Ryan William Bates (born February 14, 1997) is an American 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 ...

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

for the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

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 ...

(NFL). 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 ...

for the

Penn State Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Penn State Lady Lions basketball, Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot ...

Early life

Bates and his sister Anna were two children born to Theresa Strocen-Bates and Norman Bates."Penn State Football"
Bio. Retrieved October 29, 2024. Bates attended

Archbishop Wood Catholic High School Archbishop Wood Catholic High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school within the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. The school was founded in 1964 in Warminster Township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. It sits on thirty-two acre tract of land ...

Warminster Township, Pennsylvania Warminster Township, also referred to as Warminster, is located in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. It was formally established in 1711. The township is 13.7 miles north of Philadelphia and had a population of 33,603 according to the ...

. He played offensive tackle with the Archbishop Wood Vikings whom he helped win the 2013 PIAA Class AAA Championship finishing with a 13-2 record. This earned him first team all-state selection honors for the 2013 season. Bates and the Vikings won the PIAA Class AAA Championship for a consecutive time during the 2014 season. He was also named to the First-team All-Philadelphia Catholic League in 2013 and 2014. In his junior season Bates was named the 2014 Pennsylvania Football News Lineman of the Year. Bates also earned Under Armour All-America Game selection honors during his senior season in 2015 while also serving as co-captain."247Sports"
Retrieved October 29, 2024. Both

247Sports 247Sports is an American network of websites that focus mainly on college recruiting, athletic recruitment in college football and college basketball, basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount Global, Paramount. The website hosts a large ...

and Rivals.com rated Bates a four-star recruit. He received numerous recruitment offers from universities including

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

Rutgers Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College and was aff ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

, Auburn,

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

and Penn State."Rivals.com"
Retrieved October 29, 2024.

College career

Bates committed to Penn State. After his

true freshman The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football; for a list of terms unique to that code, see '' Glossary of Canadian football''. 0–9 ...

season in 2015, Bates joined the field for the 2016 season as a redshirt freshman. During this season, Bates started in all 14 games, playing the positions of offensive lineman, left guard and left tackle. He earned various

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...

honors along with All-American and Team of the Week honors during the 2016 season. During his sophomore season in 2017, Bates started 8 of 10 games as a left tackle. After sustaining an injury, Bates sat out games against

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...

and

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

. During his junior season in 2018, Bates earned third-team All-Big Ten and Big Ten Teams of the Week honors. While at Penn State, Bates graduated with a degree in Labor and Employment Relations."Archbishop Wood Football"
Retrieved October 29, 2024.

Professional career

Philadelphia Eagles

Bates signed with the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

as an undrafted free agent on May 10, 2019.

Buffalo Bills

On August 9, 2019, Bates was traded to 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 ...

for linebacker Eli Harold. Bates made his first career start in Week 16 of the 2021 season at right guard, and started the remainder of the season and through the playoffs at left guard. On March 14, 2022, the Bills placed a restricted free agent tender on Bates. On March 24, 2022, the

signed Bates to an offer sheet, but Buffalo matched the offer. On April 4, 2022, the Bills signed Bates to a four-year $17 million contract.

Chicago Bears

On March 4, 2024, Bates was traded to the

for a 2024 fifth-round pick. He was placed on injured reserve on September 14. He was activated on November 9.

References

External links

Chicago Bears bioPenn State Nittany Lions bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bates, Ryan 1997 births Living people American football offensive tackles Penn State Nittany Lions football players Buffalo Bills players Chicago Bears players People from Warminster, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Bucks County, Pennsylvania Philadelphia Eagles players 21st-century American sportsmen