By Marc ZarefskyThe Daily Northwestern

D’Wayne Bates came to Evanston and Northwestern twelve years ago as a low-key quarterback from a small farming town in South Carolina with plans of majoring in business.

He left the Wildcats as a wide receiver, first on NU’s all-time receiving yards list with a degree in education, and was a third round draft pick in the 1999 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears.

Now after a five-year career in the NFL with the Bears, the Minnesota Vikings, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Bates is back in Evanston, passing his knowledge and experience on in the classroom and on the football field at Evanston Township High School.

“Coming to Northwestern was my biggest accomplishment,” Bates said. “My high school was pretty good academically, but it was in a small town in South Carolina, with not a lot of opportunities, not a lot of diversity, really not a lot of culture outside of farming.

“I really grew up that first year (at NU). To me, seeing this melting pot was a culture shock. Academically, I was competing with the valedictorians of the world. (And athletically) I always had to go 110 percent because everyone else was just as athletic as me.”

During his redshirt year with the 1994 football team, Bates was slotted as fourth-string quarterback, but an opening at wide receiver opened the door for what would become one of the most prolific careers in NU football history.

“I was just trying to get on the field,” Bates said. “I had always visualized as a quarterback where I would want the receiver to be, so it was easy for me to make that transition.”

Bates made an impression as a wide receiver, both amongst the coaches and his teammates.

“My first memory of D’Wayne is when we couldn’t cover him on the scout offense,” said NU coach Pat Fitzgerald, who was Bates’ teammate from 1994 to 1996. “He was a great player during his redshirt year, and you could tell that the sky was the limit for him and that he was just an incredibly diligent worker.”

“Half of me was running because I was scared of getting hit by the safeties and linebackers like Fitz,” Bates said, laughing. The sky did appear to be the limit for Bates, and he took advantage. That fall, Bates blossomed into a standout wide receiver, becoming one of the core weapons for the 1995 Big Ten Champion and 1996 Rose Bowl team.

The transition from quarterback to wide receiver was not the only major switch Bates made in college.

Having decided that the business world did not match his personality, Bates chose to pursue a major in education following the Rose Bowl season.

That summer, he was a camp counselor at Lincoln Elementary School in Evanston, where he taught English and math, and coached sports.

“At that point, that defined my passion,” Bates said. “I knew I wanted to be in a position where I could (help) kids.”

After retiring from the NFL, Bates returned to Evanston last year to begin the process of becoming a teacher.

“Even playing through the NFL, going to Minnesota, living in Tampa, I always kept a home in Evanston, because I just felt Evanston, with Chicago, is a great city and a place of opportunity,” Bates said.

Starting last January, he spent his days sitting in different teacher’s classrooms, simply watching how they taught and learning firsthand what it took to succeed in his new career.

He currently is working on his Masters degree online through Phoenix University, and will officially begin student teaching in January 2007.

So far this school year he has observed, and done some teaching, with history teacher Charles Brady. He has also aided a global history class.

“What he has is a wonderful hook in terms of not only his personality and charisma, but his background,” Brady said. “But that’s not what’s going to make D’Wayne a great teacher. What’s going to make him a great teacher is his ability to communicate with kids and push them over the long haul.”

Evanston football players got the opportunity to learn firsthand as well from Bates, who volunteered this year as a receivers coach after getting his student teaching position.

“My receivers will tell you the two things we stressed were persistence and opportunity,” Bates said. “And I tried to get them to look beyond the field and apply that to life.”

That is what Bates did, and it is hope that he can now convey that idea to everyone around him at ETHS.

“Just by who D’Wayne is, he makes everybody around him that much more special,” Fitzgerald said. “He’s got just a dynamic loveable personality that is infectious.

“If you’re a young man searching for someone to follow, you’d be a fool not to follow his lead.”

Reach Marc Zarefsky at [email protected].