"Ben Coates was basically Gronk before Gronk."

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

The original Big Ben.

Coates' 94 season is one of those "holy ****!" seasons, like Morgan's 86, Moss' 07 and Gronk's 11 seasons to name a few.

Regards,
Chris

 

[borg]

Ben Winter Coates made me ton of money in my office's big money fantasy league back in the day. Prior to our league 's 1st ever draft, I'm driving from NYC to NH one Friday night in August listening to a Pats preseason radio broadcast and all I can remember hearing is "Bledsoe to Coates"....all night long. So when my team's co-owner and I met for a pre-draft strategy session, we decided to forego the "get your QB" in the 1st round strategy that everyone prescribed to back then.....in fact we took our 2 QBs in the last 2 rounds with Vinny Testeverde as the starter.......and instead we loaded up on weapons early....Jerry Rice and Jerome Bettis were our horses and Coates was our pocket ace. We went 14-2, collecting big checks for weekly wins, the championship and sides bets....and all the disgruntled owners ever did was ***** about Ben Coates and huge points he was scoring for our team. "Who ever heard of Ben Fu*king Coates"

 

[BostonWolverine]

Ben is the man! He showed up at the Pats fan bar here in Atlanta last weekend for the game.

 

[PittPatriot]

Ben “Winter” Coates got me through those cold college winters.

 

[RobertWeathers]

No Marv Cook or Eric Seivers love?

Lin Dawson was good. Good blocker.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

Coates, a 1991 5th round pick, spent his 10 year career with the Pats in the 90's, he was as beast...

Actually he spent his last year with the Ravens in 2000 and got a ring......
Ben Coates Playoffs Game Log | Pro-Football-Reference.com

 

[italian pat patriot]

When Bledsoe connected to Coates i was dreaming our first Super Bowl...but GB thought viceversa...

We have had great Te...Gronk Coates Francis...

 

[PatsDeb]

Loved Ben Coates!

 

[TinhWoodhead]

Ben “ Winter” Coates! - CB

 

[Tony2046]

Definitely one of my favorite Pats of all time. I think my favorite game of his is Giants vs Pats in 1994-96 or something. He was a huge part of a comeback win against the G-men.

I watched it sitting in a bar with my brother. Great day and game.

Found it. 1996 - Week 17 @ Giants. Check out the highlights at 18:21. They include a very Gronk like Ben Coates TD.

 

[Patjew]

I think of Gronk as a combo of Coates and Bavaro - the best attributes of each.

 

[FCB02062]

Different players, different eras, different rules...Coates in today's NFL would put up very comparable, perhaps better #s than Gronkowski for the simple reason in his 10 year career Been Coates missed TWO games... Gronkowski has missed 29 games in 9 seasons. Throughout their careers Gronkowski had 2 more targets/game than Coates - just a result of a different game in the 90s...plus put Coates with Brady, fughedabboutit

 

[SammyBlueCat]

Loved Ben Coates!

Exactly

 

[captain stone]

...Not sure I can give the GOAT TE nod to Gronk over Gonzalez, though.

I will take Gronk on his best day over Gonzalez on his best day, any day of the week.

 

[Kontradiction]

Brings me back to my early childhood watching the '96 Pats when I was 10. Coates was no Gronk, though. I'm not even sure there is another Gronk. Bavaro and Gonzalez are up there, but at their peaks, I don't think they're in Gronk's class.

 

[InRodWeRust]

Anyone else remember Chris Bermans moniker for him? Ben "Amazing Technicolor Dream" Coats.

I loved Coates. I dare say he actually had better hands than Gronk. He would catch some absolute bullets from Bledsoe and he would just suck them into his hands like a black hole.

 

[mgteich]

Coates did have better hands.

Coates was the better slot receiver; and, believe it or not, was more clutch.

Gronk is the better blocker, the better downfield receiver, and the best in YAC's.

Anyone else remember Chris Bermans moniker for him? Ben "Amazing Technicolor Dream" Coats.

I loved Coates. I dare say he actually had better hands than Gronk. He would catch some absolute bullets from Bledsoe and he would just suck them into his hands like a black hole.

 

[363839]

I might be wrong about this but I remember when Coates performance started to wane. I believe it was the new push off rule that Don Shula had instituted while he was in the rules committee. Maybe I'm wrong but it seems that Ben started underperforming after that ..or was it he was due to come down anyways?

 

[203Pat]

First jersey I ever got as a little kid.

 

[FCB02062]

Coates was awesome, but his playoff production pales in comparison to Gronkowski..... Gronkowski triples Coates playoff production per game