Former San Diego and Los Angeles Chargers tight end Antonio Gates was officially named to the 2025 Profile Football Hall of Fame class on Thursday. After spending his entire career with the Chargers from 2003 until his retirement after the 2018 season, Gates received news from running back and teammate of the Fellow Hall of Fame Chargers.
In honor of his achievements, the charger celebrated it by employing goats in Gates’ honor. The goat nods to a team that considers Gate to be the “largest” tight end of all time, and is named Gatey after him. Gatesy lives in San Diego’s animal sanctuary and farm.
“Because you’re a goat, we adopted a goat for you and named him Gates,” the Chargers informed Gates.
Gates replied: “Amazing. That’s so sweet. Thank you very much.”
We literally got goat pic.twitter.com/ff6lybaovf
– Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) February 7, 2025
There is no consensus about Gates being the biggest tight end of all time, but Gates is certainly one of the best things to do in his position. Gate, surprisingly, appeared as an eight-time Pro Bowler and a first-team All-Pro for three times, despite never playing college football. Gates had the opportunity to play college football for Nick Saban in Michigan, but Saban didn’t want him to play basketball either.
Gates left school and played basketball only in Kent. After he was considered a long shot to make the NBA, Gates decided to exercise for the NFL scouts. He first worked for the Chargers, and they quickly signed him as an undrafted free agent. Over 16 seasons on the charger, Gates put together 955 receptions for 11,841 yards and 116 touchdowns. He remains the NFL’s greatest leader ever in touchdown receptions on tight ends.
