Longtime Chargers tight end Antonio Gates is thrilled to be on playoff-bound team
(LA Times Music)

He has been such a fixture around this team that, sitting in the visitors´ locker room late Thursday night, he fit in as completely as a wadded-up Chargers jersey ready to be laundered. Looking at Antonio Gates, it was hard to remember that he spent the offseason as a non-Charger and didn´t re-sign...