During the NFL Honors celebration, the 2024 Hall of Class was revealed. Though the players selected deserved the honor, there was one name missing.
Los Angeles Chargers legend Antonio Gates was not selected, despite many believing that he would be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Though he was not selected this year, he could still make it next year.
Many people were upset that Gates was snubbed of this honor, many of them being his former Chargers teammates. Despite likely being upset, Gates himself spoke out about missing out on this prestigious honor.
Gates starts the above video with the best perspective by stating "One moment does not define you."
That could not be more true, especially for Gates. He is arguably the greatest tight end to ever play the game of football, and his accolades are enough for everyone to understand just how special he was when playing.
Gates leads all tight ends in NFL history with 116 touchdowns. He is also #3 all-time in receiving yards at the tight end position with 11,841. He sits behind Jason Witten and Tony Gonzalez in this stat.
Despite never winning a Super Bowl, Gates is also a 4x First Team All-Pro, 2x Second Team All-Pro, 8x Pro Bowler, and part of the NFL 2000s All-Decade Team.
Gates was recently inducted into the Chargers Ring of Honor, where his name will remain until the end of time. As Gates stated, "one moment does not define you."
We imagine that he will be welcomed into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, just not this year.
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