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

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 ...

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

for 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 ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

Early life

Bates attended Archbishop Wood Catholic High School in

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 32,682 according to the 201 ...

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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

as an undrafted free agent on May 10, 2019.

Buffalo Bills

On August 9, 2019, Bates was traded to the

for linebacker

Eli Harold Medgar Elisha Harold (born January 20, 1994) is a gridiron football defensive end who is a free agent. He played college football for the University of Virginia Cavaliers. Early years Harold attended Ocean Lakes High School in Virginia Beach ...

. 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

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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

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.

References

External links

Buffalo Bills bioPenn State Nittany Lions bio
1997 births Living people American football offensive tackles Penn State Nittany Lions football players Buffalo Bills players People from Warminster, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania Sportspeople from Bucks County, Pennsylvania {{Offensive-lineman-1990s-stub