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Darn if Tom Brady didn’t strand Antonio Gates

Patriots QB Tom Brady raises the Vince Lombardi Trophy after defeating the Atlanta Falcons in overtime at the Super Bowl in February.
(Darron Cummings / AP)
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On a Houston football field, Tom Brady was leading the steepest comeback in Super Bowl history.

Watching from a Houston airport where he’d gone to beat the traffic out of town, Antonio Gates couldn’t pull himself away from the TV.

Final boarding call for Flight…to San Diego.

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“They closed the doors on me,” Gates said, in a recent chat with the Union-Tribune. “I didn’t even hear them say, ‘Last chance.’ ”

Gates, the longtime Chargers tight end and eight-time Pro Bowler, said he doesn’t regret missing his flight home eight months ago while watching Brady rally the New England Patriots past the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl 51.

“Golly, man — that was one of the greatest sports moments, let alone in football,” Gates said. “Just to see that. The odds on that. I know how tough it is, how difficult it is.”

The lengthy NFL careers of Gates and Brady, two unheralded arrivals when they joined AFC teams as an undrafted free agent and a sixth-round selection, respectively, have overlapped over the past 14 years-plus.

Though focused on beating the Pats this Sunday in New England, Gates said the performance in Houston was perhaps clinching evidence that Brady, 40, is in fact the greatest quarterback of all time.

He noted that the “GOAT” storyline was prominent going into the game.

“In terms of just being able to pull together a group of guys, a unit, and finding a way to win, to me, that particular comeback solidified him,” the tight end said.

In Houston for the game, Gates watched Atlanta dominate the first half and headed to a Houston airport believing the Falcons would collect their first Lombardi Trophy.

No stranger to Brady-led comebacks, including one that helped to deal the Chargers a playoff defeat in San Diego in January 2007, Gates said he didn’t expect New England to pull this one out. Even deep into the rally, a spectacular catch by Falcons receiver Julio Jones had Gates all but writing off the Pats – but Brady and mates ultimately overcame a 25-point deficit.

“One of the things I always hung my hat on was a guy knowing how to win,” Gates said. “When he made that adjustment and was still able to pull it off, I was like, wait a minute. That performance alone, and a Super Bowl win — so, it’s very difficult to dispute that (Brady is the greatest all time).”

Barring a playoff rematch, the game Sunday looms as perhaps the final chance for Gates, 37, to go against Brady’s Pats.

Gates said he’ll have “cordial” words with Brady — but only after the game if the chance arises.

“I’m there to get a win,” he said. “After the game, I will say, ‘It was great watching you play for my whole career, for the most part, and it was great competing against you.’ ”

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Tom.Krasovic@SDUnionTribune.com; Twitter: SDUTKrasovic

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