He has been such a fixture around this team that, sitting in the visitors’ locker room late Thursday night, he fit in as completely as a wadded-up Chargers jersey ready to be laundered.
Looking at Antonio Gates, it was hard to remember that he spent the offseason off the team and didn’t re-sign until only a week before the opener.
Were it not for an injury to tight end Hunter Henry, Gates would have experienced this season just like every other Chargers fan — from the outside and at a distance.