Matt Prater
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Denver Broncos — No. 5 | |
| Placekicker | |
| Date of birth: August 10, 1984 | |
| Place of birth: Mayfield Heights, Ohio | |
| Height: 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | Weight: 180 lb (82 kg) |
| National Football League debut | |
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| 2007 for the Atlanta Falcons | |
| Career history | |
| College: Central Florida | |
| Undrafted in 2006 | |
Teams:
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| Career highlights and awards | |
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| Stats at NFL.com | |
Matt Prater (born August 10, 1984 in Mayfield Heights, Ohio) is an American football placekicker for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League. He was originally signed by the Detroit Lions as an undrafted free agent in 2006. He played college football at Central Florida.
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[edit] High school career
Prater attended Estero High School in Estero, Florida. During his tenure he converted 56-of-58 point after attempts, and also booted 14 field goals, including one of 49 yards. On kickoffs, Prater put 84 percent in the end zone for touchbacks. He was named second team all-state, first team all-conference and all-Southwest Florida, and was named to the second team "Dream Team". Prater graduated from Estero High School in 2002.
[edit] College career
[edit] 2002
Prater became the starting kicker at Central Florida immediately upon his arrival, and ended up earning Sporting News all-freshman honors. On the year, he converted 14-of-21 field goal attempts, 44-of-47 point-after attempts and had a team-high 86 points. Prater had a season-high and Mid-American Conference-best 53-yard field goal against Penn State - one of three field goals on the day. He also tied a school record with four field goals against Kent State.
[edit] 2003
Prater showed significant improvement as a sophomore year in 2003, leading the nation in punting and setting school and MAC records with 47.9 yards per punt. As a kicker, he converted 10-of-13 field goal attempts and was a perfect 4-for-4 on attempts of 40 yards or longer. Prater had a career day against Virginia Tech on August 31. He punted six times and had a 55.7-yard average, including punts of 71 and 67 yards. He also went 4-for-4 on extra points and had three touchbacks on kickoffs.
[edit] 2004
In 2004, Prater appeared in nine games before missing the rest of the season with a leg injury. At one point during the season he made 11 consecutive field goals - the second-longest streak in school history. The streak was snapped against Buffalo on October 4.
[edit] 2005
As a senior in 2005, Aaron Horne took over punting duties for the Golden Knights while Prater concentrated almost solely on kicking. He made 17-of-26 field goal attempts on the year, including a season-long 49-yard conversion. He also went 29-for-32 on point-after attempts. He punted four times for 160 yards during the season. In his final game with the Knights, Prater set up a text book on-sides kick which allowed the Knights to tie the game. In the first overtime he missed an extra point which gave Nevada a 49-48 victory in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl.
In 46 games with the Golden Knights during his four-year career, Prater converted 50 of 74 field goal attempts with a long of 53 yards. His 50 field goals ties him for the school record, while his 258 points ranks him fourth all-time in school history.
[edit] Professional career
[edit] 2006
Prater was signed by the Detroit Lions as an undrafted free agent on May 4, 2006. He made field goals of 22, 44 and 48 yards in a preseason game against the Cleveland Browns, but had little chance of beating out veteran incumbent Jason Hanson and subsequently released August 27. He spent the rest of the season as a free agent but did have workouts with the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings.
[edit] 2007
Prater was signed to a future contract by the Miami Dolphins on January 11, 2007. He was released by the team on August 27, as fellow placekicker Jay Feely won the job. Shortly thereafter, Prater signed a contract with the Atlanta Falcons and beat out Billy Cundiff for the job. Including the Falcons' preseason finale, Prater missed at least one field goal in three games played with the Falcons. Prater missed two field goals against the Jacksonville Jaguars in week two and was cut on September 18th. The Falcons signed Morten Andersen as his replacement.
[edit] 2008
Prater has a chance to become the starter in Denver after Jason Elam left and signed with the Atlanta Falcons. The Broncos fully expect Prater to be their starting kicker in 2008. [1]
[edit] Personal
- Majored in psychology at Central Florida.
