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Tony Gonzalez credits his son with pushing him back for one more run at the Super Bowl. (USATSI)

Atlanta Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez made it clear that he was "95 percent" sure 2012 would be his final year in the NFL. Gonzalez changed his mind last month, though, and Falcons fans have the player's son, Nikko, to thank.

"He even came up to me and he's like, 'Dad, you guys were so close, you guys are such a good football team, definitely if you get a chance to go back, you should go back,'" Gonzalez said on NFL AM Friday. "So that kind of sealed it for me right there and I said, you know what we got a great football team and I look forward to seeing what we can do this year."

Hall of Famer* GamesReceiving
RkPlayerGRecYdsTD
1 Jerry Rice* 286 1519 22466 194
2 Tony Gonzalez 254 1242 14268 103
3 Marvin Harrison 190 1102 14580 128
4 Cris Carter* 234 1101 13899 130
5 Tim Brown 255 1094 14934 100
6 Terrell Owens 219 1078 15934 153
7 Isaac Bruce 223 1024 15208 91
8 Hines Ward 217 1000 12083 85
9 Reggie Wayne 189 968 13063 78
10 Randy Moss 202 954 14899 151

Atlanta, of course, came within a win of reaching Super Bowl XLVII, falling to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC title game. Gonzalez said he wanted to give it one last shot, and he was careful not to string the Falcons along.

"I didn't want to create confusion for them and I wanted to make sure that they're able to assemble the best team whether I'm there or not," Gonzalez said. "And obviously since I am going to be there I want to make sure that they assemble the pieces that we need to make a championship run and get to the Super Bowl in New York."

Clearly, Gonzalez can still be a major factor in the receiving game. He caught 93 passes -- second to Jason Wittenamong NFL tight ends -- for 930 yards and eight touchdowns last season.

A lock for the Hall of Fame, Gonzalez ranks second all-time to Jerry Rice in career receptions. He'll need to stick around a little longer than one year, however, if he plans on catching the longtime 49ers great.