ADAM VINATIERI

'Adam Matthew Vinatieri' (born December 28, 1972 in Yankton, South Dakota) is an American football placekicker currently playing for the Indianapolis Colts. He is perhaps best known for his tenure with the New England Patriots from 1996 to 2005, during which he played in four Super Bowls, winning three of them. Vinatieri also won a championship following the 2006 NFL season with Indianapolis. Vinatieri is the first kicker ever to play in five Super Bowls and win four Super Bowl rings.
Vinatieri is generally considered the best clutch kicker in the history of the National Football League.^[1] Nicknamed "Automatic Adam" for his accuracy, and "Iceman" for his incredible poise under pressure, Vinatieri has converted several of the most pressurized field goals in NFL history, including game-winning kicks in the final five seconds of two Super Bowls. With his impressive professional resumé, many football analysts believe that Vinatieri will eventually land in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, a realm typically unfriendly to placekickers (only one pure placekicker, Jan Stenerud, is currently enshrined).

Contents

Football

High School

College Career

Early Professional Career

New England Patriots

Indianapolis Colts

Career stats

Honors and awards

NFL Records

Personal

References

External Links

Football

High School

Vinatieri attended Central High School (Rapid City, South Dakota) and was a letterman in football, wrestling, soccer, and track. In football, he garnered first team All-State honors as a senior. Adam Vinatieri graduated from Central High School in 1991.

College Career

Vinatieri was originally recruited to kick for Army and attended West Point for several weeks in 1991 before deciding to return home to South Dakota. He was a four-year letterman at South Dakota State University as a placekicker and punter. He finished up his college years of football as the school's all-time scoring leader with 185 career points scored. (His younger brother Beau was a place kicker at Black Hills State University before graduating in 2003).

Early Professional Career

He spent the fall of 1995 training to compete professionally. He received a tryout for the World League of American Football, now known as NFL Europa, and earned a roster position with the Amsterdam Admirals as a placekicker and punter.

New England Patriots

In 1996 he was signed by the Patriots as an undrafted free agent to be a place kicker. He played in New England for the first 10 years of his NFL career, during which he has played in four Super Bowls. His first Super Bowl appearance was in his rookie season of 1996, when he played with the Patriots in their 35-21 loss to the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXI.
In the 2001 playoffs, during a blizzard against the Oakland Raiders in the final game at Foxboro Stadium, Vinatieri kicked a 45-yard field goal (that just barely made it over the crossbar) to tie the game 13-13 and send it into overtime. The Patriots then won the game on another field goal of 23 yards by Vinatieri. That 45-yard kick in driving snow is regarded as one of the greatest clutch plays (and greatest kicks) in NFL history.
In Super Bowl XXXVI he kicked a 48-yard field goal on the final play to give the New England Patriots their first Super Bowl victory, a 20-17 win over the St. Louis Rams. Two years later, and in an almost identical situation, he kicked a 41-yard field goal with 4 seconds left in Super Bowl XXXVIII to boost the Patriots to another championship (after missing one field goal and having another attempt blocked in the first half). This time, the Patriots defeated the Carolina Panthers, 32-29, making Vinatieri the first player ever to be the deciding factor in two Super Bowl games (Vinatieri kept the balls used on both those kicks).
Vinatieri led the NFL in scoring in 2004 with 141 points (31-for-33 on field goals, and a perfect 48-for-48 on points after touchdown or PATs). His best game of the season came against the St. Louis Rams, against whom he scored 16 points (4 field goals, 4 PATs), and threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Troy Brown on a fake field goal attempt (that pass gives him a career passer rating of 122.9). He went on to score a field goal and 3 extra points in the Patriots 24-21 win over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX.
To date, Vinatieri has kicked 19 game-winning field goals with less than one minute remaining (out of 20 attempts; his lone miss came in 1999), including those mentioned in the postseason. At the conclusion of the 2005 season, he had a career field goal percentage of 81.9 percent (263/321), fifth highest in NFL history. His career long is 57 yards.
He has a reputation as a toughnosed defender on kickoff returns. In his third season with the Patriots, 1998, Vinatieri made 6 tackles and 1 assist on 71 kickoff returns: i.e., he was directly responsible for stopping almost 10% of his own kickoff returns. Throughout his first 10 seasons, he made 20 tackles and 7 assists. 726 of his kickoffs were returned during those years, but only 2 were returned for touchdowns.
In his time in New England, he was very active in his home town and state which includes helping Christian athletes, D.A.R.E., and the Governor's Highway Safety Bureau. He was a spokesperson for the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Rhode Island's teen anti-smoking contest, and also appeared in commercials for Boston-based pizza Papa Gino's. His hobbies include hunting, riding motorcycles and golfing. He is married, and has two children.
Vinatieri finished his 10 seasons with the Patriots as the team's all time leading scorer with 1,158 points.

Indianapolis Colts

After the 2005 season, the Patriots chose not to place the franchise tag on Vinatieri as they had the year before, allowing him to become a free agent. He had visited with the Green Bay Packers, but left without a contract offer. On March 22, 2006, Vinatieri signed with the Indianapolis Colts, replacing Mike Vanderjagt who was signed by the Dallas Cowboys. Vinatieri was signed to a five year contract and received a $3.5 million signing bonus.

"When the Colts called, I told my agent, `Let's not screw around,' " said Vinatieri, in his first extensive comments regarding his departure from New England. "I told him, 'If Indy is interested, let's get this done.'" ... Vinatieri said he has no regrets about not giving the Patriots a chance to counter the offer.^[2]

Vinatieri has not missed a kick through the uprights in the RCA Dome. Even with the New England Patriots, Vinatieri was perfect against the Colts in Indy.
In the second round of the 2006 AFC playoffs, Vinatieri kicked a playoff record-tying 5 field goals in the Colts 15-6 upset of the favored Baltimore Ravens. The record of 5 field goals in a playoff game is one Vinatieri originally set himself against the Colts in the 2003 AFC Championship game.
The Colts reached Super Bowl XLI after defeating the Patriots in the AFC Championship game. It was Vinatieri's fifth Super Bowl appearance, and his first with the Colts. The Colts defeated the Chicago Bears by a score of 29-17. Vinatieri was 3 for 4 on field goals, and 2 for 2 on points after touchdowns. He missed a 36 yard kick wide left at the end of the first half--the third time he has missed a kick in the Super Bowl. Although the Colts scored 3 touchdowns, the snap for the first point after was bobbled by the place holder, resulting in no kick. Super Bowl XLI is his fourth Super Bowl victory, one behind the record held by Charles Haley. Vinatieri finished the 2006-07 postseason with 49 total points, an NFL record.

Career stats

''These statistics are accurate as of December 31, 2006.''

Season	PAT	PAT Pct.	1-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+	FG-FGA	FG Pct.	Long	Points
1996	39/42	92.9%	1/1	9/10	8/8	8/14	1/2	27/35	77.1%	50	120
1997	40/40	100.0%	0/0	11/11	7/9	6/8	1/1	25/29	86.2%	52	115
1998	32/32	100.0%	3/3	8/8	9/14	9/12	2/2	31/39	79.5%	55	125
1999	29/30	96.7%	1/1	14/14	5/7	5/9	1/2	26/33	78.8%	51	107
2000	25/25	100.0%	0/0	11/13	8/9	7/8	1/3	27/33	81.8%	53	106
2001	41/42	97.6%	1/1	8/8	7/8	7/12	1/1	24/30	80.0%	54	113
2002	36/36	100.0%	0/0	6/6	12/12	8/10	1/2	27/30	90.0%	57	117
2003	37/38	97.4%	0/0	16/17	4/8	5/8	0/1	25/34	73.5%	48	112
2004	48/48	100.0%	0/0	13/13	7/7	11/12	0/1	31/33	93.9%	48	141
2005	40/41	97.6%	0/0	7/7	9/10	4/6	0/2	20/25	80.0%	49	100
2006	38/38	100.0%	1/1	3/3	12/13	9/10	0/1	25/28	89.3%	48	113
TOTALS	405/412	98.3%	7/7	106/110	88/105	79/109	8/18	288/349	82.5%	57	1269

Honors and awards

★ 4-time Super Bowl Champion (2001 Patriots, 2003 Patriots, 2004 Patriots, 2006 Colts)

★ 2003 Pro Bowl starter

★ 2005 Pro Bowl starter

NFL Records

★ Vinatieri holds the record for most postseason field goals in a career, with 40, which he set during the 2006 season, surpassing Gary Anderson's previous record of 34.

★ Most Field Goals Lifetime in Super Bowl: 7.

★ Most (One Point) Extra Points Lifetime in Super Bowl: 13.

★ Record for most total points in a single postseason: 49 in 2006 (surpassing Terrell Davis' previous record of 48)

★ Most Field Goals in a single NFL postseason game: 5 (tied with David Akers); achieved twice, with the Patriots vs. the Colts in the 2003-04 AFC Championship, and with the Colts vs. the Baltimore Ravens in 2006

Personal

Adam and his wife Valeri and their two children reside in Carmel, Indiana during the football season and Celebration, Florida during the off-season. He is the second of four children. His great-great grandfather is Felix Vinatieri, who served as General George Armstrong Custer's bandmaster. He is also a third cousin to the famous daredevil, Evel Knievel.
A collection of Felix Vinatieri manuscripts and instruments can be found at the National Music Museum located in Vermillion, South Dakota. http://www.usd.edu/smm/vinatieri.html

References

1. [1]Mr. Clutch
2. Vinatieri shunned Patriots, Boston Globe

External Links

★ Adam Vinatieri at NFL.com

★ ArmchairGM player page