"As Antonio Gates seeks more input regarding his still-ailing right foot, wondering why it is the pain remains so severe, a possibility no one wants to consider hovers like a dark cloud that may or may not burst.

Even if Gates says his future is only a matter of how he will get back to full strength and not if, any concern has merit, if only because of who it is about and what he has meant to the Chargers. To even be contemplating such a question is a compliment to him.

Gates has for seven seasons been among the best tight ends to ever play in the NFL, doer of unprecedented feats, destined for immortalization in the form of a bronze bust in Canton, Ohio."