DETROIT -- Dave Fipp received a random text message on Saturday, March 30, 2024.
"Hey man, did you see that kick?" a friend wrote.
Fipp hadn't. But the Detroit Lions special teams coordinator didn't take long to find a clip.
The kick happened at Ford Field, the home of the Lions, in the Michigan Panthers' 2024 UFL season opener against the St. Louis Battlehawks.
Jake Bates, who was in the midst of his first year as a brick salesman in Houston, trotted on the turf with eight seconds remaining and calmly drilled a 64-yard, game-winning field goal. It was second-longest kick in pro football history and put the new United Football League on the map.
The Panthers got an 18-16 victory, and Bates got Fipp's attention.
"That was the first time that I had heard about him and then obviously that year he had a great year and so you looked at the tape, you watched more about him," Fipp said.
Bates' decision to join the UFL would prove to be life-changing. It was ultimately a springboard to sign with the Lions, who went on to win a franchise record 15 games last season, many with the help of their new kicker. He hit three game-winning field goals, made his first 19 field goals and missed inside 50 yards only once all season.
"That league did for me what it's built for," Bates said. "It's built to give people a stage and I was able to get that stage and without that I'm not here. So, I owe so much to the UFL and to the Panthers. Anything I can do to help that league, I'm on board with.
"I'm not obviously the most active person on like social media or anything, so as far as like pumping stuff out posting, I'm probably not that guy. But I'm super thankful for them, and so if they need to use me a little bit to get some hype around the league that I think is so good, I'm all on board for that."
MONTHS PRIOR TO the start of the 2024 UFL season, Bates needed a job -- any job. And he needed one fast.
He thought his NFL dream was over after he went undrafted coming out of Arkansas in 2023 and was cut by the Houston Texans in training camp that August. It was shortly thereafter that he approached commercial sales manager David Sterne at the Acme Brick company in Houston looking for work.
"We were excited to interview him when he came in and then just getting to know him, he's a real good family guy," Sterne said. "He basically was learning the ropes here and running brick samples to people and all that stuff."
Bates joined Acme in December 2023 and began training to be a brick salesman. He received a call from veteran agent Marty Magid of MRM Sports in February 2024 about a shot to play for the Panthers. Bates jumped at it.
"I expressed my belief about Jake's leg to many teams," Magid said. "We went on a journey for sure."
In a matter of weeks, Bates would transition from delivering brick samples to customers, occasionally sitting at the front desk and showing customers around the Acme showroom to nailing game-winning kicks.
Bates earned All-UFL honors after making that Week 1 splash against St. Louis. He proceeded to sign a two-year, $1.98 million deal as a free agent with the Lions in June after his lone season in the UFL and proved to be Detroit's best offseason addition. He was named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Month in November 2024 -- a month in which he was the only player to convert four field goals of 50-plus yards.
His 142 points last season were a Lions franchise record. He went 26 of 29 (89.7%) on field goals, tying him with franchise great Jason Hanson (1997, 26 of 29) for the best single-season field goal percentage (min. 25 attempts) in Lions history.
He was 4 of 4 on game-tying or go-ahead field goals in the final two minutes of regulation and overtime. Only Arizona's Chad Ryland was able to match that, per ESPN Research.
"The one thing that he has always done is when he got into games, whether it's Kansas City in the preseason, there's a clutch situation, he's played big in big moments for us and that's an important quality at that position," Fipp said. "You can miss some kicks along the way, but you have to make the big ones."
Bates' highlights included a 44-yard field goal with 15 seconds remaining to help Detroit secure a Week 7 victory in Minnesota and a 38-yarder as time expired to beat Green Bay in Week 14.
Delivering in those critical moments helped Bates earn the trust of his teammates, including veteran quarterback Jared Goff, who described it as "great" to witness him blossom throughout his first NFL season.
Jake Bates knocks through a 42-yard game-winning field goal to defeat the Renegades.
"He's grown up as well and it's fun to see him make those plays, it's fun to see him make those kicks and make them in big spots this year, he really has," Goff said on Dec. 26. "He's got such an even keel about him that you can't seem to rattle him, and that's what you want in your kicker.
"You don't want a guy that's high or low, and I know he's very confident in himself and we're confident in him and expect him to make some big kicks as we go on."
Sterne was in attendance at Houston's NRG Stadium on Nov. 10 when the Tomball, Texas, native added to his highlight reel. Bates made a 58-yard field goal to tie the game at 23 with 5:01 to play then made a 52-yarder as time expired to help the Lions overcome a 16-point deficit and beat the Texans 26-23.
"I got chills when he kicked that field goal," Sterne said.
Bates' storybook path to NFL stardom is now something that Sterne and those in the Acme Brick Company's office take pride in.,
And if the NFL doesn't work, Sterne says Bates will always have a spot waiting.
"It was like straight out of a movie. I think back to the movie about Kurt Warner and his career and how he was bagging groceries and out of the game and how he came back to be the Super Bowl MVP," Sterne said. "It may not be on that scale, but Jake's is pretty close."