Stover's Notes Explain Success
Written Routine Has Helped Make Him NFL's Second-Most Accurate Kicker

By Camille Powell
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, August 25, 2007

One of the secrets behind Matt Stover's success as the longtime kicker for the Baltimore Ravens is buried inside the stack of 16 red notebooks he keeps in a closet in his house. Each notebook -- one for each of his previous NFL seasons -- contains details on every field goal he has attempted, both in games and during team drills at practice.

The information itself is useful, because it helps Stover identify tendencies, both good and bad, in his preparation and performance. But the process -- the care, the diligence needed -- is equally valuable.

"You be proactive in the way you approach your game to eliminate errors, so then it doesn't happen in a game," Stover said. "You play like you practice. It's total self-discipline. If you want to be the best at what you do, you have to be self-disciplined. You have to have a routine, and you need to discover what works for you."

Stover's routine clearly works for him, because he enters his 17th year in the NFL -- and 12th with Baltimore -- as the second-most accurate kicker in NFL history (83.8 percent). He converted 28 of 30 field goal attempts last season, the highest rate (93.3 percent) of his career and the best in the NFL in 2006. Since 1996, no kicker has made more field goals than Stover (300).

Not only is Stover's No. 3 jersey -- in purple and in black -- on sale through Baltimore's Web site, but it currently ranks fourth in popularity behind those of running back Willis McGahee, nose tackle Kelly Gregg and linebacker Ray Lewis, according to the Ravens.

"If you talk about players who have made a major contribution to this franchise, it'd be hard for you to name 10 players who have made more than Matt," Baltimore General Manager Ozzie Newsome said. "If you look at longevity and importance, it'd be hard to find five."

Stover, who will turn 40 in January, has grown more consistent with time. He uncharacteristically missed three field goals against Indianapolis in the 2005 season opener, but in the 32 games since (including one postseason game), Stover has made 60 of 63 kicks, including three game-winners. His 52-yard winning field goal at Cleveland last September -- which came with 20 seconds left on the clock, in a stadium where the Ravens had lost their two previous games -- was his longest make since the 1993 season, when he hit a 53-yarder while playing for the Browns.

"He's very meticulous, very detailed in everything he does," said Baltimore punter Sam Koch, who has started keeping track of his punts in a red notebook of his own. "When he's out there he can relive his steps. After he kicks it, he'll go back to the sideline, and he'll remember and actually go through his steps. That's why I believe he is the way he is."

In 1991, his first year with Cleveland, special teams coordinator Scott O'Brien had Stover keep a chart of all of his kicks. Stover liked the idea, but took it one step further, logging all of the information -- game situation, weather, field conditions, his competition -- into a red notebook he kept with him.

Every day after practice, Stover watches film of that day's kicks and makes notes. He writes down one coaching point for the day, and if it's an especially useful one, he'll put a star at the top of the page so he can review it later.

Stover kept his 2006 notebook with him during this summer's training camp, so he could see what his tendencies were last year and adjust accordingly. He was too fast in his approach to the ball during the first couple of days of the 2006 camp, so he paid special attention to that this year.

He keeps track of every kick he takes during team drills, and he likes to have a conversion rate of 85 percent. Heading into the last day of camp this year, Stover knew he had made 81 percent of the 58 kicks he attempted during full-team drills.

"You need to count them, you need to know where you are, because otherwise complacency sets in," Stover said. "You start thinking you're fine, and then you find yourself going into a game and you're 0 for 3, and you say, 'Uh-oh, I better start working.' "

Newsome credits Stover's longevity not just to the kicking technique he is constantly working to perfect, but also to the way he works out consistently to keep himself in excellent physical condition. The Ravens take care not to wear out his leg during preseason; he kicks once a day during training camp.

Stover is in the weight room for three hours a day, no less than four days a week, year-round. He does the same kind of upper body work as his teammates, and he does a lot of leg weights. He also has a series of ankle and shin exercises. The goal is to stay durable and healthy. Stover spent his rookie season with the New York Giants on injured reserve with a quadriceps pull, but since then, he hasn't missed a game because of injury.

"He's a technician," linebacker Bart Scott said. "He does so much maintenance work throughout the year and in the offseason, not so much the stuff in the weight room, but the stuff he does in the training room with his feet, his toes, his shins, all that weird stuff. But it must work because it's kept him in the league so long and kept him as one of the most accurate kickers in history."

After the season, Stover resumes kicking May 1, and he doesn't stop when his family goes on vacation. The Stovers -- wife Debbie, daughter Jenna (age 12) and sons Jacob (11) and Joe (4) -- traveled to Montana and Wyoming for three weeks this summer, and Matt brought along an extra bag that contained six footballs and his automatic holder.

Sometimes Stover's eldest son -- who, naturally, is learning how to kick -- helps shag the balls as his father practices. Debbie, whom Stover started dating when she was 14, used to hold for him when they were in high school. But in Montana and Wyoming this summer, more often than not, Stover worked out on his own at area high schools or colleges, kicking the six balls and then retrieving them himself.

"It's like a golfer who has a tournament coming up," said Stover, who often uses golfing analogies to help people understand what he does as a kicker. "He can't hang his golf clubs up right before the tournament. You wish you could and you taper a little bit, but you don't."

After Stover kicked five field goals -- including two 50-yarders -- in the Ravens' preseason opener against the Philadelphia Eagles, Coach Brian Billick joked he doesn't bother to watch Stover in the preseason. Scott said when he sees Stover trot out for a field goal attempt, he knows he will have an extra two minutes of rest, because it will be the kickoff unit -- and not the defense -- that takes the field following Stover.

"We get on him because he really only has one play, so he doesn't have to practice," Scott said. "But I guess after 18 years, he should have his one play down pat by now."