I think he's an introvert and he's always been a "different" guy and even a good athlete can be the butt of jokes. I knew a few guys on the BYU football team when I was going to school there who were constantly being mocked by their teammates, and not all of it was good-natured. One of them was a pretty good player whose name you would all recognize.

I also played basketball with a guy in high school who was 6'4" who later played some college ball (good player) but he was harassed and teased in the locker room every single day because he was an easy target. One of our coaches even called him a lot of unflattering names and did a few harsh things to him in practice like spitting on the kid's hands when he dropped entry passes to the post. I suspect Bauer fit that same profile.