Jake Bates is a kicker in the Ultimate Football League (UFL), an NFL competitor, who played for three college football seasons as a kicker and is now playing for the Michigan Panthers. But, while he was only used for kickoffs in college ball, now Bates has been put to a broader use for the Panthers and needed to kick a whopping 64-yard field goal during a Saturday, March 30th game. He managed to score the field goal and win the game with just two -seconds left. Then, after the gam, he made his Christian faith clear and praised God.
As background, Bates was first a soccer player in high school at Tomball High School in Texas and two seasons at Central Arkansas. But then, when he transferred to Texas State in 2020, Bates left soccer behind and started playing football. He transferred to the University of Arkansas in 2022, continuing to play football as a “kickoff specialist” for the Razorbacks, something for which he earned first-team All-SEC honors.
Then he left college behind in 2023 and signed on with the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent. Unfortunately, he didn’t end up making it out of training camp and onto the team, so he ended up signing on with the UFL toward the end of 2023.
It was when playing with his UFL team, the Michigan Panthers, over Easter weekend, that he faced having to try his hand (or foot) at a field goal for the first time since high school. Speaking to FOX after the game and incredible field goal, Bates spoke about his faith, saying, “I prepared for this moment. I was ready. When you have a lot of faith in your guys, man, nothing is (impossible with) God. He is risen. Easter weekend, man. It’s a really special feeling.”
Bates also said, commenting on the field goal attempt and getting ready for it, “Before they kicked off, I went up to E.J. and I don’t know if he realized it because he was pretty locked in, and told him to get it to the 45 and I’ll get it there.”
Continuing, he added, “The first one, I hit a good ball, but that’s why you practice so hard so every kick can be the same. That comes from years and years of repetition and hitting the same ball. That’s what I try to do to every ball, it needs to be the same — never change anything.”
Watch the field goal here:
Jake Bates, a kickoff specialist, hadn't attempted a field goal since high school.
He just hit a game-winning 64-YARD field goal for the Panthers…
And he did it twice 🔥🦵 pic.twitter.com/7uL2QGEZoG
— UFL (@XFL2023) March 30, 2024
Bates has spoken about thankfulness in the past. After signing on with the UFL instead of the NFL, he said, “It doesn’t change too much. I’m thankful that this organization gave me a chance and took a shot in the dark on someone with my playing history — a lot of teams didn’t want to. So I think a lot of this season is just I want to show them that I’m thankful for them. They gave me this opportunity to chase a dream.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video