Report: UFL kicker who hit 64-yard FG already generating NFL buzz

“Before they kicked off…I told [quarterback E.J. Perry] to get it to the 45 and I'll get it there,” Bates said, via the Detroit Free Press. “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.”

Bates’ late-game heroics prompted several NFL teams to reach out to the Panthers after the game about the kicker, according to Tony Paul of Detroit News. However, per CBS Sports, Bates’ contract may require him to play out the full UFL season, which ends on June 2, before he can sign with an NFL team.

Perhaps even more impressive than the kick itself is the fact that it was the first field-goal attempt for the 25-year-old Bates since high school. He was used solely as a kickoff specialist in college during stints with Texas State and Arkansas.

Had Bates’ kick come in an NFL game, it would be tied for the second-longest field goal in league history. The only one longer was Justin Tucker’s 66-yarder in 2021 that bounced off the crossbar and gave the Baltimore Ravens a 19-17 win over the Detroit Lions as time expired.

Pauline confirmed the Lions were one of the teams who inquired about Bates. The team used two kickers in 2023 — Riley Patterson (now with the Jacksonville Jaguars) and Michael Badgley — who combined to make 19 of 21 kicks (90.5 percent) and 48 of 52 extra-point attempts (92.3 percent). Patterson’s long was 52 yards and Badgley’s long was 41 yards.

Only five NFL kickers made a field goal of 60 or more yards in 2023 — Arizona’s Matt Prater, Philadelphia’s Jake Elliott, Jacksonville’s Joey Slye, Kansas City’s Harrison Butker and Dallas’s Brandon Aubrey.