Golden Tate enjoyed an accomplished football career, starring at Notre Dame before becoming an NFL Pro Bowl wide receiver and Super Bowl champion with the Seattle Seahawks.

Now the 33-year-old is trying to make the difficult leap back to the sport he called his “first love” -- baseball. On Tuesday, Tate signed for the rest of the 2022 season with the Port Angeles Lefties, a Washington-based entry in the independent West Coast League, a summer league for college prospects. Tate was scheduled to start in center field for the Lefties on Tuesday night against the Bend Elks.

This move doesn’t come out of nowhere, as Tate has certainly been a baseball prospect before. A native of Hendersonville, Tenn., he was drafted in the 42nd round by the D-backs in 2007 before heading to Notre Dame, where he played two seasons of baseball while also making a name for himself on the gridiron. As a freshman and sophomore, Tate hit .318/.375/.402 with 16 stolen bases and 51 runs scored in 73 games for the baseball team.

The Giants also drafted him in the 50th round in ‘10, but unlike a previous Fighting Irish receiver, Jeff Samardzija, Tate was headed for the NFL over MLB.

“I am extremely thankful to the West Coast League and the Port Angeles Lefties for allowing me to join their league,” Tate said in a statement. “As some might know, I was drafted twice in baseball. As a child, my first love was baseball, so I’m excited about the opportunity to compete against some of the best young players in the league. I look forward to having a lot of fun and exploring baseball more.”

An All-American while at Notre Dame, Tate was selected in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft by the Seahawks. He helped Seattle to a championship in Super Bowl XLVIII against the Broncos and later notched three seasons of more than 90 receptions and 1,000 receiving yards with the Detroit Lions, making the Pro Bowl after the 2014 season. Over 12 NFL seasons, Tate hauled in 695 catches for 8,278 yards and 46 touchdowns.

Of course, Tate is hardly the first player to give baseball a shot after making it to the NFL. One recent example is former Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow, who spent three Minor League seasons in the Mets system as an outfielder and reached Triple-A in 2019, after previously quarterbacking the Broncos and Jets.