Lucky No. 13. First and foremost, a reminder that we are very lucky to have both Todd Rucci and Drew Bledsoe jointing us on the New England Football Show tonight at 8 to reminisce about that season and talk about what they’re up to now.

Getting back to our trip down memory lane, we take a look back at the season that the original 87, Ben Coates had in 1996.

Coates was Rob Gronkowski long before Gronk was even thought about by his parents. In 96, the beast of a tight end hauled in 62 catches on 100 targets for 682 yards and nine touchdowns. The nine touchdowns were the most in a single season during Coates’ 10-year career. Coates averaged 6.8 yards per target that season and played all 16 games plus the three postseason games. Coates may have been one of the most durable players in the history of the organization, playing in 16 games nine of his 10 years.

Coates’ biggest game statistically in 96 came on November 3rd in the 42-23 blowout win over Miami. Coates caught five balls for 135 yards and two touchdowns in the win and had his longest career touchdown reception when he broke one for 84-yards.

““We have as many weapons as probably anybody in the league right now,” Bledsoe said to the media following that game. “Any time you can get the ball to Ben Coates in the flat and have him run with the football, that’s a good situation.”

In the regular season, Coates had six games with five catches or more, including a seven-catch game in the shootout win over Baltimore. During New England’s postseason run, Coates caught 10 balls for 90 yards and a touchdown in the three games.

For his career, Coates ended up finishing with 5,555 yards, 499 catches and 50 touchdowns in 158 career games. Drafted 124th overall in the fifth round of the 1991 draft, Coates made quite a name for himself as a no-nonsense, tough as hell weapon. Most importantly, he was Bledsoe’s security blanket on the field from 1993-1999 much like Gronk served as Brady’s security blanket for so many years. Coates ultimately didn’t finish his career as a Patriot, but did get to wrap up his career in Ray Bourque fashion, winning the Super Bowl as a member of the Ravens in 2000 before riding off into the sunset.

Coates finished his career as a five-time Pro Bowler, a two-time First Team All Pro selection and was named to the 1990’s Pro Football Hall of Fame 2nd All Decade team.

There is an entire generation who will never be able to appreciate Ben Coates for being the original monster tight end that was almost impossible to defend. Luckily for them, they got to watch Rob Gronkowski, but when you talk 1990’s Patriots and in particular the 1996 run, Ben Coates needs to be one of the first names mentioned. It’s also a damn shame that he’s not yet in the Hall of Fame.

Remember to watch LIVE tonight at 8 as we’ll ask Drew Bledsoe and Todd Rucci about Coates and many other aspects of the 1996 season as we continue our 25 days celebrating the 25th anniversary of the AFC title.