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In good hands: NFL prospect Sammie Coates has so much to offer
On Sept. 14, 2013, 11-year-old Kenzie Ray sat outside gate 10 at Jordan-Hare Stadium following Auburn's 24–20 win over Mississippi State and waited to meet Tigers offensive tackle Shon Coleman. Kenzie, from nearby Tallassee, had been diagnosed with leukemia the previous May, and she wanted to talk to the player who, famously, had defeated cancer and come back to play. She met Coleman—but she also met Coates, who traded wristbands with her and sent her a shout-out on Instagram.

Before long Kenzie and Sammie were speaking nearly every day, on the phone or over FaceTime, and today Coates calls her his sister; she calls him her brother. The night before Coates worked out at the combine in Indianapolis, Keisha Ray watched her daughter bawl as she FaceTimed with the receiver. He had been busy training for the combine in Gulf Breeze, Fla., so he hadn't visited Kenzie in weeks. Kenzie, sick and weakened by a dose of chemotherapy, finally smiled the next day when she saw Coates wearing cleats with her name imprinted on them as he blazed through the 40-yard dash, recording the 12th-fastest time among offensive players.

Kenzie helps Coates maintain some perspective. "This little girl has more faith than I do," he says. And Coates helps Kenzie feel normal—Keisha noticed this early in their friendship. "He would get down to her level, like a kid again," she says. "[Kenzie] needed that."
Last summer, when Kenzie contracted pneumonia and doctors said she might never leave her Birmingham hospital, Coates supported her entire family with his visits and calls. If Kenzie wouldn't answer, he would blow up Keisha's phone, worried that something had happened. When he could sense Keisha's stress, he relayed one message over and over: It's going to be O.K. "I know he doesn't fully get it, because he's a kid himself and not a parent," says Keisha, "but when he lays eyes on his firstborn, he'll understand what he has done for our family."

Coates already understands what Kenzie has done for him. When he visited her in the hospital and saw cancer-stricken children building friendships—even when their conditions sometimes prevented them from entering each other's rooms—he understood that the strongest people find hope and joy no matter their circumstances. "They make the best of their lives," Coates says. "Why should I be down just because I have a freakin' pulled hamstring?"

If Coates can explain all of these things to kids who feel lost like he once did, he'll be happy. He wants them to make friends, to use their minds, to forget, forgive, find inspiration. That way, no one will have to shake them awake; they'll embrace each morning the way he does now. "Holy crap," he says. "It's a new day, I've got air to breathe. I know there's something out there I can do to be a better person."

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Sammie Coates has an idea. At some point, with a chunk of the NFL money he is bound to make because he is fast (a 4.43-second 40 at the combine), explosive (41-inch vertical jump), strong enough to toss a jamming cornerback onto the sideline (23 bench-press reps at 225 pounds, best among receivers) and proficient enough at catching footballs, Coates wants to start an organization. He wants to reach into communities like Leroy, Ala., the no-stoplight dot-on-a-map where he spent his formative years, and he wants to help kids who've lost a parent. The former Auburn receiver lost his father in November 2003, when Sammie was 10 and in fifth grade. Sammie Coates Sr. was killed in a car crash while driving to one of his two jobs, but his son also understands that some parents disappear without leaving this mortal coil. He wants to help those kids as well.

Foremost, Coates, 21, wants to tell kids, It's going to be O.K. He wants them to know that they can do great things. After his father died, he didn't have anyone to offer such assurance. He wants those lost souls to know that they can build their own lives, piece by piece. They need only follow his advice.

Auburn board, wrong board, Auburn sucks, yada-yada...

Read the story, you won't regret it. And if you aren't already a Sammie Coates' fan, you will be. It isn't just about Kenzie Ray, Sammie Coates' "little sister." It goes so much more in depth of the person he is, where he came from and how far he has come.

https://www.si.com/nfl/2015/05/01/2015-nfl-draft-sammie-coates-auburn-inspirations