Cassel nuggets from KC
Former Patriots QB Matt Cassel answered questions from reporters today for the first time as a Chief. The audio can be found on the Chiefs' official website.
Here is some of the Q&A, compliments of the Chiefs media relations staff (click "full entry" for complete comments, the order of which was altered here):
Q: What is your reaction on the trade to Kansas City?
MATT CASSEL: “I am really excited about it. I am excited about the opportunity. I have been to Kansas City once before in 2005 and I know how impressive and how exciting the city and the fans can get. It is a great place to play for, not against when you come to this stadium, but I am really excited about everything.”
Q: Did you give the Patriots a list of teams you were interested in being traded to or was it done on their own?
CASSEL: “This was done on their own. They decided that this was the best opportunity for them. It just worked the way it did. I got the phone call yesterday.”
Q: What does being in the locker room with former teammate (LB) Mike Vrabel mean to you and what will he mean to the Chiefs?
CASSEL: “I couldn’t say more about the character he brings to the locker room. He is a guy that has great integrity, he is a great leader. He leads not only by example but by his words. He works hard each and every day and gives 110 percent. He is a guy that, when I got into the league, really helped me and showed me how to be a professional and step up. I am excited to have Mike come here with us and he is a great ball player as well.”
Q: Would you be willing to not take a long term deal here and …
CASSEL: “At this point it is all so fresh, it is all so new. I just learned at 12 o’clock my time (PT), 2 o’clock your time (CT) that I was traded. Right now I am just taking it all in and figure out what direction we are going to go. Like I said, it is really Scott and my agent Dave that will figure it all out and we will go from there.”
Q: Did you have any inclination that you were going to be traded to the Chiefs or were you resolved that it could be anywhere?
CASSEL: “I was resolved in the fact that I was going to get traded somewhere. I knew that there was probably going to be some kind of talks and transactions that probably took place. I didn’t know when or at what time, but I got the phone call yesterday and I was very excited.”
Q: Are you surprised that your contract had not been agreed upon before the trade was made?
CASSEL: “I didn’t know really how the whole thing works. I know that they are still trying to work everything out. This is my first day in the building and I kind of leave everything up to the agent and Scott (Pioli) to figure out all of that.”
Q: Do you plan on meeting with Bernard Pollard at all?
CASSEL: “Oh gosh. Now he is a teammate and I know that it wasn’t intentional. Nobody likes to see anybody go down, I’m sure including himself. I will talk to him and say hello, say thank you for the opportunity, but you never want to see anybody get hurt out there.”
Q: How do you feel about having this be your football team without having to worry about (QB) Tom Brady coming back from injury?
CASSEL: “I am excited about it. I have been working really, really hard for a long time now and I finally had the opportunity to play last year. I got a taste of what it was like to be out there and play, be on the field every snap. I am excited that I will have the opportunity here to do the same and get this thing going, get on the right track and win ball games.”
Q: How much did you progress from week one to the final week of the 2008 season?
CASSEL: “I think, like anything, the more you do it the more comfortable you become. You start to kind of get into a grove. The biggest thing for any quarterback, especially a young quarterback that just steps in, is getting used to the game speed. You cannot emulate that or simulate that in practice. From week one when you step in and a guy goes down, you don’t get any reps in practice but as the season starts to go, you start to build in your comfort level and start to understand what we need to get done out there it became a little bit easier. I grew in confidence and we got better as a team.”
Q: What is your relationship with GM Scott Pioli like? Did you know he was interested in you when he left New England to come to Kansas City?
CASSEL: “I have a great relationship with Scott Pioli. He was one of my biggest supporters throughout the year. He was always very encouraging. Anytime I needed some advice I would usually go to him as one of the guys who would always be willing to open his office door. We have a great relationship. I was hoping that there was some interest and obviously there was. I am excited to re-unite with him being a guy that is from the Patriots and is familiar with my style of play and a guy that does a great job at what he does.”
Q: What do you have to do to get your mind ready to potentially be the starting quarterback for the Chiefs next season?
CASSEL: “I think last year was probably the toughest year from the standpoint of being a backup quarterback and being thrust into a situation becoming the starter in week one. It wasn’t like I became the starter in week six. I had a full season. I obviously had my own stresses going with the MVP (Tom Brady) from the year before who threw 50 touchdowns and set all kinds of records going down. If I could handle last year with the stress and the adversity that I went through, to come here and be a starter and know that you are going into the thing being a starter, I can prepare better mentally and be on the same page. Obviously it brings its own adversities and its own difficulties but I think I will be ready for that.”
Q: How long have you been waiting for your time to come as a starting quarterback?
CASSEL: “It is funny. You go through five years of college and then three years as a pro, that is eight years of just sitting there and waiting. Everybody is always telling you, ‘you have to be ready; you are one ankle sprain away’. I was sitting there going, ‘gosh, nobody sprains their ankle anymore.’ Finally that opportunity comes about and you kind of say, ‘here we go,’ you take a deep breath, step out and play football. That is what I was there to do and I am just excited that I got that opportunity.”
Q: Were you getting tired of being the second or third guy on the depth chart?
CASSEL: “There is no doubt. You want to play as any football player does. You want to be competitive and as a competitor you want to be out on the field. Any time you can get out there, you welcome the opportunity.”
Q: Have you had a chance to meet with head coach Todd Haley yet?
CASSEL: “I did get a chance to meet with coach this morning. It went well. I really liked him as a person and as a coach. We were able to talk some X’s and O’s and then just kind of set a foundation to where we want to go this offseason and into the season.”
Q: Were you planning on contacting (RB) Larry Johnson, (G) Brian Waters or (TE) Tony Gonzalez to convince them to stay with the Chiefs?
CASSEL: “I hope to be able to have conversations with all of them. I hope to get to know everybody, all of my new teammates. Everything is so new right now. This is only my first day in the building. I hope I will get a chance to talk to those guys and build a relationship with them because they are all great players.”
Q: How much do you know about the Kansas City Chiefs and what has transpired over the last few years?
CASSEL: “I have followed them a little bit over the course of my career obviously. For the most part I had my own situation up in New England and I was just trying to continue to make the team and continue to try and put my best foot forward up there. My concentration really went to putting all my efforts into being the best football player I could be in New England. Now I will try and transition that over to Kansas City.”
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That's terrible he's going to thank Pollard for ripping off Brady's knee ! lol So what do you think about Jason Taylor being released ? Any interest from the Pats ???
good luck to Matt.
but - i just heard Jason Taylor was released by the Redskins.
Here we go. . . welcome to the new KC Pieces blog site. You can bet, every little thing that goes on in KC will be right here for us to see. Ugh. How wonderful. And it begins.
trixstal,
Are you an idiot or what? The guy was just traded, makes his first comments and Mike Reiss or any other reporter is supposed to ignore it. Get a life.
Good for him. Nice to see hard work & patience pay off for someone who by all appearances is a decent guy as well.
Now on to more important things... Jason Taylor is the kind of player that would be a great fit in NE. Mike, any chance of them getting together and working the numbers out?
we dont want jason taylor, just stop that right now! for one, we have our own defensive lineman we already need to try and lock up (wilfork). for two, this guy just basically lost out on more than 8 mil this year because he was unwilling to workout with his team in the offseason and commit to being in prime condition for the team already paying him. this only a season after he refused to do the same thing for the dolphins so he could dance on tv, and he ended up hurt and banged up all season long in washington because of it. he his heart is not in football anymore, he is not committed, therefore he is no fit for the pats....our players are all about the team and work hard...
Trixstal:
if you don't like what you read, change the channel. We don't need your whining.
i wish the best of luck to matt! cool guy. go pats & fight on
Matt Cassell did a great job for the Patriots in 2008. Nice thing is he will not play against the Pats unless it is in the playoffs. Now that wowuld be an interesting match. Tom Brady vs Matt Cassell.
Matt played by the rules. And he has been rewarded financially. That is something we all aspire to one day. I just hope the Pat's remember that their greatest success over the past three draft years has been in trading draft picks. Trading draft picks for NFL vet's. I hope they do that with some of their draft picks this year.
Any word on whether Cassel will (or even can) renegotiate a longer term deal with KC? I think it's a huge consideration if in the end, he opts to play under the tag tender offer (already guaranteed) and become a FA again next year.
It really reduced his trade value if that plays out, yet no word on that aspect of this yet anywhere.
I'm happy for Matt Cassel and wish him the best.
Vern: He is free to negotiate a deal until a date that I believe is some time either before or early in training camp. You may recall we hit that deadline with Asante Samuel where he was precluded from signing a long term deal after he got franchise tagged. Instead he signed the one year franchise tender offer but negotiated a condition that the Pats would not re-tag him. Thus he avoided a second tag which allowed him to sign with the eagles for big money.
Matt Cassel is different in that he simply signed the $14.6M guaranteed one year deal before he was traded. That means there is no restriction on using the tag again, but his salary would increase by 10%, I believe. He likely faces the same time limits for negotiating a long term deal and KC will do its best to get that done.
Not doing a deal for KC is not that huge a risk, however, because if Cassel performs poorly, they can afford to let him go and only lost a 2nd round pick.... which is a decent negotiating position. If Cassel meets all expectations, then they simply re-franchise tag him and pay close to what he likely deserves.
shawn my friend. no one is saying not to lock up big vince "point blank" wilfork.
BB would only bring JT on board with a number he could live with. BB always liked JT so dont be surprised if it happens.
ps - everyone said Rodney and Junior were toast before they got here as well. If BB thinks he has anything left in the tank it could happen. we have a hole @ OLB. are you comfy with Pierre Woods, Bunta Cain, Crable out there? I am not.
Even if Cassel was joking/being sarcastic, saying he is going to thank Pollard for the opportunity is really low; like school in the summer, no class.
Good luck Matt - it was great cheering for you in 2008
Good luck Matt, you earned that job and deserve all the success.
Zak...i hear your argument but JT does not play linebacker lol..and i dont see how with his current lukewarm commitment level to football he is basically willing to play for 1/4 of what he wouldve made in washington...and even if so, do you wanna guy that wont even come in this offseason and get acclimated and commit to conditioning with his new teammates?? we already have vince, warren, and seymour (at least for for 1 more season)...we play a 3-4 defense...we dont need an overpaid defensive end thats not fully committed and a hard worker (like junior and rodney were)...keep him away from my team, waste of cap money right there...
Cassell is very overrated--he'll suck in KC--at best they win 6 games next year . Have fun Matt--hope you like to look at the sky because you will be on your back often in KC.
"Even if Cassel was joking/being sarcastic, saying he is going to thank Pollard for the opportunity is really low; like school in the summer, no class."
To be fair, if you listen to the full audio of the interview (available in full at the chiefs official site: kcchiefs.com) there is some stuff he said before, that they didn't transcribe where you can tell he didn't even know who Pollard was until they told him, and then he kind of answered the question nervously without trying to be controversial. If you hear the actual audio and the tone of his voice, it's pretty obvious he was trying NOT to make light of the situation even though the person who asked him obviously was...
I think Cassel should make a brief "correction" at some point re. the remark about Pollard go sort of "go the extra mile" - but in context and in the understandable excitement of the situation, it's not a very surprising gaffe
Jason Taylor is 6-6 and at his heaviest almost 260lbs. If he was acquired by the Patriots he would not play DE, he would play OLB. He has experience playing the position a few years back (when Joey Harrington was starting in Miami). He returned an interception for a touchdown twice that year (one versus the Vikings to help seal a victory). If he fits under the cap, and is willing to work hard on his own then why not acquire him? He has tremendous talent even at his age. Players are hurt all the time and miss time working out (whether one causes the other is almost irrelevant). The question is could he contribute and provide skills others in the NFL do not have? You dont get 120+ sacks by being an average player. If Junior Seau can contribute after not spending the entire offseason with the Pats, why can't a player of Taylor's exprience do so as well?
I was pulling for Matt all last season.
Seems like a good guy and all.
However, thanking Pollard is an abomination.
I HOPE MATT GETS BOTH HIS KNEES BROKEN THEN I HOPE SOMEONE BREAKS HIS NECK!!!!! WHAT A PIECE OF SH**!!!! YOURE GOING TO CRASH AND BURN IN KC YOU BUM. NO CLASS. I HOPE THEY PUT A BOUNTY OUT ON YOU MATT A**HOLE !!! WHAT A JERKOFF. YOU BELONG IN KC WITH ALL THE OTHER LOSERS. THE PATS ARE LUCKY TO HAVE GOTTEN WHAT THEY DID FOR YOU ....YOUR NOT WORTH SH** JUST LIKE YOURE COMMENTS YOU BUM
Are you people freakin serious? He answered the question the guy was asking and he had a genuine answer. The fact of the matter is he would still be on the bench in New England (AKA home of the worst fans ever, besides raider fans) if it wasn't for that hit. He even said "you never want to see someone go down", but the reality is that he was there to be a backup. The only way Cassel was going to get an opportunity to play was obviously if Bradys injured, or he gets traded with no credentials being a 7th round pick and a crappy contract.
I just don't understand what you sensitive pussies want him to say. If it were me I would have told the reporter " Im going to buy Pollard whatever the hell he wants cause I wouldn't be in this position if it weren't for that incident.
Guys, don't forget that Brady got his shot only because Bledsoe got hurt too.
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