Watchlist: Golden Tate

At The Players’ Tribune, we’ve noticed you can tell a lot about a person by their answer to four simple words: “What are you watching?” That’s why we’ve created Watchlist, a series where we ask our contributors to look inside their DVRs, DVD collections, iPads and whatever else — and share the movies and TV shows they count among their favorites.

Here, with his Watchlist, is Detroit Lions wide receiver Golden Tate.

Breaking Bad

I started watching Breaking Bad on Netflix. The first two episodes, I was thinking, “This is going to get so boring.” It was like, Cooking meth, whatever. I get it, it’s boring. But then at some point … I just got hooked.

Walter White is a boss, man. A boss. He’s super, super smart. And then his counterpart, Jesse Pinkman, is all naive at first, innocent, just trying to make a few bucks. But their relationship ends up going in all of these unpredictable directions. I won’t lie, it gets intense.

Homeland

Homeland, on the other hand, had me hooked from the very first episode. This American hero being kept hostage for years and years — and then he finally gets out. But the more you get to know him … you start asking some questions.

And those questions were the heart of the show. That “Is he or isn’t he?” tension. Once we got answers, the tension was gone and it really went downhill fast. The first season was the best, by far. The second season’s alright. But now it’s kind of just faded away. I haven’t really been keeping up. Sorry, Homeland. You’re over.

Orange is the New Black

I heard from a couple of people that this was a good show, and I kind of dismissed them. But wow, were they right. Let me get this on the record: I do not like Alex. At all. No. Just … no. She doesn’t deserve Piper. She’s the worst.

Power

I watch Power religiously. It’s that classic story of a criminal trying to go legit. (Spoiler: It doesn’t go smoothly.) Power is also one of the best-directed shows on TV.

Ray Donovan

There’s not much Ray can’t do. He can fix anything. The earth could stop spinning, and Ray could probably find a way to fix it. And I like his style: He doesn’t say much, but you know that when he does say something, he means it. Ray’s got a little hood — a little thug — in him. Don’t mess with Ray.

Scandal

Olivia Pope. What more needs to be said? Kerry Washington was a beautiful woman already. But the attitude she brings to this role? It’s amazing. Olivia is just a strong, smart woman.

Empire

Empire is definitely one of my favorite shows right now. I’d love to see Cookie Lyon and Olivia Pope battle it out. There aren’t many people on this planet I can imagine rattling Olivia, but Cookie — yeah, Cookie’s a problem. They’re both very, very serious. Fox, ABC, here you go: Crossover episode. You can have that one for free.

Shark Week

Shark Week always comes during training camp. So you’ll have a long, exhausting day of camp, and then you’ll put on Shark Week. I love learning about animals. Sharks, and snakes, and tigers, and lions — I love it all. Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, whatever. If it has animals and it’s on TV, I’m in.

Revenge

The Grayson family, they’re all bad, bad people. And Emily Thorne is out for revenge. Around Season 3 or 4, she finds out [REDACTED], and that’s a huge twist. You should just watch it for yourself. Emily’s tough, man. Silent killer.

Modern Family

Modern Family is such a funny show. The characters have so many different dynamics. The dad is corny but hilarious, Manny is a genius, and yeah, sure, I’ll come clean: One of my celebrity crushes is Sofia Vergara.

American Ninja Warrior

My girlfriend and I like to watch American Ninja Warrior, mostly because we think one day we’re going to be on it. For real. We feel like we would dominate that show. We’re both athletic. We love being active. Listen: We’d dominate. Put us on. Call it in. Let’s do it.