Golden Tate

Golden Herman Tate III (born August 2, 1988) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL).

In his high school senior year of 2006, he rushed 140 times for 1,413 yards and 23 touchdowns to go along with 28 receptions for 510 yards and six receiving touchdowns.

He also had three interceptions on defense, returned a kickoff for a touchdown and was the team punter.

He was named as a Tennessee Division II first-team all-state pick in 2006 as an athlete by the Tennessee Sports Writers Association and also by the Tennessee Football Coaches Association.

His jersey was later retired by Pope John Paul II High School.

One of Tate's friends from high school is racing driver Josef Newgarden.

After he injured his thumb in his senior season and could not play baseball, Tate switched to track and field and posted the state's top qualifying times in the 100-meter dash (10.93 s) and 200-meter dash (22.33 s).

He was also a member of the John Paul 4 × 100 m relay squad that captured the state title with a time of 42.86 seconds.

Tate was drafted out of high school by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 42nd round of the 2007 amateur draft.

Tate did not sign with the Diamondbacks and instead played baseball for the University of Notre Dame.

Tate played football for Notre Dame from 2007 to 2009.

In the 2007 season as a freshman, Tate started two games, versus the UCLA Bruins and USC Trojans.

He totaled six catches for 131 yards and one touchdown and averaged 21.7 yards on 15 kickoff returns for the season.

In 2008, Tate's freshman year at Notre Dame, he played in 18 games and batted .262 with three doubles and three stolen bases.

Tate hit his first home run against Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky in his sophomore year.

He finished his sophomore season with a .329 batting average after playing in 55 games.

Tate also scored 45 runs his sophomore year which is the third highest by any Notre Dame baseball player.

In the 2008 season as a sophomore, Tate started in 12 regular season games with 52 catches for 903 yards and seven touchdowns for a 17.4 yard per catch average.

Tate registered 100-yard games against Michigan, Syracuse, North Carolina, and Pittsburgh during the 2008 regular season, while being tapped First-team All-Independent by Rivals.com.

Against the Hawaii Warriors in the Hawaii Bowl, he made six catches for 177 yards and three touchdowns in the 49–21 victory for the Fighting Irish, bringing his season total to 58 catches for 1,080 yards (18.6 yard average) with 10 touchdowns.

Tate was named the MVP of the Hawaii Bowl.

He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, earning unanimous All-American honors and winning the Fred Biletnikoff Award in 2009.

In 2009, Tate had nine games with at least 100 receiving yards.

On September 19, against Michigan State, Tate had 7 receptions for 127 yards and an iconic game-winning touchdown in the closing minutes where he celebrated by jumping into the MSU marching band section in the corner of the endzone.

On October 3, against Washington, he had nine receptions for 244 yards.

On November 28, against Stanford in his final collegiate game, he had 10 receptions for 201 yards and three touchdowns.

Following the 2009 season, Tate won the Biletnikoff Award.

He was also recognized as a unanimous first-team All-American.

Overall, he finished the season with 93 receptions for 1,496 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns.

On December 7, 2009, Tate announced that he would forgo his senior year and declared his eligibility for the 2010 NFL Draft.

Tate was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft.

He later played for the Detroit Lions, with whom he made a Pro Bowl appearance.

He also played a season for the Philadelphia Eagles and two seasons for the New York Giants.

After his football career, Tate played baseball as a center fielder for the Port Angeles Lefties of the West Coast League (WCL) in 2022 after not playing the sport since 2009.

Born in Hendersonville, Tennessee, Golden Tate attended Pope John Paul II High School, where he played as a three-sport athlete, competing in football, baseball, and track & field.

On June 9, 2010, Tate was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 50th round (1,518th overall) of the 2010 MLB Draft, but did not sign.

On June 14, 2022, Tate signed with the Port Angeles Lefties of the West Coast League as a center fielder.

He started at center field that night.

On April 23, 2010, Tate was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the second round (60th overall) of the 2010 NFL Draft.

On July 28, 2010, Tate signed a four-year deal with the Seahawks worth $3.261 million.