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Where's the Chief? C'mon, you still can't miss Gonzalez
By Rick Dean
Special to CBS SportsLine.com
The question had been posed by a knowledgeable football guy who sensed its flawed premise in less time than it took him to say it.
"Does it seem to you," he had asked, "that with all the good new guys coming in, that Tony Gonzalez has become the overlooked tight end?"
The suggestion is not completely without merit.
During most of his nine NFL seasons, and especially in the years after the retirement of Denver rival Shannon Sharpe, Gonzalez was the hands-down choice as the league's best tight end. The 6-foot-5 former Cal basketball player enters his 10th season with 648 career receptions, third-most in league history among tight ends. Only Sharpe (815) and Hall of Famer Ozzie Newsome (662) have more.
No other tight end in history, though, has eight consecutive seasons with 50 or more receptions, or seven straight at 60-plus. And no tight end ever caught as many passes in a single season as Gonzalez did in 2004, when the Kansas City Chiefs star hauled in 102 balls for 1,258 yards -- the league's second-highest single-season yardage total at the position.
But no one stays on top forever.
It was only a couple of years ago that the Giants' Jeremy Shockey was supposed to usurp Gonzo's position as the league's best tight end. But Shockey hasn't stayed healthy enough to pass a player who has started 111 consecutive games and caught passes in 84. Baltimore's Todd Heap also was deemed an heir apparent.
Then last year, rising young San Diego star Antonio Gates, another converted hoops star, put together a second strong season to back up his 81-catch, 13-touchdown breakout year in 2004. His 89 receptions for 1,101 yards and 10 touchdowns easily beat Gonzalez's 78-905 year, one in which he caught only two touchdown passes, tying the career lows of his first two seasons.
So, has Gonzalez been overtaken in his desire to be acknowledged as the league's best tight end? Perhaps.
But overlooked? Forgotten?
Are you kidding?
NFL defensive coordinators who double-team his every step in red-zone situations certainly aren't overlooking him. And certainly not the league's public relations and international development machines that feature the Spanish-speaking Gonzalez as their point man for increasing Latin American interest in football.
ESPN certainly didn't forget Gonzalez when it invited him on a fishing excursion in Guatemala as part of the network's reborn New American Sportsman series. NBC remembered him, too, when it cast Gonzalez with actress Alison Sweeney (Days of Our Lives), model Cindy Margolis, singer Patti LaBelle, Miss USA 2005, Tom Arnold and Big Kenny (of Big and Rich) for its short-lived Celebrity Cooking Showdown.
(OK, so that lowly rated show was eminently forgettable. So too, apparently, was Gonzalez's Caprese salad, vodka penne with salmon and affogado Italian sundae. He was the first celebrity voted out of the kitchen, a rare rejection he explained by suggesting that, "It might have been self-sabotage.")
No, when he turned 30 late last February, Tony Gonzalez took stock of his life and found himself pleased by what he saw.
"Life is good," said the personable tight end, still an A-list celebrity at Playboy Mansion parties.
The priorities in his life have changed some, to be sure. His dreams of playing NBA basketball have long since faded. His young son, Nikko, just turned five and has started T-ball, and Gonzalez suddenly has a new interest in baseball.
And while he still lives a jet-set lifestyle -- in Kansas City for a minicamp one weekend, in Barcelona sharing a table with Woody Harrelson and Owen Wilson at the Laureus Sports Awards the next -- Gonzalez also knows he must make the best of whatever time he has left in football.
"It's about finding balance in your life," he said. "It's still all about the work. Even if I'm overseas in a hotel someplace, I'll always get my workout in first. I know where my bread is buttered. I'm a football player first. But the other things are the experiences in life you want to enjoy."
Ignoring the above food reference, let's note instead that Gonzalez is keenly aware that his stock slipped in the fantasy football world last year.
Catching only two touchdown balls frustrated him more than it did any fantasy team owner.
There are explanations for the drop-off.
Foremost is the aforementioned extra attention Gonzalez gets in the red zone. Quarterback Trent Green's favorite, biggest end zone target no longer runs goal-line drags with only one escort.
Gonzalez also took on new, less glamorous duties last year.
When veteran left tackle Willie Roaf missed much or all of six games with hamstring problems, Green's once-solid blind-side protection became an injury waiting to happen. Hoping to help young replacement tackle Jordan Black, Kansas City frequently shifted Gonzalez to a strong-side blocking position. And though he took great pride in his dramatically improved ability as a blocker, Gonzalez says he can help his team more when his touchdown numbers are closer to those of Antonio Gates than Bill Gates.
In 2006, with longtime offensive line coach Mike Solari promoted to the offensive coordinator position under new coach Herm Edwards, Gonzalez hopes for another run at his once undisputed title as the league's best tight end.
"As soon as he got the job, I flew back here to meet with (Solari) and coach (Jon) Embree, my new position coach," Gonzalez said. "He asked me straight-up what routes I thought worked best for me, and he said he'd get them called. We'll see what happens, but I have no doubt that he'll get me the ball."
Rick Dean covers the Chiefs for the Topeka Capital-Journal.
http://cbs.sportsline.com/nfl/story/9525005/rss
By Rick Dean
Special to CBS SportsLine.com
The question had been posed by a knowledgeable football guy who sensed its flawed premise in less time than it took him to say it.
"Does it seem to you," he had asked, "that with all the good new guys coming in, that Tony Gonzalez has become the overlooked tight end?"
The suggestion is not completely without merit.
During most of his nine NFL seasons, and especially in the years after the retirement of Denver rival Shannon Sharpe, Gonzalez was the hands-down choice as the league's best tight end. The 6-foot-5 former Cal basketball player enters his 10th season with 648 career receptions, third-most in league history among tight ends. Only Sharpe (815) and Hall of Famer Ozzie Newsome (662) have more.
No other tight end in history, though, has eight consecutive seasons with 50 or more receptions, or seven straight at 60-plus. And no tight end ever caught as many passes in a single season as Gonzalez did in 2004, when the Kansas City Chiefs star hauled in 102 balls for 1,258 yards -- the league's second-highest single-season yardage total at the position.
But no one stays on top forever.
It was only a couple of years ago that the Giants' Jeremy Shockey was supposed to usurp Gonzo's position as the league's best tight end. But Shockey hasn't stayed healthy enough to pass a player who has started 111 consecutive games and caught passes in 84. Baltimore's Todd Heap also was deemed an heir apparent.
Then last year, rising young San Diego star Antonio Gates, another converted hoops star, put together a second strong season to back up his 81-catch, 13-touchdown breakout year in 2004. His 89 receptions for 1,101 yards and 10 touchdowns easily beat Gonzalez's 78-905 year, one in which he caught only two touchdown passes, tying the career lows of his first two seasons.
So, has Gonzalez been overtaken in his desire to be acknowledged as the league's best tight end? Perhaps.
But overlooked? Forgotten?
Are you kidding?
NFL defensive coordinators who double-team his every step in red-zone situations certainly aren't overlooking him. And certainly not the league's public relations and international development machines that feature the Spanish-speaking Gonzalez as their point man for increasing Latin American interest in football.
ESPN certainly didn't forget Gonzalez when it invited him on a fishing excursion in Guatemala as part of the network's reborn New American Sportsman series. NBC remembered him, too, when it cast Gonzalez with actress Alison Sweeney (Days of Our Lives), model Cindy Margolis, singer Patti LaBelle, Miss USA 2005, Tom Arnold and Big Kenny (of Big and Rich) for its short-lived Celebrity Cooking Showdown.
(OK, so that lowly rated show was eminently forgettable. So too, apparently, was Gonzalez's Caprese salad, vodka penne with salmon and affogado Italian sundae. He was the first celebrity voted out of the kitchen, a rare rejection he explained by suggesting that, "It might have been self-sabotage.")
No, when he turned 30 late last February, Tony Gonzalez took stock of his life and found himself pleased by what he saw.
"Life is good," said the personable tight end, still an A-list celebrity at Playboy Mansion parties.
The priorities in his life have changed some, to be sure. His dreams of playing NBA basketball have long since faded. His young son, Nikko, just turned five and has started T-ball, and Gonzalez suddenly has a new interest in baseball.
And while he still lives a jet-set lifestyle -- in Kansas City for a minicamp one weekend, in Barcelona sharing a table with Woody Harrelson and Owen Wilson at the Laureus Sports Awards the next -- Gonzalez also knows he must make the best of whatever time he has left in football.
"It's about finding balance in your life," he said. "It's still all about the work. Even if I'm overseas in a hotel someplace, I'll always get my workout in first. I know where my bread is buttered. I'm a football player first. But the other things are the experiences in life you want to enjoy."
Ignoring the above food reference, let's note instead that Gonzalez is keenly aware that his stock slipped in the fantasy football world last year.
Catching only two touchdown balls frustrated him more than it did any fantasy team owner.
There are explanations for the drop-off.
Foremost is the aforementioned extra attention Gonzalez gets in the red zone. Quarterback Trent Green's favorite, biggest end zone target no longer runs goal-line drags with only one escort.
Gonzalez also took on new, less glamorous duties last year.
When veteran left tackle Willie Roaf missed much or all of six games with hamstring problems, Green's once-solid blind-side protection became an injury waiting to happen. Hoping to help young replacement tackle Jordan Black, Kansas City frequently shifted Gonzalez to a strong-side blocking position. And though he took great pride in his dramatically improved ability as a blocker, Gonzalez says he can help his team more when his touchdown numbers are closer to those of Antonio Gates than Bill Gates.
In 2006, with longtime offensive line coach Mike Solari promoted to the offensive coordinator position under new coach Herm Edwards, Gonzalez hopes for another run at his once undisputed title as the league's best tight end.
"As soon as he got the job, I flew back here to meet with (Solari) and coach (Jon) Embree, my new position coach," Gonzalez said. "He asked me straight-up what routes I thought worked best for me, and he said he'd get them called. We'll see what happens, but I have no doubt that he'll get me the ball."
Rick Dean covers the Chiefs for the Topeka Capital-Journal.
http://cbs.sportsline.com/nfl/story/9525005/rss