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Ben Coates currently holds the New England Patriots’ franchise record for most career regular-season receptions from the tight end position with 490. However, he likely won’t have it for much longer. Rob Gronkowski is just 16 catches behind with 474 and will most likely take over Coates’ record at some point this season.
Coates claims he doesn’t hold negative feelings despite the fact that his time as the franchise’s all-time top tight end receiving leader is coming to an end. Instead, he is happy for the man who’s now wearing his No. 87.
Article Continues Below“It's not [bittersweet] because records are made to be broken. He's a phenomenal tight end and he's wearing the number, and I'm happy to see that number is still pretty big in New England,” Coates said per Mike Reiss of ESPN. “Just make sure he takes care of himself. They are totally different when he's not in the game.”
Coates also went out of his way to praise the fact that Gronk is a “complete” tight end who excels not just in the receiving part of the game, but also as a run- and pass-blocker.
It’s a sensible sentiment for Coates to acknowledge that his record likely wasn’t going to last forever. While Coates’ achievements during his career were admirable and praise-worthy in their own right, Gronkowski has simply been on a completely different, all-time great level, and he fully deserves to claim the record as his own.
It remains to be seen how many years Gronk has left in the game after he seriously contemplated retirement during the offseason. But barring injury, he will at the very least find himself atop the Patriots’ all-time tight end receptions list, and that’s just cool with Ben Coates.
