Falcons’ Tony Gonzalez admits pushing off is a big part of his success
By Mike Dyce
Atlanta Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez will play the final game of his NFL career on Sunday. The Falcons are no where close to making the playoffs unfortunately and aside from it being Gonzalez’s final game it is meaningless for the most part.
During an interview with ESPN.com, Gonzalez watched tape of his first NFL game, a trip to Mile High Stadium to take on the John Elway led Denver Broncos. During the game the NBC broadcasting crew of Dick Enberg, Phil Simms, and Paul Maguire discussed how Gonzalez had already mastered the art of the push off.
“I think I’ve always done that, and I still do it,” Gonzalez said. “If you ask any defender in the league, they say I’m the ‘Push-off King,’ but it’s just creating leverage.”
It has worked for Gonzalez, who has had a Hall of Fame career. Gonzalez has caught 1,321 passes for 15,071 yards and 111 touchdowns coming into Sunday’s season finale. If he has more than a 138 yards receiving on Sunday, he’ll move into fourth place on the all-time receiving yards list.