The Lions Rookie Kicker Who Hit Yesterday's Game Winner Was A Brick Salesman 18 Months Ago

Detroit Free Press - Jake Bates was selling bricks. Now he's making game-winning kicks in the NFL.

Bates made a 44-yard field goal with 15 seconds left to give the Detroit Lions a 31-29 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.

Bates is 10 for 10 on field goals this season and 20 for 21 on extra points. The rookie signed with the Lions in June after putting together a strong performance with the Michigan Panthers of the UFL, where he made three field goals of at least 60 yards in the spring league.

"Eighteen months ago, I thought I was through with football," Bates said. "I was selling bricks back in Houston. I thought the dream was dead."

Instead, he got a tryout with his hometown Houston Texans. He spent 10 days in their training camp before being cut in August 2023.

That led him to the UFL, where he made 7 of 11 field goals from 50-plus yards for the Panthers last spring.

I always love stories like this. Not just for the "underdog story" aspect of it, but because this is the kind of shit that really puts into perspective the difference between pro-athletes and us regular gen pop'ers. 

If I miss a week at the gym, my body turns to a pillow and my body is sore for days when I do venture back for a workout. 

This guy Jake Bates was training at Unilock learning about pavers this summer, and now he banging through game winners on the road, from downtown. 

And in just 7 games, he's 10-for-10 on the year, and he's already gained Dan Campbell's trust enough that Campbell almost had him attempt a 73-yarder a couple weeks ago against Seattle. 

USA Today - Dan Campbell wanted to send Jake Bates out for a record-setting field goal attempt, and if the Detroit Lions would have been a few yards closer to midfield, he probably would have.

Campbell said Tuesday he declined a personal foul penalty at the end of the first half of Monday's 42-29 win over the Seattle Seahawks because it would have left the Lions' in no-man's land, too far away for a Hail Mary pass to the end zone and not close enough even for Bates' big leg to attempt a field goal.

"That’s probably a little much," Campbell said. 'Man, if I thought we could have gotten to the minus-45, it might have been worth it, just to see him swing at one. But yeah, I would have liked to see that, too. I told (Lions special teams coordinator Dave) Fipp today it would have been nice just to get in, to let him swing at one. But we couldn’t quite there."

The 15-yard infraction would have given the Lions' a first-and-10 at the 37, which would have left Bates with an 81-yard field-goal attempt. The NFL record is 66 yards, set by Justin Tucker against the Lions at Ford Field in 2021. If the Lions reached the minus-45, Bates' attempt would have been 73 yards.

Love to see it. 

Bates was awarded the game ball after the game by Campbell too.

This Lions team is a Hollywood story and very very hard not to like.