Top 10 Tight Ends

NFL Network's Top 10 series is always entertaining, always interesting, always thought-provoking. I caught the Top 10 Tight Ends episode yesterday and I had some thoughts.

Here's how the NFL Network's Top 10 Tight Ends in NFL history played out.

10. Antonio Gates
  9. Dave Casper
  8. Rob Gronkowski
  7. Jason Witten
  6. Ozzie Newsome
  5. Shannon Sharpe
  4. Mike Ditka
  3. Kellen Winslow
  2. John Mackey
  1. Tony Gonzalez

Very nice. Here's how I see the Top Tight Ends in NFL history.

10. Ozzie Newsome
  9. Mark Bavaro
  8. Antonio Gates
  7. Shannon Sharpe
  6. Dave Casper
  5. Mike Ditka
  4. Kellen Winslow
  3. Tony Gonzalez
  2. Rob Gronkowski
  1. John Mackey

It may be a little weird for a Cal alum to not leave Tony Gonzalez at the top of the Top 10 Tight Ends list. I do feel a little guilty for bumping him down a couple spots but I try not to allow my biases to impact my view of NFL history. Gonzalez and Aaron Rodgers are the best football players that I've seen come out of Cal since Chuck Muncie. Both have been even better on the professional circuit. Perhaps with time I'll view Gonzalez's career like the people that put him at #1 but right now he trails John Mackey and Rob Gonkrowski.

I've always viewed Mackey as one of the best tight ends to ever play. I looked at his career more closely after I heard Steve Sabol say that no other player made more highlight reel plays in the 1960s than Mackey. That's a bold statement from a person that's as strong an authority as anyone that's coached or played the game over the last 60 years. This is a decade that included the likes of Jim Brown, Gale Sayers, Paul Warfield, Lance Alworth, Bobby Mitchell, Charley Taylor, etc. In my opinion, Mackey separates himself from the the tight ends with his ability to run after the catch. He looked like a fullback with the ball in his hands. A 1960s fullback. He had some of his most ridiculous games against the San Francisco 49ers in Kezar Stadium. Mackey had a terrible fear of worms and the bog-like field of Kezar was filled with them. He broke a lot of tackles in those games because hitting that wriggling, writhing nightmare wasn't an option. Mackey broke a lot of tackles everywhere he played.

Rob Gronkowski is quite possibly the greatest mismatch of any player in my football lifetime. The only thing that has slowed him has been injuries.

Mark Bavaro rivals Mike Ditka as the most ferocious tight end to ever play the game. Bavaro needs to be on this list of mostly receiver-first tight ends.

Ozzie Newsome's nearly complete disinterest in blocking nearly blocked him from making my Top 10. But, he was so much fun to watch as a pass-catcher. He played for some entertaining Browns teams but I wanted to see their games simply for the things that he might do.

As an itty bitty Minnesota Vikings fan preparing to watch his team play the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XI, Dave Casper was the Raiders offensive player that worried me the most. I wasn't too worried about Clarence Davis or Fred Biletnikoff. Even as little fella just learning the game I knew that the Vikings defense had their hands full with Casper. He was a match-up nightmare. Casper might not have had the highlights of Davis or Biletnikoff in the game but he did finish with four catches for 70 yards and the game's first touchdown. Few tight ends combined the blocking and receiving talents of Casper.

I wish that today's tight ends were a little more like Casper, Bavaro, and even Ditka.

Just for giggles here are my four best tight ends in Vikings history.

4. Jim Kleinsasser
3. Joe Senser
2. Kyle Rudolph
1. Steve Jordan

If Kleinsasser's pass-catching was on par with his blocking he'd be #1. He'd be in Canton as well.