Tony Gonzalez: “I didn’t ask for a trade. That wasn’t me”

Atlanta Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez is aware of the trade rumors.

"“I’m still happy as I can be to be a Falcon,” Gonzalez said. “I know there were trade rumors out there. I didn’t ask for a trade. That wasn’t me. I signed up, and this is the team that … I came back to play with these guys on the team. And I’m enjoying myself, win, lose or draw.“Obviously I’d rather win. It makes it a lot more fun. But there is no way I would think about jumping ship because I love playing for this team, I love playing for this city.”"

This is hardly surprising from Gonzalez.  The sources of the rumors that have involved him have mainly been from fans.  Since Gonzalez is in the last year of his career (seriously this time), the talk of trading Gonzalez to a contender is from fans who want to see him get a shot at a championship, especially since that was the reason he was traded to Atlanta in the first place.

There is no question that Gonzalez will have a bust up in Canton as soon as he is eligible, but the one thing missing from his career is a championship.  Sadly for Gonzalez, he has barely experienced the playoffs.  With the Falcons at 1-4 and the playoffs looking increasingly a long shot, the thought process the Falcons should move the still dominant tight end for a draft pick to help them build for the future and give Gonzalez one last run for a title.

There has never been any indication that Gonzalez was the one pushing this or asking for it.  For better or worse, this has been largely a fan and media generated rumor for the sake of pushing a great story.  It is not unreasonable to think the Falcons could consider such a move and it would make sense if they did, but Gonzalez has never come off as unhappy or anything else this season.  He would rather be winning and going for the Super Bowl, but he seems to be enjoying every second of this season.  The Falcons take on the winless Buccaneers this week as they try to climb their way back into the NFC South race.