METAIRIE, La. (AP) — John Carney was born the same year the Beatles played their first concert in the United States. He kicked his first NFL field goal when Ronald Reagan was in the White House.

And a few weeks after President Barack Obama’s inauguration, Carney was still kicking — in the Pro Bowl.

Now the New Orleans Saints have asked the 45-year-old back, just in time for the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

Carney was the Saints’ kicker when the storm struck on Aug. 29, 2005, displacing the squad to San Antonio. His last season with the Saints was 2006, when the team returned triumphantly to New Orleans, going all the way to the NFC championship game.

‘‘It’s kind of strange. … It’s like a time warp because I come back and everything is so familiar and I have so many fond memories of this place,’’ Carney said after his first practice with New Orleans on Sunday.

‘‘I’m looking forward to making more fond memories.’’

It was an odd twist of fate that brought Carney back to the Big Easy. Though he made 35 of 38 field-goal tries during the 2008 regular season for the New York Giants, the club could not justify keeping him because it already had a good young kicker in Lawrence Tynes. Tynes only lost his job to Carney because of a knee injury, but he was healthy by the end of last year.

The Saints struggled to find consistency in the kicking game since releasing Carney when he was 42. They thought they’d found a trustworthy replacement in Garrett Hartley, but he plans to serve a four-game suspension this season after testing positive for a banned substance.