Robert Bees (born September 5, 1972) 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 ...

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

who played two seasons in the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

(AFL) with the

Oklahoma Wranglers The Oklahoma Wranglers were a professional arena football team based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. They were members of the Central (1996–1997) and Western (1998–2001) Division of the American Conference of the Arena Football League (AFL). Th ...

San Jose SaberCats The San Jose SaberCats were a professional arena football team based in San Jose, California. The SaberCats had been members of the Arena Football League (AFL) since 1995 (the year in which the team was founded); and until 2015, they belonged to ...

and Buffalo Destroyers. He 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 ...

Rocky Mountain The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

. He was also a member of the

Richmond Speed The Richmond Speed were one of the original 15 teams to join the inaugural 2000 AF2 season. They started off in the American Conference in 2000, before going over to the Northeast Division in 2001, then to the Atlantic Division from 2002–2003. ...

, Billings Outlaws/Mavericks, Las Vegas Gladiators and

Tulsa Talons Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa ...

Early life and college

Bees attended

Cajon High School Cajon High School is located in the University District, San Bernardino, University District of San Bernardino, California, and is part of the San Bernardino City Unified School District. Academics Cajon High School is part of the International ...

San Bernardino, California San Bernardino ( ) is a city in and the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 census, making it the List of ...

. He

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

a year for the

Weber State Wildcats The Weber State Wildcats are the varsity athletic teams representing Weber State University in Ogden, Utah in intercollegiate athletics, sponsoring 16 teams. The Wildcats compete in NCAA Division I FCS and are charter members (1963) of the Big ...

Weber State University Weber State University (pronounced ) is a public university in Ogden, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy and earned its current name in 1991. As of fall 2023, the student population reached 30,536 students, cons ...

. He transferred and played a year for the

San Bernardino Valley College San Bernardino Valley College is a public community college in San Bernardino, California. It is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. The college has an enrollment of 17,044 students and covers . Valley College is also a ...

Indians. He was part of two teams that went 20-1-1, and won the So. Cal. Bowl against El Camino and Potato Bowl against Bakersfield. Bees played for the

Ohio Bobcats The Ohio Bobcats are the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I Intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio University, located in Athens, Ohio, United States. Ohio University is a charter member (1946 ...

Ohio University Ohio University (Ohio or OU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Athens, Ohio, United States. The university was first conceived in the 1787 contract between the United States Department of the Treasury#Re ...

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

. Bees made his first start for Ohio on October 22, 1994. He played for the Rocky Mountain Battlin' Bears of

Rocky Mountain College Rocky Mountain College (Rocky or RMC) is a private college in Billings, Montana, United States. It offers 50 liberal arts and professional majors in 24 undergraduate disciplines. As of 2013, the college had 1,069 enrolled students. RMC is affil ...

in 1996 after a year off from football. He helped Rocky Mountain open the season with a victory and the team finished 6–4. Bees recorded seven touchdown passes and a NAIA record 685 yards passing in a game against the Carroll Fighting Saints. He received first-team

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

recognition after throwing for 4,315 yards and 36 touchdowns in ten games. His 431.5 passing yards per game in 1996 set an NAIA all-time record.

Professional career

Bees was a member of the

of the AFL in 1999. Bees was selected by the AFL's

in the 2000 Expansion Draft. He was released by the Wranglers on May 17, 2000. Bees played for the

of the

af2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football r ...

from 2000 to 2002. He completed 262 of 502 pass attempts for 3,579 yards and 73 touchdowns while helping the Speed to

ArenaCup II The 2001 AF2 season was the second season of the AF2. The league champions were the Quad City Steamwheelers, who defended their title with a victory over the Richmond Speed in ArenaCup II. This is the first time that both conferences contained t ...

. He joined Richmond midway through the 2000 season and guided team to a 7-2 record after the Speed had gone 0-7. Bees started all 34 wins in Speed history and owned a 34-13 record as Richmond's starter. Bees was signed by the

Billings Outlaws The Billings Outlaws were a professional indoor football team based in Billings, Montana. They were a member of the Indoor Football League (IFL), of which they were the 2-time defending champions. They played their home games at Rimrock Auto A ...

of the

National Indoor Football League The National Indoor Football League (NIFL) was a professional indoor football league in the United States. For their first six years, the league had teams in markets not covered by either the Arena Football League or its developmental league, ...

(NIFL) in December 2002. Bees signed with the San Jose SaberCats on January 16, 2003. He was released by the SaberCats on April 16 and signed to the team's practice squad on April 18, 2003. Bees was signed by the Buffalo Destroyers off the San Jose SaberCats' practice squad on April 25, 2003. He started the Destroyers' final four games of the 2003 season. Bees was traded to the Las Vegas Gladiators on November 19, 2003. He was released by the Gladiators on January 27, 2004. Bees played for the

of the af2 in 2004. He made the National Conference All-af2 Second Team. He played first game with the Talons on May 8 against the Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings. Since then, the Talons recorded 12 wins, 11 consecutive, and one loss. He became a member of the 200/10,000 Club for af2 with 227 touchdown passes and 11,688 yards on August 4, 2004. As of August 6, 2004, Bees was ranked second in pass rating with a 118.7 rating. Bees was

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

and starting quarterback for the Billings Mavericks of the NIFL, helping them to the first round of the playoffs.

Coaching career

Bees continued as offensive coordinator of the Billings Outlaws in 2006, helping them to a NIFL Championship win. He was head coach of the San Diego Shockwave of the National Indoor Football League in 2007.

References

External links

Stats Crew profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bees, Bob Living people 1972 births American football quarterbacks Weber State Wildcats football players Ohio Bobcats football players Rocky Mountain Battlin' Bears football players Oklahoma Wranglers players Richmond Speed players San Jose SaberCats players Buffalo Destroyers players Tulsa Talons players Billings Outlaws players Las Vegas Gladiators players Players of American football from San Bernardino, California San Bernardino Valley Wolverines football players Cajon High School alumni