Golden Tate: 'Seattle Offered Me Numbers That Were Laughable'
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
CBS DETROIT - New Detroit Lions wide receiver Golden Tate gave some golden insight Tuesday into his decision to leave the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks as a free agent this offseason.
He told ESPN that fans expected too much when he mentioned he would give the team a hometown discount, and he said a good portion of fans turned on him for choosing to hit the road.
"I didn't mean a 40 percent discount," Tate said. "I'm going to earn in one year at Detroit what Seattle was going to pay me for two years. Seattle offered numbers that were laughable. I thought, 'I've given you everything and this is what you give me?'
"Considering I was there for four years, and started two of those years, I missed one game in those two years, I did everything right and wasn't a trouble maker, and what they offered, I was like, 'Is this serious?'" Tate continued. "The numbers [the Seahawks] shot at me were not first-priority, like they said they wanted to do for me to stay in Seattle."
Tate said it bothered him that fans got angry at his departure after he gave everything on the field for the team and was involved in the community as well. He said his decision was one anyone else would have made.
"I don't care who you are. If you have an opportunity to earn way more money in another city, you'll leave in a second," Tate said. "Every single person in the world would have done what I did."
The Lions gave Tate a five-year, $31 million deal with $13.25 million guaranteed.