Former Steelers WR Says Knee Injury Ruined NFL Career

PITTSBURGH -- Life in the NFL can be an extremely rough way of living, and one former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver is expressing regret over some of his career choices.

Former Steelers receiver Sammie Coates was a third-round pick of the organization in 2015 out of Auburn. In his second season with the team, he put together a breakout stretch, collecting 435 receiving yards over 14 games.

The following season, he was a member of the Cleveland Browns. The year after he was with the Houston Texans, and the year after that he was out of the league.

According to Coates, it was his choice to play through injuries that cost him his shot with the Steelers and the NFL. Appearing on the Raw Room podcast, Coates offered some advice to young players to help them avoid his fate.

"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,” he said. “So I didn’t lock into it at the end of that year, it cost me."

Jan 22, 2017; Foxborough, MA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Sammie Coates (14) returns a kick against the New England Patriots during the third quarter in the 2017 AFC Championship Game at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-Imagn Images | Winslow Townson-Imagn Images

The Advice He Ignored

Coates got off to an excellent start to the 2016 season. He recorded over 400 receiving yards in the first five games, but then his production went silent over the next nine weeks. Due to a meniscus tear, the Steelers shut him down for the rest of the year.

Coates says in retrospect, he should never have pushed through those nine weeks with his injured knee. He even ignored the advice of veteran players like James Harrison and William Gay, who both cautioned him against playing injured just because the team asked him to.

“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,” he said. "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.'"

Instead, Coates explains that he opted to take painkillers to get through practice and the games before being shut down for the year.

The following offseason, he needed three surgeries to correct the issues in his knee. The surgeries and his unavailability because of it pushed Coates all the way down the Steelers' depth chart, and he was eventually traded to Cleveland.

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