Ben Coates

Ben Coates
No. 81, 87
Position: Tight End
Personal information
Date of birth: (1969-08-16) August 16, 1969
Place of birth: Greenwood, South Carolina
Career information
College: Livingstone
NFL draft: 1991 / Round: 5 / Pick: 124
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Receptions: 499
Receiving Yards: 5,555
Touchdowns: 50
Player stats at NFL.com

Ben Terrence Coates (born August 16, 1969) is a former American football tight end[1] in the National Football League and former CIAA football coach and former NFL tight ends coach. Coates didn't play football until his senior year of high school, and was a multi-sport player at Livingstone College located in Salisbury, North Carolina. As a gridiron player at Livingstone, he broke nearly all meaningful records at the school, but due to his split-sport performances, against weak competition, for a non-notable school, he received little notice outside of the CIAA. While a college student, he joined Phi Beta Sigma fraternity through the Upsilon Chapter at Livingstone College.

Professional career

Considered an out-of-nowhere prospect, Coates was picked in the fifth round of the 1991 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots.[2] His first two years with the Patriots were fairly uneventful; in his rookie year he had ten catches for 95 yards and a two-yard touchdown against the Indianapolis Colts that forced overtime in a 23-17 Patriots win. In his second season he had twenty catches for 171 yards and three touchdowns.

His career changed with the 1993 arrival of quarterback Drew Bledsoe and legendary head coach Bill Parcells to the Patriots franchise. Parcells, known for his reliance on tight ends, frequently used then-rookie quarterback Bledsoe on passes to Coates, and the tight end led the Patriots in receptions in 1993 with 53 catches for 629 yards and eight scores, two of them in New England's season-ending overtime win over Miami.

In 1994, his breakout year, he caught 96 passes, the most ever for a tight end to that point[3] (the record was broken by Tony Gonzalez in 2004), for 1,174 yards receiving (The only time in his career he would gain 1,000 yards in a receiving season) and seven touchdowns. He appeared in his first Pro Bowl and would appear in the next four as well.

In 1996 Coates had 62 catches for 682 yards and nine touchdowns; the most dramatic was against the New York Giants in the final game of the regular season as he caught a twelve-yard pass and bulled through Giants defenders for the game-winning score of a 23-22 New England win. His efforts helped New England to a championship appearance in Super Bowl XXXI. His team lost the game 35-21, but he had a good performance in it, leading the Patriots in receiving with 6 catches for 66 yards and a touchdown. From 1995 to 1998, he caught 84, 62, 66, and 67 passes, respectively, in those 4 seasons.

After the 1999 season, Coates was released by the Patriots, and afterwards played for the Baltimore Ravens, where he climbed the all-time receiving charts, winning Super Bowl XXXV in the process. When Coates was released by the Ravens in the following year, he decided to retire, having become the fourth all-time leading receiver at tight end in NFL history, behind Ozzie Newsome, former teammate Shannon Sharpe, and Kellen Winslow. Coates played in 158 games with 499 receptions for 5,555 yards and 50 touchdowns.

After retiring, Coates returned to Livingstone College, where he was head coach, and also coached in NFL Europe. In 2004 he served an internship with the Dallas Cowboys as an assistant for the tight ends under head coach Bill Parcells. In March 2005, Coates was named the tight ends coach for the Cleveland Browns, replacing Rob Chudzinski, under head coach Romeo Crennel who was the former defensive coordinator of Coates' former team, the New England Patriots.

It was announced on July 7, 2008, that Coates would be inducted into the New England Patriots Hall of Fame.

NFL stats

Year Team Games Receptions Yards Yards per Reception Longest Reception Touchdowns First Downs Fumbles Fumbles Lost
1991 NE 16 10 95 9.5 17 1 6 0 0
1992 NE 16 20 171 8.6 22 3 12 1 1
1993 NE 16 53 659 12.4 54 8 32 0 0
1994 NE 16 96 1,174 12.2 62 7 65 2 1
1995 NE 16 84 915 10.9 35 6 51 4 4
1996 NE 16 62 682 11.0 84 9 37 1 1
1997 NE 16 66 737 11.2 35 8 37 0 0
1998 NE 14 67 668 10.0 33 6 45 0 0
1999 NE 16 32 370 11.6 27 2 20 0 0
2000 BAL 16 9 84 9.3 28 0 3 0 0
Career 158 499 5,555 11.1 84 50 308 8 7

[4]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/C/CoatBe00.htm
  2. ↑ "87 Ben Coates TE, Alumbi/bio detail". New England Patriots. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
  3. ↑ Rank, Adam (10 February 2014). "NFL players from historically black colleges". National Football League. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  4. ↑ "Den Coates Stats". ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved 14 April 2014.

External links

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