Issue date: 11/6/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Alex Reside / Daily Vidette Photo Editor ISU cornerback Jason Tate gets carted off the field in the Redbirds' Oct. 25 loss to North Dakota State. He was cleared to play Saturday and had two big interceptions against Youngstown.

The crowd was hushed. The players were each on a knee. The ambulance that had spent the entire game up to this point on the sideline drove onto the field toward the injured Redbird.

At least a dozen trainers and coaches surrounded Jason Tate as he laid motionless on the ground, still unconscious.

Tate had just made a tackle in the backfield in ISU's game against North Dakota State, but fell to the ground lifeless after the play.

Minutes seemed like hours, but Tate eventually regained consciousness and was put on a stretcher, even managing to give a thumbs-up to the crowd and his teammates as he was being carted off.

Despite the serious nature of events, he was cleared to play six days later.

"The scary thing was he was knocked unconscious there for a couple minutes," head coach Denver Johnson said. "We were glad and fortunate it wasn't a catastrophic injury, but he did lose consciousness and was held out of practice all week. He wasn't cleared [to play] until Friday."

Tate was even surprised he was able to play just six days after the apparently horrendous injury.

"I thought I would probably be out for a while," he said. "I really thought I would miss at least a couple weeks. The doctor said I passed my impact test and I was able to be clear by Friday, so I just sat out a week and bounced back."

And bounce back he did.

After sitting out most of the first half, Tate had two big interceptions in the Redbirds' 54-44 win over conference rival Youngstown State.

"It felt good," he said. "I really didn't practice all week. I prepared myself Friday and got cleared to play Friday … I didn't play much in the game Saturday - I missed almost the whole first half. But I think I helped the team out by coming back and bouncing back from the injury."

Johnson was pleased with Tate's effort as well.

"It was very courageous of him," he said. "To come out there and play without any hesitation or reservation I think really speaks highly of Jason. He's a competitive kid; he's a very good football player."

Continued...

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