Matt Stover’s NFL kicking career is inexorably linked to the Baltimore organization, as a Raven from 1996 through 2008 as well as in Cleveland, where he spent five years before the franchise moved to Maryland.

Now with the Indianapolis Colts in place of the injured Adam Vinatieri, Stover has added interest in this weekend’s wild-card playoff games, particularly Baltimore at New England on Sunday. If the sixth-seeded Ravens win, they would advance to face the Colts in the AFC divisional round Jan. 16.

“Yeah, it will be fun to watch the guys,” said Stover, whose wife and three children still reside in Baltimore. “I still have a lot of friends on the team and to see them go up to New England, it will be a tough, tough challenge. Two good teams.”

The Colts have only a few players who were once with current playoff teams. Vinatieri, who won two Super Bowls with game-winning field goals, captured three rings during his 1996-2005 run with the New England Patriots.

Wide receiver Hank Baskett was on Minnesota’s practice squad as a rookie in 2006 before joining Philadelphia that season. The Eagles released him after the first week this season, and the Colts claimed him off waivers.

Guard Kyle DeVan was on the New York Jets’ practice squad in 2008. Defensive tackle Dan Muir spent 2007 with Green Bay. Safety Aaron Francisco lasted a week with the Jets before signing with Arizona in 2005 and becoming a special teams captain for the Cardinals, including last year’s playoff run that ended in a Super Bowl loss to Pittsburgh. The Colts claimed him off waivers at the end of camp.

But Stover has the most obvious ties to another team in the hunt. Since arriving in Indy, he hasn’t said a negative word about parting with the Ravens last offseason. He turns 42 on Jan. 27, so it’s understandable his previous employer thought it was time for a younger kicker. Ironically, the Ravens are now on their second kicker after Stover’s replacement didn’t pan out.

When Vinatieri needed surgery on his right knee, the Colts signed Stover on Oct. 14. The third-most accurate kicker in league history at 83.9 percent, he has proven there’s still life in that right leg with nine field goals in 11 attempts.

Stover enjoyed a successful homecoming with the game-winning 25-yard field goal in a 17-15 victory at Baltimore on Nov. 22. He admits he’s pulling for the Ravens this week.

“It would be fun to have ’em back here,” he said.

Baskett still exchanges texts with Eagles players on a regular basis. While a new baby at home means he gets to change some diapers this weekend, he will be rooting tonight for the Eagles at NFC East rival Dallas.

“Don’t count ‘em out; I’ll tell you that right now,” Baskett said, discounting what many seem to be doing after the Eagles lost 24-0 at Dallas last Sunday.

But priority No. 1 is his son.

“I’ll be spending time with little Hank the fourth,” he said. “I’ll give (wife) Kendra a break.”

That might be the closest any Colts player comes to missing the action on TV. Every player asked said he would watch the playoffs with great interest.

“It’s the playoffs and I’m definitely interested in what’s going on and who we’re going to play,” right offensive tackle Ryan Diem said. “I’m just going to enjoy it and watch it, then when it’s time to come to work and study it, then that’s when I study it.”

The wild-card games, he said, are an unneeded reminder of the most crucial time of the season.

“This is what we’ve been playing for all year. This is why we started working out back in the summer,” Diem said. "This is why we won 14 games in a row, to have this opportunity in the playoffs and have home-field advantage.

“This is when it gets fun, real fun.”

Lilja recognized

Guard Ryan Lilja was voted the Thomas W. Moses Sr./Noble Max Award winner by local media who cover the Colts.

Lilja missed the 2008 season with a knee injury but came back to start all 16 games this year.

The award was created by the Colts in 1985 to cite a player who overcomes adversity or whose performance exceeds expectations.

A $1,000 check will be presented in Lilja’s name to Noble of Indiana, a Central Indiana agency that benefits more than 2,000 children and adults with disabilities.

Call Star reporter Phillip B. Wilson at (317) 444-6642.