Tate vows to rebound, please fans
By JEROME SOLOMON
Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle
Aug. 30, 2010, 12:59AM
The hit seemed like any of hundreds he has sustained on the football field, and the original jolt of pain was no different than what he has felt many times.
But it wasn't long before Texans running back Ben Tate found out this hit was unlike any he'd known, the pain different than the others.
This tackle ended his 2010 NFL season before it really began — just two carries into his first preseason game - and the shooting pain up his right leg was an indicator of the most significant injury of his football career.
Though a rookie second-round pick, Tate's been getting tackled and getting up since he scored three touch-downs for the Berlin (Md.) Hurricanes in his first pee wee scrimmage 15 years ago.
"I've been hit like that plenty of times before, so when I got hit, I felt the instant pain, and I was thinking, 'Oh, I just sprained my ankle. I'll be all right,' " Tate said in his first interview since being injured at Arizona on Aug. 14. "I was saying to myself, 'Get up, get up, get up.' "
Despite the pain, Tate held out hope the injury would be like the high ankle sprain he suffered in his left foot against Poolesville (Md.), which forced him to miss three games as a high school senior. But there would be no getting up from this hit without assistance.
A broken fibula and ligament damage to his right ankle meant surgery and probably six months before Tate is back at full strength. Just as his foot and leg went numb, Tate said he lost feeling when told the extent of the injury.
"For that moment, you feel like nothing can be worse," he said. "You feel crushed until you get yourself together and realize it isn't the end of the world. But for five minutes, I thought it was the end of the world."
The Texans hurt too. Only one team had fewer yards per carry than they did last season, and the Texans were last in the NFL in carries of more than 20 yards and more than 40 yards. Tate was drafted to help change that.
Arian Foster has been the best running back through-out camp and appears primed for a breakout year. But Tate will be missed.
Texans coaches were pushing the former Auburn star. If running backs coach Chick Harris rides you, he believes in you. He was like that with Steve Slaton in 2008. He was like that with Foster in '09. This summer, Tate seemed to be his favorite whipping boy. Gary Kubiak was tough on him as well.
"Chick could sometimes make me feel like I haven't done anything right," Tate said with a smile. "But I knew that he and coach Kubs were hard on me because obviously they think I have potential and could help the team out. They were expecting a lot out of me, and they wanted it now. They didn't want to have to wait.
"I can definitely understand that, because as hard as they were on me, I was harder on myself."
The injury came at a point Tate thought he was about to put it together. Coaches saw flashes. He caught on to protections quicker than most young players but was in the phase of learning to transport what he knew onto the field at full speed.
Tate anticipated showing some of that against the Cardinals; he thought the couple of practices just be-fore the trip to Arizona were his best of camp. Instead, he left the desert on crutches.
The independent type, Tate would rather hop around than have someone get something for him. His father came to town for the surgery, his agency reps have helped out, and Jeff Weiner, president and CEO of ESBL Sports Management, which handles public relations and social media networking for Tate, was in town this past weekend. His mother arrived Sunday to help him get settled in his new home in Pearland.
At first, Tate couldn't stomach watching the Texans' game at New Orleans, flipping instead to a movie in his hotel room near Reliant Stadium while his teammates were being pummeled by the Saints. He eventually turned back to the game. It was his 22nd birthday.
Even just passing Reliant on Saturday afternoon, he felt a longing to head to the stadium as he glanced at Texans fans, fans who won't see him play in person until next year, prepping for the game against the Cowboys.
"Dang, I'm missing all of that," he said. "Seeing the fans all tailgating and knowing that they're there for you and to see you perform makes you want to go give them what they came to see. I wanted to be Rookie of the Year. I wanted to have 1,200 yards rushing, I wanted to do this and do that, and I wanted this to be my city after my rookie year. I want to one day have my name in there with (Matt) Schaub and Andre (Johnson).
"You think about that stuff, but you know that still can happen. There are people way worse off than I am.
"I'll be back."
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