Golden Tate Brushes Off Barry Church’s Threat: ‘I Don’t Know This Guy’

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Detroit Lions wide receiver Golden Tate has no time for Dallas Cowboys safety Barry Church’s nonsense.

Church made waves Wednesday by declaring he will seek retribution against Tate during Sunday’s NFC wild-card playoff game for the wideout’s 2012 hit on Church’s teammate, Sean Lee. Tate responded Thursday with a shrug of the shoulders, figuratively speaking.

“Man, I don’t know this guy,” Tate told reporters. “I just now heard of him yesterday from this incident. He’s trying to get on the scene, I guess. We’ll see.”

Church called Tate’s hit on Lee the “dirtiest shot I’ve ever seen.” Tate, who was playing for the Seattle Seahawks at the time, subsequently was fined $21,000, but clearly at least one member of the Cowboys isn’t ready to forgive and forget.

While Tate didn’t exactly swing from the heels in his response to Church’s comments, the receiver did emphasize that his opponent was acting out of selfishness, particularly because the 2012 incident didn’t even involve Church.

“I don’t hold grudges like that,” Tate said. “I go out there and play the game. I stay within the game. I think when you lose focus of the game, you turn into a selfish player and you hurt the team potentially. So the most important thing is to go out here and win this game and then the joke will be on them.”

In any event, there’s one major hurdle Church must clear in his effort to exact revenge.

“You can’t hit what you can’t catch,” Tate said.

Thumbnail photo via Tim Fuller/USA TODAY Sports Images