The Life of the Forgotten
Golden Tate broke out in his fourth year in 2013, where he got almost a thousand yards and five touchdowns while being one of the most fun to watch players in the NFL.
“As a sophomore, he had over 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns as a wide receiver on the football team, with a .329 batting average and scoring 45 runs in baseball.”
Who is Golden Tate? Golden Herman Tate III was born on August 2, 1988, in Hendersonville, Tennessee. He was a standout student-athlete at Pope John Paul II High School, competing in Football, Baseball, and Track.
After his high school career, he went to the University of Notre Dame, where he was a two-sport athlete in football and baseball. There, he was a standout athlete in both sports. He was a good role player but broke out as a sophomore in his second year. He had over 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns as a wide receiver on the football team, with a .329 batting average and scoring 45 runs in baseball.
At that point, he was selected to play in major league baseball by the San Francisco Giants but instead decided to return his junior year to play football. That worked out for him, as he ended up being an All-American, having almost 1,500 yards and 15 touchdowns, while winning the Biletnikoff award, given to the best wide receiver in college football. He would be selected in the second round of the National Football League (NFL) draft that year by the Seattle Seahawks, which started an illustrious 11-year career as a professional football player.
He did not significantly impact the team for his first two years, catching a little over 600 yards and three touchdowns during that timespan. However, he was involved in significant controversy from the start, with the first game of his second season still having a hot debate over a call that awarded Tate a touchdown and the Seahawks a win. The controversy stemmed from him and the person defending him catching the ball. Still, he was awarded the catch due to an odd rule, and the Seahawks narrowly won by one point. Yet, he broke out in his fourth year in 2013, where he got almost a thousand yards and five touchdowns while being one of the most fun to watch players in the NFL. He emerged as one of the top receivers on his team, starting in 13 of the 16 games, and played a crucial role in their Superbowl win.
The following offseason, he signed with the Detroit Lions, where he truly shined, earning his first Pro Bowl selection and going over 1,300 yards along with four touchdowns. This was his best season ever, and while he regressed the following year, he returned with two 1,000-yard-plus seasons again. Then, in his final year with the Lions, he got traded halfway through to the Philadelphia Eagles. However, in the playoffs with the Eagles, he came up big, scoring the game-winning touchdown on fourth down.
He then signed with the New York Giants the following year, where he ended up getting into trouble over the use of performance-enhancing drugs, even though it was just fertility drugs. He still had almost 700 yards and six touchdowns despite only playing 10 games. He played another year with the Giants and then spent some time on the Tennessee Titans practice squad before retiring in 2021.
However, in 2022, he attempted a comeback, but instead of playing football, he chose baseball. He played in the West Coast League in 2022 before retiring from professional athletics. He now sells sports betting advice while being happily married to Elise Pollard. They have three kids together.
