Greg Olsen: Bears’ claim that I asked for a trade is not true

After trading tight end Greg Olsen to the Panthers, Bears G.M. Jerry Angelo said that Olsen “came at me hard” and asked to be traded to a team that has a more tight end-friendly offense.

Olsen says that’s false.

“I’m the last one to go to the media and make big spectacles, but sometimes when things aren’t right, it’s hard to keep your mouth shut,” Olsen told the Chicago Tribune. “[Angelo] put the perception out that I forced my way out of there, which wasn’t true at all.

According to Olsen, Angelo is spreading the perception that Olsen demanded a trade because Angelo wants to avoid criticism for the decision.
“I never asked for a trade,” Olsen said. “If he had said, ‘We are going to try to get rid of you,’ I would have said, ‘That’s fine.’ I did not go in his office and ask for a trade. I think a little bit of that is him trying to make it look like I tried to force my way out because they took so much heat about it. It’s just not true.”

Still, Olsen says he’s happier in a Carolina offense that will see him playing to his strengths, rather than the Mike Martz offense that doesn’t get the tight end involved in the passing game.

“There’s no question I wasn’t happy catching only 40 passes after the previous two years,” Olsen said. “It was pretty clear when Mike was hired it was going to be a different role. But I embraced that and was the bigger man. I tried to do the best I could and think I played well.”

And Olsen says he would have been willing to keep playing well in Chicago, and it was Angelo’s decision to send him elsewhere.

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(profootballtalk.com)