Where Argh they now? Former ECU punter Matt Dodge finds that mistakes are part of God's plan

In the National Football League a player is expected to leave every ounce of effort on the field and making a mistake is not acceptable, especially in a game with playoff implications.

“Both teams had the same records, and if you won, you controlled your own destiny,” said former New York Giants punter Matt Dodge. “Leading up into that game we knew it, all week prepping for that game the talk from not only the special teams coach but the head coach and, heck, I think even the janitor told me, ‘we’ve got to keep it out of his hands.’”

Only having three games remaining in his rookie season with the New York Giants, Dodge saw his defense crumble at the hands of Michael Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles and throw away a 31-10 half time lead. Ultimately, the Eagles would tie the game and the Giants final drive to go ahead before the end of regulation would stall, with 14 seconds left.

Naturally, Matt Dodge walked out on the field after taking directions from head coach Tom Coughlin on where to boot it, though he didn’t need them because he knew the obvious. A two-time Pro-Bowler and reigning Second Team All-Pro wide receiver in Desean Jackson was on the other side of Dodge and the obvious was to not give arguably the most dangerous and electric return man in the game a chance to touch the ball. Punt it out of bounds.

“As you can imagine, I knew the game plan was that we didn’t want to punt it to the guy and prove we could tackle him, to thy own self be true,” said Dodge.

From the low snap to the line drive punt, the play started on a bad note, but to make things worse, the ball didn’t go out of bounds, it went right to Jackson without any air under the football, the punt return coverage was late getting to Jackson, and well, the rest is history, or otherwise known as the “Miracle of the New Meadowlands.”

“My life changed forever after that play,” said Dodge. “I knew it was a big deal, but I had no idea how big of a deal it was. There were death threats, how legitimate they were, I don’t know. I can remember people were posting my car and address online.”

One bad play made at such a pinnacle of one’s career would usually devastate them, leaving them gasping for motivation. Next August, Dodge was out of New York, in fact Dodge would never play again. However, for Dodge, a mistake is what guided his path to the NFL.

“The Mistake That Changed Everything”

“I was fourteen and I remember my mom dropped me off at the field for my first varsity soccer practice, I got invited to practice with the varsity, but I was still JV,” said Dodge. “I was about a minute late for practice. I’m fourteen, it’s not like I was dilly dallying, I was trying to get a ride. Well, a coach decided to make an example out of me, essentially telling me to get off the field.”

Dodge remembers having his cleats in hand and seeing the football team practicing in the distance. Across the field was the varsity kicker for West Carteret, practicing punting and kicking.

“I had my cleats, I remember thinking I might as well walk over there,” said Dodge. “I walked over there and kicked and that’s how I started playing football in high school, being a minute late to soccer practice.”

A connoisseur of all sports as a kid, Dodge found that football, his least favorite one, complemented his abilities best. Too small to play any other position and too late to play soccer, Dodge would then compete as a punter and kicker throughout high school. He established himself as having one of the best legs on the eastern coast.

Receiving the butt end of a recruiting class stacked with kickers and punters, Dodge was shafted on scholarships. Originally he chose to be a preferred walk-on at Appalachian State, a decision made after Dodge and his dad narrowed the decision down to App State and East Carolina. The decision maker was finally left up to a field goal proposition the two made. If he hit the left upright of the field goal post, he’d be a Mountaineer, anywhere else and he’d be a Pirate.

That fall, Dodge took the field for his first ever collegiate game in Boone, and after appearing in all 12 games and winning a division I-AA championship with the 2005 team, Dodge felt a calling to come back home to the eastern part of the state and would eventually become a Pirate. Just like he did as a Mountaineer he also entered ECU as a preferred walk-on before earning a scholarship for his last two seasons.

His next three seasons, he would watch his punt average soar to one of the top averages in the nation. Dodge was averaging almost 46 yards a punt in his last season, after setting a goal of 46 for himself in the spring.

“Before my senior year, I really made a decision that if I wanted to get to the NFL I had to be intentional about it,” said Dodge. “I picked up a book, ‘Maximum Achievement,’ It taught me how to set goals. I set goals for what I wanted to average, to be an All-American, and a lot of other things. It sent me on a habit of writing goals so much to where as I even did it before every practice.”

Dodge added, “I remember finding the book of my goals not too long ago and I had accomplished all my goals to almost a tee.”

After competing in the North-South Shrine game following his senior season, Dodge found himself ranked as the No. 2 punter, nationally. He would show how good he really was and be one of a few punters drafted when he was selected in the seventh round of the 2010 NFL draft by the New York Giants.

Dodge hadn’t realized just what he was walking into.

“The second day I was there, (long-time Giants’ punter) Jeff Feagles announced his retirement, the next thing you know all cameras had panned on me,” said Dodge. “Jeff was what is known as a directional guy, he hit it wherever you asked him to, he was like Tom Glavine, he was precise. If you watched me in college I was the exact opposite, I was a kick-the-heck-out-of-it kind of guy and trusted in my punt return defense.”

Dodge started rookie mini-camp out great, nailing kicks, but by his third day his coaches decided to radically change everything about the rookie punter.

Unfortunately for Dodge, breaking his fundamentals down, throwing them away and building them back ruined him more mentally than anything. Dodge had seen his fair share of punts shank and go flat throughout his rookie season, making fans question the coaching staff’s choice to begin with. Drafting this kid from “Eastern” Carolina and bringing him in with an already established punter would eventually have some loyal fans questioning if the motive was to force Feagles into retirement.

Every shank punt added more fuel to a fan fire that would eventually explode with a Desean Jackson punt return touchdown, banishing Dodge from the NFL forever.

“God’s Plan is Revealed”

“God had his finger on the pulse of my Journey the whole way,” said Dodge.

Though Dodge had taken a heap of criticism, the one thing his father taught him that stuck has recently paid off.

“I was raised pretty simple, but I was raised to always answer for what you have done and don’t shy away from it,” said Dodge.

Doing things the right way is what got Dodge where he is today. He is a savvy wealth management consultant where he helps show those in need a plan for their post-retirement days. His clients are growing rapidly and so is his status in his other occupation. Dodge, who is a writer on the side, eventually teamed his two talents together, and wrote a book on how to manage one’s financials after retirement.

The book’s name is “Halftime Shift” and though it is Dodge’s first, he vows it’s definitely not his last, using some of his NFL money earned to invest in classes on book writing.

Nowadays, Dodge uses his faith to lean on and looks at the role he played while in New York as more of a blessing than anything.

"If that play never happened nobody would know who I am, or they wouldn't remember me," said Dodge. "That has opened up so many doors for me. I’m a huge Christian so I believe God works in very mysterious ways, and this is a perfect example of that."