Tomase story doesn't give Coates his due

[JoeSixPat]

http://patriots.bostonherald.com/patriots/view.bg?articleid=1006065&format=&page=1

Could be that he was only given about 500 words in which to provide an overview of Ben Coates' career but I just felt that the Herald article of Patriots HOF nominee Ben Coates fell far short of conveying what a dominant presence he was and what a go to guy he was for Bledsoe

Yes, I know some talk about how he pushed off to get himself open... but what can't be ignored is that Coates would routinely carry two or three defenders with him an extra few yards to make a first down or get out of bounds to stop the clock.

Tomase does mention the term "unstopable" - he just didn't really embellish enough about what that meant - possibly becaue Tomase may never have actually seen Coates play.

For my part I'm still going with Morgan in the HoF vote but I do expect Coates to get in very soon.

 

[patsox23]

The standard to which Tomase is held on this site is a bit extreme. It's a very laudatory column.

 

[363839]

I said something about the "push offs" in my thread.
I didn't mean it in a negative light, though as it was a legal maneuver at the time. Just trying to point out Shula's sour grapes, I guess.
I remember some of the bullets he used to catch from bledsoe.... he would'nt be more than 10 yards downfield and bledsoe would throw a bullet
right at his head it seemed and ben would just adjust his head and put his hands up and left me wondering how quick you gotta be to make that catch.

 

[captain stone]

http://www.footballdb.com/players/coatebe01

The thing about Coates is that his game collapsed in 1999; he was out of football 2 years later.

Wasn't there an incident in 98 or 99, in which he and Rod Rutledge were drag-racing each other, on their way home from the Foxy Lady in Providence? I seem to recall that it was Mo Vaughn's favorite late-night snack-shack, allegedly.

Is Coates a NEP HOFer? I suppose. Is he an NFL HOFer? Not even close.

 

[jczxohn1]

I've commented in the past that Coates made a living out of going 6-7 yds out, knocking the OLB on his a**, turning around and catching the ball. Once he started getting called for offensive pass interference his career was over as was Bledsoe's days as a starter. It was their "out" pitch on 3rd and long. He did take one heckuva beating as a TE, tho, and I'd vote for him, but this is Morgan's year.

 

[mojocaster.com]

Saw Ben Coates once, inthe flesh so to speak. I have never seen such a large man in my life. As for what he accomplished for this team, he's a HOF all the way in my book.

 

[JoeSixPat]

Saw Ben Coates once, inthe flesh so to speak. I have never seen such a large man in my life. As for what he accomplished for this team, he's a HOF all the way in my book.

Maybe its just that the Tomase story was so short - it almost seemed like an afterthought to focus on his nomination - and since its the offseason Tomase is also tasked to write quite a few Red Sox articles these days too...

But there was something lacking from that story... you just didn't really get the full feel for the fact that at the height of his career, Coates was good for about 6 catches a game, had great hands, and would make the catches in very intense coverage, often dragging defenders with him for extra yardage

Coates truly wasn't all that big at 245 lbs - but he PLAYED big and was really what Parcells and Belichick often referred to as "a football player" - the highest compliment one can pay to a guy

All that being said I think he was let go at the appropriate time, though I am glad he did get a SB ring with Baltimore

 

[ilduce06410]

coates was a special player....

Maybe its just that the Tomase story was so short - it almost seemed like an afterthought to focus on his nomination - and since its the offseason Tomase is also tasked to write quite a few Red Sox articles these days too...
But there was something lacking from that story... you just didn't really get the full feel for the fact that at the height of his career, Coates was good for about 6 catches a game, had great hands, and would make the catches in very intense coverage, often dragging defenders with him for extra yardage
Coates truly wasn't all that big at 245 lbs - but he PLAYED big and was really what Parcells and Belichick often referred to as "a football player" - the highest compliment one can pay to a guy.

if he was good enuf to contribute to a SB championship with the ravens, he probably was let go too soon.
coates was a special player, for catching the ball, dragging defenders into 1st-downs. further, he was a ferocious blocker. on the order of daniel graham.
his statistics do not reflect his value to the team in that era.

 

[JoeSixPat]

Re: coates was a special player....

if he was good enuf to contribute to a SB championship with the ravens, he probably was let go too soon.

He was clearly in decline here - possibly a combination of getting old, and a change in the pushoff rule

had 67 catches in 1998 - 32 in 1999 - and after we released him in 2000, just 9 catches for the Ravens, who released him after that season.