Fourth in a series of stories profiling top high school football players by position. Today, Luke Gazzaniga, Santa Margarita tight end.

You’re unlikely to feel sympathy for 6-foot-4, 235-pound tight end Luke Gazzaniga, a senior at Santa Margarita High who enjoys the idea of running over tacklers after catching a pass or sending an opponent crashing to the ground with a bone-crushing block.

Except understand that he’s the smallest brother in his family. The others are 6-7 and 6-5, so imagine the little brother in the front yard doing the Oklahoma drill, a legendary one-on-one football drill from years ago that tested toughness via collisions.

“We’d literally just run at each other,” he said.

Some brothers play video games or collect baseball cards. The Gazzanigas were into seeing who would be the last one standing.

“It was fun,” Luke said. “I was quick when I was a little kid. I wouldn’t go down. I’ve had to fight for myself. I had to find my way to win.”

Their father, David, who played football at Dartmouth and became an orthopedic surgeon, welcomed the competition. If any of the boys came into the house before a game was over, Dad’s response was, “Suck it up and go back.”

“He taught us how to be tough,” Luke said.

You can sense the enjoyment Luke has on a football field. After he catches a pass, he looks up and gets excited if there’s a defender nearby.

“I love seeing people there,” he said. “I’m letting them know if you’re going to try to tackle me, it’s going to hurt you more than me. I’m glad someone thinks they can tackle me.”

Future Hall of Fame tight end Rob Gronkowski has been the player he’s most admired, and Gazzaniga has been able to see pro players up close because his father worked as a physician with the Chargers. Luke got to hang out in the training room and on the field.

“They’re impressively big and impressively fast,” he said. “People were huge.”

During Santa Margarita’s run to the Southern Section Division 1 and Open Division state titles last season, Gazzaniga became an important offensive weapon over the middle, even though he suffered an ankle injury and missed six weeks. He caught 20 passes for 332 yards and four touchdowns.

“God gave me the blessing to catch anything,” he said.

Santa Margarita coach Carson Palmer used to take advantage of throwing to the tight end when playing at USC and in the NFL, and there’s no doubt Gazzaniga feels comfortable in the Eagles’ offensive schemes. Tight ends continue to gain attention at the highest levels.

“It’s a super important position,” Gazzaniga said. “People love looking at receivers and forget the tight end is almost the glue between passing and running. The Rams use three tight ends and there’s a bunch of big personnel types all over the league. I can envision myself being there one day and making an impact.”

Gazzaniga is committed to Kansas. He comes from a family of athletes. Two older sisters played water polo at USC, with Rachel now a candidate to play for the U.S. Olympic team in 2028. Brother John is a quarterback at Alabama. His mother is an avid mountain climber. John used to throw bullet passes to Luke growing up, which helped prepare him for any and all quarterbacks.

Thanksgiving always has produced an interesting dynamic with five tall, energetic kids circling for a turkey leg.

“It’s hard to know how much we eat,” Luke said.

Saturday: Vincent Shields, Murrieta Valley offensive lineman.

Luke Gazzaniga, Santa Margarita, 6-4, 235, Sr.: Kansas commit makes big catches in traffic

JJ Haley, Corona del Mar, 6-3, 200, Jr.: The next top tight end from the tight end school

Max Markofski, Mission Viejo, 6-4, 230, Sr.: Arizona commit is known for his receiving skills

Hudson Ploog, Orange Lutheran, 6-5, 235, Sr. Nevada Las Vegas commit is like a sixth offensive lineman to clear defenders

Jaylin Smalls, Rancho Cucamonga, 6-4, 230, Jr.: This is the season he begins to show his talents