Mario Bates

{{Short description|American football player (born 1973)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}

{{Use American English|date=March 2024}}

{{Infobox NFL biography

| name = Mario Bates

| number = 24, 31

| position = Running back

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1973|1|16}}

| birth_place = Victoria, Texas, U.S.

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 1

| weight_lb = 217

| high_school = Amphitheater {{nowrap|(Tucson, Arizona)}}

| college = Arizona State

| draftyear = 1994

| draftround = 2

| draftpick = 44

| pastteams =

• New Orleans Saints ({{NFL Year|1994|1997}})
• Arizona Cardinals ({{NFL Year|1998|1999}})
• Detroit Lions ({{NFL Year|2000}})

| highlights =

• First-team All-Pac-10 (1993)

| statlabel1 = Rushing yards

| statvalue1 = 3,048

| statlabel2 = Rushing average

| statvalue2 = 3.6

| statlabel3 = Rushing touchdowns

| statvalue3 = 38

| statlabel4 = Receptions

| statvalue4 = 65

| statlabel5 = Receiving yards

| statvalue5 = 419

| pfr = BateMa00

}}

Mario Doniel Bates (born January 16, 1973) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the New Orleans Saints, Arizona Cardinals, and the Detroit Lions. He played college football for the Arizona State Sun Devils and was selected in the second round of the 1994 NFL draft.{{Cite web |title=1994 NFL Draft Listing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1994/draft.htm |access-date=2023-03-31 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}}

Playing for Arizona State in 1993, Bates carried the ball 246 times for 1,162 yards with eight touchdowns in 11 games. His brother, Michael, also played in the NFL.[http://www.profootballhof.com/assets/history/Brothers_Mar_28_2006.pdf Brothers in Pro Football] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020074304/http://www.profootballhof.com/assets/history/Brothers_Mar_28_2006.pdf |date=2013-10-20 }}

{{NFL predraft

| height ft = 6

| height in = 0 5/8

| weight = 217

| dash = 4.43

| ten split = 1.56

| twenty split = 2.63

| shuttle = 4.12

| vertical = 36.0

| broad ft = 10

| broad in = 8

| bench = 15

| arm span = 33 1/4

| hand span = 9 1/2

}}