Mahkel Tate likes to run when the sun is setting. He pulls up his hoodie, turns up his music and escapes along the Warwick to Ephrata Rail Trail.
Sometimes he pauses, skips a few stones on Cocalico Creek and enjoys the solitude.
Then he runs some more.
Those evening workouts showed Warwick’s senior he was getting stronger. They provided hope that he might play football again. For the past eight months, since a car accident robbed him of his final high school season, that’s mostly what Tate thinks about.
The fractured C4 vertebra in his neck and the sudden loss of interest from college coaches didn’t deter him. Tate convinced himself he was going to fly around the field and make more tackles. The alternative was too sad to consider.
“I would go to sleep and think, ‘All I need is a chance,’” Tate said. “Just give me a chance and you won’t regret it.”
Mahkel Tate [photos]
Mahkel Tate was a preseason candidate to be Lancaster-Lebanon League Section Two linebacker of the year before his injury.
A football future
The rejections started to sound the same after a while. Sorry, recruiters told Tate, it wasn’t worth the risk.
The 5-foot-10, 203-pound linebacker once commanded the attention of coaches in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. He was once the prototypical Division II prospect.
With no senior highlights and no clearance to lift weights until at least May, the doors kept closing. The more times Tate heard “no,” the more his optimism was tested.
“It was scary,” he said. “I’m not gonna lie. I cried about it. I just didn’t want my story to be over.”
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Tate lowered his expectations and started looking at Division III options. That’s when the answers started to change.
Widener was one of a few schools that were enthusiastic about adding someone who might otherwise be out of their reach. The reward, in the mind of defensive coordinator Nick Crowle, outweighed the risk.
That’s what Tate was waiting to hear. He accepted Widener’s offer.
“As I’m evaluating, the most important thing I look for is, ‘Do you see the passion scream off the tape?’” Crowle said. “College football is incredibly hard. You need to have the passion to be successful at this level.”
Widener graduated its top four linebackers. Crowle believed Tate could step into that void.
When Tate was at a low point during the process, he reached out to Damique Stokes, a close friend. The Manheim Township grad plays at Widener and helped steer Tate toward the private university located in Chester.
Stokes believes Tate could get into games as a true freshman this fall. That’s 13 months after the accident.
“I think that’s realistic,” Stokes said. “They bring in guys who like to compete. I know he’s a competitor. He’s resilient. He wants this. I think he can do well.”
Tate isn’t bitter toward the schools that stopped recruiting him. He understands his situation is unusual and there are reasons to be skeptical about his football future.
Widener hopes it has discovered a hidden gem. That Tate’s tenacity and love for the sport can lift the team.
“None of this is easy for him,” Crowle said. “If he’s willing to make the sacrifice to do all those things to play again, he’s gonna be willing to sacrifice a lot when he’s a member of this program.”
Mahkel Tate, left, leads Warwick onto the field for its Week 1 game against Cocalico in August.
A lost season
There’s a photo of the crumpled Volkswagen sedan Tate was riding in that July afternoon. It can quickly be retrieved on his phone. The crash happened in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, where Tate was visiting his cousin for a birthday dinner.
An oncoming car smashed into the rear door on the driver’s side, right where Tate was sitting. He was three blocks from his destination.
The details of that harrowing moment remain hazy. The aftermath remains painful to recall.
Tate went unconscious until the following day in the hospital. He said he had a brain hemorrhage and a concussion in addition to his fractured neck.
“One of the first questions I asked was, ‘Can I still play football?’” Tate said. “The doctor was like, You can’t play your 2023 season.”
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Scrimmages were about to start. Tate sat in bed, scrolled through social media and watched from a distance as the Lancaster-Lebanon League’s best players gathered for media day in August.
It didn’t take long for disappointment to turn into anger.
“I was so confused and so mad at the world,” Tate said. “Why me? My whole world got shut down in front of me.”
The season started off great for Warwick, which stunned eventual District Three Class 5A champion Cocalico in Week 1. It went downhill from there. The Warriors finished 3-7 and failed to qualify for the playoffs.
Warwick struggled to overcome the loss of one of its defensive leaders. The players voted Tate a captain even though he didn’t play a snap.
“It was devastating; it was hard to believe,” said quarterback Trevor Evans. “He was a great part of the team. It was awful to hear that he couldn’t be with us. I know it crushes him inside knowing he couldn’t help us on the field.”
Tate became an assistant coach. Between the hours of physical therapy and the push-ups and sit-ups before bed each night, he watched videos of upcoming opponents and tried to share his knowledge with the linebackers who took his place.
When Warwick’s coaches asked questions about the scouting report, Tate wasn’t allowed to respond because he knew every answer. He needed to let his teammates figure it out.
“He was there every day through good and bad,” coach Bob Locker said. “Just seeing him there was an inspiration to begin with. To see a kid who was dealt the hand he was dealt continue to work in a way that inspires others was pretty cool.”
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The milestone moments hit the hardest. Tate said he felt out of place when he was honored on Senior Night because he wasn’t playing.
The final game, a 19-14 loss to Gov. Mifflin in Week 10, brought Tate to rock bottom.
“I didn’t want to talk to anyone,” he said. “You can see in some of the pictures I had a towel on my head. I didn’t want anyone near me. I hated every single second of that.”
The pain has dulled as the months have passed. Tate is able to appreciate the good parts of his senior season. He didn’t abandon his teammates and he found a way to contribute.
That’s what Locker and Evans will remember about No. 31.
“Football is not life,” Locker said. “It’ll show you some stuff that relates to life. I think he understood that after a while. He had a bad situation but he turned it into a positive experience for himself and an awful lot of people around him.”
Keegan Whaley (28) of Hempfield is tackled by Greysen Reylek (25) and Mahkel Tate (31) of Warwick during L-L League Week 5 action at Warwick High School in Lititz on Friday, Sep. 24, 2021.
The next game
Tate has a tattoo on his left forearm that says Jan. 17, 2008 in Roman numerals. It’s the date his late sister was born. Mahkiya Kyleese Tate died of brain cancer at age 5.
Mahkel was 7 at the time. He promised, as a 7-year-old might, that he’d play in the NFL one day. He promised to leave tickets for his little sister.
That’s another reason to stick with football, no matter the level. It didn’t take an accident to teach Tate about loss.
“He’s a fighter,” Evans said. “He never gives up. That was his motto. He was always working to be the best. Throughout the whole process he was saying he was gonna be back. He had a lot of optimism. That helped him the most.”
Locker was Tate’s math teacher in sixth grade. The coach believes his former student will become a coach himself down the line.
If Tate had played his senior season, he might have become the Section Two linebacker of the year. He might be headed toward PSAC games on Saturdays. Or a higher level. He’ll never know exactly where his talent might have taken him.
“He’s a person who sees the glass as half-full,” Locker said. “It was hard at first to look at him and think about what could have been. This is a kid who every day I saw him gave me a fist bump or a handshake. He’s just a joy to be around.”
Football has always been Tate’s outlet. The place he could release his anger and frustration. The place he feels most alive.
“This has made me realize I can’t live without this game,” Tate said. “I know it’s not forever. But I don’t want it to be over now.”
It’s four months until Widener’s first game. Tate’s long road back gets a little shorter every day.
