Source: Golden Tate fined $21K

Source: Golden Tate fined $21K
Updated: September 19, 2012, 4:59 PM ET
By Tim MacMahon | ESPNDallas.com

IRVING, Texas -- Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Golden Tate was fined $21,000 for a blindside block on Dallas Cowboys linebacker Sean Lee, a source said.

Tate was not penalized for the hit, a crackback block that occurred when Lee was in pursuit of scrambling Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson. However, Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones said after his team's 27-7 loss that he expected Tate to be fined for the play.

Tate launched himself into Lee, striking him in the chest and chin with the crown of his helmet. Lee, who landed on his back with his feet in the air, was evaluated for a concussion and returned to the game later that series.

The hit was illegal because Lee was considered a defenseless player since he couldn't see the blow coming.

"I knew that I didn't hit him in his helmet," Tate said after the game. "I hit him somewhere down here (at chest level). But the rules change so much that you never really know."

The Cowboys were bothered by Tate celebrating the hit by strutting and flexing his muscles while Lee was still on the ground, although Lee called that kind of hit part of the game.

"Crackback hits, that's not a definition of toughness," Lee said Wednesday. "A definition of toughness is hitting, squaring up, being able to do your job as hard as you can every single play. That's at least what I believe. Anybody can crackback block."

He did hit Lee in the helmet. Watch the Babe video and as he extends his "block" the back of his helmet moves up and smacks Lee's facemask.

Seattle’s Golden Tate on Sean Lee: ‘I’d be upset if I was on that highlight, being crushed’
By Jon Machota / Special Contributor
9:25 pm on September 19, 2012

Seahawks wide receiver Golden Tate said Monday that he was praying he didn’t get fined by the NFL for the blindside hit he delivered Sunday on Cowboys linebacker Sean Lee.

Tate posted the following statement on his official Twitter page Sunday evening:

“I hope Sean Lee is ok. I never have intentions on injuring another player. It’s football which means Its physical, dirty hit would be if I went for his head or neck area.”

Well, the NFL saw things differently, fining Tate $21,000 on Wednesday.

“I don’t think I did anything wrong, but only time will tell,” Tate said Monday on Sports Radio KJR in Seattle. “We’ll see what the NFL office says and we’ll go from there.”

Tate also said during the Monday interview that he aimed lower to avoid a helmet-to-helmet collision because he “had no interest in hurting” Lee.

But Tate wasn’t too remorseful when he heard that Lee said the Seattle receiver wouldn’t be celebrating the way he did if the two players met up one-on-one.

“He has his own opinion of what he thinks,” Tate said Monday. “I’d be upset if I was on that highlight, being crushed. But I’m a lover not a fighter so if it came to one-on-one we’ll deal with that whenever that time comes.

“Like I said, I never have any intentions on hurting another player. The way I see it, this is a big fraternity. I was just playing hard and got caught up in the moment. At that point I thought the game could go either way. It was a momentum changer. It sprung us, and that was my only intentions, was putting this offense in better position to score and win the game. And that was an opportunity that I feel like, at the end of the day, any defensive player would be licking their chops to get a hit on a quarterback. So I felt like maybe this is a legal block I was going to get on a defensive player versus them always trying to knock us out.

“So, I wasn’t trying to be vicious at all. But it is what it is.”

Punk ass Bitch. I really hate how this game has changed over the years. Celebrating over every tackle regardless of if your winning or losing. Its a me league and it will never ever change

Too many microphones and not enough intelligence.

superpunk said:

Keep reading...

Pretty Much

The world is so much better off the way we are going though

I hate all the celebrating and self-promotion.

Why doesn't Ware play with more emotion?

superpunk said:

I hate all the celebrating and self-promotion.

Why doesn't Ware play with more emotion?

Keep reading...

I'm fine with the way Ware plays but I'm confused

Self Promoting=More Emotion

Thank god I didnt go to your college. Thats if you did attend one

school of hard knocks grandpa. I'm from the streets.

superpunk said:

school of hard knocks grandpa. I'm from the streets.

Keep reading...

Me too What streets??

The Streets of KickyourAssador.

superpunk said:

The Streets of KickyourAssador.

Keep reading...

What City is that in?

Beavs not an improv maven

bkeavs said:

Punk ass Bitch. I really hate how this game has changed over the years. Celebrating over every tackle regardless of if your winning or losing. Its a me league and it will never ever change

Keep reading...

I think it's great. The more personality gets shown the more you can root for/against people.

MarionBarberThe4th said:

Beavs not an improv maven

Keep reading...

What town may that be?

Lee: Tate's celebration on illegal hit 'classless'
Mike Fisher
September 20, 2012

DALLAS – Cowboys linebacker Sean Lee, the NFL's leading tackler, has built a reputation as a budding star who performs with a high motor, at a high level and with a high regard for doing things the right way.

And now Lee's speaking out on an opponent who victimized him in the lowest way and in the wrong way.

"I understand being excited, but I thought it was a little bit classless," tells Dallas radio station 105.3 The Fan of Tate's post-hit celebration, which occurred while doctors were tending to Lee and included Tate pointing at the name on the back of his jersey and crawling across the field on all fours.

Sources say the vicious and illegal crackback block administered to Lee by Seahawks receiver Golden Tate in Sunday's 27-2 loss at Seattle will result in a $21,000 fine to Tate. Tate celebrated his hit on the field and continues to talk trash directed at his blind-sided victim.

"He has his own opinion of what he thinks,” Tate said of Lee on Monday. "I'd be upset if I was on that highlight, being crushed."

The play occurred when Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson ran from the pocket with Lee in pursuit. Tate peeled back and launched his head into Lee, striking him near the neck and head – a violation of a newly installed rule defining a person in Lee's position as "defenseless."

"I never had a problem with the hit," said Lee, adding that there's no "vendetta" feeling harbored by him towards Tate. "It's part of football. It happens. … I think he was trying to make a play for his team. But … I thought it was a little bit excessive, celebrating as he did."

Lee returned to the field a few plays later after passing concussion testing and will lead the Dallas defense this Sunday at Tampa Bay visits Cowboys Stadium. And he'll do so with his body parts and his sense of humor intact.

"I was lucky to come out of that hit," Lee said before referencing his view of himself on film during the block. "My hang time was pretty unbelievable. It looked like I was doing a high jump over a high bar."

it's fun though. Makes me hate golden tate more

:suicide:suicide:suicide

Tate will quickly go back to obscurity next week.

Bob Sacamano said:

Tate will quickly go back to obscurity next week.

Keep reading...

You'll greet him with open arms, I'm sure.