Seattle Seahawks Receiver Golden Tate Admits To Fouling Sam Shields During Controversial Win

Seattle Seahawks receiver Golden Tate fully admitted on Wednesday that he fouled Sam Shields of the Green Bay Packers during a controversial game winning endzone reception. Tate admitted that he pushed the defender to the ground before making his catch for the 14-12 victory.

The 24-yard touchdown reception was ruled a fair catch by replacement refs, a call that, while admitted to be wrong by the NFL, the next day was still upheld.

While Tate admits he got away with a foul, he insists he wasn’t trying to cheat:

”I can’t control what other people say or do. I personally felt like I had the ball at that time and looking back just off of what I remember I felt like I had the ball in my hands. We both competed for the ball and the call ended up going our way and won the game. We’re 2-1 now, time to move forward. The Rams are the most important thing right now.”

It was that call that likely led NFL officials to reach a deal with locked out referees so they could return to work in week 4 of the NFL season.

What made the bad play calling worse was that it was called differently by three officials. Side judge Lance Easley called it a touchdown, back judge Derrick Rhone-Dunn waved his arms to stop the clock, and Referee Wayne Elliott wouldn’t make a call and went under the hood before ruling a touchdown following a lousy review of the play.

Unfortunately for Tate, much of the anger that was felt was directed his way. When asked what people said, Tate noted:

”If I mentioned those words it would be bleeps, bleeps, bleeps. Some nasty stuff. It’s mean.”

Tate’s play came under close scrutiny because of a big block he put on Dallas linebacker Sean Lee the week prior. That block drew Golden Tate a $21,000 fine, which he is currently appealing.