One of the more eye-opening moments in Seth Wickersham’s item in ESPN the Magazine regarding retired (we think) tight end Tony Gonzalez comes from an alleged exchange between Gonzalez and Packers safety Morgan Burnett during a December 8 game at Lambeau Field.
“F--k you,” Burnett reportedly said to Gonzalez. “You ain’t sh-t.”
Burnett denies saying it.
“I don’t know where this is coming from or who said it, but I work real hard on and off the field to build a good a reputation around the league, and I’ve got too much respect for the game to even say something like that,” Burnett told Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com. “I’ve got too much respect for myself. I’ve got a four-year-old son who looks up to me. I respect someone like Tony Gonzalez, who’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer, to ever say or do anything like that. . . .
“I was never on him throughout the whole game,” Burnett said. “I’m not even a trash-talker. I’m a quiet guy. I just go out and play.”
If Burnett wasn’t covering Gonzalez, the culprit could be whoever was. After the game, cornerback Jarrett Bush talked about covering tight end Tony Gonzalez.
“Gotta get up in his face,” Bush said. “One of the best, you’ve gotta beat the best.”
Since Burnett wears No. 42 and Bush wears No. 24, there’s a chance Gonzalez got the numbers mixed up.
If it was Bush -- and if Burnett doesn’t want to be characterized as a guy who trashes talk -- Bush should just say it was him.