100 All-Time Team: Tight Ends | NFL 100

let's talk about tight ends now and there's really one tight end that we could only ask for to be sitting right here at our table as he's about to and he's the one that just got into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this past summer Tony Gonzalez [Applause] Gonzalez has the hat trick most touchdowns most catches most receiving yards by a Titan in NFL history he's the best Titan ever to play on this way absolutely played tight end for seven teen seasons 14 of those 17 seasons Pro Bowl seasons a member of the NFL's all-decade team of the 2000s and he is in the NFL film studio right now good to see you Tony good to see you graduates on your your year of immortality growing larger well thank you rich I appreciate it it's it's a little overwhelming I don't I don't think anybody ever sets out to do something like that so yeah I want to be one of the top hundred players ever and looking back over my career see how it all started didn't didn't I mean I was first round draft choice but there was a I got benched like twice my second year in the league led the NFL and dropped passes Gonzalez was number one draft choice a year ago for the Kansas City Chiefs they really expected big things out of him Gonzales has dropped a lot of footballs is he confident it was the best thing ever happened to me though it changed my my career I just thought everything you did was natural I swear I got changed my notes I'm like okay this guy came in is like one of the original rebounders right your basketball background and all that stuff your ability to box out but you would extend as far it's one thing to extend your arms to make a catch it's another to be able to catch it with your arms fully extended almost elbows fully extended and still be able to make it and now they're doing this and you're still pulling the ball back in every time I just thought that was something you were born with but it's something you figured out after year two I figured it outside so led the interval and drop passes and I'm down I'm talking like depressed you know cuz we take this thing seriously I've wondered I wanted to be great I just wasn't doing it the right way so I got a letter from my brother he sent me a book by Vince Lombardi it was a book of quotes and then off of that I started getting other coaching books like Lou Holtz start reading about Pat Riley Phil Jackson started reading about the Great's of all time like how they worked I started figuring out like I can't just show up at practice and think I'm gonna be great it's like what are you doing before practice what are you doing after practice and I started with this whole routine of greatness is what I called it you got time you wanna get some catches man you wanna work on some routes good we do this every day pink is free and like I'm not talking like catching balls off a jug or just sitting there talking it was like chin strap mouthpiece in focused catches like in the moment coming out of the break I'd stay out after practice and get another 100 catch 150 catches that's and that's kind of where it all started like just just repetition and it changed my career I would never have done that if I didn't get embarrassed that's kind of why well what I figured out took me a while but I figured it out yeah well you certainly rebounded in 2000 when it was 12 415 a couple touchdowns against us back to throat Grbac pump fakes looks dumps it over the middle touchdown to tony gonzalez and suddenly the Patriots find themselves in a little bit of trouble and I've had my worst games as a career against doing Patriots like my lowest stats statistically but I've also had my best test yes-no Atlanta Atlanta was another 12400 [Applause] Gonzalez 12 catches for 149 yards which is a career-high and two touchdowns just about time we think we got you double t'en there's some other way you beat the double team and then they outlawed the the punt return double-team we put on you down in Atlanta that got rid of that the next year so we couldn't you know we put two guys right on the line anymore yeah so we can't do that anymore so then he retired thank God so yeah I think that took us off the hook leave it up to him to put the bracket coverage on me man how is that was something else they literally right at the line of scrimmage like okay we always hear the story certain players bills not going to let them beat him right but that was like unfair Tony Gonzalez has been such a threat in this game they are now double teaming him off the line of scrimmage Gonzalez was mauled on that play it's like a gunner on a punt team right now look at that I've only seen that done on Calvin Johnson on the goal line that's the only two in the history of the NFL the only two times I've ever there's no fun for me like this is not fun I want to go home I just kept thinking how did you play defense behind that well you were short but I mean it wasn't gonna be Tony I'll tell you that yeah I got back to what I said you know when I vote for the top 100 players tight ends if we double covered him on every single play so they couldn't get the ball right check vote and he's one of them right - absolutely Tony is really the kind of a prototype tight in in that he can get open he can catch the ball even score points didn't gain yards so that's really what football is about but one thing about our position is what I think the tight ends come in Gaetti Jimmy Graham were the power forwards on our team I mean we're all like six five Charles Barkley's tall enough but it didn't work for us and so I would have loved to have gone the NBA you know back in the back in college but there was you know they were saying you used six foot five or six foot four six foot six and so we have a chip on our shoulder and we're used to playing against guys that are six foot ten and getting open and getting the ball down in the post or making them off the dribble and so now you put me on a football field and I'm going against a guy who's 5 foot 11 yeah like you got no shot throw the ball in there like you said to start a ball but now I'm gonna doubt jump him no matter what if you wanted to play in the NBA so you had to settle for being one of the top 100 points right most career receptions most career receiving yards by tight end ever let's get you now a new member of the NFL 100 team to me none other than the great charger himself Kellen Winslow at six foot five 250 pounds Kellen Winslow became the prototype for today's receiving tight ends he was inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1995 and I'm sure had an influence on you Tony no question about that right yeah huge like I said before going into my second year when I dropped all those balls that third year we got to do we had a coaching change guy named Gunther Cunningham he was our head coach and he was on the staff with with the Chargers back when Kellen was on there and so I said hey coach you mind getting me some film going Kellen Winslow and he's like sure you know I'll get it for you and I'm ever he got me this tape was VHS back to him and I used to watch that tape religiously watch the athleticism the way he would run routes the way he would catch the ball and I'm from LA and so you know growing up in 80s of course I knew who Kelling was and so he's he was the greatest of all time that's that was the guy that was the benchmark of all titans coming in you want to be like this guy and from a receiving standpoint so he had a huge influence I'm he was that he was that guy just like I always talked about studying that Kellen Winslow tape and that's right when my career talk took off I don't know that's a coincidence when I took an off season to really see what he would made him so special yeah absolutely and I was a powerful team but Winslow being in the middle of that of that offense along with Muncie really created a lot of problems I remember my first year at the Giants when I went out there I was a special teams coach and I was so tired of hearing that San Diego super charger so I still hear ringing in my ear they had 41 points at halftime I don't think they ever stopped playing the stupid song I mean it was just it didn't ever stop one of the greatest tight ends of all times John Mackey and he was the prototype for today's modern pass-catching tight ends he played ten seasons with the Colts and chargers and it was a member of the NFL's 50th anniversary all-time team so now double at least part of the NFL 100 full-time team when Mackey went to Syracuse you know they have a great legacy there of their number 44 players Jim Brown Ernie Davis Floyd little when Mackey got there they gave him 88 because they thought he'd be twice as good and it might be close he's just dynamic you know you talk about guys that run through the whole team or run through half the team well that that's about right for Mackey here 1 2 3 4 5 6 see ya you know a I don't know I mean he's got about running through the whole team that's running through a whole team to me Wow just in terms of looking bigger than most out there does it look like Bronk a little bit to you there I don't coach or looks like Gronk but this I mean this guy is as one of the most athletic players on the field you know in soft hands you know you could see the money it's a great throw but you know Mackey hauls this in so easily it's just effortless this guy is a nightmare with the ball in his hands John Mackey is an absolute nightmare watch him go then good luck wow man I mean I love this team and I watched a lot of John Mackey but I'm learning a lot watching this and the next tight end was a true tough guy his name is Mike Ditka the original Iron Mike out of Aliquippa PA Billy Wade finds his great rookie Mike Ditka open Iron Mike atleast a 36 yard TD strike Ditka played 12 seasons in the National Football League equally as effective as a blocker and a receiver he was the first tight end ever inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame Cris Collinsworth this is a no-brainer huh a no-brainer right whether you're talking about a player and you know right from his rookie year on exploded we've seen the scenes where you've made the catch it's over the guy and the whole thing is a coach coached arguably my friends at Miami won't agree with me but arguably the best team in NFL history the 85 Bears team but I worked with him at NBC I knew his reputation so I'm trying to build anything of a relationship you know so at the end of the year I just wrote him a Christmas card I said coach I just really appreciate the fact that from day one you've treated me like you know one of your guys on the set I just really appreciate it Merry Christmas that was the gist of it so I see him back on the set the next week and he goes just like this he goes hey hey I got your Christmas card I cried and that was it that was all he said I'm sort of goodness he was the sweetest guy despite all the gruff he was honestly he's still one of my favorite people I've ever known in the NFL the latest member to be revealed in the NFL 100 all-time team is none other than Rob Gronkowski who makes this as one of the greatest tight ends of all time quite simply yeah we're on the big screen right now [Applause] it was like a man through boys he is the total package at tight end making the most of his nine seasons in 2011 he set the single-season record for a Titan with 17 receiving touchdowns he owns a record for postseason receiving yards by tied enemy went out on top retiring after winning his third Super Bowl Brady sees it and it's a 29 yard strike to the big boy his favorite tight in the old world tight end what a catch he found a way we've talked about medical reports earlier on in this show about Anthony Munoz there was one on him coming out of Arizona so what was everything going on with Gronk from the beginning yeah Robb was kind of a shot in the dark he he came up on his pre-draft visit had a bad visit we put him in a room came back he was asleep on the floor didn't make a very good impression he was what he was sleeping on the floor yeah well you know I brought him in we just kind of you know we're getting ready to you know have meet with the coaches and go through and then it fell asleep in the floor start there went Arizona didn't do much as a freshman at a decent year as a sophomore caught 30 passes and then misses junior year with back surgery and then came out early for the draft so there wasn't much to go on we trade it up for him and we just kind of you know bet that he would come through and he certainly did big-time you know he's a tremendous blocker [Music] look at that we got garage I'm telling you you could say what you want this guy not a lot of tight ends are willing to put that effort every game in and blocking garage has been doing it his whole career he's a great kid he whatever his public persona is on the dance floor or at a party or whatever in the building there's no better teammate he works extremely hard late hands everybody Rob you never showed you were catching the ball that's why I could make a plan a couple guys me a couple plays I bring them out so late you know he never had a chance to do it it's a nice job he had a great catch radius for kind of a stiff as he is he could get balls on a shoelaces he could get him over his head and he can get him behind him tom pops he throws down the middle for cracks [Applause] unbelievable hallo did you catch that unbelievable unbelievable unbelievable I was going best Cutters in my life he had a great catch against Buffalo where he spun all the way around one handed it you know and toe tapped it down [Applause] we got robbed a cop buddy will you see guys score a touchdown he'd be the first one there to congratulate him was another tight end running back whatever he you know and then of course he loved the spike and when he spikes you got to get out of the way out that's almost robbed make sure that the official is out of the way cuz we spiked it and it hits him and we got a 15-yard penalty because you spiked the ball into the official I said this is gonna be an T or spike in so you know he always kind of looks and then he spikes and I'm swearing worried he's gonna throw his shoulder out he's like a Shaquille O'Neal he's just this big enormous guy that is unstoppable you can't stop him probably the most dominant player fouled on every possession I don't every play he's just so big where I would be like okay I maybe I'm Hakeem Olajuwon a little bit more of that type of game when grande got the ball he is running through you he's running over you it just seemed like there was no there was disregard for for personal preservation like he was going for it no matter what and that's the only drawback when I was watching what was Korea I was like man I don't know how long he's gonna last because you know big tree fall hard you know he's big gold guy and I remember he'd make these catches and just fall down I was like oh my god that's got to hurt well you heard coach say that Gronk came up and been great in big games obviously you on Sunday night without I had a ton of Gronk's games do you have one that stands out in the cult game we did on Sunday night that was not much there was like there was a kid at one of the defensive backs that was talking trash to him Sergio Brown I think is who it was and he kept talking trash and all of a sudden Gronk said that's enough and he goes out and he drives his kid I mean through the end zone out the back 10 yards out of bounds and then throws him you came off the field and we're doing this like he's been talking to me this whole game and it was revenge sire yes he was just yapping to me the whole time and that's why I took well I mean and then just to wrap this whole thing up in terms of personality I have to ask you to build that at the open or home opener for the Red Sox this season with a Lombardi Trophy in his hands and Julian Edelman just flinger of baseball in his direction he swung the Lombardi Trophy and actually made contact and dented it did you see doesn't night and say that does not surprise me yeah so you'll see we have one Patriot place you'll see you nice and now the most famous Lombardi Trophy on the ball I'd rather see that one ago

Channel: NFL Films

Views: 592,112

Keywords: NFL, Football, NFL Films, American Football, 100 All-Time Team, Tight Ends, nfl all time team, all time team, nfl 100, nfl 100 greatest, nfl 100 all time team, 100 all time team, best tight ends, top tight ends, tony gonzalez

Id: vv3d0STecu8

Length: 18min 56sec (1136 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 24 2019