Getty Golden Tate (L) & Chase Claypool (R)
Golden Tate, like the rest of us sitting at home on Thursday, was semi-patiently, mainly overwhelmed with anticipation, awaiting the NFL schedule release.
When Tate caught wind that his New York Giants would be opening up the 2020 NFL season in grand fashion, in primetime on Monday night, he took to Twitter to voice his excitement.
AYYYY @espn MONDAY NIGHT to kick things off!! #ShowtimeUnderTheLights
@NFL @Giants @ESPNNFL
No harm done, right? Not so fast.
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Steelers Rookie Trash Talks Golden Tate
It was from there things took a bit of a turn. Pittsburgh Steelers’ rookie 2nd-round pick, Chase Claypool, who the Giants play in Week 1, decided to chime in. Claypool assured Tate that the game was sure to go the Steelers’ way. The rookie also noted once the Steelers get the “dub” that he’ll need the veteran wideout’s jersey for a jersey swap.
Tate obviously took Claypool’s comments in stride, opting to not engage in the Twitter beef. Instead, he focused on pre-planning his post Week-1 victory meal, which according to Tate, will be on Claypool’s tab.
@ChaseClaypool Ay ROOK just make sure you bring me some wings for the post game victory meal.
Steelers pro bowl tight end Eric Ebron decided to get in on the action, guaranteeing a loss for Tate and his fellow Big Blue teammates.
The Week 1 matchup will serve as Giants fans’ first real glimpse at Joe Judge as their team’s head man in charge. It will also serve as the first time we’ve seen Big Ben Roethlisberger take a football field since Week 2 of the 2019 season, as he makes his way back from an injured elbow.
As of now, Vegas appears to agree with Chase Claypool and Eric Ebron on who will capture the Week 1 victory between the Giants and Steelers. The opening betting lines, per BetMGM, currently have the Steelers pegged as 3.5-point road favorites.
Joe Judge’s Bill Belichick-Esque Approach
Certainly, the exchange between the three players above was all in good fun. However, something tells me that were it a Giants rookie on the end of those Tweets, Giants head coach Joe Judge wouldn’t have been so receptive.
Here’s the way Judge’s welcomed 2nd-round pick Xavier McKinney to the Giants organization, per ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio:
When you talk to the media, you’ve already been through this with Coach [Nick] Saban. No predictions, no comparisons, be grateful for the opportunity, alright? I don’t want to hear anything about Super Bowls or any of that crap, you got that?
Probably not exactly the way McKinney predicted he’d learn about his lifelong dream coming to fruition. Judge welcomed 4th-overall selection Andrew Thomas to the team in a very similar fashion.
When you talk to the media, I don’t want to hear anything about Super Bowls. I don’t want to hear any predictions or comparisons. You talk about coming up here, getting to work, putting your head down and improving. That’s all you have to worry about.
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