SPORTS

Tate has no animosity toward Suh, vows Lions will improve

The wide receiver hosted his ProCamp for kids at Rochester Adams, looks ahead to 2015

Dave Birkett
Detroit Free Press
Detroit Lions wide receiver Golden Tate works with campers during the Golden Tate ProCamp for kids in grades 1-8 presented by Sunny D on Thursday, July 30, 2015 at Rochester Adams High School.

Golden Tate rolled into the Dick's Sporting Goods store in Rochester Hills on his new CyBoard, the motorized robot on wheels he joked he's using "to keep the miles off this Bentley" – his body.

He cruised past a mannequin wearing a No. 15 Tate jersey, through a set of automatic doors, pivoted and saw a wall of Detroit Lions shirts and jerseys to his right.

There were Matthew Stafford jerseys and Calvin Johnson ones. Eric Ebron's No. 85 was on the wall, and even a few blue No. 90 Ndamukong Suh jerseys hung behind the register.

"It'd sure be nice to have a 15 jersey in here," Tate mused. "I'm just saying."

When a reporter pointed out the Suh jerseys on the wall, Tate wondered aloud, why?

"Yeah, what team is he on now," asked a PR rep who joined Tate as he hosted 10 kids on a shopping spree through Big Brother, Big Sisters of Metropolitan Detroit.

"It doesn't matter," Tate said, a hint of the Lions' Detroit vs. Everybody rallying cry in his voice.

After spending most of the summer relaxing and recharging in Manhattan Beach, Calif., Tate was back in a football mindset Thursday, hosting the shopping spree, running his football camp for about 190 first- through eighth-grade students at Rochester Adams High, and getting ready for the first practice of training camp Monday.

"I was leaving Manhattan Beach, Calif., and that was tough," Tate said. "I almost, a tear came down my eyes having to think I'm leaving the beach, leave this beautiful place. But being here today is getting me dialed in. I can't wait to get back in the locker room, see the guys, see the talent and compete most of all. So the time is here. Be a little bit better than last year and I think we'll be all right."

For Tate, building off last year's Pro Bowl season won't be an easy task.

In his first year with the Lions, Tate lead the team with 99 catches for 1,331 yards and was in many ways the team's offensive MVP.

He shouldered a bigger load on offense than the Lions expected as Calvin Johnson battled an ankle injury the first half of the season, and said again Thursday he thinks he can better his numbers this year.

"I definitely believe I can, but again I'm not going into the season thinking I need to get 10 catches per game to reach that," Tate said. "I just want to play well, have fun, win games."

Tate did not join quarterback Matthew Stafford and much of the Lions' receiving corps in Atlanta for organized throwing sessions earlier this month.

"I had a few commitments that I had to do so I wasn't able to go," he said.

But he said he saw enough this spring to expect the offense to take a big step forward in its second season under coordinator Joe Lombardi.

Last year, the Lions ranked 19th in total offense and 22nd in scoring offense, and they struggled to reach the end zone and key times in crucial games.

"I think we're way more advanced in where we are as a team, understanding the offense, understanding the defense," Tate said. "Now special teams is new because we got a new coach, new things to do, but for the most part I feel like we're more – we're not like a geometry class, we're like an AP class, so we're focusing on the details of the offense and defense and just really dialing so I'm just excited to see how far we can go."

More Tate: Though he scoffed at the Suh jerseys when he walked into Dick's on Thursday, Tate said he harbors no animosity towards the ex-Lions defensive tackle, who signed a record-setting six-year, $114-million contract with the Miami Dolphins as a free agent this off-season.

"There's no bad blood," Tate said. "There's no bad blood at all. We're just having fun. Honestly, if I'm him I would have done the same thing. You got to go where you have a better opportunity and I guess he saw a better opportunity there. He's a dominant player. We certainly wish he was on the team, but I think we had an outstanding offseason. We brought in some guys who are going to do just as well as he did and I wish him the best, except when he plays against us."

Board stiff: Tate said he bought 11 CyBoards – one for himself and 10 to re-sell to teammates – and he plans to use one of the motorized scooter-type devices to get around the team's Allen Park practice facility this fall.

"This is going to substitute walking," Tate said. "You know, you got to keep the miles off this Bentley (my body). You need to just ride it every now and then so when I'm casually just going to the cafeteria or to meetings I'm just going to hop on this, roll on over and be on my way.

"And plus it's a fun little toy. Actually, believe it or not, for me, a guy who a lot of my game is balance and being shifty, it forces you to work all your muscles in your foot so it actually benefits me I believe in the football realm."

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

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