Who stood out on National Tight Ends Day in the NFL?

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By Luis Díaz-Trujillo (@eledetepe)

It’s not easy being a tight end in the NFL, the league’s tight ends are a very particular species, blocking, catching the ball, running, scoring, occasionally throwing touchdown passes and, according to television commentators, many of them they played basketball in high school and college.

For this reason, to the rhythm of “block, release, catch, spike!”On Sunday, October 24, 2021, NFL fans celebrated the National Tight Ends Day.

According to the players themselves, the event is about recognizing the work of all the tight ends of all the NFL teams, and not only those who put great numbers in the statistics, but those who protect their quarterbacks, those who open holes for their running backs and even those who participate in special teams plays.

How did the National Titght Ends Day start in the NFL?

It all started in week 2 of the 2018 season, when in a game against the Detroit Lions, Jimmy Garoppolo threw a TD pass to TE Garrett Celek, and during the celebrations on the bench the following dialogue was heard:

Jimmy G: “What is this, something like National Tight Ends Day?”

George Kittle: “Yes, it is National Tight Ends Day. It is a holiday. The Tight Ends are scoring touchdowns across the league. “

The occurrence of the 49ers QB and the response of the media George Kittle quickly became fashionable because, according to TE himself, he celebrates national tight ends day every day. The NFL, always aware of trends and what can help them attract more and more fans, established the National Tight Ends Day, to be held on the fourth Sunday in October.

Thus, the National Day of Tight Ends 2021 brought the following numbers:

  • A total of 37 TE caught at least one pass
  • Eight of them scored at least one TD per catch
  • All teams that played on Sunday recorded at least one complete pass to their TE
  • During the Atlanta – Miami game, six tight ends caught passes, three per team.

With players like George Kittle of the San Francisco 49ers, Rob Gronkowski of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Darren Waller of the Las Vegas Raiders out with injury, and Travis Kelce mired in the crisis that the Kansas City Chiefs are experiencing, during Sunday’s day other shined TE like Kyle Pitts of the Atlanta Falcons, who had the second-most yards for a rookie tight end since 1970; Zach Ertz of the Arizona Cardinals, who achieved something unprecedented in the NFL, catching a touchdown pass in consecutive weeks with different teams, or Hunter Henry of the New England Patriots, who has received a TD pass in four weeks in a row.

Other TE highlights during the day were: CJ Uzomah, catching two touchdown passes in the Cincinnati Bengals win; Mike Gesicki of the Miami Dolphins, who remains reliable with 85 yards and 1 TD; Foster Moreau of the Las Vegas Raiders, covering Waller’s absence with 60 yards and 1 TD; MyCole Pruitt of the Tennessee Titans, who received a touchdown pass from Derrick Henry; Robert Tonyan, who scored again after four scoreless games for the Green Bay Packers, and Mo Alie-Cox of the Indianapolis Colts, who contributed a TD reception in a tough game due to rain in Sunday night’s game. .

In an NFL that increasingly privileges the passing game and, at the same time, takes advantage of any trend to create conversation – and marketing and merchandising-, TE are gaining positions and prominence, both on and off the field of play. Do you think the upward trend of tight ends is already unstoppable? For you, who will be the next highest paid TE in the league? We read your comments in this note and on social networks.

We want to say thanks to the author of this write-up for this remarkable material

Who stood out on National Tight Ends Day in the NFL?

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