Carnell Tate blew a kiss.
It’s a touchdown celebration unique to him. A touchdown celebration with a deeper meaning.
“That’s my way of telling her I know she’s watching,” Tate said during a feature on FOX’s “Big Noon Kickoff.”
Tate’s mom, Ashley Griggs, was killed in a drive-by shooting in July 2023. She and her son were described as “best friends.” She raised him on the West side of Chicago — a neighborhood where drugs and violence were common, Tate said — but Griggs kept her son out of trouble.
Tate said he could talk to his mom about anything. Whether it was “advice, a helping hand, or someone to cry to,” she was always there by his side.
“I feel like my world ended,” Tate said, recalling the moment he learned she had passed. ” My mom was everything to me. We used to talk 4-to-5 days per day. And then it felt like my world had just ended that night.”
With so much taken from him, Tate would find solace in what his teammates were able to give him.
“First thing I said was, ‘I’m here for you,'” fellow Ohio State wide receiver Brandon Inniss said. “Whatever you need. Always. Forever. No matter what, I got your back.”
Last season, Tate returned home to Chicago when Ohio State faced Northwestern. With family in attendance, he delivered one of his best performances of the season, hauling in two touchdown catches in a 31–7 win. His aunt, Astoria Griggs, said it best: “Grief is a journey. It doesn’t have an expiration. But he played like he was supposed to play.”
Now a junior, Tate has built on that momentum. He has 34 catches for 587 yards and six touchdowns — well on his way to collegiate career-highs in all three categories.
Through heartbreak, Tate has found healing — in family, in teammates, and in the game that his mother loved to watch him play. “She always wanted me to chase my dreams,” Tate said. “I’m doing exactly that. She sees her son doing what he loves.”
Tate and No. 1 Ohio State (7-0) take on Penn State (3-4) on Saturday ((noon ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app) as the Buckeyes chase a second consecutive College Football Playoff National Championship. More importantly, Tate continues to chase the promise his mother always believed in.
Many more chances to blow kisses.
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