Bart Steven Oates (born December 16, 1958) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a center in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

and

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

. He played for the Giants from 1985 to 1993 and with the 49ers from 1994 to 1995. He was a member of the Giants teams that won

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

s XXI and XXV and the 49ers team that won

Super Bowl XXIX Super Bowl XXIX was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion San Diego Chargers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

College career

A graduate of Albany High School in Georgia, Oates played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

(BYU), originally entering in 1977 before serving an 2-year mission for

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

then later joining the Cougars football team.Hall of Fame - Bart Oates
, cougarclub.com, accessed January 13, 2007. Oates earned a BS in accounting from the

Marriott School of Business The Marriott School of Business is the business school of Brigham Young University (BYU), a private university owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and located in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 189 ...

there in 1985, and he was inducted into the BYU athletic Hall of Fame in 1992.

Professional career

The Giants signed Oates in 1985 at the relatively advanced age of 26. This was because he had initially played three seasons with the

Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars The Philadelphia / Baltimore Stars were a professional American football team which played in the United States Football League (USFL) in the mid-1980s. Owned by real-estate magnate Myles Tanenbaum, they were the short-lived league's dominant ...

in the

USFL The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

where he won two USFL championships.Bart Oates interview
, usflonline.readywebsites.com, accessed January 13, 2007. Oates has stated that he feels the 1985 Philadelphia Stars of the USFL could have beaten the 1985 Philadelphia Eagles. Oates won three

Super Bowls The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

, two with the Giants in

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

and

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, and one with the 49ers in

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

. Oates was selected to five

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

s during his career and to the

UPI United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...

All-NFC team three times. He was extremely durable, starting 125 consecutive games during his Giants career.

Television work

Oates worked as a

color analyst A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser (outside North America) ...

for NFL games on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

television in 1996, teaming with either Dan Hicks or, when Hicks was away on assignment, Jim Donovan. In 2006, he voiced himself in the ''

Aqua Teen Hunger Force ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' (also branded with different #Alternative titles, alternative titles for seasons 8–11), is an American adult animated television series created by Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro for Cartoon Network's late night progra ...

'' episode "Bart Oates".

Law career

Oates attended law school classes during the football off-season and graduated

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

with a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

degree from

Seton Hall Law School Seton Hall University School of Law is the law school of Seton Hall University, and is located in downtown Newark, New Jersey. Seton Hall Law is the only private law school in New Jersey. The school confers three law degrees: Juris Doctor, Mas ...

in 1990. He worked in New Jersey with the firms of Ribis Graham and Curtin in Morristown, Raymond Koski and Associates in Fort Lee and the real estate company Gale and Wentworth in Florham Park. His primary focus of practice was real estate and health care. He is a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association.

Civic and corporate roles

Oates was chairman of the New Jersey Hall of Fame, a Hall of Fame for New Jersey residents in a variety of fields ranging from scientists to athletes. He was selected to be inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame Class of 2019. He also spent time helping out as the line coach at Seton Hall Preparatory School earlier in the decade. He currently serves as the Bishop (lay Pastor) of the Morristown 1st Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and as the Executive Director of CIT International, promoting partnerships of law enforcement with mental health resources.Bart Oates, Executive Director
at CIT International web site

Personal life

Oates and his wife, Michelle, have three children and reside in

Harding Township, New Jersey Harding Township is a Township (New Jersey), township in Morris County, New Jersey, Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located in the Passaic River, Passaic Valley region within the New York metropolitan area. The township was ...

. His brother, Brad, also played offensive line in the NFL for six seasons on five teams.

References

External links

*
BYU profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oates, Bart 1958 births Living people American football centers BYU Cougars football players NFL announcers New York Giants players Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars players San Francisco 49ers players National Conference Pro Bowl players Lawyers from Morris County, New Jersey Seton Hall University School of Law alumni People from Harding Township, New Jersey Players of American football from Morris County, New Jersey Players of American football from Albany, Georgia American Mormon missionaries in the United States 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers Players of American football from Mesa, Arizona