Tony Gonzalez is widely considered one of the greatest players in Kansas City Chiefs history and a future candidate for number retirement. However, since the franchise remains conservative about officially retiring jersey numbers, Gonzalez’s #88 jersey has yet to be retired. Former tight end Shannon Sharpe expressed his own take on the matter, as 88 is worn by Year 2 TE Jake Briningstool.
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“Chiefs, you can’t give Tony G’s # away,” Sharpe wrote on X, adding a bunch of angry-face emojis.
Until 2024, the Chiefs had retired only 10 jersey numbers. Among them are Abner Haynes’ No. 28, Buck Buchanan’s No. 86, and Len Dawson’s No. 16. Derrick Thomas’ No. 58 was retired in 2009. Someday in the future, Patrick Mahomes’ No. 15 and Travis Kelce’s No. 87 might also feature with these franchise greats. But with Gonzalez’s 88 still available, the number is free to be worn today.
“As we’ve gone along over the years, we’ve needed to be more judicious in retiring jerseys, just from a practical standpoint of just having enough numbers available, particularly in training camp,” Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said in 2024. “It certainly doesn’t mean that we won’t retire another jersey. But it’s something we’re really going to think about and approach from a bigger perspective.”
As of now, no Chiefs player from Gonzalez’s stint has their jersey number retired.
There’s also Gonzalez’s tumultuous history with the Chiefs. Although the tight end spent the first 12 seasons of his career with the team, his exit was messy. During a podcast appearance earlier this year, the former legendary tight end commented on the controversy, and his responses suggested that there was no love lost by the time he left Kansas City to join the Atlanta Falcons.
“I said Atlanta made my career, and the Kansas City fans hated that. I still kind of stand by that,” said Gonzalez. “The reason why is you play so long, I was 33 years old at the time, and you just want a chance to win. I’ll never win a Super Bowl, obviously, I never even played in one.”
Moreover, players before Briningstool have worn No. 88 for Kansas City. The list includes former Chiefs wide receiver Junior Hemingway and former tight end Ross Travis, both of whom wore the number in the 2010s. TE Peyton Hendershot last had the number before Briningstool.
Perhaps to Sharpe, Briningstool, who was signed as a UDFA by the Chiefs last year, seemed less deserving of carrying on Gonzalez’s legacy. But Briningstool might become the next man up at tight end, as this is presumed to be Travis Kelce’s last season in the NFL.
Should Briningstool continue wearing 88, both Gonzalez’s and Kelce’s legacies will be linked to him.
Briningstool was a top tight end prospect coming out of high school, and played for Clemson. In his four years with the program, the TE caught 127 passes, the highest in school history at his position at the time. He mysteriously fell out of the draft, and the Chiefs signed him up minutes after the draft, per Sports Illustrated.
Unfortunately, Briningstool missed the entire 2025 season on injured reserve as he got hurt.
He has played in all eight of the Chiefs’ games so far this season, but is understandably on the back foot as Travis Kelce gets the lion’s share of targets. But he is still someone to keep an eye on.
Considering Gonzalez’s rocky relationship with the Chiefs and his belief that he reached the height of his career with the Falcons rather than with the Chiefs, it seems unlikely that Sharpe’s criticism will lead to Gonzalez’s jersey being retired for good.