Antonio Gates Quotations

When I'm in a game, something might be hurting, like a finger, and this sounds so feminine to come to a trainer and be like, 'You know, my fingernail hurts,'

Play more than one sport in high school. If you play, say, football and basketball, you can learn to be physical and you can take those physical aspects of both sports and become better in both sports. Basketball players use some of the same skills football players do and vice versa.

In basketball, I always had a first step. A separation step. That works now, too.

You had to be tough in our neighborhood.

If I had stayed with football in college, I probably would have been a first-round pick.

I'd like to be a 5-10, 205-pound running back. I think it's natural for big guys to want to be a little faster.

High school football in Detroit was not easy at all. There were talented players everywhere.

I try to find out what the guy's strengths and weaknesses are. Like in boxing, I'd be a counter-puncher. Whatever he does well, I try to take advantage of what he doesn't do well.

In high school, every last one of the passing schemes was designed for me.

A dunk is nice because it can create momentum, but it's not as good as scoring a touchdown.

We understood that it was raining and we knew that we had to be careful making our cuts. But at the same time, they played with the same field. When their offense was out there they weren't playing on a separate field. All of those things are just excuses. The bottom line is that they outplayed us today and they deserved (the win).

Tony has definitely set a high standard at tight end. He's done it year in and year out. This is just my third year and I'm upcoming. He's been to six Pro Bowls. I have to get to six Pro Bowls to say that.

I'm going to at least sit down and talk with him and let him know he's in for a long night, ... It's all fun and games, we all like to have fun. I want to win. So he understands, it's not personal. It's all business.

No matter what you're doing (working out away from the team), it's nothing like going against Igor (Olshansky), ... I think it will take awhile, but I'm definitely ready to work hard and get back in shape.

It was basically the same as yesterday -- it got a little bit better. I think it's still going to be a game-time decision for us.