Advocate staff photo by MATTHEW HINTON–New Orleans Saints kicker Shayne Graham (3) celebrates a score with New Orleans Saints tackle Marcel Jones (70) and New Orleans Saints quarterback Luke McCown (7) in a preseason game between the New Orleans Saints and the Tennessee Titans at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, La. Friday, Aug. 15, 2014.
No special teams player was better than Saints kicker Shayne Graham was in the NFC for the month of October, the NFL announced Thursday morning.
The 14-year-veteran earned the first Special Teams Player of the Month of his career after going 9-of-9 on field goals and 9-of-9 on extra points kicked in three games the Saints have played in October, two of which they won.
He was the only player to convert at least three kicks in every game his team played between Weeks 5 and 8 of the NFL season, according to the league.
One of Graham’s field goals — a 44-yarder — tied up an Oct. 5 clash in New Orleans against Tampa Bay at 31 late in the fourth quarter. The Saints subsequently triumphed 37-31 in overtime.
Then, as the Saints (3-4) pummeled the Green Bay Packers (5-3) by a score of 44-23 in New Orleans on Sunday night, Graham nailed all three of his field goal attempts in the first half as the two teams played to a 16-16 stalemate. That helped set New Orleans up to pull away in the second half.
Graham’s award comes about a month after he had somewhat put himself on the metaphorical hot seat. He had a missed extra point deflected in a win at home against Minnesota on Sept. 21, and the following week he pushed a kick wide in a blowout loss at Dallas.
Nonetheless, Graham this season is a rock solid 13-of-14 on field goals (92.9 percent) and 20-of-21 on extra points (95.2 percent).
The Saints close out their October on Thursday night with a visit to the Carolina Panthers (3-4-1).