Chargers Robbed What’s Your Take On Antonio Gates As NFL world Cries Foul Play.
Being one the most dominant players to ever play your position apparently doesn’t make you a surefire Hall of Famer anymore.
Pro Football Hall of Fame voters somehow snubbed iconic tight end Antonio Gates in his first appearance on the ballot despite scoring more touchdowns than any other player at the position in NFL history.
Scoring machine Antonio Gates never made it to Cleveland.
Now he isn’t coming to Canton – not this year, at least.
In the most surprising news to come out of the “reveal” of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024, Gates isn’t among the seven who got in. The class was announced during NFL Honors on Thursday night.
A sample of why this carries shock value:
A 2023 Athlon sports ranking of history’s greatest tight ends had Tony Gonzalez at No. 1, Gates at No. 2, Rob Gronkowski at No. 3 and Travis Kelce at No. 4.
An NFL.com article predicting the Class of 2024 identified two “mortal locks,” Gates and Julius Peppers.
Peppers made it, along with Dwight Freeney. Devin Hester, Randy Gradishar, Andre Johnson, Randy McMichael and Patrick Willis.
Gates sits this one out despite having scored 116 touchdowns, a regular-season record for tight ends. The next group is Gonzalez with 111, Gronkowski with 93, Jimmy Graham with 89, Kelce with 77 and Jason Witten with 74.
Ozzie Newsome, elected to the Hall of Fame in 1999, scored 47 touchdowns for the Browns. Hall of Famer Kellen Winslow had 45.
Statistics change from era to era, but the bruising Gates was a man for any season, big, fast, strong, smart, athletic, durable and reliable.
He became known to Ohio sports fans as a Kent State basketball player, a short power forward at 6-foot-4, but powerfully built. He and Trevor Huffman led the Golden Flashes to a 30-6 record and elite eight appearance in the 2001-02 season.
Gates played another season at Kent State, averaging 20.6 points, and then, being judged too short for the NBA, turned to football, in which he had some experience and checked all the size/athleticism boxes.