Olindo Mare

Olindo Franco Mare (born June 6, 1973) is an American football placekicker for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League. He was originally signed by the New York Giants as an undrafted free agent in 1996. He played college football at MacMurray College and Syracuse.

Mare, who was selected to the Pro Bowl in 1999, has also played for the Miami Dolphins, New Orleans Saints & Seattle Seahawks.

Early years
Mare attended Cooper City High School (Cooper City, Florida), and was a student and letterman in football and soccer. Olindo Mare graduated from Cooper City High School in 1991. Olindo played at MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Illinois and finished his college career for the Syracuse Orange.

Professional career
Mare has a career field goal percentage of 81.2%. He is considered to be one of the best in the league at kickoffs, with a career average of 63.8 yards.

Miami Dolphins
Mare played the first 10 seasons of his career with the Miami Dolphins.

In 2001, Mare attempted his first, and thus far, only rushing attempt on fake field goal against the Carolina Panthers. He was stopped for a 5 yard loss.

While in 2004 season, when Mare was out with a calf injury, current New England Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker replaced him and became only the second player in NFL history to return a kickoff and a punt, kick an extra point and a field goal, and make a tackle in a single game.

During the 2005 season, he scored 25 of 30 on field goals, averaged 67.0 yards per kickoff, and had 16 touchbacks in 73 kicks. Mare also recorded his first fumble recovery during the season.

New Orleans Saints
On April 3, 2007, the Dolphins traded Mare to the New Orleans Saints for a 2007 sixth-round draft pick. He inherited the position from kicker John Carney, who was released from the team a day after.

He missed his first field goal attempt of the 2007 season against the Indianapolis Colts. At the midway point of the 2007 season, Mare had made exactly half of his field goal attempts. He also missed 3 field goals in the final preseason game. Early in the season, it was revealed that Mare injured his groin muscle, and punter Steven Weatherford took over on kick-offs for a few games. While playing the Jacksonville Jaguars, Mare missed his second attempt of the game, and ended up being called on again only a couple minutes later after the Saints intercepted and drove back into field goal range. Fans booed Mare as he walked on the field to attempt the long shot (over 50 yards), which he missed. Despite the reaction of fans, and his extremely poor play, head coach Sean Payton continued to stand by the kicker until he was injured in the second game against the Atlanta Falcons, and replaced with Martín Gramática.

On February 27, 2008 he was released from the Saints after only one season.

Seattle Seahawks
On March 27, 2008, Mare signed with the Seattle Seahawks to a two-year contract worth $3.5 million. He won the kicking battle during training camp and pre-season against Brandon Coutu. He had a superb 2008 season as he finished the season kicking 24/27 field goals and making all of his PATs.

In 2009, Mare faced significant scrutiny after missing two field goals in a week 3 game against the Chicago Bears. The misses resulted in a 6 point loss for the Seahawks. In a post-game news conference, Head Coach Jim Mora Jr. called Mare's playing "not acceptable". Olindo Mare had a fantastic 2009 season as he finished with 24/26 field goals with a franchise record 21 straight. He earned a 2009 Pro Bowl Alternate honor and a franchise tag that will give him a base salary of what the top 5 kickers make in the NFL or a 20% salary increase whichever is more.

Dick Stockton's inability to pronounce Mare's last name correctly has resulted in the nickname Mar-AA. Mar-AA is a reference to a Seattle drinking game.

Personal
Mare is married to his wife Sandy, with three sons, Hayden, Rylan, and Landon, and one daughter, Kayla.

Mare is mentioned in Wale's song "TV in the Radio" in the line "I kick it, kick it like Olindo."