Thursday, April 23, 2009

Thursday ThinkTank: Now That He, Too, Has Left the Building

About a week ago, when the Tony Gonzalez-to-Atlanta trade rumors surfaced, I was a little nervous. But nothing happened, and I was fine with it. Until yesterday. Then the Philadelphia Eagles allegedly dove into the mix, and I was worried again. Not because I thought the Chiefs would ship Tony to Philly, but because I saw they were offering a third-round pick, and that made me feel that within 48 hours of the 2009 NFL Draft's commencement, this is when the stuff can go down for real, especially if one team's genuinely interested, and then another puts its ante in the pot.

Well, as everyone knows by now, the Chiefs sent Tony Gonzalez to the Atlanta Falcons for a second-round pick in 2010's draft. It's a done deal and I've had just over five hours to let it sink in. And for the most part, it has. Naturally, it'll be new all over again when you see four-letter highlights of him at training camp, and regular season footage of him as a Dirty Bird. But it's for real, and we must move on.

It's a bittersweet deal in the end, mostly because of the most microscopic, surreal pipedream of Tony Gonzalez retiring as a Chief and winning a Super Bowl was probably never going to happen. Now, the new regime of Scott Pioli and Todd Haley could very well get this club turned around and, amongst the outer-most moons of Neptune, Gonzalez could come back to K.C. for one final hurrah of a season, and they could win it all. But it's a pipedream.

Closer to the sun than the distant Milky Way, it's sliced clean into two sides: the business and the personal. I've never been secretive about Gonzalez being my favorite Chief. He was more than that, though. He was the proverbial face of the franchise, the go-to-guy, the clutch performer, the hero. Now, he, like any player, is one of many cogs in a machine working toward one goal. And well, this machine has been shy a handful of cogs for a long time. So you make some replacements. I just knew it was a bad idea to ask for my first-ever Gonzalez jersey for Christmas last year.

In the business end of things, it appears that Pioli means just that: business. He's gonna go out, make some transactions, all in the name of bettering the machine, and hopefully, he'll have a great draft, too. Essentially, the Chiefs were already going to have a second-rounder in 2010. So they give up 2009's and get a quarterback who could have a solid decade in him. Add to that some veteran linebacker leadership in Mike Vrabel. Then, you unload Tony and get another second-round pick, so in a sense, it's as if you've traded a 32 year-old tight end for some defensive help, and perhaps a franchise quarterback, which ain't that bad of a deal.

Yes, it'd've been nice to get some help in this year's draft, but I think you simply have to take the second-rounder for Gonzalez, no matter what. As the outsiders that we all are, it appears that that was the only second-round pick -- the price the Chiefs have asked for all along -- that has been offered since last October. It might've been the only one offered, so you take it. I imagine Pioli's dealings aren't yet done for this upcoming season, and it almost promises to be an awesome draft weekend, and a great summer of free agency.

At least that's what I'm hoping for.

So to Tony Gonzalez -- an official House of Georges salute for your service, your commitment to being the best, and your highly admirable performances in all regards.



ChiefsNation will miss you, sir.

(photos courtesy of the Kansas City Star)

24 comments:

Cecil said...

LAME

Dylan said...

Does S. Sharpe's cock in your mouth excite you so..that you permanently "adhere" your caps lock?
How bout's: Lame.
That was some good ,old, squishy banky sedimentality. All we got here is the Patriot way and a bunch of rooks. Let us grieve, fer chrissakes.
DKC

blairjjohnson said...

Wow. I'm honestly insulted. Don't recall being a complete jerk when one of your favorites was shipped out .

Cecil said...

Oh, please. I've heard more shit-talking from you over the years than I have brainspace to remember.

Al Wilson had a fucking neck injury. His career ended when he was carried off the field strapped to a board.

Tony Gonzalez had a hurt pussy and didn't want to be part of a rebuilding project--you're totally willing to throw Brian Waters under the tires for feeling the same way, but heaven forfend anyone say anything about TG.

Cecil said...

That said, it was highway robbery that you all got a 2nd rounder for him. Wow.

blairjjohnson said...

Look, dude. I'm not talking about shit-talking, nor am I trying to imply that I haven't delivered 17 produce trucks worth of it. But your one-word, all-caps summary of my salute was, well, lame.

Waters is a replaceable, better-than-average lineman who whined about not getting some face time with the new digs. Gonzalez, like every other professional athlete on the planet wants to win a championship, and has prepared himself every season since he's been in the league to be the best he can possibly be.

His numbers, i.e. 10 straight Pro Bowls, back it up. You can't deny that he was the face of the franchise. If y'all hadn't won with Sharpe, and he was dealt away in his early 30s, you'd feel the same, and I'd respect your thoughts.

I've bagged on him a lot, because of his mouth, and because Tony is my guy, on my team, and frankly, better in the non-championship, record-holding way of things.

Had this been the reverse, I'd respect your mentionings of missing him, and I would also speak from a rational mind, and agree, that a second-round pick is beyond fair.

Most of the feedback I've heard, locally, and nationally, is that the Falcons got the better end of the deal.

So grab a ladle, head back to the punch bowl, and see what you can try and scoop out, because so far, it looks like you've been using a slotted spoon.

Cecil said...

"Waters is a replaceable, better-than-average lineman who whined about not getting some face time with the new digs. Gonzalez, like every other professional athlete on the planet wants to win a championship, and has prepared himself every season since he's been in the league to be the best he can possibly be."

So Brian Waters doesn't want to win? Or he does? I'm confused.

Gonzalez has done plenty of whining. You just don't ever call him out on it because he's your boy. That's fine, no problem, but let's have some consistency, here.

Of course people in KC think that Atlanta got the better end of the deal. For the exact same reason your man-thong is apparently all bunched up.

Well, time to smell that Sanka--getting a 2nd for a dude whose best years aren't just behind him, but a tiny speck in the rearview, is a great deal for your club.

But hey, if rooting for your team gets in the way of wearing your sackcloth and ashes, I can't help you.

Cecil said...

For the record, I didn't mean to insult you or your well-written and clearly heartfelt post personally.

I should have written--in all caps, because that was what the situation called for--TONY GONZALEZ IS SERIOUSLY FUCKING LAME.

Better now?

Dylan said...

Pistols at noon for Cecil on his next visit to KC metro area.
Saying you won't play for the Baltimore Yankees pre-NFL action of any sort... thats LAME.

Cecil said...

I roll like Plaxico, it's true.

See, that's exactly the kind of simmering piss we thrive on here at the House. Well done, sir.

blairjjohnson said...

"a dude whose best years aren't just behind him, but a tiny speck in the rearview"

Wow, dude. You've gone batshit. Officially. For the record, Tony asked for a trade last October. The Chiefs said they'd honor if they got a second. They didn't, so they didn't. He still, post-October, went out and played lights out football and went to the Pro Bowl. At said Pro Bowl, he was asked about remaining a Chief. He said, and I quote, "I'm definitely open to the idea." He later said that he still loved Kansas City, and wanted to remain a Chief, but wanted also to win a playoff game, and a championship.

Now back to your quote. Let's bunch it up in three-season chunks, shall we?

1997-99: 168 receptions for 1838 yards and 15 touchdowns

2000-02: 229 receptions for 2893 yards and 22 touchdowns

2003-05: 251 receptions for 3079 yards and 19 touchdowns

2006-08: 268 receptions for 3130 yards and 20 touchdowns

You wanna put the crackpipe down now? Improvement in two of three categories; the third is only three scores shy of improvment, and that, in case you misplaced this tidbit with your sanity, was on a team that won 13 games in three seasons.

There's no sackcloth. No ashes. No man-thong. Those, my friend, are facts. Statistics we call them. And how convenient of you to skip over the "and nationally" part of what they're saying about the trade.

Cecil said...

He's 33. He can't play forever. And why, do you think, was no one interested in giving them a 2nd last year?

Because that's a crazy price to pay for an old tight end, even a Hall of Fame-bound cocksmok-uh, player like Tony G.

As far as nationally, I'm gonna do something that makes me feel queasy inside and quote Peter King's draft update from earlier:

"I think, traveling across the state of Missouri by car Thursday afternoon and listening to Sirius XM NFL Radio, I was stunned to hear the negative fan reaction to the Tony Gonzalez trade for a 2010 second-round pick.

The Chiefs, last year, couldn't get anything better than a third-rounder (and a late-third-rounder, obviously, if it would have been coming from the Eagles) in an offer for Gonzalez. And now they get a two, albeit in 2010. Sounds likes a good deal to me for a player in his 13th year, at age 33.

Yet the reaction to Pat Kirwan and Tim Ryan on their afternoon show was fairly venomous. Fans will be fans, but come on. This team won six games the past two years. Time to think of 2010."

King may be a tool who takes baseballs from little kids and jerks off over pictures of Brett Favre, but he's indisputably national.

Look, I'm glad to have Gonzalez out of the division. But I'm much less glad that your team got such good compensation for him.

blairjjohnson said...

Interesting. I recall just a few short weeks ago when the McCaskey family backed a U-Haul in-tow up to InVesCo and dumped a small flat of picks on your lawn. You should still be rubbing yourself over that gifthorse.

Cecil said...

Oh, believe me, I am. Have the Jergens out as I type this.

Assuming, of course, that New Infant Coach doesn't trade them all away for Mark Sanchez.

If that happens, my head will explode all over our live chat. Beleee dat.

blairjjohnson said...

San-chez! San-chez!

Dylan said...

Good thread, by the way
Dare I beat this silly horse, again?
Simmering, viles of urine?
Sounds nice. This is a nice place.

It appears the Donks/Chefs are manuvering for owning 26% of the '09 draft. Picks, pics and pix... get'em while they're hot.

Coach Dougie wants Sanchez. [Insert Dirty Sanchez joke here>]
He knows alot of purty USC girls...not alot of chubby Vandy heifers. Doogie n' Sanchez will make some sweet music.

'Cept the original "Patriot Way" FranchiseWest may sweep 'em up this year. "Patriot Way" FranchiseWest...we rock and roll. See ya' at the SuperBowl Kid..

DKC

Cecil said...

We're close to an all-time record for comments on one post.

Which is both awesome and sad.

blairjjohnson said...

I think we had 22 once. The real sad part is that when we did, there were like 4-6 guys involved, instead of the same three dorkfaces over and over.

Cecil said...

Oh right. That was one of our political arguments with Blanche.

Whatever happened to her, anyway?

blairjjohnson said...

She became a cop.

/fa' reals

Dylan said...

Second to last record breaking post.

Dylan said...

Last post before esteemed record gets broken.

Dylan said...

Record-breaking post.

All others who posted before me must bow down and worship me.
DKC

blairjjohnson said...

1) You are a retard.
2) These are called comments; the body of text upon which you are commenting is the post.
3) You are a retard.