The final time Adam NeVille, the president of the San Tan Youth Soccer League, noticed Matt Prater in particular person was Tuesday night time, on a soccer area of their southeastern Phoenix suburb.
Prater, one of many league’s volunteer assistant coaches, was serving to out together with his son’s group within the 9-to-11-year-old division and was uniquely certified for the function. By means of final season he had performed in each NFL season since 2007 as a kicker, together with the final 4 with the Arizona Cardinals, and even held the league’s file for many area objectives over 50 yards.
However when NeVille and Prater noticed each other final week at apply, there was an actual query as as to if Prater can be enjoying a nineteenth season in any respect. The day earlier than, all 32 of the league’s groups had finalized their 53-man lively rosters, and Prater was nonetheless a free agent.
“He was playing center, running the offense for his son’s team,” NeVille stated. “And next thing you know he’s telling me he’s got to take a new gig.”
That new gig got here from the Buffalo Payments, a Tremendous Bowl contender whose beginning kicker had simply injured himself. Prater was writing out a apply plan for his son’s group when he obtained phrase he can be signed by the Payments. After a red-eye flight from Arizona, the 41-year-old Prater landed in Buffalo, New York, earlier than 7 a.m. Thursday. Speak about good first impressions at a brand new job: By 11 p.m. Sunday, he’d kicked the game-winning area objective to open the Payments’ season with a 41-40 victory over Baltimore that will stand as one of many season’s most unbelievable comebacks.
“He’s such a good dude. I’ve been texting him this morning because of obviously what happened last night,” NeVille stated Monday. “He’s like, ‘This is crazy.’ I’m like, ‘This is a Disney story!’”
The season-opening sport was billed as a showdown between juggernaut groups who shall be in one another’s method all season whereas battling for the AFC championship. It lived as much as the anticipation due to the performances of its marquee superstars equivalent to Payments quarterback Josh Allen, the defending league Most Beneficial Participant and his Ravens counterpart Lamar Jackson. Baltimore’s lead grew to as a lot as 15 factors early within the fourth quarter, solely to see it diminished to simply two with 86 seconds left, when Buffalo obtained the ball again.
On the sideline, Prater arrange a ball onto a tee in entrance of a internet and started warming up for a would-be game-winning kick. The Payments had been putting their belief in a participant with a profession accuracy of just below 84% however was mistaken as a nonplayer when he joined the group solely three days earlier.
“He walks into the particular groups assembly and I assumed, ‘We got a new coach,’” tight finish Jackson Hawes advised reporters of his response first seeing Prater, the second-oldest participant on an lively roster this season.
“Honestly, I met him in the locker room two days ago,” Allen stated after the sport. “He showed me a video of his son playing quarterback, that’s how we met. And today before the game, he comes up to me in the locker room before he even [took] the field. He just said, ‘Hey, I promise you I’m going to give you everything I got tonight.’”
Prater did as he promised, nailing the kick as time expired, to ship Buffalo’s stadium right into a pulsating cacophony of celebration.
“I’m still on cloud nine,” Prater stated after the sport.
Addressing Payments gamers within the locker room late Sunday night time, Buffalo coach Sean McDermott threw an arm round Prater whereas giving him the sport ball in entrance of cheering teammates.
“First of all, he’s almost as old as I am,” McDermott advised gamers. “And his legs are smaller than mine, right. But we are so proud to have you on Buffalo, on that kick right there. Welcome to Buffalo.”
Prater stated his pregame speak with Allen was “just something I wanted to tell him. ‘I know we don’t know each other that well yet but I just want to let you know, I know I just got here, and it may not be perfect right now, but I’m going to do everything I can to try to be perfect to help this team win while I’m here.’”
Prater isn’t the one particular person related to the San Tan youth league in Queen Creek, Arizona, on an NFL roster this season. The league’s most well-known alumnus is Brock Purdy, who earlier than he inked a $265 million extension this summer time because the San Francisco’ 49ers’ beginning quarterback, realized the place whereas tossing the ball round within the league. A volunteer coach occurring to play within the NFL was a brand new one, nonetheless, NeVille stated.
When he hosted signups for the league season final month, as NFL coaching camps had been effectively underneath method, NeVille stated he checked in with Prater whether or not he’d heard curiosity from NFL groups. The kicker’s response, in keeping with Neville: “We’ll see what happens.”
Prater stated he’d labored out with an area snapper and holder throughout the offseason to remain as game-ready as potential regardless of his free-agency limbo. However in any other case he’d turn out to be, in his personal phrases, a full-time dad whose routine included dropping off and choosing up his youngsters from college, then taking them to gymnastics, dance and soccer practices.
“Matt is super down to earth,” NeVille stated. “Kids probably don’t recognize the gravity of who this guy is.”
The Payments’ beginning kicker, Tyler Bass, will miss at the least 4 video games after being positioned on injured reserve after coping with a hip/groin damage. But there isn’t any assure but that Prater, who began the group’s season with a bang, will nonetheless be wanted throughout a doubtlessly deep postseason run. However in the intervening time, one youth soccer group in Arizona is down an assistant.
“I kind of passed off those duties,” Prater stated.
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