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September 15, 2017

“Let’s just go play, man” – Tate ready for first REDBLACKS start

Drew Tate intends to have a little fun in Montreal.

No – not the kind of fun that causes one to miss curfew in Quebec’s best party city, but the kind of fun that comes with suddenly finding yourself as your team’s starting quarterback.

Such will be the case Sunday as Tate, who became a REDBLACK during the off-season following a trade from Calgary, will be under centre as his team looks to tighten its grip on first in the CFL’s East Division.


With starter Trevor Harris on the shelf for the time being with an injured shoulder, Tate now finds himself taking the bulk of the practice reps and front and centre in the usual media scrums. The added attention hasn’t phased the 32-year-old Texan one bit.

After all, having been with Calgary from 2009-2016, this isn’t Tate’s first rodeo, so to speak.

“Let’s just go sling it, have fun and run the offence,” Tate said this week when asked about his mindset heading into his first Ottawa start. “It doesn’t need to be anything more or anything less than that. Let’s just go play, man.”


With injuries last year forcing the REDBLACKS to alternate at times between the now-retired Henry Burris and Harris, GM Marcel Desjardins went out and got a veteran backup like Tate for precisely this situation.

“You never want injuries to happen but Drew Tate is here for a reason – he’s a proven guy that can get it done in this league,” said Head Coach Rick Campbell. “I like the fact that he’s been there, done that. I don’t think the game’s too big for him. He’s a guy that goes about his business, whether he’s the backup or the starter.”

While there are some differences in how Tate and Harris approach and play the game, the switch won’t require a drastic re-working of the team’s offence.


“Tate might be a little bit more of a guy that will improvise,” said Campbell. “We’re not going to adjust our offence drastically; we’re still going to do our thing. We adjust week to week according to who we’re playing and we’ll continue to do that.”

Harris, meanwhile, said he’s looking forward to seeing what Tate can do as the go-to guy, at least for the next couple weeks.

“He’s going to do a great job,” said Harris. “He’s a veteran, he understands the game. He sees the game a little bit differently than myself … but there’s a lot of advantages to that. I’m really looking forward to watching him play and supporting him any way I can.”

While it’s uncertain exactly how long Harris will be out of action, Tate says he’s not looking at the opportunity as anything more than getting to start one game at a time.

“I just see it as me going in there, completing passes, moving the chains and putting points on the board,” he said.”

Kickoff between the Alouettes and REDBLACKS is set for 1 p.m. on Sunday at Percival-Molson Memorial Stadium.