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TE Antonio Gates suspended for first 4 games of NFL season. pic.twitter.com/jfFgPLNUja
— San Diego Chargers (@Chargers) July 2, 2015
"In my 12 years in the NFL, I have taken treme #ltw pic.twitter.com/8LoFenX5GK
— Antonio Gates (@AntonioGates85) July 2, 2015
Welp.
In what will very likely be Antonio Gates' final season with the San Diego Chargers, if not his last season in the NFL, the San Diego Chargers future Hall of Fame TE will miss a quarter of the team's games and get marked down as a user of Performance-Enhancing Substances.
Because this offseason couldn't get any worse for Chargers fans, right?
This is terrible news on every accord. It hurts the offense and the team greatly, and could very easily end up being the thing that eventually keeps them from making the playoffs. It also hurts Gates' legacy, and the legacy of the Chargers as a professional franchise.
This sucks. This hurts. This is awful. Even if it was the simple mistake Gates makes it out to be, and we can't say whether or not it is, this stains everything.
Welcome to the 2015 San Diego Chargers.