Tag Archives: patriots 50th anniversary team

NFL

Coates, Ben ‘Winter’

CARD: Pro Set 1993
ACQUIRED: TTM 2022, C/o Home
SENT: 4/11/22 RECEIVED: 7/5/22 (85 days)

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • Ben Coates played TE at Livingstone College from 1987-’90.
  • He had 103 receptions for 1,268 yards and 18 touchdowns over his college career.
  • 5th round pick of the New England Patriots in 1991.
  • Career took off in 1993 with the arrival of rookie Drew Bledsoe.
  • Caught 53 passes for 659 yards and 8 TDs that season.
  • In 1994 had a career high 96 receptions for 1174 yards and 7 TDs.
  • And in 1995 had another 84 catches for 915 yards and 6 TDs.
  • Had a career high 9 TD receptions on 62 receptions in 1996.
  • Coates then had two back to back 65+ catch seasons in ’97 and ’98.
  • After a subpar 1999- Ben played one final season in Baltimore.
  • Returned to his alma mater as a coach for Livingstone College from 2000-’04.
  • From there he hopped over to the NFLE working with the Frankfurt Galaxy’s TEs that year.
  • Worked with Browns TEs from ’05-’07.
  • Assistant head coach and OC for Central State from 2009-’12.
  • And then Saint Augustine’s from 2013-’14.

ACCOLADES:

  • All Pro 1994, ’95, ’98
  • NFL All-Decade Team 1990’s
  • Pro Bowl 1994-’98
  • Black College Football Hall of Fame
  • Patriots Hall of Fame
  • Patriots 50th Anniversary Team
  • Patriots All-90’s team

NOTES:

Ugh! Ben was so gracious to me. I accidentally sent him I think a card of Daniel Graham too! He was kind enough to sign this one and put a note on the other letting me know that it wasn’t him. Not my finest moment.

Coates gets little traction outside of the AFC East and the Patriots for Hall of Fame consideration. He’s got a lot of great skills to do it all and was considered the freak of his day at the position. Greatly overshadowed by Shannon Sharpe out of Denver, Coates could block and catch with ease.

He really should be in the HoF. At the time of his retirement Ben was ranked 4th in receptions among tight ends trailing only Ozzie Newsome, Shannon Sharpe, and Kellen Winslow.

NFL

Fryar, Irving (2)

Cards: Action Packed 1990, Action Packed 1991, GameDay 1992
Acquired: TTM 2018, C/o New Jerusalem House of God
Sent:  1/13            Received:  3/17     (64 days)*
See Also: Irving Fryar
* Donation Enclosed

I had seen a fair amount of TTM returns coming in for Irving Fryar for a nominal donation. Armed with a few extra cards I always wanted to get autographed, I decided to give him another shot.
To be honest, things have been rough for Fryar since his playing days, as he has been in and out of trouble with the law for mortgage fraud. He was released in 2016 after serving 8 months in prison.

GameDay and Action Packed were among the most gimmicky of the early 90s cards you could get, but early on they rewarded you with outstanding action shots of your favorite players.  I couldn’t decide between these 3 cards, so I went ahead and sent all three out and took a shot. I really liked the GameDay card. It’s impactful and the framing is deliberate and precise. You can feel that Fryar is right at the moment of making that catch. The Action Packed 1991 is a very nice profile picture taken and framed at just the right size.  While the 1990 Action Packed card does nothing to stand out from his other cards, it is a rarity to see- little less to have autographed.

NFL

Fryar, Irving

Cards: Action Packed 1992, Proset 1990
Acquired: TTM 1991, 1992  C/o The New England Patriots

Irving Fryar was the first modern day wide receiver selected with the top pick of the NFL draft in 1984. (Keshawn Johnson would be the second drafted by the Jets in 2000.)  After an anonymous rookie season in 1984, Fryar led the Patriots to Super Bowl XX in 1985. -Unfortunately it would be against the vaunted Chicago Bears. (Fryar however scored the Patriots only touchdown of the game.) He’d notch a ProBowl nomination that year as the Patriots’ wr/kr, but the team slid back under the radar -and so did his statistics, with the team becoming a quarterback carousel. Being a #1 pick, it was hard for Irving to live up to the high expectations set before him in the early years, but the 1990s were kinder to him, as Fryar finally came into his own.

He’d leave the Patriots after the 1992 season and would play with the Dolphins (1993,1994,1995), Eagles (1996,1997,1998) and finally the Redskins (1999,2000).  Irving never really got the respect deserved to him as he’d notch ProBowl nominations in 1993, 1996 and 1997 going over 1000 yards 5 times after 1991. Fryar also earned his fair share of NFL records, and was a constant touchdown threat during his playing days. He holds an odd record of catching touchdowns from 19 different quarterbacks over his career, and was named to the Patriots 50th anniversary team.

After retiring from pro football in 2000, he became a man of God and a reverend for the New Jerusalem House of God. His son Londen, also played briefly for the New York Giants.

g 255     rec   851       yds 12785        avg  15.0          td 84        lg 80