Lars Tate, a running back who played for the Buccaneers and Bears, has died at the age of 56.
Tate’s son Donavan Tate, a former University of Arizona quarterback and San Diego Padres first-round draft pick, announced that his father died on Monday in St. Petersburg, Florida, about a month after he was diagnosed with throat cancer.
Tate was named Gatorade National High School Offensive Player of the Year as a high school senior in Indianapolis, and he enrolled at Georgia, where he was the Bulldogs’ leading rusher in 1986 and 1987.
The Buccaneers chose him in the second round of the 1988 NFL draft, and as a rookie he scored one of the most incredible touchdowns in NFL history, flipping over the line of scrimmage, landing on his feet and racing 46 yards to the end zone.
After two years in Tampa Bay, Tate signed in Chicago, but a neck injury brought his career to an abrupt end and he retired at the age of 24.