Hartley used to overcoming adversity
 

Sheldon Mickles
Advocate Sportswriter


METAIRIE - In just 2-1/2 seasons with the New Orleans Saints, kicker Garrett Hartley has experienced more highs and lows than a 25-year-old could ever imagine.

He’s made game-winning kicks, including one that sent the Saints to Super Bowl XLIV, and has missed kicks that would have won games in the closing seconds.

He’s also the only player in NFL history to boot three field goals of 40 yards or longer in a Super Bowl after making kicks of 46, 44 and 47 yards in a 31-17 win over the Indianapolis Colts.

Because of that, Saints coaches and management view the diminutive Hartley, who has an exceptionally strong right leg, as a valuable asset despite an occasional hiccup.

Aside from leg strength, another thing that sets Hartley apart is how he responds to adversity. Both times the former Oklahoma star missed a game-winner, he’s shaken it off and bounced back with a string of successful kicks.

“It’s really just believing in yourself and your own abilities,” Hartley said of the tough times he’s been through. “As much as you strive to be perfect and want to be perfect, sometimes that’s not the case. And it’s really about how you battle through it.

Full article below.
Highs and lows | Saints | The Advocate — Baton Rouge, LA

Unfortunately, the missed kick last year haunted him/us all year and ultimately cost us a division and home-field advantage. As good as he is, he is in a situation where another miss like that could overshadow so many good kicks that he is expected to make.

after the missed kick last season didnt he go perfect all the way to the end of the season? like a string of 17 kicks or something

He is a good Kicker, the miss against Atlanta sucked. But kickers sometime miss easy ones and hard ones....even Adam Vinatieri.

I fell a little bad for kickers because when they mess up...the loss is always on them.

In that Atlanta game Brees had 2 interceptions and Ivory a fumble he lost. But Hartley will always be remembered for why they lost it, because he could have made the (easy) play to win and failed.

I'm so glad we have him. It could have been so much worse. I mean Olindo Mare is still kicking for some other poor team.

I think kickers' popular opinions are even more skewed than Quarterbacks. When a quarterback's team screws up, he gets the blame, but at least as a player he is evaluated over a season, or even over a number of games. For a kicker, they could make 39/40 kicks in a season, and if the 1 miss was for a playoff berth or something like that, then everyone is calling for their head, despite the fact that he wouldn't have been in a "must-make" situation without the rest of the team putting him there.
By the same token, a kicker might miss 20% of his kicks, but if he puts one through to get you in the playoffs, he is the hero of the season. It's completely absurd.

As with any kicker they have there up's and down's... It just seems we notice
when they mess up more often then other things... Mostly because they are put in the game at a crucial moment.. Hartley is a good kicker..

Kickers are on the field so in-often that it magnifies any mistake!!

This is my defense of Hartley from back in January when everybody was trashing him. I'm still going to give him some slack.

He's our Kicker.