Garrett Hartley, the kicker The New Orleans Saints capture the NFC title and proceed to Super Bowl XLIV. The Times-Picayune/Michael DeMocker Garrett Hartley of the New Orleans Saints scores the game-winning field goal in overtime of the NFC championship game against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday at the Superdome. The Saints defeated the Vikings 31-28 to advance to their first ever Super Bowl.
Hartley had missed two field goals in regulation time, but he made all four of his attempts in overtime to send New Orleans to its first Super Bowl victory. With the win, the Saints became the first eighth-seeded team to reach the NFL Championship Game since the league expanded to a 16-team playoff format in 1994. They will face the Indianapolis Colts for the right to go up against Seattle in Miami next weekend.
Hartley is from Slidell, Louisiana, and went to LSU before being selected by New Orleans in the third round (85th overall) of the 2010 NFL Draft. He has played all over the place for the Saints - as a rookie he was named to the Pro Bowl after setting a record with 110 points scored by an undrafted free agent - but he has mostly been the team's placekicker.
He has made 91 percent of his field goal attempts and 86 percent of his extra point tries during his career. His career long score is 55 yards. He also has three touchdowns of 50 or more yards during his career.
Garrett Hartley, the kicker from London's Saint George's Park, secured his place in football history by kicking a 57-yard free kick in extra time to give England a 1-0 win over Brazil in the first game of the World Cup final on June 14, 2010. The match was being played at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
The only thing that could have made this moment sweeter for Hartley is if his team had won. As it turned out, they lost in extra time as Germany scored a late goal to claim their second World Cup title. But regardless of what happened on the pitch, this wonderful moment will be remembered by all who were lucky enough to witness it.
Here are some other things you should know about this amazing man:
He has been credited with 17 goals in international football, though some of these may not be official because of issues with two of his three attempts going over the crossbar. He also has the unique record of having scored in both world cups played by England (winning in 1966 and losing in 1990).
Hartley was born on March 18, 1957 in Greenwich, London.
Today in Football History: Super Bowl XLIV On February 7, 2010, the New Orleans Saints beat the Indianapolis Colts en route to their first Super Bowl victory. The game was played at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. The Saints defeated the Colts 31-17.
The New Orleans Saints NFL football team has won more than they've lost since entering the league in 1972. In those years, they've only missed the playoffs once. That one season was 1976, when they finished with a 6-10 record. Since then, they've averaged 9-7 per year. They've reached the postseason every year since 1977, when they went 11-5 and earned a spot in their first Super Bowl.
New Orleans is a city known for its food, music, and entertainment, but also has a strong sports community. The Saints are just one of many professional teams that call New Orleans home. Other major league sports franchises include the NBA's New Orleans Pelicans and NHL's New Orleans Ice Dogs. College sports are big too - University of Louisiana at Monroe basketball is popular - as well as amateur athletics. The New Orleans Marathon takes place each January.
Super Bowl XLIV was the fourth Super Bowl held in Miami. It was sponsored by the soda company Pepsi. The game was watched by 75 million people around the world.
201031-07-Indianapolis Colts vs. New Orleans Saints/NFL championships
The New Orleans Saints are an American professional gridiron football club headquartered in New Orleans that competes in the National Football League's National Football Conference (NFC). The Saints have only won one Super Bowl (2010).
Anderson became the first NFL kicker to successfully convert every field goal and point after touchdown during regular season play in 1998 while playing for the Vikings. During the postseason, however, he missed a crucial field goal in the 1998 NFC Championship Game, which is widely seen as a major cause in the Vikings' eventual loss. Anderson went on to have two more seasons with one or no misses before being released by the Vikings following the 2001 season.
The first season-ending injury suffered by an NFL player came when Red Badgroes of the Chicago Cardinals was killed in a car crash late in the 1919 season. The accident occurred as Badgroes was returning home from a trip to visit his wife who was giving birth to their third child. She survived the crash but her husband died instantly.
The most recent season-ending injury occurred last year when Blake Bortles of the Jacksonville Jaguars tore his ACL during a fourth quarter comeback attempt against the Texans. The injury ended his season.
There have been many other serious injuries over the years, some of which have caused players to miss large parts of subsequent seasons. For example, Joe Looney of the Ravens and Matt Prater of the Broncos both missed significant time due to leg injuries.
In addition to the above-mentioned players, Dave Meggett of the Browns and Mike Vanderjagt of the Colts also lost seasons due to injuries.
The New Orleans Saints are an American professional gridiron football club headquartered in New Orleans that competes in the National Football League's National Football Conference (NFC). The Saints have only won one Super Bowl (2010).
They are one of two NFL franchises based in Louisiana (the other is the Los Angeles Rams), and they are also the only franchise from Louisiana that has ever appeared in the NFL Championship Game. The Saints joined the NFL as a replacement for the defunct American Football League (AFL) team, the New Orleans Pelicans/Giants. They began play in 1982 after the AFL canceled its 1983 season due to labor strife.
New Orleans has hosted four NFL Drafts since the league expanded into Louisiana in 2002. Three of these events were held at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, with the fourth taking place outside New Orleans in Chicago. The Saints have selected first overall twice, most recently in 2009 when quarterback Drew Brees was chosen by San Diego. They also selected defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul first overall in 2013.
New Orleans has also hosted three Pro Bowlers who played for the Saints: wide receivers Mike Singletary and Joe Horn and linebacker Otis Wilson.
The Saints have made the playoffs ten times, most recently in 2016.
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