Matt Prater

Matt Prater is a professional placekicker for the Arizona Cardinals after a lengthy tenure with the Detroit Lions. Prater attended the University of Central Florida where he showed signs of his leg strength with his first kick against Penn State when he made a 53-yard field goal. As a sophomore, Prater led the nation in punting and setting school and MAC records. In his junior year, Prater appeared in 9 games before missing the remainder of the season due to a leg injury. As a senior, Prater’s responsibilities were switched to strictly kicking. Prater went undrafted in the 2006 NFL Draft, but the Detroit Lions signed him as an undrafted free agent on May 4, 2006. The team released him on August 27. Prater signed a future contract with the Miami Dolphins on January 11, 2007, but was released again on August 27. In 2008, Prater became the starting kicker for the Denver Broncos. Prater began the 2014 season with a four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy. The Broncos released Prater on October 3, 2014. On October 7, Prater signed with the Detroit Lions.