look get what you can for me now while I’m still worth something for your rebuilding of this team that needs all the draft picks it can get,” you have a young replacement for me already now in house. Tony staying isnt going to make any difference either way, if anything may hurt us in the long run ie: more wins lower rank in picks & same loses and when he retires what do we get????????????
Notta, not sh*t just poop marks in Carl’s shorts!
I dont agree with any of you. I was hoping Tony G. would of got traded. He didn’t. Some of you are pathetic, go back to the star where someone will stroke your ego for your pathetic junk. I quit reading the star because of the crap in the comments like some of you are talking. I came to this blog for intellegent conversation. And there has been even though I dont agree with some of it. It was intellegent. Now some of you are trying to make it the star again. Go over there if you want to make crude comments. MenInRed your last comment was uncalled for. kcfanwearingabagonmyhead, I read the article did you. My word people be civil. I saw nothing in the article that put Tony G. down. are some of you afraid of reality or something. Tony G. stated in the off season he would help with the rebuilding and that he wanted to retire a chief. Now he wants to bail and its all about him. I like Tony G., but he created this mess not Carl and not Herm.
Carlm,
Herm has made a huge mess in KC…if you don’t see that, I don’t know what to tell you. I know people, and I’ve been watching this guy since before Carl hired him. He’s not fit to be a head coach.
I think it is all about perspective. Tony G has been so classy throughout his career here that when he acts like a regular frustrated human being we over react. This was a big mess long before Herm came to town. He is coaching a very young team with numerous holes in it. We need to stay the course. Give Herm another draft and by 2010 we should be a serious contender. IF not, then lookm in a new direction. Some folks seem to have the patience and attention span of a five year old. I won’t point anyone out,don’t need to you know who you are.
All of you who are accusing Gretz of towing the company line and defending Carl, were you this upset when Will Shields and Willie Roaf retired without Superbowl rings?
Nathan,
I’m not upset b/c Carl didn’t trade Tony….I think Carl’s job is to do what’s best for the Chiefs. What gets me is that Bob is ripping Tony and make him out to be some malcontent who isn’t “with the program”. The problem is that who could blame Tony, really, for wanting out? Herm has made a mess of this team and I think that’s clear to everyone, players included.
Man I can’t wait until this weekend when we get back to FOOTBALL!!
Who cares Tony didn’t get traded?!! Boo effen hoo! Somebody who gets paid MILLIONS of dollars for playing football won’t get to sneak onto another football team to try and just get a ring. If you want a ring go out and earn one here in KC!!
And all of you guys upset about him being “mistreated” get real! Tony has been a great player and he got paid well for it. Now suck it up and try to win a game. I can’t wait for an article to come out that isn’t about Tony I want one about the Chiefs and Tennessee. Chiefs fans my arse!
JB
What a whiner. Not to be confused with winner. This attitude in the locker room is the problem with the Chiefs. What happens when the going gets tough…they turn their backs on their teammates and try to get out of town. That’s right TG its a team sport! Stop being part of the problem and become part of the solution. Stop running your mouth in the media…stop running out of town…start running on the field. The extra yards you needed against Denver could have been achieved one of the times you did get the ball. Take some blame for yourself; man up and go back to work.
This “attitude” is a symptom, not the problem.
Appreciate the diagnosis Dr. Jay A. I hope you write prescriptions and do house calls. Due to the play of the Chiefs I’m sure you would be busy. You are correct in saying its not the only problem. To discuss that would take more than one afternoon. I was only making reference to the article above. The rest I’ll save for the more than abundant “throw Carl/Herm off the Broadway Bridge” stuff I find in the Star.