Michigan football: Jake Moody talks monster kick at pro day, lack of contact with Detroit Lions

Michigan Wolverines football kicker Jake Moody is an NFL Draft hopeful and impressed at U-M’s pro day, going 12-for-13 with a made 63-yarder. His one, slight miss was from 59 yards out.

“Good day. Good day at the office,” Moody said with a laugh.

“At the combine, the farthest we went was 55 [yards]. But I wanted to show that I could go a little bit farther than that, so the farthest I went to was 63 [at pro day]. That was cool to make that and just show that the capability to make longer than just a 55. That was good to show that, but also hit a bunch of other kicks just to show it’s not just the long distance kicks. I have the capability to make any kick from anywhere.”

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A Northville, Mich., native, Moody said at the combine that he’d love to end up with the Detroit Lions, but there hasn’t been much contact.

“Which, I mean, that’s fine,” Moody said of the lack of Lions contact. “I don’t care where I go. Obviously, it’d be nice to stay here, but I’m happy anywhere.”

He’s set for some private workouts in the coming weeks, with certain teams (that he chose not to name) prioritizing him.

“Kicker is kind of a weird position, where there’s only one per team, and if they already have one, there’s no need [for them to] work you out,” the Michigan kicker explained. “I have a couple workouts with the teams that might be looking for a guy. That’s within the next couple weeks for me. And then, just kind of hang out until the draft, get the body feeling good and be ready to go wherever.”

Jake Moody on his favorite kick at Michigan

Moody made 69 field goals and 148 extra points during his time at Michigan, but some stand out more than others. His 35-yard game winner against Illinois this past season means the most as he reflects back on his career.

“Probably the game-winner against Illinois, for obvious reasons,” Moody said of what kick he looks back fondly on. “That was a pretty cool one. It kept the season going, and it was my last game at The Big House, so it was a great way to go out.

“I’d have to say that or maybe the 59[-yarder] against TCU before halftime.”

Moody was at Michigan for the ups and downs, but the last two years were special. The Maize and Blue won the Big Ten and appeared in the College Football Playoff each season, marking a remarkable turnaround.

“Just overall, the past five years have been awesome, but this past season was pretty cool, and the season before, obviously, because a Big Ten championship, you can’t beat that,” Moody explained. “That’s a really cool feeling.

“I had some big kicks that helped me propel myself to being one of the better kickers to come through here, which was one of the goals that I set for myself, so that was pretty cool to attain those goals and put myself in the position where I’m at now.”