Robert S. Bateson Jr. (born May 14, 1961) is a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

who played for

SUNY Cortland The State University of New York at Cortland (SUNY Cortland, C-State, or Cortland State) is a public university in Cortland, New York. It was founded in 1868 and is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. History The State Univ ...

, and later professionally for the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home game ...

and Seahawks Bellusco in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. He became a

personal trainer A personal trainer is an individual who creates and delivers safe and effective exercise programs for healthy individuals and groups, or those with medical clearance to exercise. They motivate clients by collaborating to set goals, providing m ...

and

strength and conditioning coach A strength and conditioning coach (also known as an S&C coach) is a physical performance professional who uses exercise prescription to improve the performance of competitive Athlete, athletes or Sports club, athletic teams. This is achieved throug ...

after retiring, and is currently associate head coach for the

Buffalo eXtreme The Buffalo eXtreme are a basketball team based in Buffalo, New York. The team competes in the American Basketball Association (2000–present), American Basketball Association (ABA) as a member of the White Division of the East Region. Darren ...

Early life

Robert S. Bateson Jr. was born on May 14, 1961 in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, the son of Genevieve (née Kruk) and

investment manager Investment management (sometimes referred to more generally as financial asset management) is the professional asset management of various securities, including shareholdings, bonds, and other assets, such as real estate, to meet specified inve ...

Robert S. Bateson Sr. His family moved to

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

in 1974, and later to

Eden, New York Eden is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 7,688 at the 2010 census. Eden is one of the interior " Southtowns" of Erie County, lying in the south-central part of the county and to the south of Buffalo. History ...

in 1977. Bateson played

at Eden Central High School, and was named to the NYSPHSAA Section VI All-Star team as a senior in 1978.

Playing career

Bateson was originally recruited to play collegiate football at

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a Public university, public research university in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio located in Kent State University at Ashtabula, Ashtabula, Kent State ...

, but couldn't afford the tuition after they only offered him a partial

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

. He was a four-year starter for

, captaining the team in 1982 when he set the school's single-season record for

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position) A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent ...

with 140, and the single-game record for tackles with 23. Bateson was named to the 1982 All- ECAC Team following his senior campaign. He graduated in 1983 with a BS in

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

, concentrated in

sports medicine Sports medicine is a branch of medicine that deals with physical fitness and the treatment and prevention of injuries related to sports and exercise. Although most sports teams have employed team physicians for many years, it is only since the ...

. After his senior year at SUNY Cortland, he received tryouts with

United States Football League 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 ...

teams including the

Chicago Blitz The Chicago Blitz was a professional American football team that played in the United States Football League (USFL) in the mid-1980s. They played at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois. Team history The Blitz were one of the twelve charter ...

New Jersey Generals The New Jersey Generals were a franchise of the United States Football League (USFL) established in 1982 to begin play in the spring and summer of 1983. The team played three seasons from 1983 to 1985, winning 31 regular season games and losing ...

and Pittsburgh Maulers. He played professionally for the

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

in 1984. Bateson was signed by the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

of 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 ...

as a free agent in 1985, but released due to a knee injury. He finished his playing career in

, competing for Seahawks Bellusco in the

Italian Football League Italian Football League (IFL; the name is in English) is the top level American football league in Italy first established in 1978. The first recognized league champion was crowned in 1980. The annual final playoff game to determine the league c ...

from 1986 to 1988.

Coaching career

Bateson founded the

health club A health club (also known as a fitness club, fitness center, health spa, weight room and commonly referred to as a gym) is a place that houses exercise equipment for the purpose of physical exercise. In recent years, the number of fitness an ...

Body Blocks Fitness in 1988, located in downtown

Buffalo Buffalo most commonly refers to: * True buffalo or Bubalina, a subtribe of wild cattle, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, a genus of wild cattle, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York, a city in the n ...

. He has served as

for professional athletes including Dave Hollins. He was

under

Richard Jacob Richard L. Jacob (born September 24, 1958, in Niagara Falls, New York), is an American basketball coach and educator. He is head coach of the Buffalo eXtreme of the American Basketball Association, and also sport management consultant for Vil ...

for the

Buffalo Rapids The Buffalo Sharks were a basketball team based in Buffalo, New York. The team competed in the American Basketball Association (ABA) as the Buffalo Rapids in 2005–06 and as the Buffalo Silverbacks in 2006–07 before suspending operations. ...

of the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...

from 2005 to 2006, and later for the

Buffalo Stampede The Buffalo Stampede were a basketball team based in Buffalo, New York. The team competed in the Premier Basketball League (PBL) for two seasons in 2009 and 2010, and in the Atlantic Coast Professional Basketball League (ACPBL) for the 2010� ...

of the

Premier Basketball League The Premier Basketball League (PBL) is an American professional men's basketball minor league that began play in January 2008. The league folded after the 2017 season. It was announced that the league would be revived under new management for t ...

in 2008. Bateson was hired by the

to run informal team workouts during the 2011 NFL lockout. He served as strength and conditioning coach for the

Nigeria men's national basketball team The Nigeria men's national basketball team represents Nigeria in international basketball, and it is governed by the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF). In March 2021, the global governing body FIBA ranked Nigeria as Africa's top men's bask ...

under Alexander Nwora at the

2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup The 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup was the 18th tournament of the FIBA Basketball World Cup for men's national basketball teams, held from 31 August to 15 September 2019. The tournament was hosted in China and was rescheduled from 2018 to 2019, b ...

. Bateson served as associate head coach of

The Park School of Buffalo The Park School of Buffalo is a private, co-educational, college preparatory school located in Amherst, New York (north of Buffalo). Founded in 1912 during the American country day school movement, the institution features lower, middle, and up ...

under

from 2017 to 2021, where they won the 2018 New York State Class A championship. He is currently associate head coach of the

under

Personal life

Bateson and his wife Paula own and operate RPB Holdings, a

property management Property management is the operation, control, maintenance, and oversight of real estate and physical property. This can include residential, commercial, and land real estate. Management indicates the need for real estate to be cared for and mon ...

company. He was inducted into the SUNY Cortland Athletics C-Club Hall of Fame in 2023.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bateson, Bob 1961 births American football linebackers American strength and conditioning coaches Cortland Red Dragons football players Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Living people Players of American football from Chicago American expatriate players of American football Italian Football League players