Having a son play in the Super Bowl is getting to be a once-a-decade thing for the Stover family of Lake Highlands. Matt Stover, LHHS Class of ’86, will kick for the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday in Super Bowl XLIV, his third trip to the big game with his third team.
Stover also was with the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXV and kicked for the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XXXV.
Ask Henry Stover where his son got his start kicking footballs, and there’s no hesitation.
"Out in the street in front of my house," Henry said.
While Matt Stover commutes from Baltimore to kick for the Colts, his parents still live in the same house in Lake Highlands. His father, pictured in Matt’s old room with one of his Punt, Pass and Kick trophies, said Matt will be taking most of the family to Miami for the game including siblings Ellen (LH ’81) and Paul (LH ’83).
His parents won’t be attending the game, however. Matt’s mother, Tasia, is recuperating from surgery and Henry is staying behind to be with her. Tasia and Henry, now retired from the pharmaceutical business, did attend the Ravens-Giants game in 2001.
Matt Stover’s first trip to the big game was in 1991 when he was a rookie with the Giants. Stover was on injured reserve and stood on the sidelines for that game, but earned a ring when the Giants beat the Buffalo Bills, 20-19, in Super Bowl XXV.
A decade later, Stover was an integral part of the Baltimore Ravens’ championship team. He kicked two field goals in the Ravens’ 34-7 dismantling of the Giants in Super Bowl XXXV.
Nine years later, Stover is still kicking, although he didn’t start the season that way. Unable to come to an agreement with the Ravens, Stover was released last spring. He had offers to kick on a temporary basis for other teams, but waited for the right opportunity. That came when the Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri had season-ending knee surgery five games into the season.
"He wanted an opportunity to help somebody get to the Super Bowl," Henry Stover said. "It just worked out."
