MIAMI — In the days following his game-winning 40-yard field goal in overtime of the NFC Championship game, Garrett Hartley began to realize how much the kick meant to the fans of the Saints and the entire city of New Orleans.
“It’s kind of funny,” Hartley said. “Sometimes I’m at a restaurant and whenever I walk out I get a standing ovation. I’m like, ‘For what?’ I don’t understand what’s going on.”
He began to understand one night when he had a casual dinner at an Outback Steakhouse.
“A 70-year old man busts out a harmonica from his coat pocket,” Hartley said, “and starts playing ‘When the Saints Come Marching In.’ It really just tickles me to death, people and how they perceive me now. But at the same time, how would people have perceived me if things didn’t work out that way?”
How, indeed? Hartley tomorrow night, at the tender age of 23, could play a huge role for the Saints in Super Bowl XLIV. One key field goal in a game such as this can catapult a kicker to a career-defining moment. One key miss in this game can stain a career.
The Saints never have been in a Super Bowl, but they know about historic kicks. Back in 1970, Tom Dempsey set an NFL record with a 63-yard field goal to beat the Lions, forever cementing Dempsey in New Orleans lore and giving a struggling franchise something to call its very own. Dempsey’s record sat alone for 28 years, until Jason Elam of the Broncos matched it in 1998.
All the losing also included the kicking exploits of Morten Andersen, who spent 13 years with the Saints and is the NFL’s all-time scoring leader. Hartley’s overtime game-winning field goal two weeks ago pushed the Saints past the Vikings 31-28 and carved a place for himself in Who Dat Nation.
“Maybe in future time, I maybe have half the career of Tom Dempsey and Morten have had,” Hartley said. “To be considered up there with those types of names would be an honor. Just to have my name mentioned in the same sentence as him or Morten is truly remarkable. I honestly don’t believe it belongs there yet, hopefully in due time I’ll be able to earn that.”
It almost never happened for Hartley. The Saints went through four different kickers in 2008 before trying Hartley, a strong-legged kicker from Oklahoma. He promptly hit all 13 of his field goal attempts in the final eight games of that season. The start of 2009, though, was a nightmare. He was suspended for the first four games for violating the NFL’s drug policy.
Hartley said he took Adderall, which is a banned substance, because he needed to stay awake for a 12-hour trip from Texas to New Orleans. Hartley called it “an honest mistake,” but he admitted, “I honestly thought my career was over.”
The Saints needed a replacement and signed John Carney, the 45-year old who spent last season with the Giants and scored 143 points, the most in his 22-year career. Carney went 9-of-11 on his field goals then was moved into a consulting role when Hartley was reinstated.
“He’s been a great mentor to me as far as helping me with everything on and off the field,” Hartley said. “The preparation that goes into each week, how we go about practice, how I go about off the field activities. Honestly I couldn’t have asked for a better coach and a better friend to come in and help me out. You would never know with our relationship that jobs were switched out. He’s such a professional in everything he does, if I can just strive to be like that I’ll be in a good place.”
Hartley stands just 5-foot-8, but he is 9-for-11 on field goals this season, making him 22-of-24 in his brief career.
“I’m just another piece of the puzzle,” Hartley said. “If we all come together then we’re going to create the perfect picture.”
SUPER FACT
Purdue University produced quarterbacks playing for both Indianapolis and New Orleans this season. Colts rookie Curtis Painter played for the Boilermakers from 2005-08 and Saints star Drew Brees was Purdue’s starting quarterback