Jake Bates hits 64-yard field goal as Michigan Panthers win UFL opener
Jake Bates hit the game winning field goal in his professional debut on March 30, 2024.
Fox – 2 Detroit
Three sacks, two interceptions, one touchdown. 100 yards.
That’s the stat line from Michigan Panthers quarterback Bryce Perkins’ only NFL start. The 2022 Los Angeles Rams were overwhelmed with injuries and well on their way to a losing season. With both starter Matthew Stafford and backup John Wolford injured, the defending Super Bowl Champions turned to Perkins, who previously had never taken a snap in an NFL game
He did fairly well considering he was playing at the Kansas City Chiefs in a season where the Rams started 1-4 on the road. He secured a touchdown to wide receiver Van Jefferson in what remains his only career NFL touchdown.
Perkins remembers the game – interceptions and sacks included – and is proud to say he started for an NFL team, even though the Rams lost, 26-10.
But when he reflects on the game, he mostly remembers was how he didn’t enjoy it. Not because the game wasn’t fun or because the experience wasn’t good or because the Rams lost. It was because of the mental burden he’d placed on himself, washing out the moment with an undue amount of self-inflicted pressure.
“The moment was —it was too big in a sense of, man, I put too much weight on it, that I was just overloading my brain and overthinking a lot of things,” Perkins said Wednesday. “But because of that moment, I’ve become such a better, fair person.
“I think the journey after that for me has been so great because I have grown so much from it and I’m grateful for the opportunity. And now that I’m here, trying to continue my career, I know I’m a better pro for it as well.”
On Saturday his Michigan Panthers will face the D.C. Defenders in the UFL Championship and Perkins is determined to enjoy it.
This isn’t the first time Perkins has led a team to a title game. He has a long history of it, going back to 2014 when he led Chandler (Arizona) High School to its first state championship in 65 years. In his first full season of college football, Perkins guided the Arizona Western College Matadors to the Junior College National Championship, though they lost to East Mississippi.
At Virginia, where Perkins spent his final two years, he snapped a 13-year-long bowl victory drought as the Cavaliers shut out the South Carolina Gamecocks, 28-0, and won the 2018 Belk Bowl. As a professional, he won a Super Bowl ring with the Los Angeles Rams in 2021.
But Perkins also grown a lot since that high school championship. He endured a severe neck injury that ended his career at Arizona State, where he spent his first two years of college. He won a Super Bowl, lost an NFL game and considered quitting football altogether.
More than anything, Perkins knows how short careers can be and how limited big opportunities are.
Unlike that game vs. the Chiefs, he’s determined to enjoy this championship.
“It’s supposed to be fun,” Perkins said. “Never take it too serious. In the past in my life, I think I’ve, at times, let the moment be really, really serious where (it) kind of took the joy out of just going out there and playing and putting a lot of pressure on the execution part of it.
“You definitely need the execution, but you need to be able to go out there and have fun and go and play free and play fast and trust that your preparation is going to play for you.”
Perkins is a true dual-threat quarterback, equally dangerous running the ball as he is throwing it. Plenty of that comes from instinctive play, but it also comes from that preparation. It’s something he learned in the NFL: Always be prepared.
“You never know when your shot’s coming, but you have to prepare like it’s always going to come the next play,” Perkins said. “You never know when that fork hits the road and it’s your time to go make a play or not make a play. You have to be ready for the moment.”
Perkins’ fork in the road came at the end of the 2022 NFL season, where he was playing for the Rams. It didn’t look as though he’d get another chance anytime soon, so Perkins returned home and continued training. He considered quitting and running his family’s alcohol company, SipTale, full time.
Ultimately, his mother told him to make up his mind. He needed to be all in on football, or he needed to be done.
He decided he was all in and went back to training full time.
Around the same time, Michigan Panthers general manager Steve Kazor began texting Perkins. The Panthers were looking for a new quarterback and Kazor knew Perkins from his time as a scout with Los Angeles. But Perkins waited too long to decide and Kazor signed another quarterback.
“At that moment when they signed a quarterback, I was like, ‘If I ever get my opportunity, I won’t delay it again,’” Perkins said.
He got his chance in Week 5 of the 2024 UFL season and made his season debut in Week 7 against, somewhat ironically, the D.C. Defenders.
This season he started seven of 10 games for the Panthers and he won the UFL Offensive Player of the Year Award. He’s led one of the most dynamic offenses in the league with running backs Toa Taua and Nate McCrary and wide receiver Malik Turner.
Turner is also Perkins’ roommate, along with wide receiver Xavier Malone, and Turner and Perkins will frequently study film together.
“He always takes (and) watches films, and (he) can always hear what I’m thinking when we’re watching it together and can hook up on it,” Perkins said.
Turner and Perkins made magic in the USFL Conference Championship against the Birmingham Stallions, including a pass from Perkins that Turner turned into a 76-yard touchdown. They will need much more of that if the Panthers are going to overcome a stalwart D.C. defense in St. Louis.
What Perkins wants to do most Saturday — besides win — is have fun. It’s why he came back to football. It’s why he wants to keep playing.
“God put it in my heart to keep playing,” Perkins said. “There’s not really a reason of anything. It’s just that it still feels right in my soul to keep playing, and as long as you know, I keep getting a thumbs up, I will.
“And it’s still beautiful. I still have fun throwing the ball, and it’s an amazing locker room to be a part of, and being with the guys — it’s a beautiful feeling.”