Golden Tate Says NASCAR Drivers Are Not Athletes

It was only a matter of time before Twitter became a medium for this argument.  One of the biggest issues NASCAR haters have with the sport of auto racing is that “anyone can do it.”  People who aren’t into stock car racing think any fat slob can drive a car around a track and drivers don’t have to be athletes.  Apparently one of those people is Seahawks receiver Golden Tate, and he caused a stir on Twitter by letting it be known during the ESPYs on Wednesday.

As From the Marbles pointed out, Tate took exception to the fact that five-time Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson was nominated for best athlete and tweeted the following:

“Jimmy johnson up for best athlete???? Um nooo … Driving a car does not show athleticism.”

As expected, that pissed off plenty people in the NASCAR community, and several fans expressed their discontent with Tate’s opinion while a couple of drivers took to their own Twitter accounts to defend themselves.

“Sitting in a 140 degree roller coaster for 4 hours, lifting 30lbs weight while leg pressing 150lbs,” driver Brad Keselowski wrote. “While knowing if you mess you could die.”

“Ignorance is a state of being uninformed (lack of knowledge),” Johnson tweeted at Tate. “Lucky 4 you, this can be fixed. Come to a race and be informed.”

Tate later gave a half-hearted apology by saying he could not do what NASCAR drivers do, but his point is a long-debated and interesting one.  Personally, I think you have to have great endurance to be a stock car driver — if nothing else.  The temperature in those cars can get upwards of 115 degrees on certain days, and there is no option of taking a break during the four-hour race.  If you were a 300-pound buffalo wing eating champion, you would not be able to pull it off.