Tate apparently is in a better place now and wants to give football a shot.
Tate turns 27 in September. He has no college or pro football playing experience. That's why he's allowed to be eight years older than most kids starting college — because he's never been and will be a true freshman in the fall.
“I remember I went to watch him play football one time. He was like a man among boys,” Ash Lawson, a former Padres scout, told the team’s website in 2013. “He was a water bug out there. ... No one could tackle him.
“The bottom line was, he was the best athlete in the country that year ... hands down.”
Tate will be a walk-on and the Padres will pay his college costs, per his original baseball contract.
Tate will compete with incumbent Brandon Dawkins, a redshirt junior, and sophomore Khalil Tate (no relation). Arizona also is bringing in two other freshmen: K’hari Lane of Montezuma, Georgia, and Catalina Foothills’ Rhett Rodriguez, the son of UA coach Rich Rodriguez.
It’s not unprecedented for older quarterbacks who flamed out in baseball to have successful careers in college football.
Chris Weinke joined the Florida State football team at age 25 and became a three-year starter for the Seminoles. Brandon Weeden redshirted as a 24-year-old at Oklahoma State before eventually becoming the Cowboys’ starting QB.
Only time will tell if Tate's football career will have a happier ending than his time on the baseball diamond.
— Michael Lev
