Golden Tate fought the law and the law won. On Tuesday, the NFL denied the Giants wide receiver’s appeal, per a press release. 
Tate was hit with a four-game ban for violating the league’s Performance Enhancing Substance policy in late July. Soon after, Tate pushed back and denied any wrongdoing.
“This past April, during the off-season, my wife and I decided to see a specialist for fertility planning,” Tate said in a statement. “I started the treatment prescribed to me and just days later I discovered it contained an ingredient that is on the league’s banned substance list. I immediately discontinued use, I reported the situation to the Independent Administrator of the NFL Policy on Performance-Enhancing Substances, and I spoke with my coaches and general manager. I did all of this well before a failed test was even confirmed.”
Now that the suspension has been upheld, Tate will lose around $1.75MM in 2019 money. Perhaps more importantly, the receiver will forfeit his $7.975MM in 2020 guarantees. Tate signed a four-year, $37MM deal with the Giants this past winter, but he’s already lost at least a chunk of that cash thanks to the suspension.
Following Tate’s suspension and the season-ending injury to Corey Coleman, the Giants’ current WR depth chart is headlined by Sterling Shepard, Cody Latimer, Bennie Fowler, Russell Shepard and Darius Slayton. In positive news, Shepard’s thumb injury is not as serious as once believed and should be ready for the team’s season opener against the Cowboys on Sept. 8.
Pick up Sterling in Fantasy as a sleeper. Dude is the only guy Eli will be throwing to it seems
For anyone who says this is messed up on the leagues part, they clearly state what substances are banned. Its Tate’s responsibility to partner with his doctor to ensure that nothing in his fertility treatment violates the drug policy
It is completely messed up, look at what others have done in comparison and had their suspensions reduced.
Exactly. Players are beating up women, getting arrested for domestic violence, drugs, etc. and all have their 10 game or 4 game suspensions reduced in half. Golden Tate is like the model citizen on and off the field. The consummate professional. He catches the ball and gives it back to the ref. Doesn’t complain.
Yeah who would think a Notre Dame educated man supposedly working on his hormones wouldn’t think to be proactive when the league tests for people manipulating their hormones? Every time these grown men get busted the alibis flow in, especially the feel good causes.
Babies are expensive!
If I knew he was willing to sacrifice $8M for children I would have let him have mine…lol.
In less than an hour, he could have sent the prescription to the NYG med staff and known if it was legal. Any player can send a ‘script to their team doctors for verification. The fact that they don’t then plead innocent is a little silly.
If he had a signed doc from the NYG med staff they signed off on it, then they would be liable, not himself. Simple as that.
no reason a pro player should have to chose beteween trying to conceivea child in the offseason and playing during the regular season. did Tate break the rules? yes, i wolnt argue that. however, this proves just how silly those rules in place are.
It’s unfortunate for him for sure because he is a good guy. This has become a thing we have seen often enough it would be nice to see the NFL get proactive with it and create a task force on it, or get team or independent doctors involved to educate players. Or at least in season exit interviews give them a team point of contact specifically for this type of thing if it comes up. Maybe it’s too specific for all that, but it seems like a shame this keeps happening because it’s bad optics for the league when guys are punished for this.
At the end of the day its still up to the players to have an idea of what they’re putting into their body. This isn’t a case of eating/drinking something contaminated. This was straight up treatment/prescriptions that Tate took and didn’t check to make sure it was an allowed substance first. If Tate had asked the league for permission to use the treatment, and explained his reasoning for doing so, I’m sure the league would’ve allowed it and/or worked with him to potentially find another treatment.
I feel for Tate as I honestly believe he had no ill intent, but it would start a slippery slope if the league/arbitrator reversed the suspension. If the suspension was overturned, I could definitely see other players trying to use the banned substance in question and then citing the fertility treatment as why they tested positive.