Chiefs legend Tony Gonzalez awaits Hall of Fame call Saturday, and it’s likely coming
When Tony Gonzalez was a high school senior in Huntington Beach, Calif., he was a football and basketball star with a host of Division I schools chasing his services. But even after an All-America selection, Gonzalez wasn’t named the outright best athlete in his own county.
He shared the honor with Tiger Woods.
Little did they know.
Gonzalez blossomed into the best tight end in NFL history, and Woods became the world’s No. 1-ranked golfer. That’s how it started.
Gonzalez, who spent the majority of his career with the Kansas City Chiefs, is hoping it ends with the greatest honor yet — a trip to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Gonzalez is one of 15 modern-era finalists for selection, and he will learn his fate Saturday night, less than 24 hours before the Super Bowl. He is on the ballot for the first time. No tight end has ever been elected on his first try. It’s widely believed that Gonzalez will be the first. The career milestones suggest he should be the first.
Gonzalez, who is now an analyst for Fox’s pregame show, was inducted into the Chiefs Ring of Honor in December.
Saturday could be doubly monumental for the Chiefs and their fans: Also on the ballot is former Chiefs defensive back and senior finalist Johnny Robinson. He, too, is expected to be elected when the final votes are tallied.
Today, lets take a look back at Gonzalez’s 17-year ride in the NFL.
The boos
The most accomplished tight end in NFL history actually began his career with a case of the drops.
Seventeen of them.
After being drafted in the first round in 1997, Gonzalez led the NFL in dropped passes as a rookie and regularly heard boos ... inside his home stadium.
“Talk about growth,” he told Terez Paylor in an article for The Star last year. “When you hit hard times in your life, that’s when you find out what you’re made of, and I remember I made the decision I was never going to hear that sound again.”
Gonzalez was noted for his tireless work ethic, which he credits for his ensuing success.
The records
Gonzalez is widely regarded as the greatest tight end in NFL history, and a glance through the record book leaves little doubt. He is second in NFL history among all players in catches, with 1,325. That trails only Jerry Rice. He caught 173 more passes than any other tight end.
He leads all tight ends in catches, yards (15,127) and Pro Bowl selections (14). He retired as the leader in touchdowns (111), but Antonio Gates has since surpassed that mark.
Nobody in Chiefs history gained more yards from scrimmage than Gonzalez, who totaled 10,954 with Kansas City from 1997-2008 before finishing his career in Atlanta. He’s also the Chiefs’ leader in receptions (916).
The dunks
A broadcast crew couldn’t make it through a Chiefs game without reminding viewers that Gonzalez also played basketball at California. And after scoring a touchdown, he’d usually provide a reminder of his own.
Gonzalez’s go-to celebration was dunking the football over the crossbar of the goal post. On afternoons when he scored twice, he often pulled up for a free-throw on the second touchdown, “shooting” the ball between the uprights.
It became a bit of a trademark, though the NFL banned the celebration shortly after his retirement, claiming it damaged or loosened the goal posts.
The legacy
Individually, you couldn’t have asked for more from Gonzalez. But he left Kansas City with some unfinished business.
The Chiefs didn’t win a playoff game in his 12 years in Kansas City. He chased postseason success for five years in Atlanta but still is entrenched in a conversation that no Hall of Famer wants: One of the best players to never play in a Super Bowl.
And while we’re talking about legacy, there’s also this: That trade request.
After Gonzalez approached the Chiefs’ front office about a pursuing a trade, general manager Scott Pioli obliged in his first year on the job. Pioli dealt Gonzalez to the Atlanta Falcons for a second-round pick.
The request irked some Chiefs fans. Gonzalez even acknowledged he was worried how they might react, but he was intent on chasing a Super Bowl in the last years of his career.
The trendsetter
When Gonzalez arrived in Kansas City in 1997, the tight end position was only starting to evolve in the NFL. For decades, tight ends had primarily been big-bodied players who could block and serve as a sixth offensive lineman.
Gonzalez was one of those who revolutionized that. He wasn’t just a weapon in the passing game. He was often the weapon. In 2004, he led the league with 102 receptions. (That’s among tight ends, wide receivers, running backs — anyone.)
The effects of his transformation are still being felt in Kansas City. Current Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce broke two of Gonzalez’s single-season franchise receiving records this season, hauling in 103 catches for 1,336 yards.
“A guy like Travis Kelce, a phenomenal athlete, an unbelievable talent and he’s doing what he’s supposed to be doing in this offense,” Gonzalez said in December, “he’s setting records.”
Kelce has a while yet to catch most of those set by Gonzalez.
On Saturday, the man known as ‘Tony G’ can set another — the first tight end to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.