Brenden Bates gets plenty of screentime in Hard Knocks Ep. 1

No, your eyes weren’t deceiving you watching the debut of HBO’s Hard Knocks late Tuesday evening. Most expected the Caleb Williams show, this year’s edition of the popular NFL training camp documentary series highlighting the Chicago Bears just months removed from selecting the league’s latest and greatest quarterback talent at No. 1 overall.

And sure, Williams was the obvious focus. The show started with the draft, followed by Ray Clay — the Bulls’ former PA announcer during the franchise’s dynasty in the ’90s — introducing the newest QB1 overtop the iconic theme song “Sirius” by The Alan Parsons Project after being described as “the biggest thing in Chicago since Michael Jordan.”

But if there was one cameo king throughout the 55-minute episode, it was none other than six-year Kentucky football veteran Brenden Bates, who signed with the Bears as an undrafted free agent this offseason.

At the 11-minute mark, Williams poorly covers John Legend’s “Ordinary People” during a team meeting after announcing his $25.5 million rookie signing bonus to the class. Bates, who earned a $10K signing bonus on his $795K base salary, is seen in the top-left corner of the screen soaking it all in.

After more Caleb Williams love, an appearance from legendary coach Nick Saban, a haircut for Matt Eberflus and a FaceTime call from Simone Biles as her husband, safety Jonathan Owens, leaves for the Olympics, we get back to the good stuff with Bates.

His head coach comes over to ask the former Wildcat who was up next for rookie hazing, Bates setting up one of the top highlights of episode one: Canadian lineman Theo Benedet stripping down to a bald eagle speedo to sing Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless The USA.”

“Hey Bates, who’s next?” Eberflus asked.

“Uh, Theo Benedet,” Bates responded.

“Theo? Oh, the big lineman? He’s that Canadian, right?”

“Yeah, the Canadian.”

Canadian Theo Benedet is 100% an American citizen after his Bears rookie talent show performance @barstoolchicago

pic.twitter.com/NOeTifh6eh

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) August 7, 2024

Looks pretty proud to be an American to me. Bates was undoubtedly a fan, along with everyone else in the room.

Unfortunately, Benedet went down with a Grade 2 hamstring sprain later in the episode and will be out “four, maybe even five weeks” for the Bears. Tough break for the fan favorite.

Moving on with Brenden Bates Watch, the former Wildcat gets his own quick clip praising Rome Odunze, the ninth overall pick for Chicago in the 2024 NFL Draft, following a big catch for the offense.

“That’s awesome, I love Rome,” Bates said.

Nailed it. Emmy-level performance for the Cincinnati native.

Speaking of pass-catchers, Bates also made a brief cameo in a key scene of episode one where star receiver D.J. Moore signs his four-year, $110 million extension with Chicago — a Bears record.

When General Manager Ryan Poles brings Moore up to his office after talking contract details with President & CEO Kevin Warren and the front office, Bates is to the prized piece’s left checking out practice.

No. 87 was then featured in a segment where backup quarterbacks Tyson Bagent and Brett Rypien share their birthday buddies, the former celebrating with none other than Kanye West and the latter with O.J. Simpson and Tom Hanks.

As you can probably imagine, that made for quite the screen grab with subtitles.

Great stretching, by the way, Bates.

And then the former Cat’s big moment: the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Bates racking up an impressive 47 receiving yards on two catches — tied for second on the team in the former category while leading the way in yards per catch at 23.5 yards.

He may not have gotten the same tight end love Collin Johnson got following his two-touchdown performance, but Bates undoubtedly made the most of his time on the field (and TV screen).

It didn't take long for Brenden Bates to make a name for himself as a Chicago Bear

He was all over episode one of HBO's Hard Knocks this weekhttps://t.co/QAY2ogDJqs pic.twitter.com/DqCjaWJZYP

— KSR (@KSRonX) August 7, 2024

Brenden Bates caught 26 balls for 272 yards and two touchdowns in five seasons as a letter-winner for Kentucky and six years total across 58 career games and 25 starts. He was among the key faces of the throw-to-the-tight-ends-more movement in Lexington. Now he’s a TV star on HBO.