Matt Stover looked out the window of his downtown Indianapolis condominium this week and saw all the way to Baltimore.
In his 20th NFL season, Stover has become a man for two cities, splitting time between his workplace in Indiana and his home in suburban Baltimore. Pulled in both directions, the 41-year-old Stover will figuratively be caught in the middle when the Indianapolis Colts face the Ravens on Saturday night in an NFL elimination playoff game at Lucas Oil Stadium.
After being stripped of his kicking job by the Ravens last summer, Stover sat out the first five weeks of the 2009 season before the Colts gave him a contract. Now, in two more games, he could be on his way to the Super Bowl.
"I'm just planning on doing the best I can for the Indianapolis Colts," Stover said of the AFC divisional playoff game against his old team. "I hope everybody [in Baltimore] would expect me to feel that way. That's what a professional needs to do."
Stover's best has produced 471 field goals and more than 2,000 points in an NFL career as solid as it is long. His league record of 38 consecutive games with a field goal was achieved in Baltimore, where he spent the past 13 seasons.
When coach John Harbaugh and the Ravens decided in the offseason not to bring him back, Stover mulled his options; moving back to his hometown in Dallas was among them.
After months of introspection, Stover and his wife, Debbie, came to a decision. "Why don't we keep our options open?" he remembers her saying.
"She asked me if I still wanted to play, and I said, 'I believe I still do,' " Stover said.
Waiting for the right job offer required patience and diligence. He worked out all summer, just as he had the past 20 years, hoping for a call from the Ravens. When none was forthcoming, he was in new territory.
When training camp opened in July, Stover and his wife were in the Bahamas for a week's vacation. In August, the family went to Houston to visit Debbie's parents.
Back home, when Stover wasn't working out, he was helping a local college kicker and two high school kickers learn the craft. Or taking his own kids to lacrosse practice, or to the movies, or any of the other dozens of things that regular dads do but football fathers can't. He even went to two early-season Ravens' home games.
"I had a lot of 'honey-do's,' " Stover said of his new-found spare time. "Debbie and I had projects we wanted to do in our house. It was an opportunity to invest in the family and get the house in order."
In the process, he began to see what life after football looked like.
"Anybody who's out of the NFL can recognize that the NFL does go on without you," he said. "Not that I didn't realize that. Life goes on. I was allowed to reflect on an amazing career and wanted to understand whether this is still what I wanted to do."
It wasn't until early October that he knew. He had already passed up a contract offer from the New York Jets and rejected a chance to become the Cleveland Browns' emergency kicker. But on Oct. 6, he had a workout for the New York Giants that convinced him he could still kick in the NFL.
"I had a workout against Matt Bryant," Stover recalled. "My juices started to flow. I kicked great. That was the moment I knew I could kick. I said, 'Let's go, it isn't over.' "
A day later, the Colts called. The irony was not lost on Stover, who had come to Baltimore with the Browns in 1996, and knew all about the Colts' wrenching departure from Baltimore in 1984. Stover's move came as the Ravens were struggling to replace him. They've used two kickers this season.
Harbaugh doesn't think Stover's appearance in the game will affect the Ravens.
"I don't think it will get emotional for guys seeing him," Harbaugh said. "It's always good to see him. He is a friend of everybody's. We'll go say 'Hey,' and go play the game."
The Colts gave him what he asked for - a guaranteed, one-year contract at a reported $600,000 and a shot at the Super Bowl - but he still wanted Baltimore to be OK with it, and to understand his reasoning.
Besides, Indianapolis was an hour's flight away. Colts coach Jim Caldwell agreed to let Stover return to Baltimore each Sunday night to see his family, and return Tuesday night for Wednesday's first practice.
"I found a nice condo that I rent month-to-month downtown, and I'm looking out at the skyline of Indianapolis now," he said via cell phone on Monday. "It's comfortable for the family when they come. I was able to see them weekly. It wasn't enough time, but it had to be sufficient."
Debbie had steeled herself for the hardship, and Stover talked out his decision with his children: 14-year-old Jenna, 13-year-old Jacob and 6-year-old Joe.
"I have a great partnership with Debbie," Stover said. "I am blessed by it, empowered by it. I told the kids, 'I can't do this without you understanding this will make it different for everyone. But with your help, we can do this and it'll be a great experience for the family.' "
His children, Stover said, are "still Ravens fans except when we [the Colts] play them."
And Stover still has family time. He went to a Christmas play at McDonogh for Joe. On Sunday night, he was in White Marsh watching Jacob play indoor lacrosse.
Stover is as devoted to his faith as he is his family. He is one of the NFL's most charitable players and has worked regularly with the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore.
"I miss him so dearly," said Lainey LeBow-Sachs, executive vice president of external relations at Kennedy Krieger. "First of all, he was wonderful to the community. He got involved with us and was so generous with his time, with his money. He was fabulous. They're a beautiful family, and he's a beautiful man. I think it's a huge loss."
In Indianapolis, where he filled in for injured Adam Vinatieri, Stover has made nine of 11 field goals and become the fifth player in NFL history to go over 2,000 career points.
"When Adam got hurt, to be able to sign Matt, who is just the ultimate professional, it truly has been a great addition to our locker room," quarterback Peyton Manning said.
"The team has embraced him well. He has been very solid for us on the field. He's been in a lot of high-pressure situations. He's the same every day, whether it's warming up before the game or kicking a clutch field goal, and you like having a guy like that as a veteran on your team."
Center Jeff Saturday added: "Stove's a great player. He brings a lot of fun to the team, and you've got full confidence in what he can do. Everybody knows that he's made big kicks in this game and we expect nothing less from him."
Indianapolis is almost the perfect place for Stover.
"The perfect place would have been closer and easier," he said. "I really felt that God had a plan and that this was my calling. It's not always about me and what I think should happen."
Baltimore Sun reporters Jamison Hensley in Owings Mills and Edward Lee in Indianapolis contributed to this article.