Birmingham Stallions coach Skip Holtz often talks about the different motivations of players who play professional football in the spring.
“These young men want their opportunities, they want to move up, but they want to play some more over here for the love of the game,” he said. “Some are here because they want more film, but the players that are here, they’re appreciative, they’re grateful. They want an opportunity to get on the field.”
One player who made the most of that opportunity will be opposite the Stallions on April 7 when the Michigan Panthers host Birmingham at Ford Field in Detroit.
Kicker Jake Bates kicked a 64-yard field with three seconds remaining to lift the Panthers to an 18-16 victory over the St. Louis Battlehawks in the opening weekend of the United Football League.
Actually, he successfully kicked two consecutive 64-yard boomers; the first one didn’t count because St. Louis had called a timeout.
“(On the final drive) before they kicked off, I went up to (Michigan quarterback E.J. Perry) and told him to get it to the 45, and I’ll get it there,” Bates said. “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.”
That’s a standard comment from a field goal kicker, but Bates is hardly a standard field goal kicker.
In fact, the Texas native hadn’t even made a field goal that counted since 2017 when he was enrolled at Tomball High School. Even then he was better known for soccer, where he was all-region and offensive MVP of his team.
When he went to college, it was association football – not American football – that he tried first.
But after two seasons playing soccer at Central Arkansas, he transferred to Texas States and became a kickoff specialist on the football team.
By his senior season in 2022 he was a member of the Arkansas Razorbacks, and his powerful leg propelled him to All-SEC status as a kickoff specialist.
But lining up for a field goal?
That didn’t happen until he tried out for the Houston Texans, making a brief appearance in the preseason before being cut.
His next official field goal would have to wait until a spring day in a spring league two years later.
“I didn’t know what I was gonna do,” Bates said after hist first try at pro football fell short. “I didn’t know if I was gonna be just working my job selling brick or if I was gonna be able to play football. So yeah, it feels good. I felt like I got that sense of relief once we got into training camp and I was like, ‘Okay, this is happening. I’m here. I’m with the team.’ It definitely feels good to get the first game out of the way.”
Panthers coach Mike Nolan is certainly glad a job in football panned out.
“Jake Bates’ kick was – I guess both kicks – I mean, I don’t know what you call it. It was just it was unbelievable,” Nolan said. “(In practice) he just lined up and kicked just like you saw him today … they looked exactly like that. They could have gone for 70 yards.”
The Panthers’ QB hopes that when his club hosts the Stallions at 11 a.m. CDT next Sunday they’ll put Bates in a bit better field position if he’s called upon to give Michigan three points.
“I’m gonna try to get him maybe 50 next time … maybe shorter,” Perry joked. “He made it twice, but I don’t think you want to live and die on 64 yards.”
Perhaps not. Regardless of distance, however, Birmingham might be wasting a timeout should they try to ice him.
“Honestly, I didn’t even think about that,” Bates said. “A timeout didn’t even register in my head until I heard the whistle blow, but I was already in the flow of it. I think that’s a good thing that it didn’t even cross my mind that they could ice me. “Honestly, in that moment, I forgot icing existed.”
