Respect. Antonio Gates had the respect of his Chargers teammates, his opponents, his coaches and people who cover the game for a living.
Leadership. He was not a big talker, but he was absolutely a leader. Part of that was huge third-down completions; part of that was the most multi-touchdown games of any tight end ever. But mostly, he was a presence. He was a presence in practice, in the Chargers’ locker room, on the sidelines, even on the plane rides. All players are physically present for the team, as in roll-call, but from all accounts, Gates was present, as in aware, invested, listening and thinking.