New Orleans Saints Kicker Garrett Hartley Comes Up Big Again

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees might be the Super Bowl XLIV MVP and coach Sean Payton will be lauded for his gutsy second-half onside kick call.

But, kicker Garrett Hartley should get a game ball and maybe a bigger diamond on his championship ring as well.

Hartley was the first kicker in Super Bowl history to make three field goals beyond 40 yards. 

Two weeks earlier, the undrafted free-agent out of Oklahoma sent the Saints to their first Super Bowl appearance in 44 seasons by converting on a 40-yard overtime field-goal in the NFC Championship Game.

Hartley came up big again when his team needed him most in the early stages of Super Bowl XLIV. With New Orleans trailing 10-0 after the first quarter, Hartley put the Saints on the board with a 46-yard conversion.

He later dropped one in from 44 yards at the end of the second quarter to cut the Indianapolis lead to 10-6 going into halftime.

That second fieldgoal might have been the second biggest play of the Super Bowl (aside from Tracy Porter's 74-yard interception touchdown return with 3:12 left in regulation and Payton's onside kick gamble), considering the Saints failed to score on fourth down deep in Colts territory nearly 90 seconds earlier, when it seemed the tide was shifting.

Hartley's final make of the night was a 47-yarder to cut the Colts lead to 17-16, as the game was heading to the fourth quarter.

Maybe without those nine points, New Orleans is not celebrating its first world championship.