NFL kickers really have the most thankless jobs in the league: the outcome of entire games depends on a single kick, and after a bad game, your career can sometimes end quite quickly. The hero status and that of the bogeyman are often very close to one another. Chokehold or hymns of praise – what the heck, NFL?
It was one of the bigger upsets of the weekend: Wide receiver Deebo Samuel can be seen on the sidelines of his 49ers‘ game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, attacking two of his teammates. What had happened? The shaky 49ers struggled to a narrow 23-20 win in San Francisco. The game was decided by a converted field goal by kicker Jake Moody. So far so good. So Moody could be the hero of the game. However, he had already failed to convert three field goals in the game, two of them in the fourth quarter, and had thus drawn the displeasure of his teammates. It was Moody’s first game after a three-week injury layoff.
The scene in which Deebo Samuel first grabs long snapper Taybor Pepper by the neck and then pushes kicker Moody is quite unusual. What exactly triggered the altercation cannot be seen in the footage. While Samuel leaves his two teammates standing after the attack, Moody has to hold back the angry Pepper, who shouts some certainly unpleasant words after Samuel. Is the action just an out-of-context scene from a hot-headed receiver, or a glimpse into a deeper rift within the 49ers’ team? In any case, it is an absolute no-go not only to attack your own teammate, but also to do the whole thing in public and in front of hundreds of cameras. Imagine a scene where Samuel drops a ball, does he give carte blanche to tackle it too?
Compared to the league’s often diva-like wide receivers, who like to tweet too much or skip training sessions, Samuel hasn’t really stood out in an exceptionally negative way so far. In San Francisco he is even one of the team captains. After the game, Samuel told NBC that he got carried away by the heat of the moment and acted “out of character.” He would talk to Moody and the two would “get over it.” Pepper would have intervened in the situation, he wouldn’t have talked to him at all. According to Pepper, he primarily defended Moody. In his post-game interview, he focused on highlighting the achievements of Moody, who is only 24 years old. Samuel would have told the special teams people to “pull themselves together.” Pepper snorted that they knew what job they had to do. They didn’t talk to each other. It doesn’t exactly look like a harmonious team. Whether It is not yet known whether the 49ers will punish Samuel within the team for his outburst.
In complete contrast to the extremely negative vibes in San Francisco is the story of Jake Bates in Detroit. Everything seems to be going well in the Motor City at the moment. It doesn’t matter that Jared Goff has a bad day and throws five interceptions or that you have to chase a slightly larger deficit at halftime for a change. In the end, the Lions still win, because in addition to their running game, their O-line and, increasingly, their defense, they can also rely on their special teams.
In addition to an extremely secure foot so far, Jake Bates also brings with him one of those almost cheesy stories that only sports can write. Bates actually played football in college, but was then used as a kickoff specialist on the football teams at Arkansas and Texas State. After he wasn’t drafted in the 2023 NFL draft, the Houston Texans signed him but released him pretty quickly after tryouts. In December 2023, Bates began playing in the UFL minor league. In March 2024, Bates converted a field goal from 64 yards out. Not only was it the first field goal ever made by Bates since an unsuccessful attempt in high school, but it was also the second-longest in professional football history. He converted two more field goals from 60+ yards on the season. As a result, several NFL teams tried to get the kicker, and in July he signed a two-year contract with the Lions. Since then, he has converted all 14 of his field goal attempts.
In the game, of course against the Texans, Bates scored the last six points of the game. First he equalized the score with a field goal from 58 yards, with the ball only finding its way into the goal just very thinly along the inside right of the goal post. Shortly afterwards he won the game with no time on the clock with a 52-yard kick, which this time almost touched the pole on the other left side and was able to celebrate. There were only a few centimeters between the all-important points and negative headlines. Now, of course, Bates stands as a hero, receiving warm words from Coach Dan Campbell after the game and his second Special Teams Player of the Week award. Fans have already jokingly nicknamed him “Legatron” after Calvin Johnson. He certainly won’t stick with his 100% record – but he definitely had a better weekend than Jake Moody.
