Golden Tate will start his NFL career playing for the same coach that roamed the sidelines of Notre Dame’s biggest rival over the course of his Notre Dame career after being selected #60 overall by the Pete Carroll coached Seattle Seahawks in the 2nd round of the NFL draft.
Tate ended up being the fourth wide receiver selected in the draft behind Demaryius Thomas, Dez Bryant, and Arrelious Benn. Ironically, he was selected by Carroll over former USC wide receiver Damiam Williams who ended up getting selected in the 3rd round by the Tennessee Titians.
That wasn’t the first time in the draft Carroll selected a player from another school over one of USC’s highly ranked draft prospects. The Seahawks selected Texas safety Earl Thomas over former Trojan Taylor Mays. Mays ended up falling to 49th overall, one spot after Jimmy Clausen, and the proceeded to take some shots at his former head coach.
The quarterback situation in Seattle isn’t great with aging Matt Hasselbeck as the starter and the inexperienced Charlie Whitehurst as the backup, but on the bright side, Tate should step in as the Seahawks #2 wide receiver behind TJ Houshmanzadeh pretty easily.
Unfortunately he will also be playing for a head coach that flamed out of the NFL pretty quickly the last time he was in the league.
Tate ended up getting drafted a little later than most felt he would picked, but not too much later. He was projected as a late first/early second round pick, but most felt his height would prevent him from being a first rounder.
It will be interesting to see how much the Pete Carroll connection will affect how much Notre Dame fans cheer for Tate at the next level. I suspect most Irish fans will hope for great things for Tate, but won’t be upset if it doesn’t translate to too many wins for Pete Carroll. Personally, I hope to see Tate excel in the NFL even if it does help out Carroll in the process simply because there hasn’t been a single player that has been more fun to watch develop into a star at Notre Dame more than Tate considering where he started in a long time.
With Tate and Clausen both off the board, the remaining Notre Dame prospects likely to get selected during the final day of the draft include Kyle McCarthy, Sam Young, and Eric Olsen.
Thanks for clarifyingn c-dog. No offense but i think all college coaches are full of BS otherwise it would be hard to recruit. Shazmarock your right Pete is full of BS for picking the better player Thomas is a ball hawk Mays couldn’t cover a 90 year old grandma.
So mad the Niners passed on him…and it’s worse now that he’s going to a division rival.
Good Luck to Golden Tate. Pete the Cheat may be able to help him. And maybe in a few years Pete the Cheat will go back to the NCAA where he can find another school willing to sell out. Then Golden, John Carlson, and any other of “the Lads” who may play for the Seahawks can bring in a SuperBowl Championship.
Wow you sound like you have a grudge against pete lol. He actually had one of the best drafts. I guess its coming from your pure hatred for USC i guess…
Not USC per se. Only any school that cheats the system as it formula for success. Matt Leinert attended one class his senior year. A 1 credit class in ballroom dancing. That alone should have made him ineligible to play for USC that year. Reggie Bush has just pulled a Kennedy Chappaquitik move and paid off the key witness in a payola scandal. College football is not semi pro, nor should it be. Pete Carroll was a mediocre to decent coach in the NFL who developed the whole, “cool and hving fun” mantra only after some deep humiliation. Personally I think he sold out and cheated for his success. We’ll see if he can withstand an even playing field. Everyone gets the same amount of prep time in the NFL. Pete can’t secretly get more practice time when no one is looking. So we’ll see how he does now.
As for USC, if they clean up their act and play by the rules instead of holding the marketabilty card in front of the NCAA, I’ll feel differently. An ND fan may not like losing to the University of Michigan, but at least those guys stand up and take their lumps.
Last year it was Mark Sanchez who had a run in with coach Carroll and his decision to go pro.
This year Carroll and his Seahawks were in need of help in their secondary, and when it was their turn guess who was still on the board? His boy (whom Carroll touted as the best saftie in college football) Taylor Mays.
So what do the Seahawks do. They take a pass on Mays and select the kid from Texas.
When it comes to business, Money talks and Bullsh*t…. well, BS is Pete Carroll.
I hope the NCAA was watching Carroll and his Seahawks, if they were they should know by now that you can’t believe anything that he says.
Golden Tate??? The kid is a hard worker and a class guy. People like that always succeed.
Shazamrock,
You bet. Golden Tate in the near future and beyond. He will outlast Carroll.