BIOGRAPHY
Matthew Phillip Prater was born on August 10, 1984, in Mayfield Heights, Ohio. He is a placekicker in the National Football League.
He played college football for the University of Central Florida, and was originally signed by the Lions as an undrafted free agent in 2006. Prater holds the NFL record for kicking the longest field goal (64 yards), which he set on December 8, 2013, as a member of the Denver Broncos in a game against the Tennessee Titans in the first half as time expired. He also holds the Detroit Lions franchise record for longest field goal (59 yards), which he set on January 3, 2016. He was 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).
On October 7, 2014, the Detroit Lions signed him to a one-year deal. Prater was Detroit's third kicker in only a little over a month after Nate Freese and Alex Henery had struggles in the kicking game. In Prater's debut as a Lion, he only made one of three attempts on a rather windy day at TCF Bank Stadium, but the Lions still got the win over the Minnesota Vikings. Two weeks later, Prater missed a game-winning 43 yard field goal against the Atlanta Falcons in London, but due to a delay of game penalty on Detroit, was allowed to re-kick from 48 yards out from which he converted, winning the game for the Lions. He finished the year converting 21 field goals on 26 attempts.
On March 6, 2015, the Lions re-signed Prater to a three-year, $9 million contract extension. In Week 6 against the Chicago Bears, Prater kicked a 37-yard field goal in overtime to win the game, 37–34. In a game against the Chicago Bears on January 3, 2016, Prater made a 59-yard field goal, which set a Detroit Lions franchise record for the longest field goal.[50] Overall, on the 2015 season, he finished with converting 36-of-39 extra point attempts and 22-of-24 field goal attempts.
He was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week for Week 9 when he converted three field goal attempts, including a 58-yard attempt with 0:02 left to send the game into overtime, where the Lions would beat the Minnesota Vikings. Prater was also named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week for Week 12 when he converted the game tying and game winning attempts to beat the Minnesota Vikings in the final two minutes. To cap off his performances, Prater won NFC Special Teams Player of the Month going 8-for-8 on field goals with two over 50 yards. He once again earned Special Teams Player of the Week for Week 13 when he made five field goals, including a 52-yarder, in a 28–13 win over the Saints. Prater was named to his second Pro Bowl as an alternate for Atlanta Falcons kicker Matt Bryant after the 2016 season. He finished the 2016 season converting 31-of-33 extra point attempts to go along with 31-of-36 field goal attempts.
In Week 1, Prater had to take over punting duties after Kasey Redfern left with an injury early in the game. He kicked a 58-yard field goal, went 2-for-2 on extra points and punted four times with an average of 35 yards in a 35–23 win over the Arizona Cardinals, earning him NFC Special Teams Player of the Week. Prater was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Month for September after making all six of his field goal attempts, including four conversions from 55 yards and longer. This gave Prater an NFL record seven straight field goals of 55 yards or longer without a miss, going back to 2016. Prater has also converted 14 consecutive 50+ yard field goals going back to last season, which is also an NFL record. Both streaks ended when Prater missed on a 59-yard attempt the following week against the Minnesota Vikings. On October 25, 2017, Prater signed a three-year contract extension with the Lions. Overall, he finished the 2017 season converting 40-of-41 extra point attempts to go along with 30-of-35 field goal attempts.
In Week 17 against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field, Prater threw a 14-yard touchdown to Levine Toilolo on a fake field goal attempt. He also added a field goal and four extra points in a 31–0 win over the Packers, earning him NFC Special Teams Player of the Week. He finished the 2018 season converting all 30 extra-point attempts to go along with 28-of-32 field goal attempts.
On March 17, 2021, Prater signed with the Arizona Cardinals on a two–year deal.
