Dan Carpenter

Daniel Roy Carpenter (born November 25, 1985) is an American former professional football player who was a placekicker in the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent in 2008 after playing college football for the University of Montana.

Carpenter spent his first five seasons playing for the Dolphins, with whom he was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2009. After being released by the Dolphins after the 2012 season, he spent parts of the 2013 preseason with the Arizona Cardinals and the New York Jets, before joining the Buffalo Bills before the start of the regular season. Carpenter spent four more seasons playing with the Bills before being released during the 2017 offseason.

Early life Carpenter attended Helena High School in Helena, Montana, where he was a member of the National Honor Society and had a 3.7 grade point average. As a football player at Helena, Carpenter was a two-time all-state and two-time all-league selection as a kicker and punter. His 123 points that season were the second-highest total in school history, and his performance earned him a second-team All-Big Sky selection.

In his four years at Montana, Carpenter converted on 75 of 103 field goals (72.8 percent) and punted 71 times for a 41.8-yard average.

Miami Dolphins

After going undrafted in the 2008 NFL draft, Carpenter signed a two-year contract with the Miami Dolphins on April 29, 2008. The deal included a $7,500 signing bonus. (despite having set the Dolphins single-season field-goal percentage record in his only season), having already released try-out signing Dave Rayner on June 6. The decision effectively selected Carpenter to be the starting kicker for the 2008 season, with coach Tony Sparano commenting that the decision to cut Feely "was based purely on numbers, on performance, and Carpenter has outperformed him right now. That's the bottom line."

On November 30, 2008, Carpenter set the Dolphins' rookie record for most consecutive field goals made with 11.

Carpenter was awarded the AFC Special Teams Player of the Month for November 2008, for converting all eight of his field goal attempts during the month, including five from a distance longer than 40 yards.

According to NFL statistics, Carpenter finished the 2009 season going 25 for 28 on field goals with a long of 52 yards and also finished 40 for 40 on extra point attempts.

On October 17, 2010, against the Green Bay Packers, Carpenter kicked 3 field goals, including the 44-yard game-winning field goal with 9:01 left in overtime to give the Dolphins a 23–20 win.

On December 5, 2010, Carpenter made a 60-yard field goal in a home game against the Cleveland Browns and was the 5th longest in NFL history.

Two weeks later, on December 19, Carpenter had one of the worst statistical kicking performances in recent memory, going 0–4 on field goals against the Buffalo Bills in a loss that would end the Dolphins playoff hopes that season. All of the kicks he attempted were 48 yards or longer (49, 61, 53, 48.) A performance this bad would not be seen again until Week 5 of the 2018 NFL season when Mason Crosby went 1–6 on field goals against the Detroit Lions.

Carpenter made his first Pro Bowl in 2009. San Diego Chargers kicker Nate Kaeding did not play due to injury, and Carpenter took his spot.

At the end of the 2010 season, Carpenter was the second most accurate kicker in NFL history, behind Kaeding.

On September 23, 2012, Carpenter missed a 47-yard field goal in a home game against the New York Jets in overtime which would have sealed victory for Miami in overtime. Carpenter also missed a field goal from a similar distance earlier in the game. Miami would ultimately go on to lose 23–20 to New York in overtime.

On November 25, 2012, his 27th birthday, he hit a 43-yard field goal to win against the Seattle Seahawks in overtime to win 24–21 at home.

On December 22, 2012, Carpenter was placed on injured reserve.

On August 14, 2013, Carpenter was released by the Miami Dolphins. Before his release, he was battling rookie Caleb Sturgis for the Dolphins' starting placekicker job. Carpenter was signed to compete for the starting placekicker job with incumbent kicker Jay Feely.

New York Jets Carpenter was signed by the New York Jets on August 27, 2013. He was released on August 31, 2013.

Buffalo Bills

The Bills signed Carpenter on September 3, 2013, due to a groin injury sustained by starting kicker Dustin Hopkins.

On October 20, 2013, against the Miami Dolphins, Carpenter kicked three field goals, including the game-winner from 31 yards out with 33 seconds left in the game.

He re-signed with the Bills on March 11, 2014. Carpenter was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for the first week of the 2014 season due to his efforts against the Chicago Bears.

On September 14, 2014, against the Miami Dolphins, Carpenter converted five-of-six field goal attempts and two PATs, scoring a career-high 17 points.

In 2015, the Buffalo Bills brought in veteran placekicker, Billy Cundiff, to compete with Carpenter. After Week 5, Cundiff was released, making Carpenter their kicker for 2015.

In Week 11 of the 2016 season, Carpenter kicked three field goals including one for 54 yards in a win over the Bengals and was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week.

On December 24, 2016, Week 16 – in overtime the Bills had a chance to go ahead on a 45-yard field goal, but Carpenter’s attempt went wide right. Three possessions later, the Dolphins got a 57-yard run down the left sideline from Jay Ajayi to set up a game-winning 27-yard field goal to lift the Dolphins over Buffalo 34–31, ending the Bills' slim playoff hopes.

On March 6, 2017, Carpenter was released by the Bills.

Career statistics

NFL Year Team GP Field goals Extra points Total points 2008 MIA 16 21 25 84.0 0–0 4–4 7–7 9–13 1–1 50 40 40 100.0 103 2009 MIA 16 25 28 89.3 0–0 9–9 7–8 8–9 1–2 52 37 38 97.4 112 2010 MIA 16 30 41 73.2 1–1 9–9 5–5 11–18 4–8 60 25 25 100.0 115 2011 MIA 14 29 34 85.3 0–0 10–11 6–7 11–12 2–4 58 26 26 100.0 113 2012 MIA 14 22 27 81.5 0–0 3–3 9–9 8–10 2–5 53 26 26 100.0 92 2013 BUF 16 33 36 91.7 0–0 13–13 6–6 10–11 4–6 55 32 32 100.0 131 2014 BUF 16 34 38 89.5 0–0 9–9 12–13 7–8 6–8 58 31 32 96.9 133 2015 BUF 16 23 27 85.2 0–0 5–5 8–9 7–8 3–5 52 34 40 85.0 103 2016 BUF 16 19 25 76.0 1–1 8–8 5–5 4–9 1–2 54 40 45 88.9 97 Total 140 236 281 84.0 2–2 70–71 65–69 75–98 24–41 60 291 304 95.7 999

College

FGA !! FGM !! Lng !! FG% !! PAT !! Punts !! Yds !! Avg !! Lng 2004

2005

2006

2007

Total

In 2016, Kaela controversially tweeted about her desire to have Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman castrated following a game where Sherman landed a dirty hit on her husband.