His NFL career began in 1991. As a rookie, he didn’t complete a single pass but still went on to be one of the most prolific players ever at his position. In 2010, he played for his third NFL team and extended an NFL-record streak that has existed since the 1990’s. He has a Super Bowl ring. By now, you have figured out the player in question. He is, of course, Matt Stover.
He wasn’t Mr. Irrelevant; two players were picked after him in the 1990 NFL Draft. The Giants grabbed him with the 330th selection. Unfortunately, he was unable to beat out veteran Matt Bahr. When Bahr went on to kick the G-Men into that year’s Super Bowl and then help them win it, Stover may have wondered, “What if? What if that was my chance?”
He would catch on the next season in Cleveland where he replaced a Canadian kicker named Jerry Kauric. The Browns were coming off a 3-13 season, which couldn’t have filled Stover with much hope of getting that Super Bowl ring. But he had a job. And he kept it for 18 years.
How long has he been in the NFL? Well, his first kick was an extra point that followed a Kevin Mack touchdown run. The opposition’s quarterback was beginning his third NFL season that day. He is now in the Hall of Fame. His name is Troy Aikman. His head coach that day was making his NFL debut. His name is Bill Belichick. They guy you may have thought I was referring to in the first paragraph? He was wearing an Atlanta Falcons uniform still a year away from his first NFL start.
Matt Stover was the perfect player for a blue-collar town like Cleveland. He didn’t draw any attention to himself. He just went to work each day and performed. Brilliantly. The team’s move to Baltimore in his sixth season just gave him a different pair of goalposts to split with amazing accuracy. He began a streak that season which is still intact today. He has made an NFL-record 422 consecutive extra point attempts. He is 51 ahead of the next best streak. Of the nine kickers who have attempted at least 500 field goals, he is the most accurate at 83.7%. Keep in mind that all but 28 of his 471 field goals were outdoors. Most of them on grass.
He is one of four kickers with 2000 points and he’s the only one of the four with a Super Bowl ring. However, few kickers of such achievement and distinction have toiled in as much anonymity as has Stover. Despite his longevity and production, he has been to just one Pro Bowl. He isn’t nearly as well known as lesser kickers such as Sebastian Janikowski, David Akers and Jason Elam. Fantasy geeks know who he is, but not enough others do.
I don’t think Super Bowl XLIV will be a close one but I am hoping that it is. I hope Peyton Manning leads the Colts down the field in the final minutes of a tie game. And I hope Matt Stover – the oldest player ever to play in a Super Bowl – gets one final chance to stand in the spotlight that has, to this point, rarely found him.