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CANTON Eric Murray Jersey , Ohio — At one end of the room sat Tony Gonzalez. All the way across it was Ed Reed.Sometimes in the past, that’s as close to each other as the two new Hall of Famers cared to be.Same thing for Champ Bailey and Ty Law when it came to covering Gonzalez, the game-changing tight end and matchup nightmare for defensive backs.They’re all part of the class of 2019 that will be inducted Saturday night. On Friday, they spoke about each other — and the honor of entering the pro football shrine together.“It was a hassle dealing with Tony,” said Reed, a five-time All-Pro for Baltimore as a ball-hawking safety and member of the NFL 2000s All-Decade Team, as were Gonzalez, Bailey and Law. “Tony was tough. You needed somebody else to help you. I’d tell Terrell Suggs, ‘You got to hit him before you pass rush.’“Tony was crafty, big, tough to get around, a basketball guy.”True. Gonzalez was a two-sport star at Cal. Clearly, he chose the right profession, making six All-Pro teams, catching more passes (1,325) than anyone except Jerry Rice, and becoming the most accomplished tight end in NFL history.Entering the hall with three exceptional DBs was striking for Gonzalez, whose ability to outrun linebackers and outmuscle or even out-jump safeties and cornerbacks made him a dominant performer for 17 seasons.“I loved it because he was the best Kendall Fuller Jersey ,” Bailey said of his matchups with Gonzalez while both were in the AFC West, the tight end with Kansas City, the cornerback with Denver. Rarely did defensive coordinators ask cornerbacks to take on Gonzalez, but Bailey had the smarts, skill and temperament to do so.“Tony was not necessarily fast, but fast enough. It was kind of refreshing for me to go against a bigger guy, not one of those (tight ends who play like wideouts). I knew if the ball ever came his way, I had to worry about that big body (Gonzalez played at 6-foot-5, 250 pounds, Bailey at 6-0, 195) and try to make a play. I never got a pick on him. He was one of the best.”Gonzalez echoed those thoughts about Reed, Bailey and Law, who was a teammate in Kansas City in 2006-07.“Ed was the only safety (of the three), and he was a top guy,” Gonzalez said. “I loved going against him and seeing how I stacked up. I won some and lost some.“I went the most against Champ, twice a year, because the Broncos would match him against me a lot. Man, that was tough.“Ty was my teammate for a while and I learned a lot Sammy Watkins Jersey , how hard he worked at the game.”The four were joined in an interview session by fellow enshrinees Kevin Mawae, a dominant center for 16 seasons — and, yes, a player on the 2000s All-Decade team — former Chiefs safety Johnny Robinson, Gil Brandt and the family of late Broncos owner Pat Bowlen.All of them conveyed the same message: never back off from your goals.“I never took my eye off the process,” said Bailey, who spent his first five pro seasons in Washington. “What was it going to take to succeed? But I dreamed big from the beginning.”Bailey was mentored by a Hall of Famer, Darrell Green, during his time in Washington. He also spent some time with Deion Sanders, also a Canton enshrinee, as a Redskin.“How did I get all this greatness around me?” he wondered. “It set my foundation.”Law spoke of his roots in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, mentioning how his grandparents set him on the correct path when he could have strayed and wound up “six feet under.”“Everything I have faced in my life, I can go back to Aliquippa and the lessons I learned,” he said.Brandt, who from 1960-89 was the personnel director of the Cowboys and recently has been a league consultant for the draft, will lead off the induction ceremony Saturday night. One of football’s great story tellers, he promises to leave plenty of time for the others on the docket to speak.“It’s kind of surreal Anthony Hitchens Jersey ,” said Brandt, 86. “I have been at the hall since 1965; one of my jobs was getting helmets and other things signed. You always hope for something to happen, but it’s almost impossible to happen.”On Saturday, the hall’s doors will open to Brandt and the other members of the 2019 class.“Very special,” Brandt concluded. “Very.” FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — It may have been hard to hear him over the noise of the New England fans celebrating an eighth straight trip to the AFC title game, but Tom Brady is feeling disrespected.That’s right: The three-time NFL MVP and five-time Super Bowl champion told a national TV audience after demolishing the Los Angeles Chargers in the playoffs, “I know everyone thinks we suck and can’t win any games.“We’ll see,” Brady said with a roguish look in his eyes. “Could be fun.”There hasn’t been an NFL run like the Patriots’ — at least in the Super Bowl era — with Brady and coach Bill Belichick leading the franchise to 10 straight AFC East titles and 15 in 16 years, resulting in eight trips to the Super Bowl and five NFL crowns.“You’re talking about a dynasty,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “If there is such a thing in the National Football League, they’ve been that.”And yet as they prepare to travel to Kansas City to take on the Chiefs (13-4) in Sunday’s AFC championship game, Brady is right about one thing: The Patriots (12-5) are a 3-point underdog, and that’s an unusual position for them.“We’re going against a team that’s the No. 1 seed in the league,” Brady said after the team’s final practice on Friday. “I’m sure there’s a lot of people that are thinking they’re going to win. Everyone can have their own opinion. We certainly have an opinion, and we’ve got to go out there and execute our best in order to accomplish that.”Players have long found their motivation wherever they can, whether it’s the oddsmakers or experts or comments from the opposing team that go up on the locker room for all to see. Heading into the NFC title game, some banter about gumbo has turned into a rallying cry for the Los Angeles Rams.The Chiefs have been careful not to help out with any bulletin board material.“I don’t think they suck Mitchell Schwartz Jersey ,” tight end Travis Kelce said. “I can tell you that.”But rustling up slights to motivate themselves is just another thing they’ve mastered.Responding to the public perception — or at least that of the oddsmakers — receiver Julian Edelman tweeted a Chiefs hype video lauding quarterback Patrick Mahomes as the best player in the league. Edelman made no secret what he thought of that, adding a hashtag: “#BetAgainstUs”; he is also selling T-shirts with the slogan squeezed into the shape of the Patriots logo.Special teams star Matthew Slater said he wasn’t motivated as much by being an underdog in this game as other times he was doubted in his life.“I’m not supposed to be playing in this league anyways,” he said, “so we’ve got plenty of motivation.”Defensive back Jason McCourty was a sixth-round draft pick — just like Brady.And, just like Brady, and he hasn’t forgotten.“You’ve just always had that chip on your shoulder, and no matter what you go through in life, especially with football, there’s just always someone or something,” McCourty said.“I think that type of mindset, no matter if you’re 16-0, you’re rolling through the playoffs, no matter what the situation is, there’s always going to be somebody that’s doubting you or saying something about you. I think for certain guys individually, it may be something that kind of gives you that extra kick.”