Author Archives: Darren Williams

garrett-hartley

Taking A Closer Look At Garrett Hartley

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The Pittsburgh Steelers have moved quickly in finding a replacement for kicker Shaun Suisham. The team announced Tuesday that they had selected kicker Garrett Hartley, 29, to join the team.

https://twitter.com/GHartley5/status/631273015410565120

Hartley was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2008 by the Denver Broncos. Later that year he served as the placekicker for the Saints. His NFL career started strong, as he set an NFL record (no longer standing) for the most consecutive successful field goals in the start of a career. He also was the first kicker in NFL history to convert three field goals over 40 yards in the Superbowl (XLIV). He would go on to sign a contact extension making him the highest paid kicker in the game.

2011 was a rough year for Hartley though, who missed the entire season after a he sustained a hip injury during preseason. After returning to the Saints in 2012 and 2013, he struggled with consistency issues, and was consequently replaced in 2013.

 

The Browns signed Hartley in 2014 as a replacement for Billy Cundiff who was off on a knee injury, but he never saw much gameplay. He was waived by the Browns in March 2015.

By the numbers-

In 2012, Hartley was 18 for 22 (81.8%). 22 for 30 (73.3%) in 2013. He was 3 for 3 last year in Cleveland during the two cold weather games he played in.

Here’s a video Hartley posted to vimeo a few days ago. It contains some of his warmups and some trick shots showing off his leg strength.

After practice yesterday, Coach Tomlin was asked about Hartley.

“He’s an established guy,” Tomlin said. “He’s a been-there-done-that guy,” continuing, “We’ll get to know him along the way.”

Will Hartley be a long term answer, or will the Steelers be shopping the waiver wire in a few weeks? Steeler fans will have to wait and see if Hartley displays his early career reliability over his later career inconsistencies.

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Taking A Look At The Steelers Replacement Kicking Candidates

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The injury bug bit the Steelers Sunday night as steady kicker Shaun Suisham tore his ACL at the HOF game while trying to make a second-half tackle.

Suisham will be hard to replace. His specialized directional kicking and experience at the often tricky Heinz field has been an ace in the whole since 2010, making him the most accurate field-goal kicker in Steeler history. The 33 year old converted 59 of 64 field-goal tries over the past two years and just signed a new four year contract last August.

The Steelers are holding kicker workouts Tuesday in an effort to find a stop-gap replacement for Suisham. Among the invited are Garrett Hartley, Alex Henery, and Jay Feely. Veteran kickers Billy Cundiff and Shayne Graham should also be up for consideration.

Graham, 37, has been around the league. He’s been with a total of 14 teams, including the Steelers for one game in 2013 after a hamstring injury for Suisham.

Feely, 39, has is also a well traveled player, being with seven teams.

Henery seems to be a gamble. He was drafted in the 2011 NFL draft in the fourth round by the Eagles, but they cut him last August. The Lions picked him up in September, but cut him after he missed three field goals in an October loss to Buffalo.

Hartley and Cundiff both played with the Browns in the 2014 season.

One silver lining is the timing of the injury. Although the Steelers broke the norm and didn’t have any additional kickers in camp, they have a month before the regular season starts on September 10th to find a replacement for the season. Even then, the team can pick up a veteran after the season starts. Whomever wins the spot will need to also have the ability to kick off. Punters Brad Wing and Jordan Berry have no experience in that area.