Former NFL TE Jeremy Shockey changed rosters when most players never do, right after his team won a Super Bowl and he was in his prime. But the No. 12 overall pick from the 2002 NFL Draft did exactly that after 6 years with the Giants. The move came after the Eli Manning-led New York Giants lifted the Lombardi Trophy in the 2007 postseason, while Shockey was absent.

On a recent podcast with former NFL TE Shannon Sharpe, Jeremy Shockey discussed the truth behind his trade request, his relationship with the Giants, and how the media narratives were a big reason why he wanted to change teams in the first place.

“It’s hard when people are writing things about you, saying things about you. You know, you can’t control that. That are 100% false. I think we all have some common ground here about this subject [false media stories], and it’s not fair. It is not fair, but they got way more ink. And that’s why I requested a trade, because I thought I was going to be a distraction for the next year so bad that I was like, I’m not going to sacrifice this, you know, great team, we just won a Super Bowl. That’s why I said I would rather start over, have a blank canvas, and move on,” Jeremy Shockey revealed on the Club Shay Shay podcast.

Shockey started 85 of 86 games for the Giants, including 3 postseason games over 6 seasons. He accumulated 4,371 total receiving yards on 384 total receptions in that period. Unfortunately, in one of the regular-season games in 2007, Jeremy suffered a fractured left fibula and damage to his ankle that required a season-ending surgery.

Things turned worse after surgery as Shockey caught a staph infection. Subsequently, team doctors kept him isolated to prevent the spread of the infection, per his own admission. That medical safety rule was the real reason he missed the Super Bowl parade and ring ceremony, while the media turned it into something that wasn’t even remotely close to the truth.

“The media made it a segregation thing so bad. He’s upset. He broke his leg. He’s not playing. So, they wrote articles for months, you know, before the game beating the uh Packers to go to the game. I wasn’t upset at all. I’m very happy. I’m upset that I’m injured and I can’t play cuz that’s my dream. I want to play in the Super Bowl. And the new injury, the staph infection.

He even had to book his own flight tickets and hotel at the last minute, not because the Giants wouldn’t cooperate but because “it was about the doctors.”

“So, if I couldn’t get the staph infection cleared up, they’re not going to let me be around these players. Someone else might get it or something.”

While reporters claimed he was bitter and would hold grudges, Shockey set the record straight. He had zero bad blood with the front office, even watching the big game in the owner’s box. The whole drama was purely media noise, not reality.

“I wasn’t jealous for not being able to play in it. As a competitor, I just wanted to be able to play in it. 

“That was all the news. And they don’t know about the staph infection. I never said that. None of that. They were like, why isn’t he coming back? I went back during mini camp. I didn’t participate. Clearly, I broke a leg, and there’s a plate in my thing. I couldn’t have practiced anyway. I wasn’t cleared. So, why stand and still get it messed up? So, but people wrote that like, oh, he’s upset because he didn’t play and they wouldn’t let him play. So, now he’s staying in the locker room. That’s [ __ ] That’s all [ __ ] Trust me, that’s [ __ ] All of it.”

Jeremy Shockey’s move to the New Orleans Saints would prove to be the right one, as just a couple of seasons later, he would go on to win his 2nd Super Bowl, this time starting at TE for the Saints in the Championship game.