CANTON http://www.packerscheapshoponline.com/cheap-authentic-darnell-savage-jr.-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 http://www.ravensauthorizedshops.com/authentic-justice-hill-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 Ben Powers 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 http://www.ravensauthorizedshops.com/authentic-iman-marshall-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.” OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP)There are no dreary work days for Don Martindale, who has overwhelmingly embraced his new role as defensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens.After serving for five seasons as the team’s linebackers coach, Martindale was promoted to coordinator in January after Dean Pees left the post.Enthusiastic doesn’t even begin to describe Martindale’s attitude about being in charge of the defense.”Ever since we’ve made this transition, it’s been a joy to just come through those gates every day. I love it,” Martindale said after Wednesday’s mandatory minicamp practice.This isn’t the first time Martindale has been put in charge of molding a defense. In 2010, he watched over a unit in Denver that was the worst in the NFL in both yards and points allowed per game.Given a second chance, the 55-year-old Martindale is putting together a defense that will rely heavily on the instinct of several of its most proven players, most notably safety Eric Weddle and linebackers Terrell Suggs and C.J. Mosley.”He’s just putting his personal fix on our defense and expanding it, giving the guys confidence to play fast,” Weddle said. ”The idea is to do what’s best for the defense, not what’s best the individual.”Martindale called Mosley ”the quarterback” of a fluid unit that can make a snap-change from drop-back coverage to an all-out blitz. In that regard, Mosley believes this defense is superior to the one that in 2017 yielded 18.9 points per game, sixth-best in the NFL.”The way we’re able to use our core guys Trace McSorley Jersey , put them in different spots and do some of the same things just from different positions, it’s more creative, I would say, than where we were last year,” Mosley said.Baltimore coach John Harbaugh promoted Martindale rather than go outside the organization because he wanted to extend his vision of a defense that has evolved since his arrival in 2008.”All we’re doing is forwarding John’s plan,” Martindale said. ”We’re remodeling the package. It’s still Ravens football, it’s still Ravens defense, but we’ve streamlined it. It’s the elegant simplicity. Guys are playing really fast.”Asked for his take on Martindale’s defense, Ravens offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg replied, ”They’re fast and they’re furious.”Sure, things might be different once the pads go on at training camp, but at this point, Martindale’s boss likes what he sees.”We’re doing a lot of neat things on defense, things that are really good,” Harbaugh said. ”More than ever, we’re putting it on our players to make decisions in real time.”Martindale has a new title, but old habits die hard.”For the most part, it’s been the same Ed Oliver Jersey ,” Mosley said. ”He always comes in and says, `I have to lead the linebacker room,’ and sits down and gets to talking like he’s back at linebacker coach.”Told of Mosley’s disclosure, Martindale smiled and said, ”I’ve been trying to stay out of there, but you can’t help but go in. That’s home. I have a good time in the secondary room as well.”And just about everywhere else.”Where we’re going with this thing is really exciting to me,” Martindale said, ”and I know it’s exciting to the players.”In other training camp news, cornerback Jimmy Smith was a surprise participant at practice, going through a light regimen of individual drills just six months after tearing his left Achilles tendon.”I don’t know if Jimmy’s like half Wolverine, but he’s healed up in half the time of regular human beings,” Weddle said, referring to the amazing recuperative powers of the Marvel super hero.—