Matt Prater
Matthew Phillip Prater is an American professional football placekicker for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League. Regarded as one of the best long-distance kickers in NFL history, he held the NFL record for longest field goal from 2013 until 2021 and holds the NFL record for most 50+ yard field goals in a career with 83. Prater is 13th in NFL history in field goals made, with 425, and has the second most field goals made by an active NFL player, six shy of Nick Folk's 431.
He played college football for the UCF Knights, and was originally signed by the Lions as an undrafted free agent in 2006.
He was cut by the Denver Broncos after completing a suspension for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy. With the Lions in the 2016 and 2017 seasons, Prater set the NFL records for consecutive field goal conversions of 50+ yards and 55+ yards.
Early life
Prater attended Estero High School in Estero, Florida. During his high school football career with the Wildcats, he converted 56 of 58 extra point attempts and 14 field goals, including one of 49 yards. Prater converted 84% of his kickoffs in the end zone for touchbacks. He was named second-team All-State, first-team all-conference and All-Southwest Florida. He was also selected to the second-team "Dream Team." Prater graduated from Estero High School in 2002. Prater transferred to Estero High School his sophomore year from Cypress Lake High School.College career
Prater attended and played college football for UCF from 2002 to 2005.2002
Prater showed signs of his leg strength with his first kick of his collegiate career, making a 53-yard attempt against Penn State. Overall, in his first season kicking for the Golden Knights, he finished with 44-of-47 extra points converted and 14-of-21 field goals converted.2003
Prater showed significant improvement as a sophomore in 2003, leading the nation in punting and setting school and Mid American Conference records with 47.9 yards per punt. He is known as the perfectionist of the Rugby punt, which is now well known through the NCAA and is used by several teams. 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. Overall, he finished the 2003 season with 23-of-24 extra points converted and 10-of-13 field goals converted. In addition, he had 58 punts for 2,781 net yards for a 47.9 average.2004
In 2004, Prater continued to provide kicking duties for the Golden Knights. Aaron Horne took over most of the punting duties. He 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. Overall, he finished the 2004 season with 12-of-14 extra points converted and 9-of-14 field goals converted.2005
As a senior in 2005, Prater 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 collegiate game, Prater set up a textbook onside kick, which allowed UCF to tie the game. However, in the first overtime, he missed an extra point, which dubbed him as the player that cost UCF the game and gave Nevada a 49–48 victory in the 2005 Hawaii Bowl.In 46 games spanning four years with UCF, 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.
College statistics
Professional career
Detroit Lions (first stint)
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 was 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.Miami Dolphins (first stint)
Prater was signed to a future deal by the Miami Dolphins on January 11, 2007. He was released by the team on August 27, as veteran Jay Feely won the job.Atlanta Falcons
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 2 and was cut on September 18. The Falcons signed Morten Andersen as his replacement.Miami Dolphins (second stint)
The Dolphins signed Prater to their practice squad on November 15, 2007.Denver Broncos
2007
The Denver Broncos signed Prater off the Dolphins' practice squad on December 19, 2007.2008
Prater became the starting kicker for the Denver Broncos, replacing Jason Elam who signed with the Falcons. The Broncos had waived Garrett Hartley on July 21, 2008, leaving Prater as the only kicker on the Denver roster going into their first preseason game against the Houston Texans. On September 28, 2008, Prater made a 56-yard field goal late in the first half of the Broncos' loss at the Kansas City Chiefs, which was the third longest field goal in team history and the longest away from Denver. He made two field goals of more than 50 yards during the game.On October 5, 2008, Prater converted three out of three field goals, including a 55-yarder, as part of a 16–13 Broncos home win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He also recorded four touchbacks out of five kickoffs. His performance during the game led to him being named American Football Conference Special Teams Player of the Week for Week 5 of the 2008 NFL season. Prater won the award for the first time in his career.
Despite completing five of six field goals from beyond 50 yards on the season, he was only 25-of-34 overall, making him one of the most inaccurate kickers in the league for the season.