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Ravens PK
Matt Stover
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When it comes to precision, Ravens PK Matt Stover is about as accurate as a person can
get.
Stover is one of the more accurate kickers in the game today, and that accuracy carried
the Ravens through the year. Stover’s success is a major reason the Ravens made the
playoffs, and his performance earned him Pro Football Weekly’s Golden Toe
Trophy.
Stover has hit 81 percent of his 293 regular-season field-goal attempts and has missed
only three extra points in 11 NFL seasons. This year he led the league in field goals made
and attempted and led all kickers in scoring. The only player with more points was Rams RB
Marshall Faulk.
Stover also has done something only an extremely accurate kicker could. In quite an
ironic twist, Stover’s two children were born on the same day one year apart. Pretty
accurate, isn’t it?
Could this be a sign that Stover has indeed found his calling in life, or just a bit of
good karma spreading beyond his kicking routine?
Stover would probably argue the former was true. You see, Stover used to be quite
superstitious, but he overcame that a long time ago and no longer believes in jinxes.
"My big thing is just create a steady routine and adapt with the changes,"
Stover said. "Don’t become superstitious."
It’s a good thing Stover isn’t superstitious anymore, or he might have
thought too much about his role on the Ravens this year.
Stover carried his team through the travails of a TD drought that threatened to drag
the team out of playoff contention. Stover scored 49 straight points for the Ravens on 16
field goals and an extra point, keeping the Ravens afloat through 21 quarters when they
couldn’t find the endzone.
The five-game stretch lasted from Week Five to Week Nine and included a five field-goal
game and a four field-goal game. Stover says he was frustrated for the team, but at least
it was winning.
"If we’re winning and we’re kicking field goals to win, I don’t
care," Stover said. "And that’s what (Trent) Dilfer and everyone else
(thought). ‘Yeah, we’re not getting in the endzone, but we’re winning
ballgames and our defense was good enough to keep other teams’ points down.’
"So with all that playing its part out, who cares? I mean, a win’s a win in
this league."
And winning is something Stover has done a lot of this season, though he’s still
looking to play in his first Super Bowl. Stover was on the Giants’ injured reserve in
1990, when New York went to the Super Bowl, but he said he learned a lot just being around
Giants PKs Raul Allegre and Matt Bahr and P Sean Landeta.
"Those guys had a tremendous amount of experience, and I wasn’t foolish
enough to think that they didn’t have anything to show me or teach me," Stover
said. "So I sat there and watched them and learned from them."
Stover says he still uses some of the things he learned when he kicks today.
Stover was a high school athlete in Dallas, Texas, and was a big fan of the Cowboys. He
played on the basketball team and was a wide receiver on the football team. He didn’t
get to kick in game situations until his senior year, but he showed hints of his future
kicking prowess earlier than that.
In ’79, Stover was a punt, pass and kick champion at age 11. But age played a huge
part in keeping Stover from kicking in high school. He explained that in Texas, "they
always had the older guy kick."
Stover stuck to it, though, and eventually became "the older guy" at his high
school. Stover learned from classmate and future 49ers DB Merton Hanks exactly what his
own goal in football should be: the uprights, not the endzone.
"I saw what a real athlete was about when I saw Merton," Stover said. "I
couldn’t play basketball like he could. I couldn’t catch a football or run like
he could. There’s so many things I couldn’t do. Even though I was one of the
best (at those things) at my high school, I couldn’t touch him.
"But I could kick, and he sure couldn’t. He couldn’t kick a lick. He
might say he can, but he can’t."
That revelation helped Stover focus his priorities on placekicking.
Stover worked constantly to refine his skill. He’d take his bag of footballs on
his 10-speed bike down to the football field, and he’d just kick.
"I knew I had a talent that not a lot of guys had," Stover said, "so I
began to work harder at it than anything else."
His dedication paid off in the long run. Now, he’s been with the Ravens’
franchise for 10 of his 11 pro years. In a season in which the Redskins went through three
different placekickers, Stover’s allegiance and consistency seems amazing. Stover
says much of his loyalty comes from a good relationship between he and Ravens owner Art
Modell, as well as Modell’s history with placekickers.
"If you look back, between (Lou) Groza, Don Cockroft, Matt Bahr and myself,
that’s most of the kickers (Modell’s) ever had," Stover said.
"There’s been a few guys interim there, but not for a long stint of time."
It’s not like there haven’t been times when the team has brought in some
hefty competition to possibly unseat Stover. But that’s when his confidence came
shining through.
"As they saw, they weren’t going to improve the position by replacing
me," Stover said, "and always in that year, I kicked well. And because of that
they wanted to keep me."
The biggest hardship Stover has had in his career has been the "new-ball
rule." When the competition committee said kickers could no longer prepare the
footballs, Stover was practically in shock.
"I’m 180 pounds and not even six-feet tall! I need to put everything this
little body can put into a football," Stover said. "When they changed it to a
new ball, I said, ‘Oh no, you’ve got to be kidding me!’ "
Stover’s field-goal statistics haven’t suffered, but he says his kickoffs
haven’t been as good as they used to be, and the statistics back it up. Stover posted
21 touchbacks in ’93. In ’99 he had only three.
Most other kickers are having the same problems with the new balls as Stover has had,
but Stover has an interesting take on the issue. He says the change is acceptable only if
it is enforced more consistently. Stover says not all officiating crews break the balls in
the same way each week.
Stover is a faith-oriented man who believes that none of his success would be possible
if he didn’t know his true identity. A devout Christian, Stover believes that his
faith in God has only helped him with his faith in himself — and his kicking.
Now, he dreams of someday being able to carry his two kids — chip-shots off the
old block, if you will — onto the Super Bowl field following a victory. Maybe
he’ll have scored all his team’s points that day or bolstered the team’s
lead. Either way, Stover will be ready to carry his team if it needs him to do so.
Being ready is the life of a kicker.
On target is the life of Matt Stover. |
