Just for Kicks

Veteran John Carney is ready to go as Big Blue opens the NFL season tonight against Washington...

While the Giants had to remove 23 players from their roster to reach the maximum of 53 players on Aug. 30, it was the one player they signed that day that made all the noise.

With Lawrence Tynes still battling an injured knee, the Giants inked veteran kicker John Carney, the fifth-highest scorer in NFL history. Carney, 44, is beginning his 21st NFL season. He has played 274 regular season games for six teams, most notably San Diego (1990-2000) and New Orleans (2001-2006). He has made 425-of-519 regular season field-goal attempts (81.9 percent) and 537-of-545 extra-point tries for 1,812 points. Only Morten Andersen (2,544), Gary Anderson (2,434), George Blanda (2,002), and Matt Stover (1,822) have scored more points.

In 2007, Carney played eight games for Jacksonville and five for Kansas City, connecting on 12-of-14 field-goal attempts and 27-of-28 PATs for 63 points. Though he has had a long and distinguished career, Carney kept kicking in hopes of landing another job.

“I haven't found anything better to do yet,” Carney said. “I've been training and I feel good. I feel strong and healthy. I’m motivated to continue my career. I felt confident if I continued to train and hope I would get some more opportunities here in 2008.”

The Giants were ecstatic to land a kicker who has been around the block so many times.

“John Carney has so much experience and been in this league for so long, kicked so many game-winning field goals and been in so many tight situations,” Coughlin said.

Regarding Tynes, Coughlin said, “There’s no new news. So progress is slow, as it normally is.”