We see it all the time these days, athletic tight ends running down the seam, making huge plays over the middle. Call it the modern tight end via the modern pa sing game. , who at age 68, was the modern tight end stuck in a pa sing era that was anything but. The pa s- Lucas Giolito Jersey friendly rules we have in today's game were non-existent then. So if Sanders caught a ball down the middle of the field, you could bet he paid the price for it.Still, the former All-Pro tight end was one of the best at it. At 6-foot-4, 225 pounds in the late 1960s, he was the prototype for the s of the world we see now. Moreover, back in 1968, when Sanders entered the league out of Minnesota, 6-4was a lot like 6-6 or so today. He could also move."Charlie was one of the early, fast tight ends who became critical to offensive succe s when defensive coverages double-teamed both wide receivers," wrote legendary coach Weeb Ewbank in the book "Football Greats."Lem Barney, a fellow r and former teammate, pointed out Sanders' overall ability."Just a ," Barney told The Detroit Free Pre s' Dave Birkett. "He was always a believer that we could win. He always thought if he could get the quarterback to throw it Ivan Nova Jersey to him, he was going to catch it. He made some acrobatic catches. I'm telling you, one-legged, one arm in the air, floating through the air almost like a Superman. If you threw it to him, he was going to find a way to catch it."Still, even at a time when the pecking order of glamour positions in the NFL read RB, QB, WR, DE, LB and then maybe TE, Sanders garnered enough respect to earn three first-team All-Pro honors while making the seven times. The reason he received those accolades was simple. During his 10 seasons, no tight end in pro football caught more pa ses for more yards. His status does not depend on cherry-picked stats, either; Sanders is in the top five in receptions among tight ends from 1960 to 1979. And though some of his contemporaries had monster seasons, Sanders might have been the most consistent. It's how a kid from North Carolina ended up with a bust in Canton, Ohio. Despite all of the accomplishments, few fans know of him today. One reason is because the only made the playoffs once in his career -- a game they lost, 5-0 Andrew Vaughn Jersey -- and were always bested by Bud Grant's in the old NFC Central. The beauty of Sanders' succe s in the NFL, though, is that it extends beyond just the playing field, as he worked as a color Chicago White Sox Jersey analyst, then an a sistant coach, before finally becoming the a sistant director of pro personnel -- all with the . In fact, he was the team's wide receivers coach when Herman Moore and Brett Perriman set an NFL record for most catches by a wide receiver tandem (231). Clearly the man knew something about receiving, as well as giving your profe sional life to an organization. When I spoke with him at the Fan Fest in Cleveland last year, we of course discu sed his on-field accomplishments, but, with the frankne s of a man from his era, he also made sure to mention that he had done so many other things with the than simply catch pa ses. Talk about an appropriate me sage for players today. You can give back to the game and earn a living at the same time; your "glory" years don't have to be limited to the ones in which you donned a uniform and helmet.With all the padded stats put up by today's tight ends, the guys of the '70s are often misrepresented and forgotten. Their era was not conducive to soft coverage on the field, and it did not include 24-hour media coverage off of it. But if I were to give a nod to both yesterday and today, then consider Sanders to have had 's speed and consistency, mixed with Graham's athleticism and ability to create plays. In five decades with the , Sanders created for himself a nice football life.Follow Elliot Harrison Jose Abreu Jersey on Twitter .