Steelers Now
Former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Sammie Coates, who is now the head football coach at Columbia High School in Huntsville, Alabama, revealed in a recent interview that injuries derailed his NFL career.
“It didn’t go how I wanted it to, because I went into the NFL hurt,” Coates said to AL.com this week. “… I tell a lot of guys now, ‘when your body talks to you, you listen.’ I didn’t listen. I kept trying to play through injuries, and I think that was one of my biggest problems. It started to add up, but it was a great experience. I’m very grateful for that experience I had in the NFL”
Coates, who was selected by the Steelers in the third round of the 2015 NFL Draft, recorded 21 receptions 435 yards on 21 receptions and two touchdowns in 2016, but he only played five games due to several injuries.
After undergoing sports hernia surgery in the 2017 offseason, the Steelers traded Coates’ to the Cleveland Browns prior to the start of the season.
Coates became expendable after the Steelers got Martavis Bryant back from a year-long suspension, JuJu Smith-Schuster’s selection in the 2017 NFL draft, and the emergence of Eli Rogers who showed promise in Coates’ absence.
Coates experienced multiple finger injuries during his NFL career. He broke his left index finger in his first game of the 2016 season, and later broke his left ring finger. In the same season, he also suffered a gash in his left hand requiring seven stitches during the game where he broke his index finger. In addition, he dealt with a groin injury that worsened throughout the season.
After one season in Cleveland, Coates played for the Houston Texans (2018) and Kansas City Chief (2019). He then played one season with the Houston Roughnecks of the XFL and two seasons with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL (2021–2022) and one year with the Edmonton Elks (2023).
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Ex-Steelers WR Reflects on Injury-Riddled Career: ‘I Didn’t Listen’
