1. Matthew Phillip Prater was born on August 10,1984 and is an American professional football placekicker.
47 Facts About Matt Prater
1. 2.
Matt Prater played college football for the UCF Knights, and was originally signed by the Lions as an undrafted free agent in 2006.
3.
Matt Prater was cut by the Denver Broncos after completing a suspension for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy.
4.
Matt Prater was named second-team All-State, first-team all-conference and All-Southwest Florida.
5.
Matt Prater transferred to Estero High School his sophomore year from Cypress Lake High School.
6.
Matt Prater attended and played college football for UCF from 2002 to 2005.
7.
Matt Prater showed signs of his leg strength with his first kick of his collegiate career, making a 53-yard attempt against Penn State.
8.
Matt Prater showed significant improvement as a sophomore year in 2003, leading the nation in punting and setting school and Mid American Conference records with 47.9 yards per punt.
9.
Matt Prater is known as the perfectionist of the Rugby punt, which is well known through the NCAA and is used by several teams.
10.
Matt Prater punted six times and had a 55.7-yard average, including punts of 71 and 67 yards.
11.
Matt Prater went 4-for-4 on extra points and had three touchbacks on kickoffs.
12.
In 2004, Matt Prater continued to provide kicking duties for the Golden Knights.
13.
Matt Prater punted four times for 160 yards during the season.
14.
In 46 games spanning four years with UCF, Matt Prater converted 50 of 74 field goal attempts, with a long of 53 yards.
15.
Matt Prater was signed by the Detroit Lions as an undrafted free agent on May 4,2006.
16.
Matt Prater spent the rest of the season as a free agent, but did have workouts with the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings.
17.
Matt Prater was signed to a future deal by the Miami Dolphins on January 11,2007.
18.
Shortly thereafter, Matt Prater signed a contract with the Atlanta Falcons and beat out Billy Cundiff for the job.
19.
Matt Prater became the starting kicker for the Denver Broncos, replacing Jason Elam who signed with the Falcons.
20.
On September 28,2008, Matt 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.
21.
Matt Prater made two field goals of more than 50 yards during the game.
22.
Matt Prater won the award for the first time in his career.
23.
Matt Prater improved in the 2009 season converting all 32 extra point attempts and 30-of-35 field goal attempts.
24.
Matt Prater's performance earned him his second AFC Special Teams Player of the Week nomination.
25.
On December 23,2010, Matt Prater was put on injury reserve by the Broncos after suffering a right groin injury.
26.
On July 2,2012, Matt Prater re-signed with the Broncos on a four-year contract after the Broncos placed a franchise tag on him.
27.
Matt Prater set a new NFL record for extra points in a single season, with 75.
28.
Matt Prater earned AFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors for the performance.
29.
Matt Prater began the season with a four-game suspension for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy.
30.
On October 3,2014, Matt Prater was released by the Broncos after they decided to stick with his replacement Brandon McManus.
31.
Matt Prater was Detroit's third kicker in only a little over a month after Nate Freese and Alex Henery had struggles in the kicking game.
32.
Two weeks later, Matt Prater missed a game-winning 43 yard field goal against the Falcons in London, but due to a delay of game penalty on Detroit, was allowed to re-kick from 48 yards out from which he converted, winning the game for the Lions.
33.
Matt Prater finished the year converting 21 field goals on 26 attempts.
34.
Matt Prater was named National Football Conference Special Teams Player of the Week for Week 9 when he converted three field goal attempts, including a 58-yard attempt with 0:02 left to send the game into overtime, where the Lions would beat the Vikings.
35.
Matt Prater was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week for Week 12 when he converted the game tying and game winning attempts to beat the Vikings in the final two minutes.
36.
Matt Prater finished the 2016 season converting 31-of-33 extra point attempts to go along with 31-of-36 field goal attempts.
37.
In Week 1, Matt Prater had to take over punting duties after Kasey Redfern left with an injury early in the game.
38.
Matt Prater had converted 14 consecutive 50+ yard field goals going back to the previous season, which is an NFL record.
39.
On October 25,2017, Matt Prater signed a three-year contract extension with the Lions.
40.
In Week 17 against the Packers at Lambeau Field, Matt Prater threw a 14-yard touchdown to Levine Toilolo on a fake field goal attempt.
41.
Matt Prater was named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance in Week 3.
42.
On January 3,2021, Matt Prater set the new NFL record for most career field goals of 50 yards or more.
43.
Matt Prater agreed to a two-year contract extension on March 14,2023.
44.
In Week 3, Matt Prater was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week after converting a 62-yard field goal at the end of the first half against the Cowboys.
45.
In Week 18, against the Seattle Seahawks, Matt Prater missed 2 field goals, one from 43 with three minutes left in the 4th quarter, and a missed 50 yard game winning field goal at the end of regulation.
46.
Matt Prater suffered a torn meniscus in his plant leg ahead of week 5 in the 2024 season.
47.
Matt Prater was replaced in that week's game and in week 6 by Chad Ryland before being placed on injured reserve on October 15,2024.