Welcome back to the 18Stripes Hall of Fame Series. A reminder that you can easily see every entry of the series here. Today we finish our first half of the decade (and final entry until next offseason) and the Charlie Weis era. Our potential entrant to the HOF, who could easily be praised as one of the successful offensive recruits in the Charlie Weis era, is current New York Giants WR Golden Tate.
Background
Golden Tate came to campus in the spring of 2007 after verbally committing right before the Irish’s second straight BCS bowl appearance. Tate entered as a 4* WR out of Tennessee, and the second highest WR in that class of 2007 (behind quick burning star, and 2010 Utah game standout Duval Kamara). During that 2007 season, he had one breakout game against Purdue, showing a glimpse of the big play potential to come, catching three balls for 104 yards and a TD. After a jump up in the 2008 season, Tate made his presence known on Christmas Eve 2008 as he torched the Hawaii secondary in the Hawaii Bowl for 6 catches for 177 yards and 3 TDs, including the back breaker right before the end of the half to put the game firmly out of reach for the Warriors.
The All-American Seasons: 2009
Combined with the presence of QB Jimmy Clausen and fellow stud WR Michael Floyd, expectations were high on the Notre Dame offense coming into the 2009 season. Tate looked to hold up his end of the bargain after a lackluster opener against Nevada. He scored twice against Michigan and had 127 yards and THAT game winning TD over Michigan State. The rest of the season Tate had 100 total yards and a TD in every single game, peaking with 275 yards from scrimmage and a TD against Washington at home. While the team notably destructed down the stretch (again check our excellent re-return to the 2009 season that was done last fall), Tate continued to churn out his usual stats, trying his best to keep the Irish in games, most notable with his punt return at Pitt as they were preparing for the undefeated Cincinnati Bearcats. His final collegiate game has an argument to be his best, and helped him get the push to the awards consideration. Tate finished with 10 catches for 201 yards and 3 TDs, most of the time being covered by future All-Pro Richard Sherman. Tate would go on to win the Biletnikoff Award for best WR and a unanimous All-America selection, the first and only under Weis. He also ended the season as co-MVP of the team with Clausen.
Final Stat Line 2009: 93 Rec 1,496 Yds 15 TDs 16.1 YPC 2 Rushing TDs, 1 PR TD
Post College
Tate Committing Irish on Irish Crime
Tate, despite his relative success on the baseball diamond, chose football when he was drafted 60th overall by the Seattle Seahawks. He became a part of the young core that peaked in his final season in the Pacific Northwest with a Super Bowl win over the Broncos. Tate then took his career to the next level and became a second banana to Megatron in Detroit, becoming a sub 1000 yard threat every year since except his last two seasons as he bounced around between Philly and New York. While not a NFL Hall of Fame career, he has had been a solid contributor to many different playoff teams and continues to produce going into his tenth season, which is more than what can be said of most of the players we have discussed. Off the field, he has established the Golden Future Foundation in 2014 to “provide much needed support to our American Heroes who have enriched our lives and protected our freedom.” Through his foundation, Tate helps military members and families in need, which has recently extended to the recent pandemic.
Why He Should Be In
First and foremost, we need to acknowledge both here and going forward, that none of the players we will mention are eligible yet due to them still playing. So that’s one reason he hasn’t gotten in yet. However, I think unlike the rest of the players we have talked about, Tate has the hardware to really stake a claim over other Notre Dame players who are eligible now. I think if there was a bigger push to put Tate front and center as a fringe Heisman contender using the Band Dive and the “Golden Is Thy Tate” slogan that seemed to be around during his time on campus, he could have finished higher and have an even stronger case. My digression is more to note that Tate was the real deal and at the top of his ability given the players that were put in front of him. He was a big reason the offense hummed as much as it did and his dynamic play-making ability separated himself from the play of Clausen.
Why He Shouldn’t Be In
As has been mentioned many times by many different Notre Dame related outlets, the 2009 season was a weird one and the fact that the team faltered so much down the stretch really hurt the players that were pulling their weight. The most amount of wins in a season Tate saw was eight in 2008. That doesn’t fall all on his shoulders but it helps to have those big games at the endo f the season with people caring about the result and the teams Tate was on were never put in that position (with the closest being the 2009 USC game). Tate clearly overcame that with the results of the accolades he received, but it never felt like it was his full potential.
Ultimate Ruling: Seems Likely
I do think that the combination of Golden’s presence in the NFL, combined with his accolades he got for his 2009 season put him over the top. I’ve been apprehensive to put anyone in the “Seems Likely” category unless they had some hardware, and Tate brings it with him. I think Tate still being revered as the only Notre Dame WR to win the Biletnikoff, when he is sandwiched between the careers of Shark and Floyd is worth noting. I think once he is eligible, Notre Dame will push him to the ballot and he will eventually have his name heard.
What do you think of Golden’s career at Notre Dame? What’s your favorite non-marching band memory? Sound off below. As I mentioned at the top, we’re going to take a break on this series until after the season (whenever it is) finishes up and we have more time to dedicate to the last ten years of All-Americans. Until then, let me know what you think of the series thus far!
I think him not getting in would be ridiculous. But I have no idea anything about the process other than having gone to the Hall of Fame once when it was in the Bend.
That said, at his induction ceremony (if it were to happen) would they serve doughnuts?
My hot take is that Golden Tate was the best college football player in the country in 2009, or at least second to Ndamukong Suh. Obviously we don’t invite guys on 6-6 teams to NYC anymore, and that’s fine, but I just want that on the record.
I have way too many favorite Tate memories to pick from (his cross-the-field TD jaunt against Stanford was pretty special), but I think my two favorites are his Hail Mary catch against WSU and his punt return against Pitt, because I wasn’t even really surprised at either one. The guy was an incredible player. (And I think I’ve read that he basically insisted on taking the Pitt punt return, which is just bad-ass.)
Suh was obscene. But I agree Tate was the best offensive player in the country that year.
God, that season was such wasted potential. ND’s starting offense was essentially an NFL team, and the defense, as Diaco showed us one year later, could have been top 25. ND had an easy schedule and Southern Cal was on its way down from the peak of the Pete Carroll years. That team should have been 12-0 or 11-1.
Instead, 6-6 with losses to Navy, UConn, and a garbage Michigan team.
It’s like the curse now for Notre Dame to either have:
A) unreal recruiting but a train wreck of coaching
or
B) great program management and consistency but lack the elite talent
So close, yet so far. Kelly’s had some decent weapons, but I don’t think we’ll look back on guys like Claypool/Boykin the same way as Floyd/Tate are remembered. (Will Fuller probably the outlier).
E — (unless I missed this) here’s a new article series for 18S: Ranking the top players by position of the Kelly era