Matthew Phillip Prater was born on August 10, 1984, he is an American football placekicker for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). Regarded as one of the best long-distance kickers in NFL history, he held the NFL record for the longest field goal (64 yards) from 2013 until 2021 and currently holds the NFL record for most 50+ yard field goals in a career.
He played college football at UCF, 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 (14 field goals) and 55+ yards (seven field goals).
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 during his sophomore year from Cypress Lake High School. Prater attended and played college football for UCF from 2002 to 2005.
On March 17, 2021, Prater signed with the Arizona Cardinals on a two–year deal. On September 26, 2021, on the last play of the first half, Prater attempted to break his record 64-yard field goal from 2013 with a would-be record 68-yard field goal, but the kick fell short and was returned 109 yards for a touchdown by Jamal Agnew.
Later that day, Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker broke Prater’s record with a game-winning 66-yard field goal on the last play of the Ravens’ game against the Detroit Lions. In Week 6, Prater made three field goals and all four extra points in a 37-14 win against the Cleveland Browns. For his performance, he was awarded NFC Special Teams Player of the Week.
In Week 17, Prater connected on all four field goal attempts and one extra point, accounting for 13 points, in a 25-22 win over the Cowboys, earning NFC Special Teams Player of the Week. In the 2021 season, Prater converted 30 of 37 field-goal attempts and 47 of 49 extra-point attempts.
| Year | Team | GP | Field Goals | Extra Points | Points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FGA | FGM | Pct | Lng | XPA | XPM | Pct | ||||
| 2007 | ATL | 2 | 4 | 1 | 25.0 | 45 | 1 | 1 | 100.0 | 4 |
| DEN | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2008 | DEN | 16 | 34 | 25 | 73.5 | 56 | 40 | 39 | 97.5 | 114 |
| 2009 | DEN | 16 | 35 | 30 | 85.7 | 51 | 32 | 32 | 100.0 | 122 |
| 2010 | DEN | 12 | 18 | 16 | 88.9 | 59 | 29 | 28 | 96.6 | 76 |
| 2011 | DEN | 16 | 25 | 19 | 76.0 | 59 | 30 | 30 | 100.0 | 87 |
| 2012 | DEN | 16 | 32 | 26 | 81.3 | 53 | 55 | 55 | 100.0 | 133 |
| 2013 | DEN | 16 | 26 | 25 | 96.2 | 64 | 75 | 75 | 100.0 | 150 |
| 2014 | DEN | 0 | Suspended | |||||||
| DET | 11 | 26 | 21 | 80.8 | 52 | 21 | 21 | 100.0 | 84 | |
| 2015 | DET | 16 | 24 | 22 | 91.7 | 59 | 39 | 36 | 92.3 | 102 |
| 2016 | DET | 16 | 36 | 31 | 86.1 | 58 | 33 | 31 | 93.9 | 124 |
| 2017 | DET | 16 | 35 | 30 | 85.7 | 58 | 41 | 40 | 97.6 | 130 |
| 2018 | DET | 16 | 32 | 28 | 87.5 | 54 | 30 | 30 | 100.0 | 114 |
| 2019 | DET | 16 | 31 | 26 | 83.9 | 56 | 36 | 35 | 94.7 | 113 |
| 2020 | DET | 16 | 28 | 21 | 75.0 | 59 | 41 | 38 | 92.7 | 101 |
| 2021 | ARI | 17 | 37 | 30 | 81.1 | 62 | 49 | 47 | 95.9 | 137 |
| Career | 220 | 423 | 351 | 83.0 | 64 | 552 | 538 | 97.5 | 1591 |
| Year | Team | GP | Field Goals | Extra Points | Points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FGA | FGM | Pct | Lng | XPA | XPM | Pct | ||||
| 2011 | DEN | 2 | 4 | 4 | 100.0 | 41 | 3 | 3 | 100.0 | 15 |
| 2012 | DEN | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | — | 5 | 5 | 100.0 | 5 |
| 2013 | DEN | 3 | 6 | 5 | 83.0 | 54 | 5 | 5 | 100.0 | 20 |
| 2014 | DET | 1 | 2 | 2 | 100.0 | 39 | 2 | 2 | 100.0 | 8 |
| 2016 | DET | 1 | 2 | 2 | 100.0 | 53 | — | — | — | 6 |
| 2021 | ARI | 1 | 1 | 1 | 100.0 | 55 | — | — | — | 3 |
| Career | 9 | 16 | 14 | 87.5 | 55 | 15 | 15 | 100.0 | 57 |