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

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

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

who played for SUNY Cortland, 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 of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

and Seahawks Bellusco. He became a personal trainer 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 athletes or athletic teams. This is achieved through the combination of ...

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 is a member of the American Basketball Association in the East White Division, and will play their home games at the XGEN Elite Sports Complex in West Seneca. Founde ...

Early life

Robert S. Bateson Jr. was born in 1961, in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, son of Genevieve (née Kruk) and

investment manager Investment management is the professional asset management of various securities, including shareholdings, bonds, and other assets, such as real estate, to meet specified investment goals for the benefit of investors. Investors may be institutio ...

Robert S. Bateson Sr. His family moved to

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

in 1974, and later to

Eden, New York Eden is a town located south of Buffalo, in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 7,688 at the 2010 census. The basis for choosing the town's name is unknown. Eden is one of the interior "Southtowns" of Erie County, lying in ...

in 1977. Bateson played

at Eden Central High School, and was named to the

NYSPHSAA The New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) is the governing body of interscholastic sports for most public schools in New York outside New York City.http://www.nysphsaa.org/ ''nysphsaa.org'', accessed 15-JAN-2008. The ...

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 research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in As ...

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

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

. He was a four-year starter for SUNY Cortland, captaining the team in 1982 when he set the school's single-season record for tackles 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, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...

, concentrated in sports medicine. 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,

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 Pittsburgh Maulers may refer to: * Pittsburgh Maulers (1984), United States Football League team * Pittsburgh Maulers (2022) The Pittsburgh Maulers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Maulers compet ...

. He played professionally for the

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

in 1984. Bateson was signed by the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

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

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, competing for Seahawks Bellusco from 1986 to 1988.

Coaching career

Bateson founded the

health club A health club (also known as a fitness club, fitness center, health spa, 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 and health se ...

Body Blocks Fitness in 1988, located in downtown Buffalo. He has served as personal trainer for professional athletes including

Dave Hollins David Michael Hollins (born May 25, 1966) is an American former third baseman in Major League Baseball. Early life Hollins played baseball at Orchard Park High School, where he graduated in 1984. He attended the University of South Carolina an ...

. He was

under

Richard Jacob Richard L. Jacob Ph.D. (born September 24, 1958, in Niagara Falls, New York), is a sports coach and professor. He graduated from Niagara Catholic High School and Eisenhower College and obtained master's degrees in physical education and educa ...

for the

Buffalo Rapids The Buffalo Sharks were a professional basketball team in the American Basketball Association based in Buffalo, New York. The team played two seasons as the Buffalo Rapids and Buffalo Silverbacks before suspending operations. This team is not to ...

of the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger, American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, ...

from 2005 to 2006, and later for the

Buffalo Stampede The Buffalo Stampede was a basketball team in the Atlantic Coast Professional Basketball League (ACPBL) that started as a franchise in the Premier Basketball League (PBL) in the 2009 season. The team was originally the NexxNow Buffalo Dragons (c ...

of the Premier Basketball League in 2008. Bateson was hired by the

to run informal team workouts during the

2011 NFL lockout The 2011 National Football League Player lockout was a work stoppage imposed by the owners of the NFL's 32 teams that lasted from March 12, 2011, to July 25, 2011. When the owners and the NFL players, represented by the National Football League ...

. He served as strength and conditioning coach for the

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

under

Alexander Nwora Alexander Nwora is a Nigerian basketball coach of the Nigerian national team D'Tigers, which he coached at the AfroBasket 2017. He also been the head men's basketball coach at the Erie Community College since 1999. Early life He was born in th ...

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. The tournament was hosted in China and was rescheduled from 2018 to 2019, becoming the first since 1967 FIBA World Ch ...

. 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 ...

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 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