John Carney
COLLEGE: Notre Dame
POSITION: Kicker
BORN: April 20, 1964 in Hartford, Conn.
JOINED SAINTS: 2001
YEARS WITH SAINTS: 2001–2006 & 2009-2010
John Carney's career background
John Carney was selected to the New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame in 2014 after an eight-year career with the Black and Gold over two separate stints.
Prior to coming to New Orleans, Carney spent time on four NFL teams, including a 10-year stint at the San Diego Chargers. The Saints acquired Carney as a free agent ahead of the 2001 season. He spent six seasons in New Orleans before leaving to play for three teams until he ultimately rejoined New Orleans from 2009-2010.
Over his two stints in the Black and Gold, Carney made 168 of 203 field-goal attempts, making him the Saints' career leader in field-goal percentage at the time (82.8%). He ranks third in team history in points (768) and field goals made (168). Perhaps the most famous of all his placement attempts as a Saint was the game-winning field goal in the 2005 season opener at Carolina, New Orleans' first game after Hurricane Katrina. Throughout his time as a Saint, Carney kicked six game-winning field goals within the last 10 seconds of a contest. In addition, he shared the team record for field goals made in a season (31 in 2002) until 2019 and kicked a record-tying five field goals in a game on three occasions.
Between the Saints and seven other teams, Carney spent 23 years in the NFL as one of only three NFL players at the time to play in four decades. Carney finished his career with 478 of 580 made field-goal attempts (82.4%) and 628 of 638 PATs (98.4%) for a total of 2,062 points. His 580 career field goal attempts and 2,062 career points rank him fifth in kicking and scoring in NFL record books.
Since concluding his career in 2010 at the age of 46, Carney and his family have lived in San Diego where he has been mentoring high school, college and professional kickers and punters through his business, Carney Kicking. In addition to his year-round training programs at Carney Training Facility, he also offers national camps and clinics as well as one-on-one digital coaching. Among his landmark programs are his "Launching Pad" one-week program for NFL specialists and his "Specialist Preseason Combine," where he works with free agent specialists that are on the short list of a number of NFL teams. His son, J.D., was a quarterback for Notre Dame from 2017-20.
Carney's college career
The Hartford, Conn., native, who grew up in West Palm Beach, Fla., attended Notre Dame and kicked for the Fighting Irish from 1984-1986, where he was named to the all-time team by Sports Illustrated.
John Carney's career honors
Super Bowl XLIV champion
Pro Bowl – 1994, 2008
All-Pro – 1994
New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame
