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Gonzalez disappointed to end 3 yards shy of record

By DOUG TUCKER

Published September 29, 2008 at 4:26 p.m.
Updated September 29, 2008 at 6:33 p.m.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) _ A disappointed Tony Gonzalez wants to know why Kansas City coaches refused to throw a short pass his way in the final minutes Sunday, leaving him 3 yards short of the career tight end receiving record.

Gonzalez did have a 10-yard touchdown catch in a 33-19 victory over Denver that snapped the Chiefs' 12-game losing streak. But he wanted to set the receiving record in front of family and fans at Arrowhead Stadium.

"I had my family out there. I wanted to do it in front of the fans, in a home game," Gonzalez said. "It would have been a great way to do it. I'm disappointed by that, for whatever reason my number wasn't called at times."

Coach Herm Edwards said the Chiefs didn't want to take a chance by throwing the ball late in the game.

"After it was a two-possession game, we never got the ball back," Edwards said.

Gonzalez likely will get the record this week at Carolina, far from the fans who chanted "Ton-Y, Ton-Y" when he lay on the ground, the wind knocked out of him, after making the touchdown catch that stretched the NFL TD record for tight ends to 68.

"It was really endearing, the way the fans were supporting me like that," he said. "My wife almost started crying. It was a goose-bump situation."

Gonzalez, a nine-time Pro Bowler, uncharacteristically declined to speak with reporters immediately after the game. On Monday, after a private meeting with Edwards, he remained miffed.

He was thrown only a few passes as the Chiefs stuck mostly to a ground game that included Larry Johnson running for 198 yards and two touchdowns.

Gonzalez finished with 47 yards on three catches, including the one that stretched his NFL touchdown record for tight ends to 68. His last catch went for 23 yards in a drive that ended in a field goal and a 26-16 lead with 3:49 left.

The Broncos drove down for a field goal with 2:06 left and tried an onside kick. The Chiefs got possession, and Johnson carried four straight times for the clinching touchdown.

When Gonzalez was told he was only 3 yards from Shannon Sharpe's record of 10,060 yards receiving, he asked coaches on the sideline if he could get the ball.

"I asked anybody who would listen to me at that point," he said.

He said he had no idea why he wasn't thrown the ball.

"I've been trying to think about it all last night and this morning. There are a couple of different answers for that, stuff I agree with and stuff I don't agree with."

Gonzalez insisted there was "no controversy, no bad blood" after meeting with Edwards.

"I have ultimate respect for Herm, and I think he has that for me, too," Gonzalez said. "We talked about it face-to-face, man-to-man. It is what it is, and hopefully it will make us a better football team. I'm still a little upset about it.

"But it's something I'll get over," he added. "The victory was more important than anything."

Edwards agreed there were no hard feelings

"Tony's fine. We wish we could have got him the record, too," Edwards said. "But the game, the way it unfolded at the end, we really couldn't afford to throw a pass. A minute, 47 seconds left in the football game, it's a one-possession game. You can't throw a pass when you only lead by one score.

"What if something bad happens when you decide to throw that pass?"

Had Gonzalez gotten the record, the Chiefs planned to halt the game and make note of the milestone.

"It's not about the record. The record's going to come, no matter what," Gonzalez said. "It's just that I wanted to do it in front of the fans. I wanted to do it at home. I wanted to do it against the Broncos, our rivals. I felt like we had won the game anyway, and I thought I could just go out and get a little catch. It just didn't work out that way."

Comments

  • September 30, 2008

    4:18 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Squatch writes:

    Tony dont be that guy. You have never been so dont start now. We have Moss, TO & Plexiglass I would hate to see you added to that mix. Yes it would have been nice and should have happened but the Chiefs won the game and that is all that should matter.

  • October 1, 2008

    8:50 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    tahosa writes:

    I can understand Gonzalez wanting the record and it would have been a plus for him to have gotten the extra yardage; However, Edwards made the right decision.

    I'm also glad that he didn't get it from the Broncos, where Shannon set the mark.