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With the Detroit Lions looking for a kicker with a big leg in 2024, it was obvious that former UFL standout and Michigan Panthers kicker Jake Bates would be perfect for them.
After nearly walking away from football for good and becoming a brick salesman following a few failed stints with NFL teams, Bates got another chance to kick for the Panthers and made the most of it.
The Arkansas product quickly made a name for himself by drilling 60-plus-yard field goals, and he showed he had the clutch gene, too. NFL teams certainly took notice, including the Lions.
Once his UFL contract was up, Bates got a call from the Lions, who signed him to a two-year deal with the intention of making him compete with Michael Badgley before he suffered a season-ending hamstring injury.
After dealing with struggles during training camp and the preseason, the Lions showed faith in Bates by sticking with him and not bringing in another kicker. That faith has paid off big time for Detroit, as Bates has made all 14 of his field goals, including two game-winners, the most recent of which came in Week 10.
"He gets away from everybody and he can kind of get in his own head, in a good way, and shut everything else out," head coach Dan Campbell said of Bates, per 97.1 The Ticket's Will Burchfield. "I do feel like there’s something to him when you put him in a competitive setting, he’s pretty good about that."
Campbell has done his part to help Bates get better at kicking under pressure. In fact, the Lions head coach has tried a few different methods, as Bates recently explained.
"There’s been a couple things he’s done," BAtes said. "He’ll get super close and just stare at me. He’s a big dude, obviously, he's got his hands on his knees, staring at me. I’ve noticed that. One time he yelled at me to hurry up, but I just keep telling myself to go through my normal routine. I was like, let’s make the kick and then we can worry about that later. That was early, but I remember that one. And then maybe there’s more — I just stay to myself."
Whatever Bates and the Lions are doing, they need to keep doing it. Bates has been very successful in his first season, and now he's drilling the long kicks that made him famous in the UFL after not attempting them earlier in the season.
If he can keep it up, Bates will be a huge weapon for the Lions the rest of the way.
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