PP&K SHOWED THE WAY
PP&K showed Baltimore Ravens kicker the way to succeed
by: Alex Gordon
The defining moment in Baltimore Ravens kicker Matt Stover's career didn't come when his team won the Super Bowl in 2000.
Nope, the moment of truth came when Stover was 11 and competing in the finals of the NFL's Punt, Pass & Kick competition during halftime of a Dallas Cowboys game in Texas Stadium, near where he lived.
Stover had to win eight regional competitions just to get to the finals. Then on December 2, 1979, after passing and kicking a football for distance and accuracy—the first two parts of the competition—Stover was firmly in the lead for the championship. During halftime of the game between the Cowboys and the New York Giants, the finalists took to the field to punt.
Stover confidently got the ball, got ready and promptly shanked the punt off the side of his foot. He ended up finishing second, but more important than a victory, he learned a valuable lesson. "I knew I was good. I knew I could beat everybody. I just basically didn't perform well. It didn't mean I wasn't good. So, I continued to work at kicking. Sometimes even though you think you failed, you're actually successful," Stover says. "Sometimes you miss a crucial kick, one that really, really matters in the game. Are you going to have enough depth in you to move on and let the failure make you a better player?"
From the age of 7, when he was selling game programs at Cowboys games, Stover seemed headed for the NFL. As a kid he played youth football in a YMCA league. At Lake Highlands High School in Dallas, Texas, he excelled as a punter, kicker and wide receiver. He went on to kick in college for Louisiana Tech and was drafted by the New York Giants in 1990. But he spent his entire rookie season on injured reserve, never playing a down for the eventual Super Bowl champions.
Ten years later, Stover was back in the Super Bowl with the Ravens, playing the Giants. "I may not have kicked the winning field goal, but in order for us to even get to the Super Bowl, I had a huge role," Stover says. "It was something I will never forget. Even as a rookie, it was a dream of mine that someday I would carry my kids off the field after winning the Super Bowl, and that dream came true."
Stover says the difference between players that make it to the NFL and those that don't isn't just talent. It's also desire. "You should never have to have anyone tell you to go out and practice. If you don't have the desire in your heart to practice on your own, to make yourself better, to perform and to get to the level that you want to get to, you'll most likely not get there."
This article was reprinted with permission courtesy of Kickoff Magazine.