Tony Gonzalez To Pursue Acting Career
Hall of Fame Tight End Tony Gonzalez is reportedly leaving his job at FOX as a studio analyst, per Mike McCarthy of Front Office Sports. Gonzalez is leaving FOX to focus on TV and film projects after having been a part of FOX’s Pregame Kickoff show since 2017.
Gonzalez had an illustrious career in the NFL, setting all-time tight end records for receptions (1,325) and receiving yards (15,127). Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2019, he ranks third all-time in career receptions, behind only Jerry Rice and Larry Fitzgerald.
Tony Gonzalez…The Actor?
While Gonzalez has not had a ton of experience in acting so far, he has made a few notable appearances. He made his film debut in 2017 in “xXx: Return of Xander Cage” which starred Vin Diesel. Along with this, Gonzalez also played the recurring role of Agent Tony Francis on “NCIS” from 2014-2016. In my opinion, Gonzalez was one of the smartest analysts on FOX’s Pregame Show and his pursuit of an acting career is unsurprising considering his personality and wit.
As for who will replace Gonzalez on FOX, McCarthy later added that Michael Vick or Emmanuel Ocho could potentially succeed him. FOX also hired Mark Sanchez as a game analyst.
Former NFL Players Turned Hollywood
Gonzalez is not the first former football star to pursue an acting career and it is unlikely that he will be the last. Brett Farve was the spokesperson of Wrangler Jeans for what felt like my entire adolescence and Joe Montana has been in commercials for AT&T, Sketchers, and Papa John’s Pizza.
And of course, Michael Strahan. Although Strahan is still a FOX NFL Sunday Team member, the former Giant filled in as a co-host for the popular ‘Live! With Regis and Kelly’ in 2010, and became the permanent co-host in 2012, before ultimately leaving for a new role on ‘Good Morning America’. He has won numerous Daytime Emmy Awards as well. I would be remiss if I did not address the obvious Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson too. Despite never playing in the NFL, Dwayne has had an incredible acting career following his time playing football for the Miami Hurricanes.
It will be interesting to see where Gonzalez goes and what he does first, and how FOX plans to fill the hole in their NFL Gameday Roster. For Gonzalez, it was Canton first. Now he is off to make a name for himself in Hollywood.
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