He played college football for the UCF Knights, and was originally signed by the Lions as an undrafted free agent in 2006.

He was cut by the Denver Broncos after completing a suspension for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy.

[3] During his high school football career with the Wildcats, he converted 56 of 58 extra point attempts and 14 field goals, including one of 49 yards.

[5] Prater showed signs of his leg strength with his first kick of his collegiate career, making a 53-yard attempt against Penn State.

[12] As a senior in 2005, Prater made 17-of-26 field goal attempts on the year, including a season-long 49-yard conversion.

However, in the first overtime, he missed an extra point, which dubbed him as the player that cost UCF the game and gave Nevada a 49–48 victory in the 2005 Hawaii Bowl.

[14] In 46 games spanning four years with UCF, Prater converted 50 of 74 field goal attempts, with a long of 53 yards.

[17] He made field goals of 22, 44, and 48 yards in a preseason game against the Cleveland Browns, but had little chance of beating out veteran incumbent Jason Hanson and was subsequently released August 27.

He spent the rest of the season as a free agent, but did have workouts with the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings.

Shortly thereafter, Prater signed a contract with the Atlanta Falcons and beat out Billy Cundiff for the job.

[22] Prater became the starting kicker for the Denver Broncos, replacing Jason Elam who signed with the Falcons.

The Broncos had waived Garrett Hartley on July 21, 2008, leaving Prater as the only kicker on the Denver roster going into their first preseason game against the Houston Texans.

[25] On October 5, 2008, Prater converted three out of three field goals, including a 55-yarder, as part of a 16–13 Broncos home win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

At 3:00 am August 2, Prater was arrested and charged with DUI at a hotel while in the company of a female employee of "Shotgun Willie's," a local Glendale "strip club."

[45] On December 8, Prater set a new NFL record by successfully kicking a 64-yard field goal against the Tennessee Titans as time expired in the first half.

[51] Prater began the season with a four-game suspension for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy.

[54] Prater was Detroit's third kicker in only a little over a month after Nate Freese and Alex Henery had struggles in the kicking game.

[62] To cap off his performances, Prater won NFC Special Teams Player of the Month going 8-for-8 on field goals with two over 50 yards.

[64] Prater was named to his second Pro Bowl as an alternate for Falcons kicker Matt Bryant after the 2016 season.

[66] In Week 1, Prater had to take over punting duties after Kasey Redfern left with an injury early in the game.

[67] He kicked a 58-yard field goal, went 2-for-2 on extra points and punted four times with an average of 35 yards in a 35–23 win over the Arizona Cardinals, earning him NFC Special Teams Player of the Week.

[68] Prater was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Month for September after making all six of his field goal attempts, including four conversions from 55 yards and longer.

This gave Prater an NFL record seven straight field goals of 55 yards or longer without a miss, going back to 2016.

Prater had also converted 14 consecutive 50+ yard field goals going back to the previous season, which is also an NFL record.

[74] He added a field goal and four extra points in a 31–0 win over the Packers, earning him NFC Special Teams Player of the Week.