NEW ORLEANS -- The announcement that Antonio Gates was waiting to hear one year ago was made on Thursday Night at the NFL Honors— he was to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Only four players were selected for the Hall of Fame due to the new rules that were put in place to make it more exclusive. Gates, along with Jared Allen, Eric Allen, and Sterling Sharpe. It was the smallest class since 2005.
The way Gates found out was LaDainian Tomlinson, his former teammate, was standing in a room in his gold jacket with a huge smile on his face. Gates opens the door and can’t believe it.
“Oh that’s good,” Gates says trying to hold back his emotions.
Tomlinson tells him it is his honor to welcome him to the Hall of Fame.
The two former teammates embrace and that is when Gates revealed, “I just lost my dad. I just buried my dad a week ago and he would always talk about being a competitor, being tough, and man, this is tough.”
Gates’ story is unique.
He played football in high school but decided to stick with basketball at Kent State. After leaving Kent State, he decided to try the NFL and signed with the San Diego Chargers.
Gates made a huge leap from his rookie year with 24 receptions for 389 yards with two touchdowns to 81 receptions for 964 yards along with nine touchdowns.
He caught touchdown passes from Doug Flutie, Drew Brees, Philip Rivers, and Tomlinson.
Scored 116 touchdowns in his career, which is the most of any tight end in history. He has five more than Tony Gonzalez (111), 17 more than Rob Gronkowski (93), and 39 more than Travis Kelce.
Gates was named an eight time pro bowler, six time all-pro, and had over 11,000 receiving yards all with dealing with plantar fasciitis for half of his career.
"Yes sirrrrrrrr! The best to ever do it in my mind!!! Congrats Gatesy," tweeted out former teammate Eric Weddle.
One year ago, there was an uproar when Gates was not selected for the Hall of Fame on the first ballot.
He spoke after not being selected in 2024.
“It’s not going to change what my journey means,” Gates said. “It’s not going to change who I am. It’s not going to change what I mean to true Chargers fans.”
He finally received the call from Canton and will be officially enshrined in August.
It will be interesting to see the next Hall of Fame eligible player in Rivers next year. He is in a class with fellow former Chargers Drew Brees, Larry Fitzgerald, Frank Gore, and the players who didn’t make it this season.
For now, he received exactly what he deserved because going into the Hall of Fame means a player is unique and did things no one else could do.
There will never be another Antonio Gates.