CLOSE Lions' Golden Tate and Verizon IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden resume their ping-pong rivalry for charity at Detroit's Drive Table Tennis Social Club. Orion Sang, Detroit Free Press
Detroit Lions wide receiver Golden Tate and IndyCar driver Josef Newgarden talk before a ping-pong battle at Drive on Monday, May 30, 2018 in downtown Detroit. (Photo: Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press)
First, Golden Tate.
Next, LeBron James?
Reigning Verizon IndyCar Series champion Josef Newgarden renewed a high school rivalry on Wednesday in Detroit: He bested his old pal Golden Tate, a standout receiver for the Detroit Lions, in a ping-pong battle for the ages.
And after winning $2,500 for a charity of his choice, Newgarden wants to take his game to the next level.
“More sports should jump in on this,” said Newgarden, who arrived in town Wednesday ahead of this weekend's Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear. “There should be annual ping-pong competitions. I don’t know how good LeBron is at ping pong, but if he’s good, we should play."
All jokes aside, Wednesday's ping-pong challenge at the Drive Table Tennis Social Club in downtown Detroit had been brewing for some time.
Detroit Lions wide receiver Golden Tate returns the ball back to IndyCar driver Josef Newgarden during a ping-pong battle at Drive on Monday, May 30, 2018 in downtown Detroit. (Photo: Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press)
Tate and Newgarden were high school classmates at Pope John Paul II in Hendersonville, Tenn., near Nashville. They played ping pong during their lunch breaks, and the momentum for a rematch reached a fever pitch in January when Newgarden said he wanted to take on Tate "when we come back to Detroit for the Grand Prix."
“It’s rare,” Tate said about the loss. “But he’s a stellar ping-pong player. He handed it to me today.”
For the record: Newgarden won Game 1 of the best-of-three series 21-16, and then Game 2, 24-22. The IndyCar driver proved to have the quicker hands.
“I can’t remember who was better in high school,” Newgarden said before the match. “You got to think Golden was really, really good. He was good at everything else.”
The former classmates have enjoyed successful careers.
Tate, entering the final year of his contract, is a nine-year NFL veteran and is going into his fifth year with the Lions. Newgarden has become one of the top racers in IndyCar and is coming off an eighth-place finish in the Indianapolis 500.
“I think everyone knew Golden was going to big things,” Newgarden said. “It’s fun to watch that kind of journey someone goes on, to see where Golden’s been and where he is now. … It’s fun to bring this back together through a ping-pong match.”
And don't worry about Tate.
He's not soured by Wednesday's result, and he's also not too worried about his Lions teammates heckling him about the loss.
“Maybe a little," Tate said, "but none of them can beat me so it won’t matter."