As Sammie Coates eyes breakout season, Steelers WR taking nothing for granted
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Email
comment
8:51 AM ET
Jeremy Fowler
ESPN Staff Writer
PITTSBURGH -- Even Sammie Coates' career day on the field wasn't quite complete.
On Sunday, he had just catalyzed a Pittsburgh Steelers win over the Jets thanks to 139 yards and two touchdowns. But as was the case after most of his games growing up, Coates found himself wanting to hop into the car with Sammie Sr. and head to McDonald's or Dairy Queen, their two hot spots after youth football and baseball games in Leroy, Alabama.
"I think about him every day," Coates said. "I wish he was here to see what I've accomplished. He's my best friend."
Coates lost his father almost 13 years ago in an industrial-garbage-truck accident. As Coates breaks out in his second NFL season, the pain hasn't dissipated, but it no longer dominates him. The bitterness nearly drove him away from football, away from almost anything constructive. He was an angry teenager for so long. Playing sports was a convenient escape, especially with the insane talent to throw a 90 mph fastball, slice through a lane for a power layup and run a 4.4-second 40 down the sideline for a big gain.
The late Sammie Coates Sr. still serves as an inspiration to his son, Steelers WR Sammie Coates Jr. Courtesy of the Coates family
But at one point, Coates had shut everyone out, including his family, content with his one scholarship offer to Southern Miss. Ever since that day around Thanksgiving 2003, Coates had become hardened to his surroundings. On that day, after Coates woke up, his grandmother met him in the living room and delivered the news that his dad had an accident at work. His mom, Sharon, was holding Sammie Sr.'s wallet, weeping.
The emotional rebellion lasted years. Coates wasn't finding trouble with the law, but he was generally a "mean person," he said. "Nobody could tell me what to do," Coates said.
Sharon, and friends such as Andrew "Oatmeal" Williams and Leroy High coach Danny Powell wanted more, demanded more. Williams woke Coates up for a chance workout at Auburn, where he wowed with athleticism. Shortly after he signed with the Tigers, Coates met Kenzie Ray, his now-close friend and leukemia survivor. ESPN GameDay aired a touching feature on Coates and Ray, who is now cancer-free, Coates is happy to report.
"There was a hole in my heart," Coates said. "But I've got a chance to make (my dad) proud. Surrounding myself with the right people was a blessing. And I put God in my life."
Coates has chosen to be a light, which plays well whenever he returns home to Leroy, with a population of less than 1,000 people.
Powell saw Coates over the summer when he returned for a local football camp, and his former star receiver was a "very big deal," and that's before his current burst of 421 yards in five games.
After every NFL game, Coates' phone is filled with text messages from Alabama.
"He comes home with the dreads and the big smile and lights up a room," Powell said. "He does seem to be in a better place now. He never really talked about (his dad) when he was here, he just stayed to himself and played sports with his friends. But he looks happy."
Coates and his wife, Kailey, have been married for a year, and Coates' vegetable-fueled offseason diet helped him drop nearly 10 pounds for 2016. Coates wasn't ready to contribute as a rookie while dealing with nagging hamstring/leg and conditioning issues.
Coates spent nearly every day in the Steelers' facility this offseason, sparking a close relationship with kicker Chris Boswell. The two call each other Salt and Pepper. They fine each other $10 for everything from eating "cheat" food to cussing at each other.
Coates doesn't think he could have had that kind of relationship five years ago, but getting to know Ray and others at local Auburn hospitals helped reframe his perspective. "It's about how you handle your problems now," said Coates, who became known as a rare-disease advocate of sorts while at Auburn for all his hospital-appearance work.
Now the focus shifts to football, which he always worked hard at but didn't always feel fully invested emotionally.
"To see him kind of break out right now, it shows how much he's worked and how much he cares," Boswell said. "It means everything, especially when you go to Auburn, it's a big-time school, and it's carried over to how he plays -- deep ball guy at Auburn, deep ball guy here."
In Leroy, Coates saw men like his father work tough labor all day for a steady paycheck, an example he tries to relay into his job with the Steelers.
Powell has been studying from afar, and he sees the "ideal opportunity" for Coates, who has a great quarterback in Ben Roethlisberger and will hardly ever see double teams because of Antonio Brown. Though Coates probably should have had four touchdowns instead of two against the Jets, Powell said. He mistimed a slant route which resulted in a drop and mistimed another play over the middle.
The Coates football experience can be painful and beautiful. He'll make the ridiculous plays and sometimes botch the easy wins. It was that way years ago, too, Powell said.
But after every game, good or bad, Coates isn't hesitant to critique his own play. Since his dad attended all his youth games in Leroy, Coates treats these NFL games as if he's still in the stands.
Which means everything must be better.
"It just makes it easier to be humble when you come from my situation," Coates said. "I ain't take nothing for granted. I'm just thankful for every opportunity. It's a blessing where I'm from."
