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Tate's knee is ready to run
Patriots may have a steal in third-round pick, a former Tar Heels receiver
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Published: October 31, 2009
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The last time Brandon Tate had played football, he was hobbling toward the sideline, his right knee shredded more than he knew. More than a year had passed since that day, when he wondered whether he'd play football again.
Last Sunday, Tate gazed around Wembley Stadium, mesmerized by the size of the place. "That's when the butterflies started coming," he said.
They subsided only after his first play, when he ran an end-around. "It felt real good, man," he said.
Tate's first NFL game counted as both a debut and a return, his welcome to the league and his first action since last fall, when he tore his anterior-cruciate and medial-collateral ligaments on a punt return, the premature end of his career at North Carolina.
Undeterred by Tate's injury, the Patriots drafted him in the third round in April. He concluded his rehab and began practicing in full last week, and the Patriots activated him for Sunday's rout of Tampa Bay in London.
With Julian Edelman out indefinitely with a broken forearm, Tate and special-teams ace Sam Aiken will share snaps as the third wide receiver.
"We need depth at that position, and he's going to be called upon as a contributor even though he's a rookie," quarterback Tom Brady said. "So he's got to keep making improvements."
In Tate, the Patriots may have a draft steal. At UNC, he set an NCAA record for combined kickoff and punt-return yards with 3,523. He played beside Giants first-round pick Hakeem Nicks and averaged 23.5 yards a catch as a senior.
In three-receiver formations, the Tar Heels played Tate in the slot so they could feature him on screens and reverses. Even with Nicks playing, coaches wanted to get Tate the ball.
"Had Brandon not gotten hurt, Brandon would have been a first-rounder, in my opinion," said Charlie Williams, UNC's wide receivers coach.
Williams came to North Carolina in 2006, after Tate's freshman season. Tate had played mostly special teams, but Williams believed he could contribute as a wide receiver.
Tate ran precise routes, and Williams said his athleticism allows him to beat any kind of coverage. His speed takes away the advantage of a cornerback playing off of him. Tate, at 6-1 and 195 pounds, can dance around press coverage with nimble feet.
"When he got injured last year, he might have been, conceivably, the most exciting, electrifying player in college football," said Coach Butch Davis of UNC. "Losing him was a major, major blow."
On Oct. 11, 2008, Tate was playing against Notre Dame; he saw a chance to show his ability before a broad audience. In the first quarter, he backpedaled inside his own 10-yard line. The punt nestled into his arms, and Tate sprinted upfield. He juked as a Notre Dame tackler dived at him. He saw a helmet drive into his knee before he crumpled to the field.
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