


Former NFL player Tony Gonzalez talks in the Amazon Prime Video broadcast booth before a preseason ... [+]
Before becoming the NFL’s all-time leader in receptions by a tight end with 1,325, Kansas City Chiefs great Tony Gonzalez struggled as a rookie, dropping 16 passes in 1997.
With his former team having had major issues with dropped passes in Week One, no one knows better how to rebound from that than Gonzalez.
The Pro Football Hall of Famer said the Chiefs’ dropped passes were a result of lapses in concentration and confidence.
“That’s what it was because these guys can catch. That’s why they’re pros,” said Gonzalez, an analyst on Amazon Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football. “I don’t anticipate that happening again.”
Wide receiver Kadarius Toney was a main culprit, dropping three passes, including one that led to a game-changing, pick-six, and as a whole, the Chiefs had three drops on their last drive of the game.
“That’s just not (Toney’s) thing. He’s not a guy that drops balls. He’s got great hands. We just have to keep working through it,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said. “We’re not normally guys that drop the ball, but we did. That’s reality. We’ve got to fix that.”
To fix his own issues, Gonzalez caught 150 passes before practice. He caught extra balls during practice while the defense was practicing. And then after practice, he tried to mimic game conditions by putting his helmet on, buckling his chinstrap and wearing a mouthpiece while catching more passes.
Toney also noted it’s just a matter of putting in some extra time after practice.
Gonzalez expressed confidence that Toney and the rest of the receivers will get in sync. His belief that they’ll do so starts with quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
“He’s going to get those guys right,” Gonzalez said. “Travis Kelce, he’s the big leader on that team. He’s going to get those guys right when he comes back.”
Gonzalez roots for Kelce to break his own lofty NFL records for receptions and yards (15,127) by a tight end.
After his record-breaking NFL career, Gonzalez worked as a studio analyst for CBS and FOX.
But after Prime Video signed an 11-year, $13 billion deal to exclusively stream Thursday Night Football, the Pro Football Hall of Famer jumped at the opportunity to be part of an exciting initiative from the very beginning.
After mostly being in the studio for his previous gigs, he has immensely enjoyed traveling to each stadium alongside studio analysts Charissa Thompson, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Andrew Whitworth and Richard Sherman.
“To be able to go on the road consistently throughout the year and have that energy from the crowd,” Gonzalez said, “it’s been incredible.”
Prime Video also has been pleased with the performance of Thursday Night Football as it heads into its second season of NFL telecasts.
It received about 11 million viewers per game last year. The audience was eight years younger than the year before, and the key 18-34 demographic was up 11%.
“We overdelivered versus any estimate last year,” said Jay Marine, Prime Video’s vice president and global head of sports, “That’s exactly what the NFL was looking for. Leagues need to stay younger. Companies need to stay younger.”
Prime Video will feature the Chiefs when they host the Denver Broncos to kick off Week Six.
That’s two-and-a-half weeks before the Oct. 31 trade deadline for the Chiefs to add a receiver — if their catching woes unexpectedly persist.
But despite the dropped passes and Week One loss, Gonzalez still sees the Chiefs as the favorite to reach Super Bowl LVIII.
“That offense can’t be the weak link, which I don’t think it will be — especially with Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce,” he said. “As long as those guys stay healthy, they’ll be fine.”