Sammie Coates off the field

[WarEagle84 0]

A very nice story about Sammie making a difference in a little girl's life.

PHILLIP MARSHALL: THE OTHER SIDE OF AUBURN'S SAMMIE COATES

June 1, 2014

AUBURN, Ala. - The athletic side of Auburn junior Sammie Coates is there for all to see. At 6-foot-2 and 201 pounds, he’s one of the faster and more explosive wide receivers in college football. He’s on his way to playing in the NFL.

But to see what Coates, who was a three-sport superstar at little Leroy High School, is really about, you have to look beyond the field, beyond the 42 passes he caught for 901 yards and seven touchdowns to help Auburn win the Southeastern Conference championship last season. You have to look beyond the average of 21.5 yards per catch, third best in the country.

Coates, like his teammates, is driven to finish the job that wasn’t finished last season when Florida State scored with 13 seconds left to win the BCS Championship Game. But on a warm May afternoon, he wasn’t thinking so much about touchdowns and championships. He was thinking about a little girl at Children’s Hospital in Birmingham.

Kenzie Ray, the little girl Coates calls “my best friend and my little sister,” is undergoing chemotherapy treatments for leukemia and has recently been fighting a respiratory illness that forced her to go on a respirator.

“It makes me strong to see somebody like her who has to fight for her life when we take so much for granted,” Coates said. “I really love her like a sister. I know I have to keep fighting for her because she’s fighting every day.”

Coates and Kenzie got together almost by accident after Auburn’s 24-20 victory over Mississippi State. He was walking from Jordan-Hare Stadium toward his room when he saw the little girl with no hair.

“She looked real tired,” Coates said. “I just walked up and started talking to her and asked what her name was. She gave me one of her wristbands. I gave her my “together” wristband. After that, we just got to be friends. I finally got to go have lunch with her. She became like my little sister. She’s part of my family and I’m part of her family now.”

Coates came to know her parents, Keisha and Tommy Ray. He’s there for Kenzie, always available, always ready to talk or text or tweet.

Coates’ journey has not been easy. His father died in an industrial accident when he was 11. He grew up in the little town of Leroy, far from the bright lights. He says he believes to this day he has something extra to prove. But Kenzie’s struggles, he says, put it all in perspective.

“It makes me strong to see somebody like her, who has to fight for her life, when we take everything for granted,” Coates said. “I really love her like a sister. I know I have to keep fighting for her because she’s fighting every day. I love to talk to people and make them smile, but when I saw her it was something different.”

Even as Coates works toward another season, Kenzie is never far from his heart. He wears with pride the “Praying for Kenzie” wristband she gave him.

“I think we are going to have a good shot at being better than we were last year,” Coates said. “It’s all going to depend on how we come together and how we play together as a team. I see us working together now. You have people supporting each other, no matter what side of the ball they play on. That’s a big step toward coming together. It’s looking good right now.”

And he looks forward to sharing it all with a little girl in the fight of her life.

“You never know what somebody is going through,” Coates said. “I just took a little time to talk to this girl, and now I have a best friend.”

http://www.auburntig.../060114aaa.html

[trout54 55]

that's awesome. nothing staged, just him being him. prayers for Kenzie!

[kingfish 73]

Sammy, has the character qualities that I appreciate in not just our AU athletes; but in all AU people.

[auburn4ever 1,266]

Sammie is an awesome guy. He's a true Auburn man.

[JFDTiger80 791]

Wow. These are the things that make you proud to have kids like Sammy call AU home. He is soo impressive. He has also improved soo much and he appreciates everything. Sammy thanks for making us proud of you. Great kid.

[imaolgatiger 523]

War Eagle Sammie!

[3rdgeneration 6,479]

Great article! Sammie, you are a good guy! I love the way our guys are growing into fine young men and are becoming involved in helping others. Love it!

[WarNole 141]

Wow, great story. Prayers for Kenzie lifted up.

[AUfan_UAgrad 230]

Great story. I know this article and thread are about Sammie and Kenzie and is just another example of some of the "good guys" we have at Auburn. I hate to get off topic but I hate when some Bama fans talk about all the "good guys" they have on their team and what all they do (and yes they do have a lot of good ones that do things like this) but refuse to believe me when I tell them some of the Auburn stories that are similar. Their response is always the same "Well you never hear about it or read about it." However they just don't seem to understand when I respond with "I wonder why that is?" Just wish these stories would get published by non-Auburn sites like the Bama ones do.

[AuburnNTexas 7,246]

Praying for Kenzie and taking my hat off to Sammie. I could not be prouder of him if he was my own son.

[VegasEagle 202]

Need more players like this!