SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Legendary San Diego Chargers tight end Antonio Gates will be inducted into the team's Hall of Fame during the 2023 season.
Gates will be the 41st member enshrined into the Chargers Hall of Fame, according to the team's press release. His induction ceremony is scheduled for Dec. 10, and it will happen during halftime of the Chargers' AFC West showdown against the Denver Broncos at SoFi Stadium.
Gates played the entirety of his 16-year career for the Chargers after they signed him as an undrafted free agent out of Kent State, where he played basketball. He retired from the NFL in Jan. 2020.
Along the way, he caught 116 touchdowns, the most in NFL history for a tight end. He ranks seventh on the all-time touchdown receptions list and is only behind some of the greatest wide receivers of all time.
Another eye-popping stat Gates recorded is his 21 multi-touchdown games, which is also a record for tight ends.
Of course, he's the team's all-time leader in career receptions (955), receiving yards (11,841) and touchdown catches.
Chargers owner Dean Spanos had high praise Gates.
“As I’ve said many times now, Antonio is not only one of the greatest Chargers to ever play the game, he’s one of the greatest players in NFL history,” said Spanos. “That couldn’t be any truer today than it was at the time of his retirement. As the years have passed, and as the game has continued to evolve, it’s impossible not to notice the impact Antonio has had on the modern NFL and the way team’s utilize tight ends.”
Spanos also said Gates' contributions to the organization off the field were another reason why he's worthy of a spot in the team's hall of fame. Gates has been a supporter of the Lupus Foundation of America for years, honoring his late sister, Pamela.
Another charitable cause he contributed to was the Shoot to Cure HD group, which he served as an honorary chairman for, supporting the Huntington's Disease Society of America. Gates has also hosted the team's annual Shop with a Charger event to help homeless people and children who suffered abuse.
Fellow Chargers legend Phillip Rivers, the quarterback for the majority of Gates' career, reminisced about playing with him at the time of the tight end's retirement.
"I could go on and on about the memories from practice, games, the huddle, the sideline, the subtle in-game glances, the 'come on now' as we broke the huddle which meant, 'throw me the ball!' Gatesy is as competitive as anybody I have ever been around. No matter what we were doing, he played to win," Rivers said. "He would probably tell you; he never even lost an argument. We were also locker mates for 15 seasons. I enjoyed so much the conversations we had about family, life, children, sports, and anything in between. I truly miss those times we would just sit there after practice and just talk and laugh and argue."
Rivers wasn't the only quarterback in awe of Gates' talent.
“What a special football player Antonio Gates was,” said former Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning. “Competing against him, I always had a great appreciation for his athletic ability, his route running, and his hands. Nobody ran a better option route, which is when a player goes over the middle and either hooks up, breaks out, or breaks in. It’s a three-way go and the defender doesn’t know what to do or how to defend it. Nobody ran that better than Antonio Gates.”
Gates has a laundry list of accolades from his career: eight-time Pro Bowl selection, five AP All-Pro selections (three of them first-team) and member of the NFL All Decade Team for the 2000s. Considering he's about to be in the team's Hall of Fame, it's no surprise he was part of the Chargers' 50th Anniversary All-Time Team.
Norv Turner, who was Gates' head coach from 2007 to 2012, said he made everything look easy.
"Things that were really, really, difficult that were tough plays, that were competitive plays, he had that knack or that ability to make it look very routine. It was an amazing quality of his," Turner said. "Obviously, one of the best players I’ve been able to coach. Antonio was a great player on the field, great person off the field and was really a credit to the organization.”
