Antonio Gates was a dual-sport athlete in high school, playing football and basketball. He continued playing basketball at Eastern Michigan, The College of the Sequoias, and Kent State. Despite not being drafted in the NBA, Gates' agent arranged a tryout with the San Diego Chargers for football. Although he did not play football in college, he was signed as an undrafted free agent and made the team as a tight end. In his rookie season, he recorded 24 catches, an impressive feat given his lack of college football experience.

Gates lived up to the hype in 2004, his breakout season, and went on to be selected for eight consecutive Pro Bowls, with three First Team All-Pro selections and two Second Team All-Pro selections. He had nine seasons with at least 800 receiving yards and four seasons with 10 touchdown receptions. He played with the Chargers until 2018, setting franchise records with 955 receptions, 11,841 receiving yards, and 116 touchdown receptions.   As good as Gates was, the knock against Gates is that he was a poor blocker, and arguably not a pure Tight End.  That might be a fair assessment but few Wide Receivers stretched the field as well as he could.  That is worth a missed block or two.

Gates was also named to the 2000s All-Decade Team and is a member of the Chargers Hall of Fame.