A huge name has called it a career in professional football has called it a career as Tight End, Antonio Gates, announced that he is officially retiring.  Gates was an unsigned free agent in 2019, having last played in 2018.

Gates was a dual sports star in high school in football and basketball, and would play the latter at Easter Michigan, The College of the Seqioias and at Kent State.  He was not drafted in the NBA, but despite not playing football in college, his agent arranged a pro football tryout with the San Diego Chargers who would sign him as an undrafted free agent.

Gates made the team at Tight End, and as a rookie, he would record 24 catches, which again was phenomenal considering that he was not even playing college football the year before.  While he seemingly came out of nowhere, he was then prognosticated to have a breakout season in 2004.  Gates shattered the hype, and he would begin an eight-year streak of Pro Bowl Selections, with the first three seeing him named a First Team All-Pro.  

Also making the Second Team All-Pro twice, Gates would have nine seasons where he would have at least 800 Yards, and four years of 10 Touchdowns.  Gates played with the Chargers until 2018, and he leaves the game with 955 Receptions, 11,841 Receiving Yards and 116 Touchdown Receptions, all of which are franchise records.  He would be named to the 2000’s All-Decade Team.

In our pre-season ranking of active players for Hall of Fame consideration, Gates was ranked #9.

Gates is eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2024.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to thank Antonio Gates for the on-field memories and we wish him the best in his post-playing career.

The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York will soon be announcing their Class of 2020.  On the other side of the world, they have just inducted their latest class to the Japanese Hall of Fame.

The headliner is Koichi Tabuchi, who is one of three members who were chosen for the Hall.  Tabuchi, who was chosen by the Expert Division, played from 1969 to 1978 with the Hanshin Tigers, and from 1979 to 1984 with the Seibu Lions.  The Catcher would have 1,532 Hits with 474 Home Runs over his career, and is a former Rookie of the Year, one-time Gome Run Champion, five-time Best Nine Award winner and a two-time Golden Glove Award winner.

He was joined by former college level managers, Yukichi Maeda and Renzo Ishii. Who were inducted by the Special Selection Committee, which focuses on the amateur side of the game.  

Notably, nobody from the Players Division was chosen.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com, would like to congratulate the newest members of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.

We thought we would be talking about this on Wednesday.

Breaking from tradition, Hall of Fame President, David Baker appeared on the CBS pre-game show on Saturday and announced to former Pittsburgh Steelers, Head Coach, Bill Cowher, that he had been selected by the Blue Ribbon Centennial Committee to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Last night, during halftime of the Seahawks/Packers Game, Baker appeared again and made the same announcement to former Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins Head Coach, Jimmy Johnson.

Cowher became the Head Coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1992, where he would stay until 2006.  He would lead Pittsburgh to a win in Super Bowl XL, and he would have a record of 149-90-1.

When Johnson was greeted by Baker it was a very emotional scene.  The joy of his now fellow Hall of Famers (Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long and Tony Gonzalez) was infectious and Troy Aikman (who was calling the game) watched along.  After taking the University of Miami to the NCAA Championship in 1987, he would take over the helm of the Dallas Cowboys shortly there after.  He won two Super Bowls with Dallas and took them from the outhouse to the penthouse.  He was also the Head Coach of the Miami Dolphins for four seasons.  Johnson’s Head Coaching record in the NFL was 80-64.

This is the first time that Coaches were selected in a separate committee, and it is expected that it will return back to main committee.  The choices are no without controversy, as Don Coryell, who has been a Finalist six times was not chosen.  Tom Flores, who has been a Finalist the last two years, was also passed over.  Flores is 88, and based on online reactions, he is the biggest perceived snub.  

As both Cowher and Johnson are NFL analysts on major networks, there has been some speculation that the Pro Football Hall of Fame looked to make moments as opposed to honor the two most deserving candidates. Only the people on the Blue Ribbon Committee will know if that is true.  The other Finalists amongst the Coaches were Mike Holmgren, Buddy Parker, Dan Reeves and Dick Vermeil.

This Wednesday morning on Good Morning Football, the remaining 13 selections will be announced.  

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate both Bill Cowher and Jimmy Johnson for entering the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

And then there were four.

The NFL Divisional Playoffs are over and oddsmakers are re-evaluating the chances of the teams that remain.  The hottest team going into the playoffs, the Baltimore Ravens were upset by the Tennessee Titans, and new favorites have emerged.

The San Francisco 49ers soundly defeated the Minnesota Vikings 27-10, where their rushing game and defense was strong.  The number one seed in the NFC have been the most balanced team through the season, and they are chasing their fourth Super Bowl.  As good as they have been in 2019, this is a team that went 4-12 in 2018and are full of players who have never been this far in the playoffs before.  49ers Quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo, is only two wins away from leading his team to a Super Bowl win, which would fulfill the promise that has been pegged for him three years ago.

The Niners will host the Green Bay Packers, who defeated the Seattle Seahawks 28-24 in Lambeau.  Packers QB, Aaron Rodgers has a Super Bowl ring already, but despite the high profile and #2 seed of this team, they have not been considered a favorite to win it all. Rodgers and company bring more post-season experience than San Francisco does, and despite 13 regular season wins, they have to feel a little disrespected.  Defeating Seattle is that signature win that they needed, and they have a lot more to prove.

With the elimination of Baltimore, the Kansas City Chiefs are now the top remaining seed in the AFC.  The Chiefs made history with their comeback against the Houston Texans, and they have the 2018 MVP, Patrick Mahomes who is ready to ascend to the top of the Quarterback food chain.  Mahomes, along with Tyreke Hill and Travis Kelce are the triumvirate of the most explosive offense in the NFL, but their defense is suspect, meaning that every game is a shootout.  This is not always a recipe for a title, but it is for excitement.  If you want your heartbeat to race, this is the team you want to see in the Super Bowl!

Nobody (including us) had the Tennessee Titans making the AFC Championship Game.  The #6 seed first went to New England, and beat the defending Super Bowl Champions, and then went to Baltimore and knocked off the top seed Ravens.  Tennessee wasn’t lucky, they were better than both of those teams, and as they have nothing to lose, the Titans are the most dangerous team of the four. Their Quarterback, Ryan Tannehill, may not be a big name, but he is the hottest QB of the last two months, and with a blistering secondary, the Titans are the pick of the moment.

Regardless of who advances this weekend, we will be watching, and we are ready to place our bets.