Matt Prater can win free beer for the city of Detroit

It all started as a marketing ploy.

Bud Light announced that they would buy everyone in the city of Denver a free beer if Broncos kicker Brandon McManus kicked the longest field goal in NFL history during the 2020 season.

The longest field goal to date belongs to one Matt Prater, the current kicker for the Detroit Lions, when he kicked a 64-yard field goal back in 2013 as part of the Broncos team. McManus has not made a field goal of longer than 57 yards in his professional career, but playing in the Mile High City, where the air is thin, anything is possible.

However, that bet is now off. Matt Prater wasn’t going to sit by and watch McManus try to break his record without his own opportunity to cash in for the city of Detroit. Soon after Bud Light announced the contest, the Lions kicker went to social media.

For nearly a full week, there was no answer from Bud Light. But on Thursday afternoon, they changed the terms of the original contest. No longer will it be about breaking Prater’s record.

It’s simply Prater vs. McManus. The winner delivers free beer to their team’s city:

For those in Detroit, I like your chances to cash in on free beer this year. Let’s compare the two:

2014

Prater longest FG: 52
McManus longest FG: 44

2015

Prater longest FG: 59
McManus longest FG: 57

2016

Prater longest FG: 58
McManus longest FG: 55

2017

Prater longest FG: 58
McManus longest FG: 53

2018

Prater longest FG: 54
McManus longest FG: 53

2019

Prater longest FG: 56
McManus longest FG: 53

Yep, for the last six years Prater has finished with a longer field goal at the end of the season. Granted, Prater will be 36 years old during the season to McManus’ 29, but the veteran Lions kicker has shown no signs of slowing.