OT: Antonio Gates Retires

[Ian]

Another TE with a terrific career calling it quits:

 

[IcyPatriot]

Amazing athlete and career ...

 

[primetime]

Hall of Famer, probably first ballot. After Gronk and Gonzalez he's the third best of the last two decades. Couldn't block at all to start his career and worked himself into a pretty good one by the end.

 

[jimnance]

Helluva player. Top 5 te.
Gronk #1. Bavaro 2nd best I've ever seen, but career was shortened because he played so hard. I don't care. I still put him #2. Same reason I put Bo Jackson#2 rb. But then Tony G, Gates, Newsome, not necessarily in order. I deduct some of a tes receiving stats if they're not good blockers. Sorry,it's part of the deal. Otherwise, you're just a glorified wr.

 

[Brick27]

Really amazing putting his career into perspective when you consider that he never played a single down of college football.

 

[FCB02062]

Pats sign Gates and Kuechly next August....book it

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

So consistent. Had 7 TD 11 times. 10 years with at least 700+ yards. Great player.

Get ahead of the TE debate though. If Kittle stays healthy, he's challenging Gronk for the GOAT spot.

 

[Foxypats]

It's always sad to see players of his calibre retire even though we knew the end was near. Best of luck in your future endeavours Antonio !

 

[primetime]

So consistent. Had 7 TD 11 times. 10 years with at least 700+ yards. Great player.

Get ahead of the TE debate though. If Kittle stays healthy, he's challenging Gronk for the GOAT spot.

Kittle's a great player but lacks Gronk's truly dominant qualities, it's like Shaq vs. any of the other great centers of the 90s-00s.

 

[Froob]

One of the best ever. Wonder if Bill tried to sign him last year.

 

[Observer]

Sign the beast!

 

[1960Pats]

The only negative for Gates was that his career coincided with Tom Brady and the Pats' dynasty. He might have been able to get a SB win if not for that.

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

Kittle's a great player but lacks Gronk's truly dominant qualities, it's like Shaq vs. any of the other great centers of the 90s-00s.

Agreed to an extent. The catch radius, ability to take a kill shot and keep trucking. He's not far off though and his blocking is just as good. Maybe even better in space.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

I just can’t believe how much talent the Chargers had during the Rivers/Gates era and how little they did with it. It’s really remarkable. I remember that season when they led the league in offense and defense and missed the postseason...lol. This is why I think Brady to the Chargers will never happen. If you recall Archie Manning wouldn’t let Eli go to that clown show, and he was right in retrospect.

Gates was an awesome player. Always wished the Pats had someone like him (until they got Gronkowski.)

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Agreed to an extent. The catch radius, ability to take a kill shot and keep trucking. He's not far off though and his blocking is just as good. Maybe even better in space.

Gronk is the all-time leader in yards per target at 9.9 which is incredible because all the other all-time great TEa are around the 7.0-7.5 range, while Gronk leads all wide receivers, most being in the 8.0-9.0 range. I posted about this a couple of months ago arguing that Gronk, when healthy, was measurably the greatest offensive player ever.

Kittle is averaging roughly the same yards per target as Gronk. While it’s no secret that he’s a great player, it should be obvious to more people that he’s a sure-fire Hall of Famer if he stays healthy. If I could pick any skill player in the NFL, it’s probably Kittle. All that said, there’s something about Gronk’s presence that can’t be replicated...maybe it is just a matter of perception, but his freakish size and athleticism just stands out so much. Kittle may be as good but for whatever reason doesn’t have the “mega superstar” type of intangible where you think “holy crap” when you see him play unless you are really paying attention to him specifically. Gronk is like that in the same way as Barry Sanders, Deion Sanders, Randy Moss, etc. It almost seems unfair like he doesn’t belong in the same league.

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

I just can’t believe how much talent the Chargers had during the Rivers/Gates era and how little they did with it. It’s really remarkable. I remember that season when they led the league in offense and defense and missed the postseason...lol. This is why I think Brady to the Chargers will never happen. If you recall Archie Manning wouldn’t let Eli go to that clown show, and he was right in retrospect.

Gates was an awesome player. Always wished the Pats had someone like him (until they got Gronkowski.)

LT, Turner, Sproles, Jackson, Merriman, Jammer, Williams all on the same team. They were loaded.

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

Gronk is the all-time leader in yards per target at 9.9 which is incredible because all the other all-time great TEa are around the 7.0-7.5 range, while Gronk leads all wide receivers, most being in the 8.0-9.0 range. I posted about this a couple of months ago arguing that Gronk, when healthy, was measurably the greatest offensive player ever.

Kittle is averaging roughly the same yards per target as Gronk. While it’s no secret that he’s a great player, it should be obvious to more people that he’s a sure-fire Hall of Famer if he stays healthy. If I could pick any skill player in the NFL, it’s probably Kittle. All that said, there’s something about Gronk’s presence that can’t be replicated...maybe it is just a matter of perception, but his freakish size and athleticism just stands out so much. Kittle may be as good but for whatever reason doesn’t have the “mega superstar” type of intangible where you think “holy crap” when you see him play unless you are really paying attention to him specifically. Gronk is like that in the same way as Barry Sanders, Deion Sanders, Randy Moss, etc. It almost seems unfair like he doesn’t belong in the same league.

Yea Gronk was King Kong. His catch radius really was special. He could snag a ball one hand 3 feet away from his body and get low with a finger tip catch. Obviously his physical presence was unmatched.
The only thing you could go off coming out was his blocking bc he avg abt 10 rec a year but he's gotten better which is saying something. Just an absolute beast blocking and like I said he might be a better blocker in space than 87.

He was probably the best player in football last year.

 

[Triumph]

AG

 

[Hyped]

Side note: The dude apparently lives close to me in San Diego. The local Denny's restaurant has a photo of him with the Manager/Owner in the lobby. He apparently frequents there a lot..... I do too because that location has a big screen TV for MNF/TNF/SNF...and I like their egg white scramble with a side of fruit and black coffee...