"Antonio Gates is 31 years old and still fighting through the most painful yet of a series of foot injuries. He did not practice on the first day of training camp and probably won't for another week.

In his pocket, though, he carries experience. Thus, the path ahead, he believes, leads directly into his prime.

"I have a whole bowl full of perspective, and I'm stirring it up into being the best Antonio Gates," he said. "I think the best three or four years of my career are ahead of me."

If Gates is a prophet as well as a Hall of Fame-bound tight end, then those three or four years would be even more amazing than the eight that have passed.

Gates has made the unprecedented regular and the impossible routine.

Among all the tight ends to ever play in the NFL, his 529 career catches and 7,005 yards already rank as sixth-most. His 69 touchdown passes are surpassed among tight ends only by Tony Gonzalez's 88 (achieved in six more seasons)."