Tate is a 6-2, 207, "Freshman" quarterback from minor league baseball, Cartersville HS, Cartersville, GA. Executive summary (google if you want more): #3 draft pick by the Padres in 2009, never made it out of minor leagues due to injuries and personal issues, now wants a crack at Football. I'll focus on the football side.
Here is his ESPN write up from 2009:
He is a walk-on with college expenses being paid for by his baseball contract. Tate has a young family and has reported to camp in great shape and ready to make the most of this opportunity. It is a tough challenge to try and play football again after 8 years away, but early indication (from Desert Swarm) is that he will at least be competing for the #3 QB slot.Tate is intriguing because, although he is labeled as an "athlete," he actually is a darn good quarterback prospect. But he needs the right scheme and coach in order to stay at the position. His size, speed and athleticism likely will get him moved to safety or wide receiver. Under center, he is an excellent dual threat. Has a wide receiver's build. He's quick, agile and elusive. Has very good pocket presence and can consistently escape the rush. Makes things happen after the initial play breaks down. Has good speed and wiggle in the open field for his height. Runs well, but doesn't limit himself as a passer. Clearly wants to throw first and run second. Shows patience in the pocket, keeps his eyes downfield when rushed and flushes only when he feels he must. Throws the ball very well and has confidence in his passing ability. Shows fairly smooth mechanics and a quick over-the-top delivery. Demonstrates touch, timing and accuracy. Has underrated arm strength. Throws very well on the run. Can throw off balance, buy time and still get the ball deep. Has good deep-ball arm strength when his feet are set. Sometimes locks on to his receivers and needs to quicken his progressions, but his quarterback skills--not just his athleticism--are impressive. He's very productive in all phases. Tate's uniform number (32) seems to suggest he won't stay at quarterback, and he's also an outstanding (and serious) baseball player. But his tools are attractive at any skill position.
I love a redemption story, so I am rooting for Tate to succeed. I doubt that he redshirts, so don't be surprised if we see Tate early in the season (when the game is already decided) to give him some live action again.“He’s a grown man,” Rodriguez said of the 6-foot-2, 207-pound freshman. “We coach him like a grown man. He’s got some skills.”
. . .
“I’m there trying to help him out as much as I can, but he’s just being a sponge and that’s all you can ask for him to do is be a sponge, absorb everything you can and just learn,” Dawkins said. “Going from being a professional athlete in one sport and then trying to flip it over to another sport, that’s a feat in itself. The fact that he’s taking it on full speed, I can only commend him for it.”
. . .
“He’s an athletic, tough guy. He stuck his face in there,” Rodriguez said. “I don’t know if he ever ran into a catcher or tried to break up a double play, but he had about six or seven of those the other day.
“I’m excited about him, too.”
15 may be an auspicious number choice for Tate since it was once worn by Ted Bland who some guy named Hansen believes is the best football player in Arizona history.
Hansen writes well about history so read the entire article if you want more info on Bland.The best football player in Arizona history woke up early on Thanksgiving morning 1935 and walked from his parents’ house on Ninth Street, five minutes at most, to Bear Down Gym.
He ate an early Thanksgiving dinner with his 32 teammates and prepared to play the last football game of his life.
By the time Ted Bland pulled jersey No. 15 over his head, more than 8,000 people squeezed into 6-year-old Varsity Stadium to watch the “Blue Brigade” play the Drake Bulldogs.
Arizona won 53-0. Two weeks later, Bland was named a first-team “Little All-American,” which was that era’s equivalent of today’s Division II All-America team.
. . .
He worked for the FBI, the Border Patrol and the railroad. By 1942, he was at Fort Benning, Georgia, part of the Seventh Army, a different type of brigade, an infantry brigade, that would fight the Germans mile by mile in Italy and France.
The best football player of Arizona’s first 35 years of football was reported missing in action in late September 1944. Two weeks later, a telegram arrived at the Bland home on Ninth Street.
Their son had been killed by a bullet of a German sniper. He was buried at the Epinal American Cemetery just above the Moselle River in Dinozé, France.
