MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jake Bates sold rocks. Now he makes game-winning kicks in the NFL.

Bates made a 44-yard field goal with 15 seconds left Detroit Lions a 31-29 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.

Bates is 10 for 10 on field goals and 20 for 21 on extra points this season. The rookie signed with the Lions in June after a strong performance with the UFL’s Michigan Panthers, where he made three field goals of at least 60 yards in the spring season.

Bates, 25, was the Southeastern Conference Kicker of the Year in 2022, his only year at Arkansas. After dropping out, he felt it was time to try a different field – a completely different field.

“Eighteen months ago I thought I was done with football,” Bates said. “I sold rocks in Houston. I thought the dream was dead.”

Instead, he got a tryout with his hometown Houston Texans. He spent ten days in their training camp before being released in August 2023.

That led him to the UFL, where he made seven of 11 field goals from more than 50 yards for the Panthers last spring.

The Lions gave him a chance to compete with Michael Badgley for the team’s top job. The competition ended on July 25 when Badgley suffered a season-ending injury. It’s been Bates’ job ever since and it didn’t take long for him to earn coach Dan Campbell’s trust.

“I just felt good about it,” Campbell said of the decision to attempt a field goal rather than push for a touchdown on the Lions’ final drive. “We’ve had five NFL games with him, and when you see him every day in practice, and you give him the crowd noise and you move the spot and I’m yelling at him – you just apply pressure and watches. as he continues to make these steps.

“You feel pretty good when it’s pushed in,” Campbell continued. “We just felt like his confidence grew and he just went out there and it was just the next kick, and he did that.”

As more than 66,000 fans roared at US Bank Stadium, the rookie calmly went out and split the uprights.

“It was, without a doubt, the loudest environment I’ve ever had to deal with. But at the end of the day, it’s doing the same job that I’ve prayed for so long and worked so hard for,” Bates said. “I told myself to stay calm…do those things to keep my head in the right space and then go out and do my job.”

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