Matt Stover is a legend in Baltimore. In my 16 years as a Ravens fan, he is still the only guy that I really felt comfortable watching trot out there for a game winning field goal.
“I’m very, very grateful to do it,” Stover told Ryan Mink at BaltimoreRavens.com. ”It’s such a neat opportunity to represent my team and my city.”
The Ravens should feel very fortunate that Stover holds no harsh feelings towards the franchise. A lesser man probably could have turned their back on a team that gave up on one of its most consistent players. John Harbaugh and the Ravens parted ways with the then 18-year veteran after the 2008 season and brought in Steve Hauschka and Graham Gano to compete for Stover’s position. There was never an option for the veteran to prove he still had enough in the tank to keep his job. READ MORE >>>
Given what occurred in Foxboro yesterday, it seems appropriate to channel some positive memories of Ravens special teams play.
Matt Stover will turn 44 years old on Friday, and could probably still jump in and kick in the Super Bowl if either team needed him to un-retire. In fact, Stover is the oldest player to ever play in AND score in Super Bowl history (he was 42 while kicking for the Colts in his final season).
The Ravens did right by inducting Stover into their Ring of Honor this year. The Louisiana Tech product missed just three extra points in his entire NFL career, and is currently 5th on the NFL’s all-time leading scorer list. Somehow, he only made the Pro Bowl once, which seems a bit criminal.
Stover made the transition from Cleveland Brown to Baltimore Raven seamlessly, and came to embody all that was good about the young franchise. Has there ever been a more fitting jersey number?
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The Baltimore Ravens will induct kicker Matt Stover into their Ring of Honor during halftime of their game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Stover will join greats like Jonathan Ogden, Peter Boulware, Michael McCrary, Art Modell and (for some reason) Earnest Byner. I’m happy to see the Ravens recognize Stover for his fantastic career and for everything he met to the organization, despite his run in Baltimore awkwardly ending with John Harbaugh giving him the boot in 2009 to let Steve Hauschka shank field goals in clutch situations.
Regardless, it’s good to see Harbaugh and Ravens will bury the hatchet and bestow upon Stover the highest honor in the Ravens organization. He meant so much to the franchise as their all-time leading scorer with 1,464 points (354 field goals and 403 extra points). As Aaron Wilson of the Carroll County Times points out, Stover also kicked 14 game winning field goals in his 18 professional seasons.
If the Ravens can put Stover’s uncomfortable departure behind them and put him in the Ring of Honor, why can’t they do the same for Brian Billick? In my opinion, Billick is a shoo-in for the Ring. Billick not only brought the Ravens their first winning season, but he brought a Super Bowl back to Baltimore and left as the city’s all-time winningest coach. READ MORE >>>
The last time that the Baltimore Ravens went to Tennessee to face the Titans was January 10, 2009 in the AFC Divisional round of the playoffs. Baltimore advanced to the AFC Championship game with a dramatic 13-10 win over the red hot Titans led by then quarterback Kerry Collins.
The Ravens reached the end zone just once in the first quarter on a 48 yard touchdown pass from Joe Flacco to Derrick Mason that tied the game at seven. Then neither team scored until the fourth quarter. Matt Stover booted a 43 yard field goal with 53 seconds left to play which sent Baltimore to Pittsburgh.
In few cities will you see fans wearing kicker’s jerseys. Baltimore was one of the lucky few, as Mr. Automatic Matt Stover became a fan favorite in the Charm City. On Wednesday, it was announced that Stover would be officially announcing his retirement from the National Football League, after an astounding 19 year career.
Stover spent 13 of his 19 years in Baltimore, he made the move from Cleveland after kicking for the Browns from 1991-1995. He won Super Bowl 35 with the Ravens in 2000 and successfully completed 84.7% of his kicks in a Ravens uniform.
There was never any doubt when Stover took the field that he’d make the clutch kick for the Ravens. Which is why the end of his career in Baltimore is so sad to me. A year into John Harbaugh’s tenure, Stover was forced out. The most successful kicker in the franchises history was out on the streets looking for work. Baltimore held a kicking competition between two kickers that wouldn’t even end up on their roster halfway through the season, without even extending an invitation to Stover.
His successor, Steve Hauschka who won the job over Graham Gano, didn’t last after making just 9 of his 13 attempts, missing an extra point and crushing the Ravens in several close games. It took the Ravens until the following season to find his true replacement, Billy Cundiff, who signed a five year deal this offseason.
Mr. Automatic goes down into history as the seventh most accurate kicker of all-time and the fourth all-time in points with 2,004. Thanks for the memories Matt.
Last week we discussed the possible kicking candidates for the Baltimore Ravens in the 2010 season. You can cross one of those kickers off your list because today the Arizona Cardinals signed Jay Feely.
I was interested to read Jamison Hensley’s view on the signing, specifically when he said, “The Ravens now have the upper-hand in the free-agent market. The Feely deal takes the Cardinals out of the market for a kicker, and it leaves Neil Rackers and Shayne Graham still without teams. The Ravens could have their pick of either one.”
Or, they could have had their pick of one of the three.
Last year, the Ravens made the bold move of parting ways with Matt Stover with no real plan. They had a kicking competition, if you could really call it that, between two guys with no business playing professional football, Graham Gano and Steve Hauschka. To me, it appeared that the Ravens knew they didn’t want Stover, but had no plan for replacing him with an actual kicker.
But you know that story, Billy Cundiff comes in and saves the day. He booted five field goals in his debut against the Indianapolis Colts in Baltimore, talk about pressure.
Since the season came to an end, the rumors about Baltimore kickers have been swirling once again. Despite John Harbaugh’s comments during the season on bringing Stover back to Baltimore, no news about Stover has been reported. Instead, Baltimore has been in the market for some competition for Cundiff, or even a possible replacement.
This year, the kicking market had three viable candidates, unlike last season when, unfortunately, the Ravens decided to leave Stover looking for work. I’m hoping the Ravens have a plan this go around, that they won’t cut a guy if they don’t have a replacement and that they won’t tell the fans they’re holding a competition for a position between two guys that don’t belong in professional football.
But letting one guy go certainly doesn’t leave me feeling like the Ravens have the upper hand. What do you think? Who will we see kicking for the Ravens in 2010?
It’s a Super edition of our podcast, Birds On The Wire, this week. As myself and Jeff Pilson discuss the big game in Miami in full detail, the Capitals streak, and Maryland Terps big week.
We discuss why New Orleans maybe shouldn’t have been underdogs.
Discuss the topic every Baltimore fan wants to hear about, Matt Stover’s miss from 51 yards.
Peyton Manning threw a costly interception, what does the loss do to his legacy?
The Caps are on fire! I’m trying hard to get into hockey, I swear. Jeff and I discuss the popularity of AO and our friends in DC.
Finally, the Terps have a huge ACC week and began things with a win against North Carolina. Can they keep it up the rest of the week?
I was listening to some sports talk radio this morning and the topic of conversation was the Super Bowl, not surprising.
The hypothetical scenario that the host tossed out to his listeners in Baltimore was “who do you root for in this particular situation?” Matt Stover lines up to kick a 43 yard game winning field goal to give Indianapolis it’s second Super Bowl Championship. Do you root for Matt or against Matt, for the Colts or against the Colts?
It’s no secret who Baltimore fans are rooting for in Super Bowl 44. Baltimore fans resent Indianapolis and the white and blue colors they take the field wearing every Sunday. In fact, a lot of fans outside Baltimore see the Colts as the “bad guys” in this Super Bowl. A championship in New Orleans would mean a lot to a city devastated by a horrific hurricane just years earlier.
But you throw in a kicker that Baltimore admired and you start to see a divide between the Colts-hating-faithful and the Stover-die-hards.
When I asked myself to answer this question it was simple. If Stover sets up to kick a 43 yard game winner, I hope he shanks it. Nothing against him, he’s a hell of a guy and I’d love to have him back here in Baltimore. But Colt hatred is in my blood. I wouldn’t want anyone to make that kick.
What do you think, If Stover has to kick a game winner in the Super Bowl do you root for the Colts in that situation or against them?
One of my favorite parts about going to a Ravens game against a team I hate is when I get to the stadium early, walk out to the opposing team’s tunnel, and scream things at the players I despise when the walk out onto the field.
Peyton Manning usually gets it bad.
However, like most Ravens fans attending this Sunday’s game I look forward to cheering Matt Stover any chance I get. I know he’s a Colt, but the guy was done wrong here in Baltimore and he deserves to be welcomed back.
At least, I hope that fans will welcome Matt back.
The guy has a career 83.9 field goal percentage, hasn’t missed an extra point since 1995, and has made more clutch kicks in his 219 game career than the majority of kickers in the NFL.
This season he’s 6-6 with a long of 40 yards.
If he were still around, I’d like to think that Baltimore would bring him home after they made the mistake of dropping him for the now-released Steve Hauschka.
I look forward to cheering on Matt Stover when he returns to M&T Bank Stadium. What do you think of the situation?
This morning the Ravens announced that Billy Cundiff will be their kicker moving forward. Cundiff has eight years experience in the NFL and has made 66 of 89 career field goals (74.2%).
He has played for the Dallas Cowboys, New Orleans Saints, and most recently the Cleveland Browns.
I’ve got to question what the Ravens are doing out this point. What kind of team are they trying to build? In my mind the veteran Mike Nugent was going to get the job, but the Ravens go with the younger, less experienced guy again.
The Baltimore Ravens decided to let their veteran kicker, Matt Stover, go after 12 years and a game winning 44 yard field goal in the playoffs against the Tennessee Titans in the gusting winds of January.
This week, Stover’s replacement Steve Hauschka got his first real challenge with an opportunity to win the game with a 44 yard game winning field goal at the Metrodome against the Minnesota Vikings. Hauschka’s kick was wide left and the Ravens fell to 3-3.
While everyone in Baltimore is pointing the finger at Steve, I’m looking at the Ravens Staff. More specifically, John Harbaugh and Ozzie Newsome.
Brian Billick was continuously criticized during his tenure in Baltimore for a lack of offense because he was an “offensive guru”, but no one has said jack about the terrible special teams play under former special teams coach John Harbaugh.
Here I am.
The Baltimore Ravens organization gave up on the NFL’s third most accurate kicker because they wanted a guy who could make the long field goal and kick off at the same time. Only problem is that they haven’t found him. Hauschka hardly ever reaches the end zone while kicking off and his first kick under pressure was a game losing miss.
Ozzie and John are responsible for the Ravens 3-3 record a the bye week and they need to accept the responsibility.
The Ravens have an extra week to reflect upon their third heartbreaking loss in a row. Baltimore should have won this game, but don’t be fooled there was nothing good about the way they went down in this 33-31 loss.
Kick the ball in the end zone - I figured I would start with Steve Hauschka, just in a different way than everyone else. Hauschka was not only brought in to make that 44-yard game winning field goal, but to kick the ball into the end zone. His kick offs in a dome were lackluster and the Vikings had way better field position than they should.
Our secondary can’t tackle – What does $28 million get you? About 15 missed tackles around the neck by Domonique Foxworth. It’s bad enough that these guys can’t cover anyone, but at least after you get burned make a tackle. None of them did it today, the linebackers had to come down field to clean up after their junk.
Joe was getting clocked - Flacco had a big hit laid on him just about every drive. His ankles were stepped on twice by Minnesota’s big men up front and he rarely made a throw without getting knocked down. I was impressed with Michael Oher’s performance, despite two false start calls.
Ray Lewis/Ed Reed were every where - Ed spent the whole day cleaning up after Foxworth and Washington. Ray made some crucial tackles including a nasty sack on Brett Favre deep in Vikings’ territory late in the fourth quarter.
Ladarius Webb should be returning – Webb returns punts and kicks north to south, he hits seams hard, and I feel like he’s got a chance to break here soon. I never felt that with Chris Carr, so let’s give Webb the job and keep some consistency.
Clayton/Rice for MVP – Obviously Ray Rice had a hell of game. 2 TD’s, a few nasty stiff arms, you can’t bring that guy down. But, Mark Clayton stepped up this week with three crucial catches and a great leaping snag for a TD.
Make the kick Steve - Baltimore gave up on the 3rd most accurate kicker in the NFL, Matt Stover, who made a huge field goal in the playoffs just last season, to bring in a kicker who could do exactly what Steve didn’t do today. Granted, you shouldn’t back yourself into that situation, but it will happen. 44 yards is unacceptable to miss, especially given the circumstances.
It’s official, Matt Stover will be kicking for the Indianapolis Colts in place of the injured Adam Vinatieri who underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.
Stover worked out for the Colts twice this week and the deal was announced yesterday morning.
Matt is the league’s third most accurate kicker in NFL history, making 83.7% (462 of-52) of his field goals. He came through in the clutch countless times for the Ravens. Last season, Stover was 27 for 33 in field goal attempts, with a long of 47 yards.
The fan reaction about to Stover’s arrival in Indy has shocked me. Baltimore fans some how feel snubbed again by Indianapolis. That the beloved Stover has returned to football with Baltimore’s arch-nemesis.
That is not the case.
Stover didn’t pull a Brett Favre, he wasn’t retired. The Ravens choose not to bring him back. He was just looking for work.
I wish him all the best in Indy, I just hope that they lose a lot of games.
The Ravens decided to leave behind Matt Stover and replace him with a younger, stronger leg in Steve Hauschka. That’s fine and dandy. I trust the guys in the front office and I think they know what they’re doing.
After Hauschka missed a 41-yard field goal in Sunday’s game I knew people would be out for his head and looking for Matt Stover to be making the kicks in San Diego.
Those people are always going to be out there. They were probably the same people that left the game after three quarters of play.
Anyway, I don’t have a problem with the guy missing field goals. I do however have a problem with him making excuses for missing field goals.
“The wind just sort of took it,” Hauschka told the media.
The wind took it? Seriously? It was 80 degrees on a September afternoon and you think the wind took it? I wasn’t at the game, but I live in Baltimore…not that windy on Sunday.
Man up and say you missed it. How is Hauschka going to handle making kicks in Pittsburgh in the wintery months? Hopefully he can judge the wind right.
To be fair he said he will learn from the mistake, but I’m not a fan of how he answered the question.
I still have faith in him and think he’s the guy for the job, but I don’t like the excuses.
Matt Stover is a legend in Baltimore. In my 16 years as a Ravens fan, he is still the only guy that I really felt comfortable watching trot out there for a game winning field goal.
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