Tony Gonzalez: 2013 “Without A Doubt Last Season”
By Mike Dyce
Atlanta Falcons tight end was on NFL AM this morning. He said that the addition of running back Steven Jackson makes the Falcons the perfect offense. And for his sake he hopes it is cause this will be his last season in the NFL, and his last chance at that elusive Super Bowl ring.
From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
"“Without a doubt, yes. Without question. Last year was just such a wonderful year and I told everybody I was going to retire last year, and I really meant that when I was saying that last year. But this offseason after obviously we had that heartbreaking loss in the NFC Championship Game, when I went home I was able to talk to my family and my close circle, specifically my son Nikko – he was the reason I was going to retire anyway. He lives out in Los Angeles with his mom and doesn’t live with me during the season, so I wanted to spend more time with him. He said, ‘Dad, you guys have a great team, I think you should go out there and try it one more time.’ After he said that with everything else that fell into place with the type of team that we’re going to have, with the coaching staff, with the fans out there in Atlanta, it was kind of a no-brainer after that.”"
But once he said he was coming back, he didn’t waver on his decision.
"“No. Once I came out and said that I’m coming back, I’m the type of person that I’m full-go. Like I said, once I talked to my son and he said you should go out and try it one more time, that [he would be] OK with that, it’s kind of a no-brainer. Look at this football team that I get to be a part of next year, especially playing with a guy like Matt Ryan; Roddy White and Julio Jones on the outside, we got Steven Jackson as an offseason pick up. Osi Umenyiora on defense, [Sean] Weatherspoon – the list goes on and on, the amount of talent that we have on this team and the type of run that I think we can make, just like we did this last year. I’m looking forward to it and hopefully we can get the whole thing done this time.”"