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Who are the top tight ends in NFL history? Here is our top 10 countdown:
Note: Updated in 2022.
10. John Mackey: a favorite target of Johnny Unitas who only missed one game in his decade-long NFL career, Mackey was a 3x All-Pro and only the second tight end inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
9. Ozzie Newsome: spending his entire career with the Cleveland Browns, Newsome had two 1,000-yard seasons and retired with Browns records of 662 receptions and 7,980 receiving yards, while also scoring 47 touchdowns; inducted into both the College Football and Pro Football Halls of Fame.
8. Travis Kelce: the single-season record holder for receiving yards by a tight end (1,416 in 2020), Kelce is a 7x Pro Bowler and 3x All-Pro who was named to the 2010s All-Decade Team and led the Kansas City Chiefs to their first Super Bowl title in more than a half-century.
7. Jason Witten: a model of consistency at the tight end position (11 Pro Bowls), Witten set a then-tight end record with 110 receptions in 2012 and ranks second all-time behind only Tony Gonzalez for both receptions and receiving yards.
6. Antonio Gates: an undrafted free agent college basketball star with no college football experience, Gates is the most prolific scoring tight end in NFL history with 116 career receiving touchdowns, including a then-record 13 touchdowns in 2004.
5. Shannon Sharpe: a 4x All-Pro known as much for his mouth as for his hands, Sharpe was the first tight end to go over 10,000 career receiving yards and held the career tight end records for receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns until he was surpassed by Gonzalez.
4. Mike Ditka: the first tight end inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Ditka had five straight Pro Bowl seasons to start his career with the Chicago Bears and held the record for most receptions in a season by a tight end (75 in 1964) until it was broken by Kellen Winslow Sr.
3. Kellen Winslow Sr.: a key cog in the Dan Fouts-led Air Coryell offense with the San Diego Chargers, Winslow led the NFL in receptions in back-to-back seasons and had three consecutive All-Pro seasons, at one point holding the tight end records for most receptions and most receiving yards in a season.
2. Rob Gronkowski: despite retiring at age 29 (and then unretiring), Gronkowski holds the single-season record for most receiving touchdowns by a tight end (17) and also is the all-time leader at the position for postseason receiving yards and touchdowns and Super Bowl receptions and receiving yards as a member of four Super Bowl-winning teams with the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
1. Tony Gonzalez: not only is he the most prolific receiving tight end ever, but Gonzalez also ranks #2 in receptions, #6 in receiving yards, and #8 in receiving touchdowns all-time in NFL history, period, during a career that saw him make 11 Pro Bowls and six All-Pro teams.
Agree/Disagree? As always, debate/discuss, and leave your thoughts and comments below.
Note: All statistics as of time of publication.
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Countdown 23: Top 10 First Basemen in MLB History