Matt McCrane

Matthew McCrane (born September 8, 1994) is an American professional football placekicker for the DC Defenders of the United Football League (UFL). He played college football for the Kansas State Wildcats. He was signed by the Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent in 2018. He has also played for the Oakland Raiders, Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Guardians, and Cleveland Browns.

Early life McCrane attended and played high school football at Brownwood High School. While playing for the Lions, McCrane converted on 41 of 44 extra points and 7 of 12 field goals, including the longest in school history at 52 yards.

College career McCrane attended and played college football at Kansas State University for head coach Bill Snyder. From 2014 to 2017, he converted 133-of-134 extra point attempts and 57-of-66 field goal attempts. McCrane ranks #2 in Big XII history and #7 in NCAA history for Career Field Goal Percentage. (86.4%)

College statistics Matt McCrane Year School Conf Class Pos G XPM XPA XP% FGM FGA FG% Pts 2014 Kansas State Big 12 FR K 12 41 42 97.6 18 19 94.7 95 2015 Kansas State Big 12 SO K 5 15 15 100.0 7 7 100.0 36 2016 Kansas State Big 12 JR K 8 29 29 100.0 11 14 78.6 62 2017 Kansas State Big 12 SR K 13 48 48 100.0 21 26 80.8 111 Career Kansas State 133 134 99.3 57 66 86.4 304

Professional career

Arizona Cardinals (first stint) After going undrafted in the 2018 NFL draft, McCrane signed with Arizona Cardinals. He was released on September 1, 2018.

Oakland Raiders McCrane was signed by the Oakland Raiders on September 25, 2018. On September 30, against the Cleveland Browns, McCrane converted three of five field goal attempts and four extra points. He converted the game winning field goal for the Raiders in his NFL debut. McCrane was waived by the Raiders on October 23, after the team signed Daniel Carlson.

Arizona Cardinals (second stint) McCrane was re-signed by the Cardinals to their practice squad on October 26, 2018. McCrane was released by the Cardinals on October 30. He was re-signed to the active roster on November 17, following an injury to Phil Dawson. McCrane handled the kicking duties in the Cardinals' 23–21 loss to the Oakland Raiders, making all three of his extra point attempts, and was waived the following day on November 19.

Pittsburgh Steelers On December 28, 2018, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed McCrane after placekicker Chris Boswell was placed on injured reserve. McCrane made all three field goal attempts and his sole extra point attempt in the Steelers final regular season game on December 30, in a 16–13 win against the Cincinnati Bengals. McCrane was released by the Steelers on May 9, 2019.

New York Guardians McCrane was drafted by the New York Guardians in the 2020 XFL Supplemental Draft on November 22, 2019. He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020.

Cleveland Browns McCrane was signed to the Cleveland Browns' practice squad on September 22, 2020. McCrane was signed to a reserve/futures contract by the Browns on January 18, 2021. He was waived by Cleveland on May 11.

Arizona Cardinals (third stint) On September 16, 2021, McCrane was signed to the Arizona Cardinals' practice squad. The Cardinals released him on September 21.

Philadelphia Eagles On December 25, 2021, McCrane was signed to the Philadelphia Eagles practice squad. He spent time on and off the practice squad before being released on January 10, 2022.

DC Defenders (first stint) McCrane signed with the DC Defenders on January 17, 2023. He re-signed with the team on January 22, 2024.

On April 13, 2024, McCrane experienced the best day in his career to date, kicking field goals of 58, 54 and 49 yards (the last being a game-winning kick) in a victory over the Arlington Renegades. His contract was terminated on September 17, to sign with an NFL team.

Detroit Lions On September 18, 2024, McCrane signed with the Detroit Lions' practice squad. He was released by Detroit on October 7.

DC Defenders (second stint) On December 2, 2024, McCrane re-signed with the Defenders. In Week 1 of the 2026 season, McCrane made the UFL's first ever 4 point field goal, earning player of the week honors for the second time in his UFL career. During the 2026 season, McCrane made four field goals from 60 yards or longer—two in the regular season and two in the postseason—setting the professional-football single-season record for 60-yard field goals.

Career statistics NFL Year Team GP Field goals Points FGA FGM Lng Pct 2018 OAK 3 9 5 44 55.6 33 ARI 1 0 0 - - 3 PIT 1 3 3 47 100.0 10Career 5 12 8 47 66.7 46

XFL/UFL Legend League champion Led the league Bold Career high Regular season Year Team League GP Field goals Points FGA FGM Lng Pct 2020 NY XFL 5 8 8 53 100.0 24 2023 DC 10 16 12 50 75.0 36 2024 DC UFL 10 20 16 58 80.0 48 2025 DC 10 20 14 53 70.0 42 2026 DC 9 24 18 60 75.0 80 Career 44 88 68 60 77.2 230

Postseason Year Team League GP Field goals Points FGA FGM Lng Pct 2023 DC XFL 2 1 1 24 100.0 3 2025 DC UFL 2 5 5 41 100.0 15 Career 4 6 6 41 100.0 18