Before turning professional, most athletes played more than one sport in their lives.

Whether your main sport was in the fall, winter or spring, they often found time to play at least one other organized sport during your down time, and more times than not, they were pretty darn good at that one, too.

Rarely, however, are athletes good enough at two sports to play professionally in both. A former New York Giants' wide receiver isn't in that category yet, but he's preparing to give it a try.

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Former New York Giant Golden Tate Makes Move to Baseball

As mentioned by a story in The New York Post, former NFL wide receiver Golden Tate has made the switch from football to baseball, and has signed a contract to play for the West Coast League’s Port Angeles Lefties on Tuesday, June 14th.

The West Coast league is a summer collegiate baseball league, made up of teams from Washington, Oregon, British Columbia and Alberta. The league is said to be for college-eligible players only, but also states that it's primary goal is for the development of elite baseball players.

It appears as though Golden Tate fits the second bit of criteria enough for the league to take a chance on him.

After signing with the Lefties on Tuesday, Tate was in the starting line-up, where he hit second, played center field, and wore the jersey No. 15. Tate went 2-4 in the game, driving in a run and scoring another as part of a 5-2 Lefties' win. He was in the line-up again on Wednesday, also hitting second and playing center.

The success at the plate isn't a huge surprise for Tate, based on his play on the diamond with Notre Dame. The New York Post notes that Tate hit 318/.375/.402 with 16 stolen bases and 51 runs scored in 73 games over two seasons with the Fighting Irish, during which he was also playing for the football team.

As every New York Giants' fan knows, the latter of the two sports would win out.


Tate Had a Very Successful Career in the NFL Before This

Tate was drafted in the 2nd round, with the 60th overall pick, by the Seattle Seahawks in the 2010 NFL Draft, and would make his NFL debut that fall. He spent his first four professional seasons with Seattle, and won a Super Bowl with the team in his final year in 2013.

Tate would use the Super Bowl win as a chance to cash in, and cash in, he did. He signed a five-year, $31 million contract with the Detroit Lions, and would remain in Detroit for over four of the five years of the deal, before being traded to Philadelphia mid-way through 2018.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers v New York Giants
Tate with the Giants in 2020 / Getty Images
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It was after that season, in the offseason before the 2019 campaign, when Dave Gettleman and the New York Giants would sign Golden Tate. The deal was for four years and $37,500,000, with a $10 million signing bonus.

Tate would play 23 games with the Giants over the first two years of the deal and scored eight touchdowns, but would wind up getting cut following a rough ending to the 2020 season for both he and the team.

He hasn't played in the NFL since, and has instead made the choice to give baseball another try.

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