If you've paid attention to the NFL Network’s Top 100 Players of 2013, you may have wondered when the first Falcon would show up. Last week the wait ended when the Falcons' resident Hall of Famer, Tony Gonzalez, was named the No. 47 player on the list, an honor that demonstrates the amount of respect he's earned from his peers in the game.
The honor is extra special for Gonzalez considering he enters the 2013 season as a 37-year-old player. The average career in the NFL lasts around six years so Gonzalez' 16 years in business is particularly impressive. Last season, Gonzalez was the 18th-oldest player in the league and on this year's list of the top 100 players to date he's the second-oldest player, behind Redskins linebacker London Fletcher, age 36, who checked in on the list at No. 86.
**PHOTOS: See Images From The Falcons Rookie Club's Bowling Event** and receiving yards by a tight end in a single season (930). )
Gonzalez's appearance on the list as one of the oldest players in the entire league shows the tight end's dedication to his craft and his willingness to put in the work to not only be the best in the league for a while, but sustain himself for almost 20 years as one of the game's best players.
Football in the NFL is a young man's game, but Gonzalez has shown once again that the older guys can still get it done at an extremely high level. After Fletcher and Gonzalez, the next oldest player currently on the Top 100 list is Denver cornerback Champ Bailey, 34.
Last season's Pro Bowl bid for Gonzalez was the 13th of his career and he established himself as the first tight end in league history and just the eighth player in general, to receive 100 touchdown catches. He set Falcons records for receptions by a tight end in a single season (93) and receiving yards by a tight end in a single season (930).
