Best Ever?

Atlanta Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez expected better things when he came back for his 17th season. The Falcons entered the 2013 NFL season as Super Bowl contenders. They had been a play or two from the Super Bowl last year. Nothing much went right for the Falcons this season. Instead of contending for a championship the Falcons are at the top of the 2014 NFL Draft. The Atlanta Falcons play the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. It's likely the last football game in Tony Gonzalez's incredible NFL career. He joins all-time greats like Ollie Matson, Gale Sayers, Dick Butkus, and Barry Sanders that saw little to no postseason action and never really came close to a championship. Gonzalez is one of the best to ever play the position of tight end. He stepped up the evolution of the position. He paved the path now walked by the likes of Rob Gronkowski and Jimmy Graham.

The first time that I heard mention of Tony Gonzalez was in the fall of 1993. Seated in Cal's Memorial Stadium, I heard that a terrific tight end from Huntington Beach was coming to Berkeley. That tight end was also going to play basketball for Cal. Tony Gonzalez was coming to Berkeley partly because he could play both sports. He made an impact in both sports. The only thing that disappointed in Gonzalez's Cal career is that he left a year early. He was ready for the NFL and I don't think too many opponents in basketball wanted him anywhere near college basketball courts. It was actually kinda funny to watch little basketball players bouncing off of Gonzalez. Opponents didn't know what to do with him. If he had position, there was nothing that anyone could do. He helped lead Cal to the Sweet Sixteen of the 1997 NCAA Tournament. Gonzalez and Cal even threw a scare into #1 seed North Carolina. That game would be the last time that Tony Gonzalez competed for Cal.

In the 17 years that I watched Tony Gonzalez play football in the NFL, I was always reminded of the way that he made football look so easy in Memorial Stadium. I never thought that he was used enough. He only had 37 catches for 541 yards and 2 touchdowns in his sophomore season. He only had 44 catches for 699 yards and five touchdowns in his junior and final season. Defenses couldn't stop him. He was too fast for linebackers and too big for safeties. He could have easily doubled those numbers. The NFL certainly knew what Gonzalez could do. The Kansas City Chiefs trade up to the 13th pick in the first round of the 1997 NFL Draft to select Gonzalez. The Chiefs were going to get the ball to their new tight end. They did. So did Atlanta when he was eventually traded there. His career receiving stats are incredible. They stack up with some of the best receivers to ever play the game. Let alone tight ends.

1,313 receptions
15,008 yards
110 touchdowns

-only Jerry Rice caught more passes
-his 15,008 yards is nearly 5,000 more than second place Shannon Sharpe among tight ends
-only five players caught more touchdowns. All five were receivers.

Tony Gonzalez changed the way a tight end can be used in an offense. I wish that he could have gotten a championship. I really wish that he could have gotten a Rose Bowl while he was at Cal. He was one of the best to ever play football.