Football December 27, 2006

Alamo Bowl: A Little Tate, A Little Young

Dec. 27, 2006

Editor’s Note: The following was written by Tim Griffin and first appeared in the San Antonio Express-News on Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2006

SAN ANTONIO — The jagged ink lines sketched across Drew Tate’s left shoulder are more than merely a decoration.

His tattoo also represents a credo shared by several family members who have espoused he same attitude and worn the same designs.

“It means I’m not afraid of nothing or nobody,” Tate said. “That’s they way I’ve always tried to be.”

Iowa’s diminutive senior quarterback has lived up to that attitude during his career, leading the Hawkeyes to three straight bowl trips and a shared Big Ten championship in 2004.

His trip to the 2006 Alamo Bowl for Saturday’s game against Texas will represent a homecoming for the Baytown Lee product, who has never played in his home state in college.

“I’m so excited about this game I can’t even explain it,” Tate said, visualizing a big performance in his final college game. “That story would write itself.”

The 6-foot, 192-pound Tate earned all-Big Ten honors and led his team to a wild comeback victory as a sophomore over LSU in the Capital One Bowl.

He will leave Iowa ranking second behind Chuck Long in most school passing records. But his career never reached the dramatic peak of that early success, including an injury-marred senior season.

Tate’s injury problem began when he pulled an abdominal muscle in fall practice. It flared up early in the season and led to a flaw in his throwing mechanics when he tried to compensate for the injury. Later, he struggled after tearing a tendon in his left thumb and suffering a mid-foot sprain.

“It’s been frustrating because I had never been injured since the day I started playing football when I was 7 years old,” Tate said. “I had never missed a game, or even a practice before this season.”

“It’s been frustrating because I had never been injured since the day I started playing football when I was 7 years old. I had never missed a game, or even a practice before this season.”

UI Quarterback Drew Tate

Iowa fans will remember his feisty, combustible leadership style. Tate has never been one to conceal his emotions and those outbursts have drawn more attention as the Hawkeyes have struggled.

And his career remains marked by one play against Ohio State during his junior season. After he was sacked, Tate angrily spiked the ball on the field, earning a penalty. The miscue pushed Iowa out of field-goal range in a 31-6 loss.

Those outbursts, as well as a few celebrated incidents where he ranged at Iowa offensive coordinator Ken O’Keefe along the sideline have become a staple of Hawkeyes internet message boards.

“A lot of times, he’s seen as the bad guy and that shouldn’t be the case,” tight end Scott Chandler said. “Drew’s a positive influence on our team. He’s a different kind of leader, but a good one.”

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said Tate’s competitiveness has been good for his team.

“I imagine there have been guys in the NFL who have coached guys like Jeff Garci and Brett Favre who have personalities similar to Drew’s,” Ferentz said. “But the flip side is you love to coach a guy who has his passion, his toughness, his desire. He’s the kind of player you want on your team.”

His stepfather, Baytown Lee coach Dick Olin, said Tate’s intense competitiveness has defined him since his youth.

When Tate’s older brother and his friends needed a player to fill in for seven-on-seven drills, “Tater Tot” was ready.

“He was never afraid or intimidated – ever,” Olin said. “He would jump right in. Those older kids treated him just like one of their own. He might have been only 6 or 7, but they had no hesitation.”

That also was when Tate’s attention deficit disorder first surfaced. He loved to play virtually any outdoor activity, but felt constricted when he was forced to sit in a classroom or in his house.

Medication eventually brought the malady under control. And hanging around his stepfather gave him the opportunity to hone his football intellect by watching game films. It helped him earn a starting position on his stepfather’s team as a 5-foot-8, 145-pound freshman.

By the time he left the Ganders’ program, he had set state career passing records for completions (970), attempts (1,756), passing yards (12,180), touchdown passes (113) and TD passes in a half (seven).

Tate committed to Texas A&M as a sophomore, becoming one of the youngest recruits to hook up with the program when R.C. Slocum was coach. But that agreement ended shortly after Dennis Franchionne took over and settled on Reggie McNeal as his quarterback.

“There wasn’t the same vibe,” Tate said. “I could tell that and talked to other people who knew that as well. I wasn’t the kind of quarterback he was looking for, which is fine.”

After considering Baylor, Houston, Colorado and Syracuse, Tate picked Iowa.

Ferentz said he still remembers his first meeting with Tate during his recruiting visit.

“He had on his Baytown letterman’s jacket with a T-shirt,” Ferentz said. “He must have weighed about 150 or 160 pounds. I thought he kind of looked like James Dean, except he didn’t have a cigarette rolled up his sleeve.”

Future Florida quarterback Chris Leak was in Iowa City on a recruiting trip that coincided with Tate’s visit. Tate didn’t mention any competition for playing time during his brief visit with Ferentz.

“Which told me that Drew wasn’t worried about too much,” Ferentz said. “He’s always had confidence in himself, which is paramount at that position.”

Albert Young talks 2006 Alamo Bowl in another installment in hawkeyesports.com’s exclusive ‘Alamo Bowl Countdown.’

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Junior running back Albert Young talked about “Conference reputations,” the Texas Longhorns and more in another “Alamo Bowl Countdown” video feature.

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Sunday, Dec. 17 – Quarterback Drew Tate