Getting their kicks

MIAMI – When New Orleans Saints kicker Garrett Hartley gazes across the field Sunday, he will see the oldest player to participate in a Super Bowl, Matt Stover, ready to handle the kicks for the Indianapolis Colts.

He also will see Adam Vinatieri, the only player with two final-play Super Bowl winning field goals and four rings overall, there to lend Stover support.

“I just want to shake their hands,” said the 23-year-old wide-eyed second-year kicker who has attempted just 26 NFL field goals – and made all but two. His last three-pointer, the overtime 40-yarder in the NFC Championship Game win over Minnesota, pushed the Saints into Sunday’s Super Bowl XLIV against the Colts and their graybeard kickers.

Neither Hartley nor Stover, 42, started the season as his team’s kicker. Hartley, who was 13 of 13 on field-goal tries after taking over the New Orleans job at midseason of 2008, was suspended by the league for using the banned stimulant Adderall. He took it to help him stay awake on a night drive from his Dallas home to New Orleans in the spring.

“I never failed a drug test in my life and I don’t partake in those off-the-field activities,” he said. “That’s why it was so detrimental to me and my family. But I think I have become a better kicker because of it since the Saints kept me around and I knew I had to be ready when I became the kicker again.”

Hartley even thought his career might be over because of the suspension. Saints coach Sean Payton, however, said he knew the kicker had made an innocent mistake. He did not cut him, but needed a kicker for at least the first four games. He called on John Carney, coming off a Pro Bowl season with the Giants, to handle the job.

Carney, 45, was on his way to becoming the oldest player in Super Bowl history as he kicked 13 of 17 field goals and the Saints jumped to a 11-0 start. Payton, however, went back to Hartley for the Dec. 6 game at Washington. Carney eventually was waived, then signed as a kicking consultant.

“All along we thought we had a real good talent in Garrett, more than anything to do with John,” Payton said of the switch back. “John has done a great job as a consultant, and it couldn’t have worked out any better because Garrett is a guy who leans on his every word.”

Payton said Carney, who also works with rookie punter/kickoff specialist Thomas Morstead, would make a good kicking coach. “Maybe someday, I enjoy my role right now, but I’m not ready to give up the playing aspect of it,” said the 21-year veteran, who does not consider his situation bittersweet. “No, it’s sweet. I was fortunate to play 11 games for this team and then work with the young guys. It’s been a lot of fun and I’ve enjoyed the journey.”

Stover thought his NFL career, which began when he was drafted by the New York Giants in 1990, might have ended after the Baltimore Ravens did not re-sign him after the 2008 season. He said he turned down an offer from the New York Jets because he knew his friend Jay Feely was looking to re-sign with the team.

After Vinatieri underwent knee surgery, however, Stover got the call for the Oct. 25 game at St. Louis. Vinatieri tried to return in the next-to-last regular-season game, but admits he was only about 80 percent at the time. So coach Jim Caldwell decided to go with Stover for the final game and the postseason.

Stover brought his Giants’ ring from Super Bowl XXV with him to show his teammates, some of whom had not even started grade school at the time. He spent that entire season on the injured reserve list and says he remembers watching the game from the sidelines with the injured Phil Simms and Jon Bon Jovi.

Vinatieri, who had the winning kick against the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI and the Carolina Panthers in XXXVIII, remained on the roster. He has been preparing this week as if he will kick in the game knowing that would happen only if Stover was injured during practice.

“It’s a challenging time for me right now, but I’ve always wanted to do everything I can not to be a distraction,” he said. “As a competitor, obviously I want to be out on the field and be a part of this. But I still feel like I’m part of the team and I’m doing everything I can to help us win.”