Giants need receivers to step up with Tate suspended
EAST RUTHERFORD >> Golden Tate hoped he would be the exception, but in the end, the NFL’s no-tolerance policy on performance-enhancing drugs struck again.
One day after the league denied his appeal and upheld his four-game suspension, Tate was resigned to his fate. His first season in New York won’t begin until Week 5.
“I’m responsible for what’s put into my body, ultimately,” Tate said after Wednesday’s practice. “The tough thing I’m dealing with is I’m letting down a lot of people: My family, the guys in the locker room, the people in the organization that brought me here. That’s kind of what’s been crushing me with this whole situation.”
When the league initially suspended Tate last month, he issued a statement with a plausible explanation for the positive drug test. He and his wife saw a specialist for fertility planning in April. Days after beginning treatment prescribed by a doctor, Tate discovered it contained an ingredient that is banned by the NFL.
But despite Tate discontinuing use and reporting the situation, collectively bargained policy explicitly states, “Players are responsible for what is in their bodies and a positive test will not be excused because a Player was unaware that he was taking a Prohibited Substance.”
Tate said Wednesday that the banned substance was clomiphene, which his doctor assured him was not banned and had been prescribed to other NFL players.
“I was out to dinner one night with a guy who worked for me and he started talking about another player who was getting suspended for something completely different,” Tate said. “A light went off in my head and I said, ‘Let me call the doctor to make sure, to make myself feel better.’ I asked him what the active ingredient was and he looked it up right then and there, and sure enough it was a banned substance.”
Tate added that had the doctor told him he was unsure if the ingredient was banned, he ‘100 percent’ would have researched it before using.
But while he hoped the NFL would be understanding of his therapeutic use of the drug, he realizes that the right decision was likely made. He just wants the policy to be renegotiated.
“It’s a slippery slope. If you let my situation slide, then you have other guys that would probably try to say the same thing and it can open up a can of worms,” Tate said. “That’s what I’m assuming. I have some ideas that I’m going to present to the NFL when the time comes.”
Tate said he and his wife are “definitely looking into” taking legal action against the doctor.
“We are kind of examining all of our options,” he said. “This all came out a few days ago, so I’m still trying to get through camp, trying my best to focus and continue to be a leader for this organization, and practice hard.”
Of course, Tate can still practice and play in preseason games during his suspension. But now the coaching staff has to balance finding reps for the 31-yearold veteran while also evaluating other players who might have increased roles for the first month of the season.
An off-field setback with Tate, who signed a four-year deal in free agency, is the last dilemma the Giants needed after trading Odell Beckham Jr. to the Browns this offseason.
New York was already short on depth. Cody Latimer, who last fall had 11 catches for 190 yards in six games before suffering a seasonending injury, is the favorite to be the team’s No. 3 receiver. Bennie Fowler and Russell Shepard, both 28 years old, are also in line to make the roster. Fifth-round draft pick Darius Slayton has been limited in camp by a hamstring injury.
One sleeper player to watch is TJ Jones, who had a team-high six catches for 72 yards in the preseason opener. The former Detroit Lion signed during the first week of camp and had 814 receiving yards in his first four seasons.
But with No. 1 receiver Sterling Shepard (fractured thumb) also limited this summer, the Giants arguably have more questions at that position than any other on offense.
“Golden Tate is a player that obviously works well in the slot, but he also works well outside. We have other players that can do that,” head coach Pat Shurmur said. “(Sterling) Shep is a guy that’s worked well outside and then worked well in the slot. You make adjustments. Really when you talk about skill players, you don’t have the same skill players for all 16 games. Those are the adjustments you make each week.” back strictly for workload purposes.
“He’s a valuable player, so we’ll just have to see as time goes on if he’s going to play in these games,” Shurmur said. “I just want to be smart. I want to do what’s best. I think as we go through it, you see the good work he’s getting in practice. We just want to continue to do that.”