Breaking: Panthers Makes Illegal Contact To Sign $24.4 Million Standout Defensive Back

Jake Bates, a kicker with the Michigan Panthers in the United Football League, has recently gained attention from the NFL. His coach, Mike Nolan, issued a caution to teams that attempted to contact Bates too early.

Bates made headlines late last month when he easily connected on a 64-yard field goal to win a game for the Panthers.

The successful 64-yarder was Bates’ second successful try after the first was ruled out. The rival St. Louis Battlehawks had called a timeout to try to ice Bates on the first attempt, but it did not succeed.

Bates’ field goal was his first since high school. During his undergraduate career at Arkansas and Texas State, he only played as a kickoff specialist.

One week later, Bates demonstrated that his kicking ability was not a fluke by converting a 62-yard field goal for the Panthers.

It’s not surprising that the NFL is reportedly interested in Bates. However, his Panthers coach understands that NFL teams are not permitted to contact their star kicker just yet.

According to Nolan’s statement to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, some NFL teams have attempted to reach Bates ahead of schedule.

“With Jake, somehow some of them are trying to make efforts to do that, to be honest with you, and hopefully that backs off a little bit because that’s not — they’re not supposed to do that,” Nolan said.

NFL teams are prohibited from contacting UFL players or their representatives until the end of the season.

Nolan stated that he views Bates and the rest of his players as his own children. Nolan went on to say that he would want to see Bates receive a chance to make an NFL team. However, the Michigan coach wants his guy to concentrate on the UFL season first and play well enough to keep NFL teams interested until the season is over.