Matt Stover

For the science fiction and fantasy author, see Matthew Stover.

Matt Stover

Matt Stover during his tenure with the Ravens.
No. 3
Placekicker
Personal information
Date of birth: January 27, 1968 (1968-01-27) (age 43)
Place of birth: Dallas, Texas
Height: 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)	Weight: 180 lb (82 kg)
Career information
College: Louisiana Tech
NFL Draft: 1990 / Round: 12 / Pick: 329
Debuted in 1991 for the Cleveland Browns
Last played in 2009 for the Indianapolis Colts
Career history
New York Giants (1990)* Cleveland Browns (1991–1995) Baltimore Ravens (1996–2008) Indianapolis Colts (2009) *Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
All-Conference honors (1989) 1× Pro Bowl selection (2000) 1× All-Pro selection (2000) Super Bowl champion (XXXV) Baltimore Ravens Ring of Honor Louisiana Tech Athletics Hall of Fame
Career NFL statistics as of 2009
Field Goals Made	471
Field Goals Attempted	563
Field Goals %	83.7
Career Long FG	55
Stats at NFL.com

John Matthew "Matt" Stover (born January 27, 1968) is a former American Football placekicker. As of the start of the 2009 NFL season, he was the third most accurate kicker in the history of the National Football League. He is of Greek origin. He has played for the New York Giants, the Cleveland Browns, and the Baltimore Ravens, for whom he played with for 13 seasons. He was signed by the Indianapolis Colts in October 2009 to replace injured kicker Adam Vinatieri.

Early years

Stover attended Lake Highlands High School in Dallas, Texas (Class of 1986), the alma mater of fellow NFL placekicker Phil Dawson (Cleveland Browns). Stover won All-District honors as both a wide receiver and kicker. During the 1985-86 LHHS season he kicked a 53-yard field goal.

College career

Prior to his NFL career, Stover attended Louisiana Tech University, where he joined the Alpha Omega chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon and served as vice president. He graduated with a degree in marketing. During his college career, Stover successfully converted on 64 of 88 field goal attempts. As a sophomore, facing Texas A&M, he kicked a 57-yard field goal, then a school record. He also punted as a senior, punting 36 times for 1,277 yards (34.1 yards per punt avg). He left Louisiana Tech with 262 career total points and seven field goals of 50 yards or more. While at La Tech, Stover would usually kick the ball through the goal posts on the first kick-off of the game.

Professional career

New York Giants

Stover was drafted by the New York Giants with the 329th selection (12th round) in the 1990 NFL Draft. He was on the injured reserve list the entire season as the Giants won Super Bowl XXV.^[1]

Cleveland Browns

Stover signed with the Cleveland Browns in 1991 and spent five seasons as a Brown.

Baltimore Ravens

In 1996 the Browns moved to Baltimore to become the Baltimore Ravens. Stover spent the majority of his career as a Raven. In 2000, the Ravens failed to score an offensive touchdown in five straight games, in which Stover, who was selected as a Pro Bowler, scored all the team's points. Stover received a Super Bowl ring that year when the Ravens defeated his former team, the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXV.

Stover remained kicking with the Ravens, setting several records and kicking 18 game-winning field goals. In 2008, Stover booted a 43-yard field goal to win against the Tennessee Titans in the AFC Divisional Round. That was Stover's last field goal as a Raven. The Ravens decided not to re-sign Stover following the 2008 season.

On Nov 20, 2011, Stover was inducted into the Ravens Ring of Honor, during a half-time ceremony at M&T Bank Stadium against the Cincinnati Bengals ^[2]

Indianapolis Colts

As a free agent following 2008, Stover signed with the Indianapolis Colts in the middle of the 2009 NFL season to replace the injured Adam Vinatieri. In Indianapolis, Stover played in two wins against the Ravens, and helped the Colts to an appearance in Super Bowl XLIV, at age 42, an NFL record. He was not re-signed, however, following the season.

Retirement

Stover announced his retirement from football on May 25, 2011 with the Baltimore Ravens.^[1] At the time of his retirement, he was the last remaining member of the original Cleveland Browns still active in the NFL, and was also the last Raven to have played for the franchise before the team moved from Cleveland. He retired as the NFL's fourth all-time leading scorer.

Career stats

Season	PAT	PAT Pct.	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+	FG-FGA	FG Pct.	Long	Points
1991	33/34	97.1%	2/3	8/9	3/6	2/2	16/22	72.7%	55	81
1992	29/30	96.7%	11/11	6/8	2/6	1/3	21/29	72.4%	51	92
1993	36/36	100.0%	4/4	5/6	6/8	1/4	16/22	72.7%	53	84
1994	32/32	100.0%	7/7	10/11	8/8	0/1	26/28	92.9%	45	110
1995	26/26	100.0%	12/12	9/10	7/9	0/1	29/33	87.9%	47	113
1996	34/35	97.1%	8/8	5/6	5/10	1/1	19/25	76.0%	50	91
1997	32/32	100.0%	8/9	12/12	6/11	0/2	26/34	76.5%	49	110
1998	24/24	100.0%	6/6	5/5	10/17	0/0	21/28	75.0%	48	87
1999	32/32	100.0%	9/9	6/8	7/7	2/5	28/33	84.8%	50	116
2000	30/30	100.0%	9/9	12/13	10/12	2/3	35/39	89.7%	51	135
2001	25/25	100.0%	16/16	9/10	5/9	0/0	30/35	85.7%	49	115
2002	33/33	100.0%	9/9	4/5	7/10	1/1	21/25	84.0%	51	96
2003	35/35	100.0%	16/16	6/6	11/14	0/2	33/38	86.8%	49	134
2004	30/30	100.0%	9/9	7/8	9/10	2/3	29/32	90.6%	50	117
2005	23/23	100.0%	8/8	10/11	11/14	0/0	30/34	88.2%	49	113
2006	37/37	100.0%	12/13	9/9	6/7	1/1	28/30	93.3%	52	121
2007	26/26	100.0%	11/11	7/7	8/12	0/1	27/32	84.4%	49	107
2008	41/41	100.0%	11/11	11/12	5/9	0/1	27/33	81.8	47	122
2009	33/33	100.0%	2/2	5/6	2/2	0/1	9/11	81.8	43	60
TOTALS	591/594	99.5%	170/173	146/162	128/181	13/32	471/563	83.7%	55	2004[3]

NFL records

• NFL's fourth all-time leading scorer
• Most consecutive PATs- 422
• Most consecutive games with a field goal- 38
• Oldest player to participate in a Super Bowl- 42 years, 11 days old^[4]
• Oldest player to score in a Super Bowl- 42 years, 11 days old

External links

• The Matt Stover Foundation Website
• NFL Profile
• NFL Kicking Records
• NFL Career Statistics
• Matt Stover at ESPN.com

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Former Ravens kicker Matt Stover to retire". USA Today. May 25, 2011. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2011-05-25-matt-stover-retires_N.htm. Retrieved 2011-09-02. 
2. ^ http://www.masnsports.com/dan_kolko/2011/11/another-great-feat-for-stover.html
3. ^ "Matt Stover #3 PK". ESPN Player Database. ESPN. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/stats?playerId=129. Retrieved 8 February 2010. 
4. ^ Reiss, Matt (30 January 2010). "Vinatieri's shot at fifth ring bittersweet". ESPN. http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/nfl/columns/story?columnist=reiss_mike&id=4871425. Retrieved 8 February 2010. 

Persondata
Name	Stover, Matt
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1968-01-27
Place of birth	Dallas, Texas
Date of death
Place of death