UFL kicker Jake Bates—who has drawn the interest of the Lions—continued his magical season on Sunday.
Last week, Michigan Panthers kicker Jake Bates blasted on the scene last week during the opening weekend of the 2024 UFL season. Right here at Ford Field, Bates crushed a 64-yard field goal (twice) in the final seconds of the game to give the Panthers the nod and a 1-0 start to the season.
On Sunday, Bates had his encore, and it was almost just as impressive. With the Panthers trailing the Birmingham Stallions 17-7 with only two seconds remaining in the first half, Michigan trotted out Bates for a 62-yard attempt. Again, Bates delivered.
JAKE BATES THE GREAT… AGAIN! @jakebates30 nails a 62 yard FG before the half! #LetsHunt pic.twitter.com/zM1FbuXXDz
— Michigan Panthers (@USFLPanthers) April 7, 2024
With the 62-yard make, Bates has now made 60+ yarders in back-to-back games, something that has only been done once in the NFL:
According to our @ESPNStatsInfo department, there’s only been one instance in @NFL history where a guys hit back-to-back 60 yard FGs in back-to-back weeks.
Brett Maher (week 6/7 2019)
Jake Bates has now done it in the @TheUFL https://t.co/nu8qCkeoo5
— Skubie Mageza (@SkubieMageza) April 7, 2024
One quarter later, Bates casually knocked through a 52-yard field goal , making him three-for-three on the season—all from 52 yards or longer.
If you missed the story last week, Bates is one of the most unique developments in professional football. Last week, it was reported on the broadcast that Bates’ 64-yard game-winner was the first in-game field goal made or attempted since Bates’ high school career. He spent his entire college career as a kickoff specialist.
But the story is even crazier than that. Tony Paul of the Detroit News interviewed Bates last week, and it turns out the Panthers kicker never even made a field goal in high school . He only had one high school attempt and it was a missed 47-yarder.
“It was funny. Everything I saw was, ‘He hasn’t made a field goal since high school,’ and I was like, well, that’s a little incorrect, but I was just gonna roll with it,” Bates said. “The truth is, I didn’t make one in high school.”
Now, that isn’t to say field goal kicking is a completely foreign concept to him. Bates actually had a shot at the NFL last season, but after going just 2-for-3 on extra points in the preseason opener for the Houston Texans , he was waived.
How does this all relate to the Detroit Lions ? Well, aside from this all going down on their home turf, the Lions are one of several teams who have already inquired about Bates . Detroit has struggled to find a long-term kicker since letting Matt Prater walk in 2021, and general manager Brad Holmes has already said he plans on bringing in competition for currently-signed kicker Michael Badgley.
The UFL rules on players signing with the NFL are not clearly available, but the common belief is that they’ve adopted last year’s XFL policy, which prevented players from signing with the NFL until the completion of the season. The UFL regular season runs through June 2 with the playoffs ending June 16.