The 2024 Pro Football Hall of Fame class was revealed Thursday night, but a big name was missing off the list.
Former Los Angeles/San Diego Chargers great tight end Antonio Gates was a finalist for the most prestigious honor in football, but did not end up making the cut of the final seven players to be named to the Hall.
Here is the 2024 class:
- Dwight Freeney
- Devin Hester
- Andre Johnson
- Julius Peppers
- Patrick Willis
- Randy Gradishar (senior)
- Steve McMichael (senior)
While the names above are all certainly deserving to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame, it's a tough sell to have left Gates off the list this year. Gates is objectively one of the greatest tight ends of all time. To this day he still holds the record for most receiving touchdowns by a tight end with 116, which is seventh overall in NFL history.
Gates played for 16 seasons in the NFL, all with the Chargers. In addition to those touchdowns, Gates amassed 11,841 yards receiving on 955 receptions, and earned an extra 51 receptions for 540 yards and two scores in the postseason. This all came after Gates went undrafted in the 2003 NFL Draft, walking into the NFL as a college basketball player who did not play football in college.
In addition to the gaudy stats, Gates was named All-Pro six times and a Pro Bowler eight times, was a part of the NFL 2000s All-Decade Team, and is in the Chargers Hall of Fame.
With that resume, it's difficult to argue against Gates as a first-ballot hall of famer, but the committee clearly thought the seven legends named were slightly more deserving. Nonetheless, Gates will again have an opportunity to get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame next year as a part of the 2025 class.
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