Ex-NFL Star Antonio Gates Identified As Alleged Participant in Illegal Poker Game

According to Pablo Torre, Antonio Gates allegedly participated in a rigged poker game.

Hall of Fame tight end Antonio Gates allegedly played in a rigged poker game. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Earlier this week, Heat guard Terry Rozier, Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and former NBA player Damon Jones were arrested by the FBI and indicted for their alleged part in a mob-linked gambling scheme including illegal sports betting and rigged poker games. Amid an ongoing probe, 34 people were arrested on Thursday for their alleged role in the scandal. The NBA immediately placed both Rozier and Billups on leave.

According to reports from Pablo Torre following the initial arrests, Rozier, Billups and Jones were not the only former athletes involved in the alleged illegal gambling and poker schemes. Torre later reported that Kevin Garnett allegedly stopped by the rigged poker game in 2019 when he thought he was going to an afterparty. Per Torre, Garnett left without playing and has not been contacted by authorities. Along with Garnett, Torre reported that current Clippers coach Ty Lue was at an allegedly rigged poker game in 2019, but played at a different table than Billups.

On Sunday, Torre reported that Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end Antonio Gates allegedly hosted and participated in an allegedly rigged poker game in Miami. The game was allegedly organized by Curtis Meeks, who was indicted earlier this week. Gates is the first former NFL player to be linked to the scandal.

🚨➕ Pro Football Hall-of-Famer and former Chargers tight end Antonio Gates hosted — and played in — an allegedly rigged Miami poker game, sources with direct knowledge tell @pablofindsout, that was organized by Curtis Meeks. Meeks was indicted by the federal government Thursday.

— Pablo Torre 👀 (@PabloTorre) October 26, 2025

In a statement, Gates’s representation wrote, “Antonio Gates has not been involved nor has he been accused of any wrong doing, assertions to the contrary are false and without merit. There will be no further comments on this matter.”

Gates, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this summer, spent 16 seasons with the Chargers where he amassed 11,841 receiving yards and 116 receiving touchdowns, the latter of which is an NFL record for tight ends. He last played in the NFL during the 2018 season.

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