Matt Stover is boring, and that’s a good thing

By Darrell Laurant  |   Tuesday, August 14, 2007  |  Comments( 0 )

Baltimore Ravens
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When people talk about the 2007 Baltimore Ravens, names like Steve McNair and Willis McGahee come up. If not those two, fans rhapsodize about the defense, traditionally one of the best in the NFL. Maybe they even mention wide receivers Mark Clayton, Derrick Mason and Demetrius Williams, or All-Pro offensive tackle Jonathan Ogden, or tight end Todd Heap.

Rarely does anyone bring up the name of Matt Stover. Maybe that's because he's so automatic that he's boring.

Last season, the 18th-year man converted all 37 extra point attempts and 28 of 30 field goals. (So what was the problem on the other two, Matt?) He went into 2006 with a career success percentage of 83.2 percent, third best all-time, and that percentage is even better now.

True, Stover is rarely spectacular. Last season, he only hit one kick over 50 yards. But he's a perfect complement to a defense that generally keeps the scores in the Ravens' games low, making every point important.

Earlier in August, Baltimore Sun writer Mike Preston wrote, "Every time I watch Matt Stover (in practice), he's missing field goals."

Uh-oh. Then came the first preseason contest with Philadelphia, and the Ravens' No. 3 drilled five between the uprights. Yawn.

The headlines, of course, read, "McNair, defense lead Ravens over Philadelphia."

Stover? Oh, yeah. He did have all those field goals, didn't he?

During one practice, just to see if Stover could be flustered, Terrell Suggs got up on the line of scrimmage and screamed, "Stover! Stover! Stover!" as the kicker lined up for a field goal. Stover made it, anyway.

Nearly 40, Stover has been around so long that he played for the Cleveland Browns before they moved to Baltimore. A national Pass, Punt & Kick champion as a kid growing up near Dallas, he raised eyebrows by kicking five field goals in one game for Lake Highlands High. High school kickers just don't do that, and the college recruiters were so impressed that Stover wound up kicking for then-perennial national power Louisiana Tech.

And he can kick them long if he has to -- at Tech, he converted a 57-yarder.

Stover is big in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and participates in just about every Baltimore-area charitable activity that asks him. Presumably, he prays a lot -- maybe that's the secret to his kicking.

Of course, as a guy who's been around, Stover knows how tenuous is his hold on the hearts and minds of Ravens fans. Just let him go 0 for 3 one game, and the kicker auditions will start. What have you done for us lately, Matt?

For now, though, Baltimore fans should be quoting Terrell Suggs: "Stover! Stover! Stover!"

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