One of the best parts of athletes in the podcasting era is hearing tales of long-since forgotten games that show us the wonders of sports.
Former Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel brought us right into December 2010 matchup with the Tennessee Titans in the way only that game’s starting QB could share.
Cassel was asked on the Lots to Say podcast about a time he was yelled at by a coach.
He recalled offensive coordinator Todd Haley on Dec. 26, 2010 against the Titans.
“This is for us to win the AFC West, and he was getting after me all game long,” Cassel began. “Third quarter comes around, I have a (bootleg), pull up, didn’t break contain, (take a sack) and already can see he’s steaming.”
The Chiefs punted to end that drive, and Cassel met Haley on the sideline.
“We had a little verbal altercation, and I said some things I probably shouldn’t have,” Cassel said. “Deservedly so, he was hot. I was like Todd, that’s not what we need right now. We don’t need you over here, ‘Ahhh, ahhh, ahhh.'”
“He goes, F-U Cassel, you’re benched,” Cassel said.
MORE: New contracts at ESPN, Eagles are surprisingly similar
Cassel was a team captain and the Chiefs led by 10. He didn’t want anything to do with the bench.
So he ran back into the game.
“They don’t give me a play in the helmet, so I call my own play,” Cassel said.
The Chiefs chose to give Cassel no option and sent backup Brodie Croyle in on the next play. On Croyle’s second play, he threw an interception.
“I’m like, are we done messing around?” Cassel said.
Haley told him he was still out, but Cassel again ran out onto the field to begin the next drive.
He called his own plays, again, and got a first down. That’s when the tune changed.
“All of a sudden, it’s, ‘Alright Cass, let’s get into zero on, sprint 38, alert sprint 39,'” Cassel said. “I was like, ‘Really, now?'”
The Chiefs went on to win the game, and Cassel tried to clear things up with Haley the following week.
“‘We need to put this to bed because we’re gonna go to the playoffs in two weeks,'” Cassel recalls telling Haley. “That was probably my most intense conversation with a head coach.”
Those Chiefs went on to lose the final week of the regular season in a game Cassel went 11-for-33 passing, then fell 30-7 in the first round of the playoffs when Cassel went 9-for-18 for 70 yards against the Ravens.
MORE NFL NEWS:
Read the full article here
