ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) -Matt Prater is starting to make a name for himself. What the Denver Broncos’ new kicker would really like is to put his name in the record book.
After kicking a 55-yard field goal that would have been good from 70 yards Sunday, Prater said he wants the chance to beat the NFL record of 63 yards held by Tom Dempsey and the man he replaced in Denver, Jason Elam.
“I’d love to get the opportunity, especially here in Denver,” Prater said. “It would be awesome to get the opportunity to do it, and hopefully I can keep it straight.”
Hardly anybody knew about Prater when the season started.
Now, even Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden is gushing about him.
Prater was the difference in Denver’s 16-13 win over Tampa Bay, producing touchbacks on four of his five kickoffs – the other was returned only to the 19 – and booming field goals of 55, 40 and 31 yards.
u come here? That guy was unbelievable.”
The Broncos signed the 24-year-old kicker last December after Todd Sauerbrun wore out his welcome in Denver and they needed somebody to handle kickoffs for their last two games.
Coach Mike Shanahan saw enough of Prater’s powerful right leg that he allowed Elam, the franchise’s leader in points and games, to bolt for Atlanta in free agency.
Shanahan took a lot of heat for turning over the team’s kicking chores to a kid who had made just 1-of-4 field goals in the NFL. After all, the Broncos’ 7-9 season last year would have been much worse had it not been for Elam’s four game-winners.
But nobody’s missing Elam now thanks to Prater, who has piled up a league-high 51 points and made all four of his field goals from 50 yards or more. He’s amassed 11 touchbacks, tied for the league lead with Carolina kickoff specialist Rhys Lloyd, and made 12 of 13 field goals, including a half-dozen from 40-plus.
Denver also leads the league in a key but often overlooked category: the number of opponents’ drives (10) that start inside the 20-yard line.
“Field goals are how you keep your job,” Prater said Monday, “and kickoffs are something that’s good to be good at.”
In that case, Prater is the double-whammy for opponents.
, often by kicking the ball right out of the end zone.
While the league is just starting to learn about Prater, teammate Dre’ Bly has been singing his praises for a while.
Bly was in Detroit when Prater came through in 2006 as an undrafted free agent from Central Florida. He was simply a camp leg, keeping Jason Hanson fresh for the season, and he was long gone by the time the season started, beginning a journey that would take him to Miami and Atlanta before landing in Denver.
But he still managed to make quite an impression on Bly, who also joined the Broncos last season.
“I mean, the dude, when he did kickoffs he always kicked the ball out of the back of the end zone,” Bly said. “When you’re doing it just about every kick, that’s not luck.”
Bly even bestowed the ultimate compliment on a kicker: his very own nickname.
“I called him ‘Boom-Boom’ in Detroit because that dude can kick,” Bly said. “He’s done a great job. He had big shoes to fill. Elam has been a legend here in Denver, he made a lot of field goals, broke a lot of records.
“But the guy we have here, he put all that in the back of his mind and just looked at it as a motivational thing to try to live up to the hype and to just carry on in his own footsteps.”
Prater proved Sunday that he’s got some pretty good powers of persuasion to go with his powerful leg.
n was preparing to send out punter Brett Kern in the waning seconds of the first quarter. Prater glanced at the clock and had an idea.
“I went out on the field and said, ‘Coach, let the clock run out and we’ll switch sides and have the wind at our backs and I’ll keep it straight and make it going this way,”’ Prater said.
Prater made good on his promise, and Gruden and Shanahan both gushed over him after the game.
His big leg is getting plenty of attention now, much to the amusement of some of his teammates.
“This guy’s big-time now,” wide receiver Brandon Stokley teased.
Add A Comment