You probably won’t catch John Bates finding any excuse to dance shirtless or spouting out nuggets of knowledge like “yo soy fiesta.”
But Bates can take plenty from New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, football-wise.
“I really tried to watch a lot of (Gronkowski’s) film in the offseason, kind of learning how he runs his routes, how he goes up and attacks the ball,” said the Boise State sophomore tight end.
Bates is a big target, listed at 6-foot-6 and 247 pounds. For the normally reserved Bates, the next step is learning how to use that size as a weapon like the five-time Pro Bowler.