NYG Postgame (vs. Eagles) Transcripts: WR Golden Tate III -- December 29, 2019
Q: Could you talk about your touchdown and how it looked like it was going to spur momentum?
A: Yeah. It kind of worked out not how we planned. That was just a great ball by DJ. He kind of just trusted it and put it, the placement, in the corner of the end zone. Him getting outside the pocket, a great throw and just a competitive catch. Right there, it becomes what, tied up? We take the momentum right in that moment and we’re feeling pretty good.
Q: How hard is it to reflect on the positives when the season finishes like this?
A: For me, being on my tenth season, going into, hopefully, my eleventh, a lot of positives stand out. Obviously, record-wise and production-wise, it’s not where we want to be. Just looking at the personnel, all the young guys that have stepped in and worked hard really encourages me. We’re all excited to get back in here next year after some rest and recovery and build something. I think we have a lot of amazing talent. I expect guys to make some huge jumps, including myself, and just come back with a positive attitude [and] ready to work, but, our record doesn’t speak for how good I thought we were. It’s easy to crumble, it’s easy to have a locker room that’s full of blaming and turning on coaches and turning on each other. But, I feel like, for the 12 games that I played, everybody showed up with a positive attitude, ready to work. I feel like we always believed that we could win the game. You give us, probably, two-dozen plays back this season and I think we’re above .500. So, I’m just expecting guys to grow and come back ready.
Q: As someone who’s been a pro in this league for so long and seeing what Eli Manning has done in this league, to play with him in what’s potentially his last season here, what does that mean to you?
A: It was truly my honor just to be around Eli. I admired him from afar for a long time and who he is as a person is an outstanding person: a very caring, very funny guy. What he did for this organization will always and forever be remembered, I think. So, it was truly my honor to be around him and I don’t know what the future holds for him here, there, but I feel like, being around him, he truly has no regrets. He played the game the right way and did his best, no matter what the situation was, so, I commend him for that.
Q: You’ve been around long enough to know that when you only win four games, sometimes there are changes. I mean, are you interested to see what happens?
A: I mean, I’m not sure what to expect and thankfully, that’s not a decision I have to make. But, my job is to show up and work my tail off and keep this locker room together. And, whatever happens, but regardless if we’re 16-0 or where we are now, this locker room is never going to be the same, ever, ever. So, that’s something that, you know, this is always a tough night for me because some of these guys I’m never going to see again. Some of these guys are never going to play football again. The dynamic of the team is going to change. But also, the high point about it, the good thing about football is: no matter how bad statistically, or how bad you think you played this year, you get a new start. It’s almost like whatever happened last year does not matter. That’s encouraging. So, top-to-bottom, expecting guys to come back bigger, better, stronger, faster, smarter, and try to build something great.
Q: What’s one thing you’ve learned from Pat Shurmur?
A: Coach Shurmur is a very, very positive guy and, to me, he’s been consistent from the moment I’ve stepped in this building and I really appreciate that. Like I said a little bit earlier, it’s easy to start blaming and pointing fingers and throwing in the towel. He’s been awesome to be around. He cares about his players [and] his coaches from top-to-bottom. I’m sure you guys have spent some time with him and have seen him up and down the hallways. He’s just a very calm, cool, collected guy and I really enjoyed it. I hope I have a chance to work with him again.
Q: You mentioned that you guys were just a couple plays away from potentially having a winning record. If your close-game record was flipped, you would’ve been right outside the NFC East or first place. How do you get over that hump and make those close games wins for you guys next year?
A: I just think we understand our jobs a little bit better. We just go out there and make that extra play, not wait on plays to be made, go make that play. But, athletically and all that, I think we’re right there. We just need to, and I’m not making this into an excuse, but we are a young team. Guys are trying to figure out pro football and I expect our year one guys to make a huge jump and help us win. I think those guys did a good job. I think they studied their tails off and I think they got better each and every week. But, we’ve just got to be a little bit better and I think that’s just the difference between a bad team and a good team is not much. So, keep working, be excited to come back in here in April or whenever it may be and see if we could build something great. That’s the whole point of showing up in April is to be playing for the division or in the playoffs come late December, early January, and going into February. So I take this very serious, because our years are limited, you never know when it’s going to be taken away from you. So, you’ve got to make the best of each situation and each year that you have.
