It was so quiet inside the locker room Sunday night you could hear a pin drop. I didn’t expect much excitement after the loss, but the reporters were surprisingly quiet as well. It was like the media was so shell-shocked about the loss that no one really knew what to ask. I know the reporters wanted to ask a ton of questions, but it felt like they were holding back.

First we questioned Ken Lucas, then Mike Minter, and then Mike Rucker. During the player interviews there was an odd silence between each Q & A and I kept wondering why don’t the reporters just ask what they want to ask? Once we got over to Steve Smith I learned why.

The minute Smith got to his locker the media swarmed to him. We barely gave him room to get dressed. We all stuck microphones in his face before he could even look at a camera and a team official said “can you let the man get his shoe on before you start questioning him?” Our mics backed off just long enough for Smith to stick his foot in his shoe, and then the questions started immediately. “Did you know you were going in on punt return?” one reporter asked. Smith responded “No I didn’t. And that’ll be the last time you see me back there.” The odd silence returned once again as if the reporters were trying to feel Smith out. I wanted to ask Smith a question but something kept saying “Trey, let the seasoned professionals do the talking.” As Smith continued to talk, reporters became more comfortable with asking questions, but one guy got a little too comfortable. Out of the blue he asked “What are your thoughts on the dropped passes from several different players?” That’s when I heard the pin drop. Smith glared at him and said “Who are you… I’m done.” Our heads dropped. Our mics and tape recorders backed off. Now I see why the reporters were so careful about their questions.

In the locker room there is a lot of pushing and shoving to get to players, but we also work as a team because we all have deadlines to meet. So you have to watch how you phrase your questions – tough questions needed to be asked – but need to be phrased so they don’t come off as confrontational or flip - what you say or do has an effect, because one wrong move can ruin it for everybody. In football they say you have to have a short memory. If you throw an interception you can’t dwell on it, you have to move on. So we did… right to Mike Wahle.