The NFL’s version of Jamie Moyer, 46-year-old kicker John Carney, will be returning to his old stomping (make that, booting) grounds of New Orleans for the third time.  The Saints signed the ageless kicker on Tuesday, and a report yesterday indicated that he will kick on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers.  This is a move that is clearly meant to send a signal to their current struggling kicker, Garrett Hartley. 

Hartley, who is 24 years old and could easily refer and relate to Carney as “Dad.” is just 4-for-7 in field goal attempts this season. This includes a key 29-yard shanker last week in overtime against the Atlanta Falcons, as well as two misses in Week 1 against the Minnesota Vikings.  Ironically, all three misses have come indoors at home in the kicker-friendly confines of his Superdome home.

Hartley’s fall from grace has come quickly.  He was a hero in New Orleans in February, fueled by his overtime field goal to beat the Vikings in the NFC Championship Game.  He then converted all three field goals in the Saints Super Bowl victory over the Indianapolis Colts – all of which were at least 40 yards long (a Super Bowl record).

Ironically, Carney kicked for the Saints during the 2009 season while Hartley was serving a four-game suspension for testing positive for a banned stimulant.  Carney converted 13 of 17 field goal attempts, and then served as team’s kicking consultant for the remainder of the season.

Carney had a great season with the New York Giants in 2008, filling in for the injured Lawrence Tynes and converting 35 out of 38 attempted field goals.  He has 473 career field goals and also previously played with the Buccaneers, Chargers, Chiefs and Jaguars.

While it remains to be seen what will become of Hartley, the Saints (particularly head coach Sean Payton) are to be commended for keeping him on the roster.  The Saints also deserve credit for not discriminating against middle-aged workers and for not outsourcing work to other countries.  Corporate America should take note.

Used with permission of the author.

Chris Lardieri covers the Los Angeles Dodgers for Examiner.com and has written about Major League Baseball for Inside Edge, a scouting company that provides content to ESPN Insider and Yahoo Sports. He previously wrote for 1766, the Rutgers Alumni Magazine, and popular blog, ‘The Outer Loop’.  Be sure to follow Chris on Twitter for more MLB and sports observations.

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