Khalil Tate’s second act: From Arizona star QB to actor and brand model

If there was ever a biopic created for Khalil Tate, the former Arizona Wildcats star quarterback would consider Michael B. Jordan as the lead role.

If the A-list actor was interested in the part, Tate would be open for an audition, but then thought, “I might just have to play myself on that one.”

It wouldn’t be the first Hollywood project for the former UA quarterback.

In 2022, just after he was released by the CFL’s Edmonton Elks, Tate earned a minimal role as a football player on “All American,” a TV series on The CW that started in 2018 and has seven seasons. The eighth season of All American is expected to air in 2026. Tate’s experience with “All American” “was how I got into learning Hollywood,” he said.

Tate has also done cover shoots with Riddell to model football gear, “which was really big for me.” Tate was Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray’s stunt double in a Nike commercial that also had Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley.

Tate was Barkley in the “Patman” comedy skit on Fox leading up to the Super Bowl. Tate was in another Fox NFL comedy skit earlier this season, “My Big Fat Chiefs Wedding,” as a player on the Kansas City Chiefs who is disappointed in Travis Kelce dating Taylor Swift.

“What’s her 40 time?” Tate asked in the skit.

Whether it’s a commercial or a cover shoot, the common denominator is that Tate plays a football player in every project. For the majority of his life, Tate was a football player. Now, he’s an actor playing a football player.

“It’s different for me,” Tate said on ESPN Tucson’s “Spears & Ali” last week. “I didn’t necessarily grow up in Hollywood.”

Tate grew up in Inglewood, California, and “was Hollywood-adjacent, but I didn’t grow up in Hollywood, so there’s time to learn and get your feet wet,” he said.

“I’m having a good time with it,” Tate said of his acting career. “It’s something different. Any lane I pursue or dive into, I always come out on top.”

The birth of Mr. October

Tate credited the acting and modeling opportunities he garnered to the success he had at Arizona.

If a biopic about Tate’s life was created, one of the most important scenes — err, moments of his football-playing career was in Tate’s second season with the Wildcats in 2017.

During fall training camp, Tate lost the starting quarterback battle to Brandon Dawkins, an upperclassman who took over the reins at quarterback in 2015 and ‘16. Arizona had a 2-2 record after four games and went into a bye week following a 30-24 loss to 23rd-ranked Utah.

Tate returned home to Los Angeles for the bye week and went back to his old stomping grounds, Serra High School in Gardena, California. Tate told Serra head coach Scott Altenberg, “If they do put me in, I don’t think they’re ever going to take me out.”

“That was during the bye week and then the following week, we were playing against Colorado,” he added.

That’s when Tate became Arizona’s Mr. October.

Dawkins took a hit near the Colorado sideline at Folsom Field and exited the game with an injury.

“Those sidelines at Colorado are super tight,” Tate said. “It was a freak accident, B-Dawks went down and then it became an out-of-body experience, because even as a backup, you have no idea when you’re going to get in. I was just sitting on the sideline, and when they called my number, I didn’t look back.”

Tate sparked the Wildcats’ offense and rushed for 327 yards, a single-game FBS rushing record for a quarterback, and accounted for five touchdowns in the shootout 45-42 win over Colorado in Boulder. CU running back Phillip Lindsay had 281 rushing yards and three touchdowns, but was overshadowed by Tate’s historic performance.

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

“I was really proud of the way he ran the football,” former Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez said after the game. “But his composure when he got in there, his game management, seeing the field … Khalil certainly was the big difference today.”

Tate received four straight Pac-12 Player of the Week honors in October 2017. In three seasons, Tate completed 60 of 76 (78.9%) passes for 908 yards, rushed for 365 yards and scored 13 touchdowns against Colorado.

“Colorado really changed my life,” Tate said. “Just getting that opportunity and being ready when my number was called, it meant a lot to me. I was ready when my number was called. You can get your number called and not be ready, so the fact that I was ready proved to me that I was ready for the opportunity.”

Arizona is returning to the scene of Tate’s legendary performance at Folsom Field on Saturday. The last time Arizona was in Boulder, UA quarterback Noah Fifita completed all four of his pass attempts on the Wildcats’ final drive and conducted a drive to set up kicker Tyler Loop for a game-winning 24-yard field goal. Back-to-back chunk runs by running back Jonah Coleman also put the Wildcats deep into CU territory for the walk-off win.

Fifita passed Tate for all-time passing touchdowns at Arizona. Fifita is now third with 61, while Tate is fourth with 57.

“He’s doing well,” Tate said of Fifita. “It’s always going to be different when you have different coordinators. In today’s game, that’s the name of the game, there’s a lot of coaching turnover. It takes time. It goes game-by-game, every coordinator is different and every offense is different. ... There’s a lot of different things that go into it. A lot of it is placed on the quarterback, but there’s a lot of different parts that go into success. I think he’s doing a good job.”

Tate’s career at Arizona didn’t have a Hollywood ending.

Rodriguez was fired following the 2017 season and was replaced by Kevin Sumlin, a retread coach who went 9-20 in three seasons at Arizona and had the program at rock bottom at the end of his tenure. Tate was on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a Heisman Trophy hopeful entering the season, but struggled to replicate consistent success under Sumlin and offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone.

Statistically, Tate is one of the best quarterbacks in program history. He has the sixth-most passing yards (6,318) in Arizona history and the most career rushing yards by a UA quarterback (2,285).

Present and prepared

Much like his football career, Tate is staying patient with acting and modeling.

Tate said, “it’s a lot of hurry up and wait.”

“A lot of times, they’re like, ‘Hurry up! Hurry up!’ And then you get there, then you might wait two hours,” he said. “It’s about being present, being prepared. The final product that you see on TV, that’s the final product. But when you’re there, there’s a lot of starts and cuts. Taking stuff out, putting stuff in. Stuff that you don’t think is the best, they might use. ... For myself, I just do the best I can and own every situation I get.”

Now that Tate has literally seen life behind the scenes, “I can’t watch things the same,” he said.

“Whenever I watch stuff now, I have a different vantage point and watch with a different eye,” Tate said. “It’s fun knowing what went into some of the shots. ... I enjoy having the insight that maybe someone else doesn’t have.”

Tate hasn’t ruled out a return to football.

The former Arizona star trains daily with former Wildcat and Inglewood native Montana Lemonious-Craig. Tate went undrafted in 2020 and signed with the Eagles as a wide receiver and spent two seasons on Philadelphia’s practice squad before a brief stint in the CFL. Tate hasn’t played football in over two years, but “the main goal is to still get back to the NFL,” the 27-year-old said.

Training to play professional football and staying in shape for acting roles “marries each other and goes hand-in-hand,” Tate said.

“I’m at it daily,” he added. “I still have my youth on my side. Obviously, I’m getting older, but I’m ready. I train daily. I’m in the best shape of my life. That helps me because if I’m going to do the Hollywood stuff, I gotta be in shape. I can’t not be in shape.

“It helps me stay driven and stay in shape, which I’m appreciative of.”