Here at Cat Scratch Reader we have counted down the final 100 days leading up to the Carolina Panthers season opener by for at least the past ten years. We’ve always done this by highlighting the current player on the roster whose jersey number matches the day on the countdown. This year, we decided to change that up a bit by counting down our own list of the Top 100 Panthers of all time. This does not correspond to jersey number, does not need to be somebody who wore a jersey, and will in no way be controversial.
#68. Michael Bates
Panthers stats: 76 games, 233 kick returns, 25.7 yards per return, 5 touchdowns; 1X All-Pro, 5X Pro Bowl
Career stats: 145 games, 373 kick returns, 24.4 yards per return, 5 touchdowns; 1X All-Pro, 5X Pro Bowl
Talk about being the best at what you do.
Kick return specialist Michael Bates spent five seasons with the Carolina Panthers between 1996 and 2000, and he made the Pro Bowl every single season. He was All-Pro First Team in 1996 and All-Pro Second Team in 1997. Needless to say, he was the NFL’s best kick returner for the half decade he suited up for the Panthers.
Now let’s talk about why Michael Bates was so good at what he did on the football field: It’s because he was one of the fastest men on the planet.
He won a bronze medal in the 1992 Olympics in the 200 meters, giving quite literally some of the fleetest feet on planet Earth.
But track speed doesn’t always translate into football speed. Bates was the rare exception.
He pursued his running career in college while also playing football at the University of Arizona, where he was used primarily as a kick returner. In 1993 he was a sixth round pick by the Seattle Seahawks and spent his first two seasons there. But his production wasn’t great, averaging 19.8 yards per return. In 1995 he joined the Cleveland Browns but still struggled a bit in his role by averaging just 19.6 yards per return.
Then in 1996 he signed with the Carolina Panthers and everything changed. Despite averaging less than 20 yards per return in his previous three seasons, he suddenly emerged as the league’s best kick returner in his first year in Charlotte. That season he averaged a league-leading 30.2 yards per return with one touchdown. He was named to the Pro Bowl and All-Pro First Team that year.
In 1997 he continued his exceptional play. He led the league again with 27.3 yards per return, made another Pro Bowl, and was voted All-Pro Second Team.
Similar patterns emerged from 1998 through 2000. While his performance dipped a bit from his 1996-97 dominance, he still did well enough to earn Pro Bowl nods in each of these seasons. Bates took four kickoffs to the house over those three years. You can see all of his spectacular career touchdowns here:
After leaving the Panthers after the 2000 season he played in Washington in 2001, missed the 2002 season due to injury, then had a final hurrah with two teams in 2003 before calling it a career.
His 9,110 kick return yards ranks No. 7 in NFL history.
Five seasons with the Panthers. Five straight Pro Bowls. There’s no wonder Michael Bates is among the Top 100 Panthers of all time.
