Golden Tate on return to Detroit: I’m going there to do a job

[Roary]

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Giants wide receiver Golden Tate spent more than four seasons with the Lions before being traded to the Eagles last October and he said this week that it left him with “a strong appreciation” for both the team and Detroit.

Tate was traded after failing to come to an agreement on a contract extension with the team and said he was “a little bummed” about the turn of events, but added that any negative feelings about the parting of ways haven’t lingered into this season.

“That is kind of what happened. No hard feelings towards the organization,” Tate said, via ESPN.com. “I understand it’s a business. Since I left, they’ve gotten rid of a lot of guys that were pretty good on that team. It is what it is when you get a new coaching staff, a new head coach who is going to make this his way. Sometimes there are casualties.”

Tate said he’s not sure what his emotional reaction to being back in Detroit is going to be, but knows that he is “going there to do a job” and that accomplishing that job means beating the team he called his own for quite a while.