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A Forestville native and a DeMatha student, Kenny Tate never had any doubts about where he wanted to continue his academic and football career.
“I was always a Maryland fan growing up,” Tate said. “My mom told me one thing, ‘I can pay for high school, but I can’t pay for college.’ I knew I had this talent, I had this gift, it just came down to where I wanted to be. I always wanted to play at home, I’ve always been a big family guy, so it was an easy choice. There was no other place to go that I felt was right.”
With DeMatha right down the road from the university, Tate found himself on campus plenty as a high schooler. His football team even took their team photo in Maryland Stadium every year.
For Tate, a four-star recruit at the time, the opportunity to stay close to home and play in front of his loved ones on Saturday was a no-brainer.
“It was one of those things like, ‘Why would I leave something good here?’ I could just go up the street and get to play in front of everyone who helped me progress as a player and a person and got me to that point in my career.”
While a Terp, Tate dominated on the field. Though he was recruited as a wideout, he switched to safety before his freshman year and made an immediate impact, appearing in all 13 games and notching his first career interception against Colin Kaepernick and Nevada in the Terps’ 42-35 Humanitarian Bowl victory. As a junior in 2010, Tate was a First-Team All-ACC selection and a Second-Team All-American.
In 2011, even though he converted from safety to STAR linebacker in the offseason, Tate found himself on numerous award watch lists. However, his promising career took a turn in 2011 when he went down with a season-ending knee injury just four games into the year.
Never one to sit around and feel sorry for himself, Tate came back the following year as a redshirt senior and served as a team captain. He even recorded a career-high three sacks against Florida State in his final game at Maryland Stadium.
Read more here: https://umterps.com/news/2022/11/3/terrapin-club-impact-of-a-scholarship-kenneth-tate.aspx
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