Deep in the heart of Texas, Jake Bates "thought the dream was dead." It's alive and well in Detroit.
The rookie kicker who was originally a soccer player at Central Arkansas and who never actually attempted a field goal in college nailed the biggest one of his life Sunday to lift the Lions over the Vikings in a battle for first place in the NFC North. There will be bigger ones yet.
Bates' 44-yard field goal with 15 seconds to play was the difference in a thrilling 31-29 win for Detroit. It earned him a game ball in a raucous locker room from Dan Campbell, who couldn't help but smile a few minutes later at the podium.
"Man, Bates, how 'bout that?" said Campbell. "What a kick, man."
What a trick, man. Bates signed with the Lions this summer after starring at Ford Field last season for the Michigan Panthers of the UFL. It felt meant to be, and Bates said it's "where he prayed to be." But his road to Detroit was more like the potholed highways around the city.
"18 months ago, I thought I was done with football," he said. "I was working as a brick salesman in Houston."
Bates went undrafted in 2023, not exactly surprising for a kicker who hardly ever kicked. After punting on soccer for football, Bates strictly did kickoffs over three years at Texas State and then Arkansas. The only team that wanted to give him a job out of college was Acme Brick. Bates recalled doing ride-alongs around Houston as he completed his training and tried to acquire a few clients.
"I thought I had to move on with my life," he said.
As fate would have it, his hometown Texans gave him a shot in training camp that summer. And while he didn't make the team, Bates kicked well enough to land an opportunity with the Panthers, in part because of a new rule in the UFL that incentivized a longer kickoff. The former left back had the leg for the job. Bates signed his contract on Christmas Day, and drilled a game-winning 64-yard field goal at Ford Field in his debut.
Bates went on to make the All-UFL team, and the Lions soon came calling. In the afterglow of his game-winner in Minnesota, Bates reflected on "how good the Lord has been in my life, the doors he's opened and closed for me to lead me here and into such a great situation with this coaching staff and this front office and these teammates."
"I couldn’t have even dreamt of this," said Bates. "This moment is so cool, and I’m taking it in stride and having fun with it."
Bates was 9-for-9 on field goals in his first five games with Detroit, including a game-tying kick as time expired in the Lions' Week 1 win over the Rams. He said that night that he stays calm in big moments by reciting his favorite bible verse -- Hebrews 12:1 -- and reminding himself that "it’s a kid’s game that we get to play as adults."
"It really doesn’t get much better than playing football. So keeping that child-like joy and having fun ... I know, for sure, my mom had a higher heart rate (than me)," Bates said with a laugh. "She said she’s aging a little bit too fast with me and my little brother playing football."
The Lions have been testing Bates frequently in practice. Campbell has been trying to faze him before his kicks by pumping in crowd noise and changing the spot and "yelling at him" to find out if he'll break. Bates just keeps knocking them through.
"So you feel pretty good when he gets thrust into it (in a game). It’s not the same, and yet it is. We just feel like his confidence has grown and he would go out there and it’s just the next kick. And he did that, so really proud of him, man," said Campbell. "Really proud of him."
Bates, 25, said the screaming crowd at U.S Bank Stadium in Minnesota was "the loudest environment I've ever kicked in." But he had the utmost faith in snapper Hogan Hatten and holder Jack Fox to do their jobs, so all he had to do was his. Hebrews 12:1 states that since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and run with endurance the race that lies before us.
Soon thereafter, Bates was surrounded by his teammates in the locker room and accepting his game ball from Campbell, smiling with such squinted eyes that "I couldn't really see." The first-place Lions are 5-1 and "fired up," he said, and "ready to get back to work." Kick by brick, Bates is helping Detroit build a winner.
"I think I have the best job in the entire world," he said, "so I wouldn’t trade it for anything."