With three Super Bowl wins, two USFL championships, two Holiday Bowl wins, and five Pro Bowls under his belt, former Cougar center Bart Oates is an accomplished offensive lineman. He’s reached almost every peak, but it’s his combination of success on and off the field that makes him truly extraordinary.
After serving a mission in Las Vegas, Oates started as BYU’s center for the 1980, 1981, and 1982 seasons. Playing BYU football runs in the family—he followed in the steps of his brother Brad, an offensive tackle from 1972 to 1975, and joined their brother Barry, a defensive end from 1980 to 1982. During his collegiate career, Oates protected Jim McMahon and Steve Young, helping the Cougars to Holiday Bowl wins in 1981 and 1982. His achievements earned him a spot in the Cougar Football Hall of Fame.
Predicted to be a fourth- or fifth-round draft in the NFL, he joined the USFL instead when the league’s Philadelphia Stars offered him a guaranteed, three-year contract worth $310,000—money that helped him finance law school at Seton Hall University during the next several off-seasons. The team won two USFL championships, but the league was on shaky footings, and when his contract ended, Oates left to join the New York Giants.
After spending the first two games of the 1985 season recovering from an injury sustained during training camp, he started every Giants game for the next nine years, never missing a practice. “As with anything in life, it’s consistency that counts,” he says. “I wasn’t the flashiest guy, but I showed up every day for practice and did my job—and it paid off.”
When the Giants won Super Bowl XXI in 1987, Oates says he felt an amazing sense of team accomplishment. “The Super Bowl represents the pinnacle of what you can achieve in football,” he says. “It’s what you work for as a football player from grade school on. Once you’ve been there, you realize it’s better than you ever imagined.”
That sense of accomplishment motivated Oates throughout his career. He played for the New York Giants for nine years, also winning Super Bowl XXV in 1991. He then signed with the San Francisco 49ers and was part of the team when they won Super Bowl XXIX in 1995.
After thirteen years of playing professional football, Oates decided enough was enough in 1995. “I retired because I couldn’t physically do it anymore,” he says. “Collectively over the years your body takes a pounding, and it was wearing on me.”
But retiring from football didn’t mean walking away from work. He already had a successful career as a lawyer, but he decided to apply his real estate law experience to a career in real estate consulting. He joined Cohn Real Estate, where he advises corporate clients on office locations and other real estate decisions. He also has a real estate development company.
In addition, Oates leads community initiatives such as the New Jersey Hall of Fame and the Teach Our Children Foundation, an organization committed to educating inner-city children. He and his wife, Michelle, have three children and live in Harding, New Jersey.
Whether on the field, in the courtroom, consulting, or volunteering, he has always been motivated by a commitment to do his best. “We all have various talents in varying degrees,” says Oates, who earned his BS in accounting from BYU in 1982. “We shouldn’t be satisfied with only using part of them. The goal is to make yourself better—then use your abilities to help others.”
