Antonio Gates on making Hall of Fame: ‘The chances? The odds? They’re crazy’

On Saturday, when he is enshrined, former NFL tight end Antonio Gates will become the first person to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame without ever playing a single down of college football.

“It’s like I’m telling a fiction story,” Gates said, according to the Los Angeles Chargers’ official website. “To tell somebody they can come to the NFL and not play college football but then make the team … and then start … and then make the Pro Bowl and be All-Pro your second year … and then be the all-time touchdown leader …

“It’s not even a story you can make up. The chances? The odds? They’re crazy.”

Gates talked about his background, coming from basketball.

“I had so many accolades in the game of basketball. But football, I was a late bloomer,” Gates said. “And I didn’t like the things you had to go through like training camp.”

Gates would eventually go to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament with the Kent State Golden Flashes.

“We were so good in basketball, in my mind I was going pro,” Gates said. “I was dominating, we went to the Elite Eight, and I had averaged about 20 points in the tournament.”

However, NBA scouts weren’t sold on his ability, while NFL evaluators thought he had what it takes to make it in football.

“It was kind of like prom, right? You want to go with this person, but another person wants to go with you,” Gates said. “I wanted to go with basketball, but [football] is who wanted to go with me.”

Gates, who signed with the San Diego Chargers as an undrafted free agent, said that his goal was just to make the practice squad.

“Make the practice squad,” Gates said. “I looked at the salaries. My boys [from Detroit] were all construction workers or in waste management. If I make the practice squad, I was making more than them. And I was OK with that. Practice squad was my goal.”

He did a whole lot more than that.