Pats Pulpit
The former Patriots kicker is one of 15 finalists.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame, just like the general public, has only been paying marginal attention to special teams through the years. The placekicker position is a good example of that: in its 62 years of existence, only two pure kickers have earned a gold jacket.
On Thursday, a third should join them. Adam Vinatieri, a four-time Super Bowl champion with the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts, and possibly the greatest kicker of all time. He finds himself among 15 finalists in his first year of Hall of Fame eligibility, and the decision to enshrine him should be a fairly easy one.
“I don’t know what the expectation should be, but I’m very optimistic,” Vinatieri said earlier this week.
Here is why that optimism is not misplaced, and why his case is a strong one.
Dynastic contributions: The Hall of Fame has a simple purpose: to honor and preserve the game’s history by recognizing the best and most influential player that have ever taken the field. Adam Vinatieri should be among them given his status as arguably not just the greatest and most recognizable, but also the most valuable kicker in league history.
That value manifests itself in his number of championship rings, but also through his contributions to kickstarting the Patriots’ two-decade dynasty. Without him kicking three overtime game winners in 2001, and the walk-off field goal in Super Bowl XXXVI, who knows what would New England’s unprecedented run of success would have looked like.
Standout moments: There may not be another kicker in NFL history with a highlight reel as jam-packed as Vinatieri’s. Those game winners mentioned above are a mere footnote compared to some of the other big plays he made.
His 24-year career in the NFL saw him make crucial kicks in the first three of the Patriots’ Super Bowls victories — including last-second winners in two of those — as well as a five-field goal performance in a 15-6 divisional round victory to pave the way for a Colts title. On top of those, he also made arguably the best kick in league history when he split the uprights in a snow storm from 45 yards away to send the Patriots’ 2001 divisional round game against Oakland to overtime.
Longevity: The average NFL career lasts only 3.3 years, according to research conducted in 2019. For kickers, that number is slightly higher — 4.9 — but still far below what Vinatieri was able to accomplish: an undrafted free agent in 1996, he remained in the league until 2019. His 24 total seasons in the league rank third all-time behind only George Blanda’s 26 and Morten Andersen’s 25.
Along the way, he appeared in a combined 365 regular season games and retired as the all-time leader in career field goals (599) as well as points (2,673). In addition, Vinatieri played 32 playoff games —...
