As soon as ESPN cameras picked up Detroit Lions kicker Jake Bates stretching on the sidelines during Monday Night Football, one of two things seemed to pop into NFL viewers’ minds.
Either you thought of Kate Winslet asking Leonardo DiCaprio to “draw me like one of your French girls” in Titanic. Or you thought of Seinfeld’s George Costanza doing a photo shoot in his underwear on a chaise lounge.
At least, that’s what it seemed like on social media in the minutes afterward.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(763x191:765x193)/The-Traitors-season-3-010125-tout-a737d943cb374ef69ecb94dd44e40155.jpg "‘The Traitors’ Drops First 7 Minutes of Season 3 Premiere Episode")
The Lions were in the midst of a huge comeback against the San Francisco 49ers Monday evening when Bates was seen stretching. MNF reporter Lisa Salters explained he was trying to loosen up some muscles with the help of a softball.
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 31, 2024
However, all anyone seemed to notice was the way his body was moving and the derpy look on his face, jumping to conclusions about what he was doing to the field. You could practically hear Joe Buck and Troy Aikman giggling in the booth.
From there, the memes flowed.
That turf’s gonna get pregnant https://t.co/wjVqRxO19a
— Dave Dameshek (@Dameshek) December 31, 2024
Me thinking about Ben Johnson coaching the Bears pic.twitter.com/YjLzzVEduy
— Big Cat (@BarstoolBigCat) December 31, 2024
draw me like one of your French girls pic.twitter.com/f2niVQ8Pr6
— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) December 31, 2024
Curved Reclining Figure, by Henry Moore, 1977 pic.twitter.com/CcmP4fBN7g
— ArtButMakeItSports (@ArtButSports) December 31, 2024
The timeless art of seduction.
— Phillip Bupp (@phillipbupp.com) December 30, 2024 at 8:01 PM
STUPID SEXY BATES!
— Robert (@cujorulesdtown9.bsky.social) December 30, 2024 at 7:50 PM
Jake Bates is getting there on the sideline pic.twitter.com/dyif7t3sUZ
— Pardon My Take (@PardonMyTake) December 31, 2024
Buck, who could barely contain himself when it was happening live, got one more cheeky comment in when it was replayed before a commercial break.
Joe Buck appears to be into whatever Jake Bates is doing pic.twitter.com/LDacUcMQ1G
— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) December 31, 2024
Bates will have the last laugh, however. Earlier in the night, the phenom broke the Lions’ single-season record for points scored, passing Jason Hanson’s previous record of 134 points. And he’s still got one game to go. As far as Detroit fans are concerned, he can do whatever he wants on the sidelines.
[ESPN]
