Jake Bates

Jake Bates (born March 30, 2000) is an American football placekicker for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He played college soccer for the Central Arkansas Bears and college football for the Texas State Bobcats and Arkansas Razorbacks. Bates holds the record for the longest field goal in United Football League history at 64 yards.

College career
Bates played two seasons of college soccer at Central Arkansas in 2018 and 2019, before transferring to play college football at Texas State in 2020 where he only handled kickoffs. He transferred to Arkansas in 2022, once again only handling kickoff duties. He was named first-team All-SEC as a kickoff specialist in 2022, tying the selection with Jack Podlesny.

Houston Texans
After going undrafted in the 2023 NFL draft, Bates signed with the Houston Texans on July 31, 2023. He was released on August 12, 2023.

Michigan Panthers
On December 25, 2023, Bates signed with the Michigan Panthers of the UFL. Bates's signing was one of several personnel decisions the league made based upon kickoff abilities (Donald De La Haye being another), as the UFL adopted a kickoff rule requiring the ball go 80 yards for a touchback, 15 yards longer than other levels of organized football.

On March 30, 2024, during Week 1 of the 2024 UFL season, Bates made a game-winning 64-yard field goal against the St. Louis Battlehawks, the longest field goal in the history of both the UFL and its predecessor leagues, five yards longer than the previous record set by Donny Hageman the previous year. The first in-game field goal of Bates' life, it is tied as the second-longest recorded field goal in professional football history. Coincidentally, the lone longer kick—Justin Tucker's 66-yard kick for the Baltimore Ravens against the Detroit Lions in 2021—occurred under nearly identical circumstances and on the same field (Ford Field). Bates, who had only attempted – and missed – one field goal before in his life (in high school), had made the kick twice, the first being discarded due to the Battlehawks icing the kicker. Bates would go on to, to date, kick two more field goals of 60 or more yards in 2024: an April 7 kick against Birmingham Stallions from 62 yards out, and a 60-yard kick against Arlington Renegades on May 5. The ball Bates kicked on the 64-yard field goal is on display at the Pro Football Hall of Fame as part of its "Pro Football Today" exhibit. He was named to the 2024 All-UFL team on June 5, 2024. His contract with the team was terminated on June 17, 2024 to sign with an NFL team.

Detroit Lions
On June 18, 2024, Bates signed a two-year contract with the Detroit Lions.