Despite the fact that he is 38-years-old and has 16 NFL seasons under his belt, Los Angeles Chargers’ tight end Antonio Gates isn’t ready to give up professional football. Gates talked with reporters after the 41-28 loss to the the New England Patriots on Sunday and said that he wants to play for the Chargers in 2019 as well.
“I just don’t see myself walking away with this taste,” – said Gates. “And plus this team. I think when you add Hunter [Henry] back, and hopefully we get Jason Verrett back — shoot, the sky’s the limit. And I want to be a part of it.”
“But that has to be a collective decision. I can’t just want to come back. So we’ll see how it goes,” – he added.
The chances of Antonio Gates staying with the Chargers, however, are not that great since the team was ready to move on from him after the 2017 season. They informed Gates in April 2018 that he won’t be offered a new contract, wanting to give their young TE Hunter Henry more snaps. Still, after Henry suffered an injury early in the season, the team brought back the veteran, who spent his entire career with the franchise.
“Maybe they felt I was on the brink of whether or not I want to be here or not, and they had to make choices early on,” – said Gates about last year’s free agency. “I want to be sure to remind them that I want to come back. I want to be part of something special, and I think we have that here. But that’s out of my control in the sense where I can only do what I can do. And we’ll see out it goes.”
Antonio Gates finished the 2018 regular season with 28 receptions for 333 yards and two touchdowns. He added five receptions for 41 yards and a touchdown against the Patriots.
