Yahoo Finance Giants WR Golden Tate apologizes after rants about his targets, missing practice
After a week of rants, missed practices and time spent with the scout team, New York Giants wide receiver Golden Tate apologized on Friday.
Tate, after a very public rant about what he felt was a lack of targets, missed the Giants’ 23-20 win against the Washington Football Team last week as a result.
“If you know me and you know my game, I play with a lot of emotion, a lot of passion,” Tate said, via SNY. “I just got caught up in the moment. I was wrong to draw attention to myself, and I take full responsibility for that. I handled it the wrong way and brought negative attention to our organization. It was something that won’t happen again.”
"I was wrong to draw attention to myself and I take full responsibility for that."
- Giants WR Golden Tate
pic.twitter.com/bgo89t3pa9— Ralph Vacchiano (@RVacchianoSNY) November 13, 2020
Golden Tate misses practice after rants
The root of the issue came during the Giants’ loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 8, where Tate was very clearly frustrated.
After his first target and catch of the game in the fourth quarter, Tate looked right at the Giants sideline and yelled, “throw me the damn ball.” Then, after catching a touchdown later in the quarter, he looked right at the ESPN camera and did it again.
WR Golden Tate is a player the Giants are trying to move. The money (still owed almost $4.5M this year) could be prohibitive.
But Tate’s role with Giants has been shrinking (54% of snaps on Monday night). Only 5 targets past two weeks. Frustration growing?
“Throw me the ball!” pic.twitter.com/pZ85vmiyue— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) November 3, 2020
His wife, Elise, wrote a 330-word post on Instagram about the situation, too, but later deleted it.
“It’s excruciating to watch and killing his stats this year but you can’t have yards on a few to no targets,” she wrote, in part. “He’s CRAZY Making the most of what comes his way that’s for sure tho. Every time.”
Tate did not attend practice the Wednesday after the game, and then was on the scout team that Friday before the Giants left him at home for their matchup with Washington.
The 32-year-old has just 22 receptions for 226 yards and two touchdowns so far this season, his 11th in the league. He is in his second year of a four-year, $37.5 million deal with the Giants.
While it’s unclear how much he’ll get used in the Giants’ game with the Eagles on Sunday, Tate did make it clear that he wants to be in New York.
Golden Tate says he still wants to be a part of the Giants' future:
"I believe in this organization and I believe in where they're heading" pic.twitter.com/i0gWbVxe5s— Giants Videos (@SNYGiants) November 13, 2020
“I believe in this organization, and I believe in where they’re heading,” Tate said, via SNY. “I believe in the people that they’re bringing to be a part of this. I’m thankful that I have an opportunity to be a part of it, and I just know that I’m excited to be a part of it now, and hopefully, I can do my part to get us to where we want to be.”
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