Mike Gesicki – April 13, 2022
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Wednesday, April 13, 2022
TE Mike Gesicki
(So how do you feel about receiving the franchise tag?) – “I mean, I don’t think anybody across the league would be mad about a situation that you get to come back, you’re obviously getting an increase in financial purposes and that kind of stuff. It’s obviously not the goal, the end-all, be-all goal. It’s definitely more team-friendly than it is player-friendly. But it just gives me more reason to continue to come back here, work hard and continue to be motivated, get back to work and help this team win football games and hopefully eventually get what I deserve moving forward.”
(It was a pretty eventful offseason for you. Was there like – were you able to kind of compartmentalize? Obviously you have the wedding, you have the honeymoon and then you’re kind of talking with your agent. Like were you able to compartmentalize?) – “Yeah, it was crazy. I mean, it was awesome. I had a lot of fun this offseason. A lot of the focus was not football-related. A lot of the focus was on the wedding and the honeymoon and all of that kind of stuff and I made sure that Halle knew that it was all focused on the wedding and the honeymoon. I wasn’t even worried about a contract. It was awesome. It was great. It was everything that I could have imagined. I was in Bora Bora on my honeymoon and it’s like a six-hour difference in time so it was 3 a.m. and my agent texted me and he’s like, ‘Hey, they’re tagging you.’ I was like ‘oh,’ I like, rolled over in the middle of the night, checked my phone. I got a text from my agent and I was like, ‘okay,’ and then I also had a hundred other texts because I had slept through it. It was like 4 a.m., 3 a.m. Bora Bora time and rolled over, checked my phone and knew what happened. Woke up Halle, she was all excited and then went back to sleep. (laughter)”
(So are you and the organization sort of like, ‘hey, let’s have a one-year look-see?’ Or are you still open to the possibility of a long-term?) – “I am absolutely open to negotiation, but it’s not really up to me, as a lot of this is not. So I just kind of go with the flow and if they reach out, then my agent will be listening.”
(Does it bother you that they didn’t feel necessary to get a multi-year deal done?) – “I mean that’s up to them, honestly. I have a good relationship with Chris (Grier) and Brandon (Shore) and this new coaching staff obviously – maybe that had something to do with it, I’m not sure. I don’t really have all the answers. But I do know the kind of person that I am and the worker that I am and the player that I am, I’m just going to go back out there and continue to do what I do, continue to improve and make plays and help this team win football games and eventually get compensated for it.”
(Are you planning on playing on the tag as a tight end or are you thinking about seeing what you can find as a wide receiver?) – “Well, I mean I’m definitely playing. I’m here at OTAs, so – this is obviously optional – so here I am. I want to do whatever I can to help this team win football games. I think I’ve been here for four years now. The last two years we’ve been the odd team out, the last team out at the end of the regular season in terms of playoffs. So whatever it takes to go out there and win some games, win a playoff game and get back out there and kind of get this city going in the right direction. It’s been a long time, but obviously it’s a long process and a lot of work goes into it and we’re far away from that right now, but there’s obviously the excitement. But all 32 teams are excited. It’s April.”
(I think he was referring to are you going to appeal for the receiver designation for the franchise tag or keep it with the tight end?) – “That’s kind of up to – obviously it’s up to me, but more my agent and him kind of putting that out there. But as of now, I’m in here and I’m not really a big controversy guy. I’m not trying to be the guy that’s the bad locker room guy or the guy that’s bringing the organization down or the guy that’s in the headlines for the wrong reasons. I’m just trying to, like I said, help this team in any way I can. I’m going on my fifth year. I joke around with Durham (Smythe) now – I am the most tenured Dolphins player on offense. I beat out Durham by about 17 hours. (laughter) So that’s me now. So I’ve got to be the leader, so obviously be a team guy and continue to do what I do and come in here with a smile on my face and work hard.”
(What are your thoughts on the acquisition of WR Tyreek Hill and might it impact in any way what your role in the offense?) – “Love having more playmakers on the field, so to bring in a guy that’s one of, if not the best, at what he does in this league, it’s only going to help everybody in this offense. It’s going to help our run game, it’s going to help our pass game, it’s going to help Tua (Tagovailoa), it’s going to help me, it’s going to help Jaylen (Waddle). It’s going to help everybody. So I’m super excited about that acquisition and excited to continue to get to work with him. It’s been good.”
(When you look at the 49ers film and you talk to Coach Mike McDaniel and you talk to Assistant Head Coach/Tight Ends Jon Embree, what do you see and what are you hearing about how your skillset could fit into that scheme?) – “Yeah, it’s definitely a different scheme as to what we’ve played in, but at the end of the day, football is football. These coaches are elite in what they do and I think that they’re going to put people in position to be successful. To be honest, we haven’t really gone over installs or anything like that. It’s just been very, very basic knowledge of the offense. So that’s pretty much where we’re at right now, but I’m ready to do whatever I can to go out there and make plays.”
(Does and did George Kittle run a lot of the types of routes that you have run?) – “I would say George (Kittle) and I are different players, but in terms of route-running and ability to make tough catches and make plays, I think the thing that he’s the best at in the league, I think out of probably anybody in any position, is yards after the catch. He gets the ball and he runs angry, he runs people over, he stiff arms people, he runs by people. So I think having Coach Embree here and he’s kind of a guy that helped – I’m not saying that he’s the reason that George is where he’s at or that George is the reason that Jon is the coach he is, but they worked together and did a very good job together, so he was able to help him in a lot of aspects and obviously George is the player he is now. So I’m happy to have Coach Embree here and it’s definitely some good tape to watch, watching Kittle out there.”
(What are your early impressions of Head Coach Mike McDaniel – the man, the personality, the coach?) – “Yeah, funny dude. I had a meeting with him last week and it went well and just talking with him just about everything – the atmosphere in the building, the guys, the locker room, everything. So he’s awesome. It’s been great and I’m excited to play for him and work for him and do everything I can to earn his trust for some big-time opportunities coming up this fall. But it’s April right now. Everybody is optimistic, everybody is happy, everybody is in a good mood. But we’ll see how it goes when things start flying around and adversity hits and all that kind of stuff. But I think that this locker room, the guys that are still here, have been through a lot. So I’m excited to continue to use our past to get better in the future.”
(I know you want to avoid controversies, but you can’t take off the wedding ring this early…) – “Yeah, I’m in trouble right now…”
(You can do it with your hands behind your back.) – “Yeah, I know, the hands are behind my back. (laughter) So Halle is on a bachelorette party this weekend in Miami, so I went back home to see my parents. Went home, forgot my ring at home. I’m driving to the airport on Sunday and I’m like, ‘oh boy.’ Text Halle: ‘Hey, I forgot my ring.’ ‘Yeah, okay, like you did it on purpose.’ ‘No, Halle, I didn’t do it on purpose. I forgot. I got out of the shower, I put it down and then when I got out I forgot to put it back on.’ So I’ll be sure to replace that on my finger here, but pretty sure everybody that at least I care about knows I’m married.”
(… And by the way the shirtless dancing is nice…) – “Absolutely. Yeah, I was enjoying myself at the wedding. I was enjoying myself at the wedding. Durham also enjoyed himself at the wedding. Don’t let him tell you any differently. He was standing on tables and spraying champagne, too. There’s just no visual evidence at the moment.”
(I have a question for you. How does your – obviously it’s a wedding, it’s not necessarily for you – but you planned it so close to free agency. Like what was the thought on that?) – “So we got engaged almost, this summer it’ll be two years, and we did it quickly in terms of planning. So we got engaged on July 1. I had to come back for training camp, like call it the 25th of July. So we wanted to have it kind of scheduled before we went back. We went to a bunch of different venues and this was before my third year. So I’m like, ‘All right, I’m going to have a good year, I’m going to get extended, I don’t even have to worry about free agency.’ Third year passes, no extension. Fourth year ends, no extension. Then here comes my wedding. I’m sitting there talking to Halle. I’m like, ‘Yo, we’re going to be in Bora Bora. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I might get a phone call here, a phone call there. We might have to fly back early. I have no idea. We’ve just got to kind of roll with the punches.’ And she was great. She was obviously super excited and was awesome throughout the whole process, but it was getting close and everybody was like, ‘Bro, you’re getting married on Friday. The tag window closes on Tuesday morning and then free agency starts. Like why did you plan your wedding…?’ I was like ‘Bro, I don’t know.’ I was not thinking a year and a half in advance obviously.”
(So what was your favorite part of the wedding?) – “That’s a tricky question. You’re trying to get me in trouble now. (laughter) Like obviously getting married, saying my own vows. I did like saying my own vows. I didn’t want to at first because I was like…”
(Did you memorize them or read them?) – “Memorized them. I got there the night before and the priest was like ‘I need you to give me your vows. This way we can look over them.’ And Halle had them all written down, handed it to him and I’m like, ‘Oh, I didn’t write them down. I’ve got them up here.’ So then Halle thinks I haven’t even thought about writing my vows yet, we’re getting married in 12 hours. (laughter) I’m already in the doghouse, but then obviously I’m like, ‘Halle, I’ve got them right here.’ So I wrote them out the next morning, gave them to the priest. ‘Hey, here’s what I’m going to say.’ I went straight off the dome and it was great. I said some nice things, so I was clear for the whole night. So it was great. And then the reception, the after party, it was awesome. It was a lot of fun.”
(How big was it?) – “It was about probably like 250 people there, so it was cool. Yeah, it was a nice venue. It was cool.”
(Did you do any of the planning or you just showed up?) – “I showed up. I can’t really tell you much. I was at the tasting. I tried the food and that was pretty much it. I left it all up to Halle because if I said something and we didn’t want to do it or if I had said something and she didn’t want to do it, we weren’t going to do it. So ‘Halle, if you want the color of everything to be pink or blue, great, let’s roll with it. As long as you’re happy…’”
(Did you get your tux?) – “I did pick my tux. I did pick my tux, so that was me. It was great.”
(So you got the wedding, you got the honeymoon and then you got a chance to break the news for TE Durham Smythe’s contract extension. How pumped were you about that?) – “Oh, I was fired up. I was fired up. It was like getting married and then Durham getting re-signed was like, right here. (laughter) So it was great. I was super fired up about that. I was actually driving to go work out and he had texted me that morning saying, ‘I think we’re close.’ And then after that (the senior director of football communications) FaceTimed me. She’s probably watching this interview somewhere having a heart attack, like, ‘Oh God, what is he about to say?’ She FaceTimed me and said, ‘Hey, I think it would be funny if you broke the news.’ I was like, ‘Great.’ Sent her a couple pictures and videos and she was like, ‘Do not post any of those. Do not post any of those.’ (laughter) I was like, ‘Okay, fine, like I’ll try to find something a little bit more appropriate.’ One of them was like us in Vegas. She was like ‘Do not, do not post that!’ (laughter) I was like, ‘Okay, I’ll keep that private.’ So then I ended up the one from when he scored his touchdown against the Jets and broke the news and yeah, it was great. I was thinking about flying to – he was in North Carolina on a golf trip – I was thinking about flying there and then I was like, ‘All right, I don’t like you that much.’ I’m not going to celebrate with you in North Carolina. I’ll just see you when I see you.”
(So there was only one source. See, that’s wrong. You need to get two sources on when you break news like that.) – “It was straight from me. It was just straight from me, so it was the most reliable source possible.”
(How’d that feel, breaking news like that?) – “It was great. It was great. I think I have a future after football. There’s definitely some potential there. (laughter)”
