Golden Tate
Syndication: The Record

A former Giants wide receiver is heading to the diamond.

Golden Tate last played with Big Blue (or anyone in the regular season for that matter) in 2020. And now he will play in the West Coast League, a collegiate summer baseball league. Despite the fact he is 33-years-old and a lapsed professional football player.

Tate has signed with the Port Angeles Lefties. The club is located in Washington state, across the Salish Sea from British Columbia. Tate is the first former NFL player to participate in the league; he is expected to start in center field for the Lefties on Tuesday night in a big tilt against the Bend Elks.

“I am extremely thankful to the West Coast League and the Port Angeles Lefties for allowing me to join their league,” Tate said in a press release. “As some might know, I was drafted twice in baseball. As a child, my first love was baseball, so I’m excited about the opportunity to compete against some of the best young players in the league. I look forward to having a lot of fun and exploring baseball more.”

Added WCL commissioner Rob Neyer (yes, the former ESPN analyst) in a release: “We’re all excited to see Golden wearing a Lefties uniform. Considering his ties to the Pacific Northwest and his tremendous NFL career, we know our fans will love watching him. And his teammates will certainly benefit from seeing how hard a world-class athlete works toward the same thing they’re all working toward: a professional baseball career.”

Tate was a two-sport athlete at Notre Dame, playing baseball as a freshman and sophomore. He was drafted by the Diamondbacks in 2007 out of high school and then by the Giants in 2010 when he was in college. But he did not sign, instead pursuing the NFL.

Tate spent his first four seasons with the Seahawks before stints with the Lions and Eagles. Then came his failed stint with the Giants, which included a four-game PED suspension, a postgame fight with Rams star Jalen Ramsey that turned out to be a nasty family feud and a disciplinary benching after his wife complained about his role in the offense on social media.

Listen to ESNY’s Wide Right Podcast on Apple here or on Spotify here.

Ryan Honey is a staff writer and host of the Wide Right Podcast.