Antonio Gates Announces Retirement
Antonio Gates is calling it a career. On Tuesday, the Chargers legend announced his retirement from the NFL.
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“I never dreamed that I would play this game of football so long or how fortunate I would be to play it with just one organization,” the tight end said. “I want to thank the Chargers organization, the National Football League, Dean Spanos and the Spanos family for the opportunity to live out a dream and play the game I love.”
Gates, 39, did not suit up last year. Before that, he spent 16 straight seasons with the Chargers and built a reputation as one of the league’s most dangerous tight ends.
Between 2004 and 2011, Gates racked up eight straight Pro Bowl nods and three First-Team All-Pro selections. He topped 1,100 receiving yards twice (2005 and 2009) and flirted with the 1,000-yard mark in 2004, 2006, and 2007. He gave opposing defenses fits in his 30s, too. In 2013, in his age-33 season, he caught 77 passes for 872 yards.
Gates was a star on Kent State’s basketball team, but did not play football in college. When scouts told him he was too small to play power forward in the NBA, the 6’4″ athlete set his sights on the NFL. The Chargers signed him as as undrafted free agent in 2003 and he managed to go from third-stringer to starter as a rookie.
After tallying 955 receptions, 11,841 yards, and 116 touchdowns, Gates is walking away from the sport. He’ll become eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2023 and, in all likelihood, enter Canton as a first-ballot nominee.
Minor NFL Transactions: 1/13/20
The only minor transactions today (not including reserve/futures deals) belong to the Falcons:
Atlanta Falcons
- Waived off reserve/injured list: TE Alex Gray, DT Ra’Shede Hageman
Hageman, whom the Falcons selected in the second round of the 2014 draft, hasn’t appeared in a regular season game since 2016. He signed a one-year pact with Atlanta in April, but he was slapped with a two-game suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy, and he was waived/injured off of the reserve/suspended list in September.
From 2014-16, Hageman accumulated four sacks and 62 total tackles.
NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/13/20
Here are today’s reserve/futures deals:
Houston Texans
- LB Davin Bellamy, DB Anthony Chesley, LB Nate Hall, WR Chad Hansen, RB Karan Higdon Jr., T Rick Leonard, S Shalom Luani, QB Alex McGough, T Kyle Murphy, S Jonathan Owens
Minnesota Vikings
49ers Place DL Kentavius Street On IR
Kentavius Street is headed back to a familiar place, injured reserve. The 49ers announced they were shutting down the defensive lineman, in order to make room on the active roster for linebacker Kwon Alexander. 
Street was a highly regarded prospect coming out of N.C. State in 2018. Unfortunately, he tore an ACL during a private workout for the Giants, and tumbled in the draft as a result. San Francisco scooped him up in the fourth round, and he took his rookie season as a redshirt year. Knee issues plagued him again this offseason, and he was placed on IR back in August. It was looking like he was going to miss each of his first two seasons, but the 49ers activated him a few weeks ago for the stretch run.
He made his NFL debut in Week 15, and played a real role on defense over the final three weeks. In their pivotal Week 16 game against the Rams, he played 27 percent of the defensive snaps. He’ll now head into his third season as a pro with just three career appearances under his belt. He won’t necessarily be a lock for next year’s 53-man roster.
NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/9/20
The latest reserve/futures signings from around the NFL:
Kansas City Chiefs
- DE Anthony Lanier, TE Alize Mack, RB Marcus Marshall
New York Jets
- WR Jehu Chesson
Pittsburgh Steelers
- S John Battle, WR Anthony Johnson
San Francisco 49ers
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 1/9/20
We’ll keep track of today’s practice squad moves here:
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: RB Mike Weber
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: WR Cody Thompson
NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/8/20
The latest reserve/futures signings from around the NFL:
Chicago Bears
Pittsburgh Steelers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Seahawks Place Mychal Kendricks On IR
Jan. 8: The Seahawks have placed Kendricks, who will require knee surgery, on IR, per head coach Pete Carroll. The team will promote OT Chad Wheeler from the practice squad to take Kendricks’ place on the roster.
Dec. 30: If you were watching the thrilling Seahawks-49ers bout last night, you saw Seattle linebacker Mychal Kendricks in obvious pain after making a tackle along the sidelines in the third quarter. Per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, Kendricks is believed to have suffered a torn ACL, which would obviously rule him out of the Seahawks’ playoff run (Twitter link).
It’s a tough blow for Seattle, as Kendricks started all 14 games in which he appeared this season and is an important piece of the team’s front seven. Kendricks has compiled 71 tackles, three sacks, four passes defensed, and an interception in 2019.
Of course, this could be last we hear of Kendricks for awhile. He pleaded guilty to insider trading in September 2018, and while his sentencing date has been postponed five times, he is currently scheduled to be sentenced in February 2020.
The Seahawks will travel to Philadelphia to battle the NFC East champion Eagles on wildcard weekend, which is about as favorable of a draw as they could have hoped for. Both teams are far from healthy, but the Eagles have dealt with a historic number of injuries for a playoff squad, so Seattle will have a good chance to advance to the divisional round and perhaps earn a rematch with the 49ers.
NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/7/20
The latest reserve/futures signings from around the NFL:
Buffalo Bills
- K/P Kaare Vedvik
Detroit Lions
- RB Tra Carson
New England Patriots
- OLB Tashawn Bower
Oakland Raiders
- RB Mark Thompson, LB Nick Usher
Pittsburgh Steelers
- RB Darrin Hall
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- DE Quinton Bell, S Deiondre’ Hall, T Brad Seaton, RB Aca’Cedric Ware
Minor NFL Transactions: 1/7/20
We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:
Kansas City Chiefs
- Promoted:G Ryan Hunter
- Placed on IR: S Juan Thornhill (story)