Smythe Still Giving Gesicki Grief
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Mike Gesicki may be gone, but he's still getting it from Durham Smythe.
For five years Smythe and Gesicki were teammates with the Miami Dolphins and grew to be close friends, complete with some friendly trash talking whenever the opportunity presented itself.
And that's not about to change because Gesicki now is a member of the New England Patriots.
Smythe was served a great opening during a Zoom media session Tuesday when he was asked whether he was surprised that he not only outlasted Gesicki with the Dolphins but that he also more starts in those past five seasons despite being selected in the fourth round of the 2018 draft, two rounds after Miami took Gesicki.
"Referencing Mike, I would tell him right now that it's no surprise that I've started more games and have hung around longer," Smythe said. "I tell people all the time that the Dolphins made a mistake in 2018 taking him in the second and me in the fourth and I tell him that all the time, so that's nothing that I wouldn't say right to him and I'm sure he would probably say similar things back to me."
Smythe, though, saved his best for last in this media session when he was asked about Gesicki signing with, of all teams, the AFC East rival Patriots.
"Yeah, well, you know, I thought it was a direct shot at me because if he's not staying here, that he'd try to get at me in some way and that's probably one of the more direct paths to be able to do that," Smythe said. "So, yeah, obviously he had 31 other choices and he chose the one to spite me the most and it was to me directly, I believe. So good for him. You know, we'll we'll see him twice a year. It's exciting. And those will be some fun games."
GESICKI AND SMYTHE'S CLOSE BOND
This is the part where we repeat that Smythe and Gesicki became very tight during their time with the Dolphins, and Smythe was speaking firmly tongue in cheek despite the impeccable deadpan delivery.
Remember that when the Dolphins re-signed Smythe as an unrestricted last offseason before they signed him to a contract extension this offseason, it was Gesicki who broke the news.
"I mean, we still talk every day and he makes his trips down here," said Smythe, who lived with Gesicki during a recent offseason. "And I'm sure I'll make a couple up there in the coming weeks. So, yeah, we're just as close as ever."
