Get all your news in one place.

100’s of premium titles.
One app.

Get all your news in one place.

100’s of premium titles. One news app.

Sports Illustrated

Stephen Douglas

Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and ‘MNF' Audience All Delighted By Jake Bates’ Softball Trick

Jake Bates Joe Buck Troy Aikman Lions CJ Fogler Football ESPN

Jake Bates stays limber during the Lions - 49ers game. | @NFLonFOX / ESPN

America was enjoying a great Monday Night Football matchup between the Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers when all of a sudden kicker Jake Bates came out of nowhere to become a rather delightful meme.

The Lions and Niners were involved in a meaningless Week 17 shootout when ESPN showed a clip of Bates working out a knot in his leg by laying on a softball. Only you couldn't see the softball, and Bates was just kind of laying on the field making faces.

The clip delighted Joe Buck and Troy Aikman and everyone online.

pic.twitter.com/ipoN4d9FaP
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 31, 2024

Cameraman did Jake Bates dirty pic.twitter.com/2H4ylFASCM
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) December 31, 2024

draw me like one of your French girls pic.twitter.com/f2niVQ8Pr6
— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) December 31, 2024

Live look at Jake Bates -- pic.twitter.com/aCfckcDG7v
— Arash Madani (@ArashMadani) December 31, 2024

No matter what Jake Bates does for the rest of his career, this clip will follow him. If the Lions win the Super Bowl the softball may end up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The moment was so memorable and weird that ESPN again showed it as they went to commercial after Bates kicked a 42-yard field goal to extend the Lions' lead.

Joe Buck appears to be into whatever Jake Bates is doing pic.twitter.com/LDacUcMQ1G
— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) December 31, 2024

Good thing he stretched.

More of the Latest Around the NFL

This article was originally published on www.si.com as Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and ‘MNF' Audience All Delighted By Jake Bates’ Softball Trick.

Sign up to read this article

Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.

Already a member? Sign in here

Top stories on inkl right now

Kim Jong Un's Sister Seen With Children In State Media Images

Kim Jong Un's Sister Seen With Children In State Media Images

South Korea's spy agency said Friday it was analysing rare state media footage showing the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un with two children -- saying they could be hers.

International Business Times

10 Years After Attack, Charlie Hebdo Is Uncowed And Still Provoking

10 Years After Attack, Charlie Hebdo Is Uncowed And Still Provoking

French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo is set to publish a special God-mocking edition next week to mark 10 years since an attack on its offices by jihadist gunmen that left eight staff members dead.

International Business Times

Proposals for long-term social care funding and reform expected by 2028

Proposals for long-term social care funding and reform expected by 2028

The first steps to creating a National Care Service for England have been outlined by the Government.

The Independent UK

‘Urgent action’ needed to save ‘crumbling’ social care sector, charities warn

‘Urgent action’ needed to save ‘crumbling’ social care sector, charities warn

It comes as ministers announced the first steps to creating a National Care Service, with an independent commission expected to begin in the spring.

The Independent UK

One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites

Already a member? Sign in here

Workers torn after Bourbon Street reopens hours after blood stained the sidewalk: ‘My anxiety is at an all-time high’

Workers torn after Bourbon Street reopens hours after blood stained the sidewalk: ‘My anxiety is at an all-time high’

EXCLUSIVE: Service industry workers tell Alex Woodward that New Orleans is failing to protect the people fueling the city’s critical tourist economy

The Independent UK

Former Texas Correctional Officer Pleads Guilty to Sexually Assaulting Female Inmates: 'The Worst Kind of Predator'

Former Texas Correctional Officer Pleads Guilty to Sexually Assaulting Female Inmates: 'The Worst Kind of Predator'

Hector Humberto Rodriguez, 28, removed the victims from their cell and isolated them in a secluded area where he then "used force, threats, and coercion to forcibly sexually assault them"

Related Stories

Top stories on inkl right now

Kim Jong Un's Sister Seen With Children In State Media Images

Kim Jong Un's Sister Seen With Children In State Media Images

South Korea's spy agency said Friday it was analysing rare state media footage showing the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un with two children -- saying they could be hers.

International Business Times

10 Years After Attack, Charlie Hebdo Is Uncowed And Still Provoking

10 Years After Attack, Charlie Hebdo Is Uncowed And Still Provoking

French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo is set to publish a special God-mocking edition next week to mark 10 years since an attack on its offices by jihadist gunmen that left eight staff members dead.

International Business Times

Proposals for long-term social care funding and reform expected by 2028

Proposals for long-term social care funding and reform expected by 2028

The first steps to creating a National Care Service for England have been outlined by the Government.

The Independent UK

‘Urgent action’ needed to save ‘crumbling’ social care sector, charities warn

‘Urgent action’ needed to save ‘crumbling’ social care sector, charities warn

It comes as ministers announced the first steps to creating a National Care Service, with an independent commission expected to begin in the spring.

The Independent UK

One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites

Already a member? Sign in here

Workers torn after Bourbon Street reopens hours after blood stained the sidewalk: ‘My anxiety is at an all-time high’

Workers torn after Bourbon Street reopens hours after blood stained the sidewalk: ‘My anxiety is at an all-time high’

EXCLUSIVE: Service industry workers tell Alex Woodward that New Orleans is failing to protect the people fueling the city’s critical tourist economy

The Independent UK

Former Texas Correctional Officer Pleads Guilty to Sexually Assaulting Female Inmates: 'The Worst Kind of Predator'

Former Texas Correctional Officer Pleads Guilty to Sexually Assaulting Female Inmates: 'The Worst Kind of Predator'

Hector Humberto Rodriguez, 28, removed the victims from their cell and isolated them in a secluded area where he then "used force, threats, and coercion to forcibly sexually assault them"

Our Picks

Sabrina Carpenter Was Worried Releasing "Espresso" as a Summer Song Might Be a Mistake

"I had literally no idea that anyone would like it, but I liked it, and that was kind of all that mattered to me in that moment, and something I try to remember over and over again," she says of releasing the song when she did in spite of her…

Pet cats in Los Angeles County are catching bird flu from raw food, milk

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has warned that raw pet food products have tested positive for bird flu and sickened pet cats in the area.

Leonardo DiCaprio ‘doesn’t see himself ever getting married’

Despite gossip he had secretly popped the question to his model girlfriend, Leonardo DiCaprio reportedly “doesn’t see himself ever getting married”.

Arby's sued twice over growing problem in alarming fast food trend

Arby's gets hit with two lawsuits over an alarmingly growing problem among fast food chains.

Billie Jean King revives one of last year's biggest design trends on her bookshelf – it's a 'gallery-like space' with a personal twist

The tennis star reminds us why 2024's most talked-about style isn't slowing down for the year ahead – designers love her styling method

Homes & Gardens

How to replace black plastic tools for a healthier, non-toxic kitchen in 2025

Out with the old utensils and in with the new

Homes & Gardens

Fourteen days free

Download the app

One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.

Download on the AppStore

Get it on Google Play