How is this guy not a first ballot HOFer?!?! The 2024 NFL Hall of Fame class was pretty much perfect except for one MASSIVE snub…which comes in the form of Antonio Gates NOT BEING INDUCTED!
How do you not induct arguably a Top-3 greatest tight end ever?
Despite having a near flawless induction, the NFL Hall of Fame voters made a huge mistake on the 2024 class as they did not induct Antonio Gates into the Hall of Fame on his first ballot of eligibility. And, if you couldn’t tell, I think this is a big insult to Gates and his legacy.
The Hall of Fame must REALLY not like Chargers players.
So, I’m sure everyone has seen by now that the latest class to be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame was revealed a few days ago, and it really is one of the most stacked classes ever. Just to quickly showoff the excellence of the 2024 Hall of Fame class, the new class of Dwight Freeney, Devin Hester, Andre Johnson, Randy Gradishar, Patrick Willis, Steve McMichael, and Julius Peppers combined for 36 Pro Bowls, 18 First Team All-Pro Selections, 29 total All-Pro selections, 2 Defensive Player of the Year award, 1 Defensive Rookie of the Year award, 6 All-Decade Team selections, and 2 Super Bowls wins.
Oh, and those two Super Bowl wins weren’t just some average Super Bowl. The first one was from Steve McMichael’s excellence on the defensive line for the Chicago Bears in their 45-10 destruction of the New England Patriots in 1985. Yeah, McMichael was a defensive starter for THAT Bears team.
And the other one came in the form of Dwight Freeney’s magnificence from the edge in the Indianapolis Colts 29-17 victory over the Chicago Bears in 2006…which just so happened to be the first Super Bowl in the legendary Peyton Manning’s career. Yes, this list of Hall of Famers is quite impressive and more than worthy of their enshrined places in Canton, Ohio.
But do you know who has just as much of a case to be on this list as practically every single player here? ANTONIO GATES!
How did the Hall of Fame voting class not include one of the Top-5 (if not Top-3) greatest tight ends to have ever played the game of football on their induction ballots?
Not only has Gates racked up the 3rd most receiving yards by a tight end (11,841), the 31st most receiving yards among all players, the most ever receiving touchdowns by a tight end (116), the 6th most receiving touchdowns among all players, the 3rd most receptions by a tight end (955), and the 17th most receptions among all players, but he also did so for 16 years on the same team!
Oh, and that team just so happened to be the forsaken San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers!
Yes, Antonio Gates spent 16 years with the Los Angeles Chargers, who may be the most synonymous team with choking and failing in the NFL, and also was able to bring home 8 Pro Bowl selections, 5 total All-Pro selections, 3 First-Team All-Pro selections, and a place on the 2000’s Hall of Fame All-Decade team. And, if I didn’t make this clear enough, he did all this while PLAYING FOR THE CHARGERS!!!
Playing 16 years with that franchise should be a Hall of Fame accomplishment in of its own right!
I’m not saying that anyone of the players I mentioned above didn’t deserve their place in Canton for they most certainly did.
All I’m saying is that Antonio Gates, along with Jason Witten, Shannon Sharpe, and Tony Gonzalez, helped revolutionize the tight end position into being a lethal and effective tool for downfield passing schemes that we see/saw the likes of Travis Kelce, Robert Gronkowski, George Kittle, Mark Andrews, Sam LaPorta, Jimmy Graham, Greg Olsen, etc. bank their reputations on.
Yet, being in the Top-3 of all major receiving categories for tight ends, the Top-35 for all major receiving categories among all positions, and a revolutionary of a position doesn’t warrant a 1st ballot membership into the Hall of Fame?
This was a great class, but the NFL Hall of Fame dropped the ball on this one.
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