Sammie Coates exploded onto the scene in 2016 for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Just when it seemed that the Steelers’ third round investment in the wide receiver from Auburn was starting to pay off, the injuries began to mount and by 2017, Coates was traded away.
Coates appeared on the Raw Room podcast this week and talked about playing through injuries to the detriment of his career.
“I played that year with my meniscus torn. I’m going through my third year of a torn meniscus. Haven’t gotten it fixed yet,” Coates said, detailing that he was taking a heavy dose of painkillers just to make it through practice.
“At that point, I’m balling, like ‘I can’t miss my game’, so James Harrison said ‘Man, you need to sit out.’ He said ‘Bro, you’ll be alright. Just sit out, you can prove that you can play in this league.’”
Coates also said that cornerback William Gay told him to not “let [the team] push you to doing something you don’t need to be doing” and play through his injuries. Despite the advice from his veteran teammates, Coates didn’t sit out and now looks back on it with a feeling of regret.
“To all the young players out there, when you got a older head that’s looking out for you, you better lock in. Listen. You better listen,” Coates said in reflection. “So I didn’t lock into it at the end of that year, it cost me.”
After putting up 421 yards and two touchdowns in the first five games of 2016, Coates only managed two receptions for 14 yards in the next nine games before being deactivated for the final two games of the regular season.
Coates said he had three surgeries after the season and wasn’t able to work out for the entire offseason. After having one knee surgery right after the season ended, Coates needed another surgery right before training camp in 2017. Once camp ended, Coates was the odd man out in a loaded wide receiver room and was traded to the Cleveland Browns.
Coates was never able to realize his full potential after leaving Pittsburgh. With the Browns, Coates only managed six receptions for 70 yards in twelve games. He spent the next season in with the Houston Texans and caught one pass. After that Coates bounced around from the offseason roster of the Kansas City Chiefs to the XFL and CFL before finally retiring and becoming a coach.
Now, Coates is the head coach of Columbia High School in Huntsville, Alabama. As a coach, he has the chance to impart wisdom from his playing days on his young players. One of the lessons that Coates learned during his time with the Steelers is to be smart with injuries and also to listen to veteran teammates.