1. Adam Matthew Vinatieri was born on December 28,1972 and is an American former professional football placekicker who played in the National Football League for 24 seasons with the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts.
87 Facts About Adam Vinatieri
1. 2.
Adam Vinatieri is considered one of the greatest placekickers of all time.
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Adam Vinatieri joined the Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 1996, where he played for 10 seasons, and was a member of the Colts for 14 seasons.
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Adam Vinatieri is the only player to score 1,000 points for two different franchises.
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In 2019, Adam Vinatieri was named to the National Football League 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.
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Adam Vinatieri's father is of Italian descent and his other ancestry includes German and English.
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Adam Vinatieri's younger brother Beau was a kicker at Black Hills State University before graduating in 2003.
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Adam Vinatieri attended Central High School in Rapid City and was a letterman in football, wrestling, basketball, soccer, and track.
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Adam Vinatieri received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, but was only there for two weeks before deciding to return home, where he then enrolled at South Dakota State University.
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Adam Vinatieri was a four-year letterman there as a kicker and punter and he finished his collegiate career as the school's all-time leading scorer with 185 career points as well as being awarded first-team all-conference honors in each of his seasons.
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Adam Vinatieri spent the summer of 1996 training to compete professionally.
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Adam Vinatieri received a tryout for the World League of American Football, and earned a roster position with the Amsterdam Admirals as a kicker and punter.
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Adam Vinatieri played in New England for the first 10 years of his NFL career, during which he played in four Super Bowls, winning three titles.
14.
In 1996, Adam Vinatieri was signed by the Patriots as an undrafted free agent to be a kicker.
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Adam Vinatieri had a long history with Patriots coach Bill Parcells, including a Super Bowl win under Parcells in the 1990 season.
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Adam Vinatieri finished his rookie season converting 39 of 42 extra point tries and 27 of 35 field goal attempts.
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Adam Vinatieri was responsible for scoring all of the Patriots' points with two field goals in their game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Divisional Round.
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Adam Vinatieri's last field goal attempt was a 27-yarder with six seconds remaining to put the Patriots in position to win the game.
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Adam Vinatieri earned AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his game against New Orleans.
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Adam Vinatieri finished the 1998 season converting all 32 extra point attempts and 31 of 39 field goal attempts.
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Adam Vinatieri won AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his game against Buffalo.
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Adam Vinatieri won AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his game against Miami.
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Adam Vinatieri earned Pro Bowl and First Team All-Pro honors.
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In 2004, Adam Vinatieri led the NFL in scoring with 141 points.
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Adam Vinatieri was named to the Pro Bowl and earned First Team All-Pro honors.
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In Week 3, Adam Vinatieri earned AFC Special Teams Player of the Week in a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
27.
Adam Vinatieri hit the game-winning field goal with one second remaining.
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Adam Vinatieri was a spokesperson for the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Rhode Island's teen anti-smoking contest, and appeared in commercials for Boston-based pizza Papa Gino's.
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Adam Vinatieri finished his 10 seasons with the Patriots as the team's all-time leading scorer with 1,156 points.
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Adam Vinatieri had met with the Green Bay Packers, but was set on signing in either a warm-weather climate or a team that played home games in a dome.
31.
On March 22,2006, Adam Vinatieri signed with the Indianapolis Colts, replacing Mike Vanderjagt, who signed with the Dallas Cowboys.
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Adam Vinatieri was signed to a five-year contract and received a $3.5 million signing bonus.
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Adam Vinatieri finished the 2006 season converting all 38 extra point attempts and 25 of 28 field goal attempts.
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Adam Vinatieri won AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his performances in Week 1 against the New York Giants and Week 8 against the Denver Broncos.
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Adam Vinatieri is the only player to have three or more field goals in four consecutive postseason games.
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Adam Vinatieri kicked his 20th career game-winning FG in the final minute of a fourth quarter or overtime, this time with three seconds remaining against the Kansas City Chiefs on November 18,2007.
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Adam Vinatieri made a 47-yard game-winner with three seconds remaining against Minnesota in Week 2.
38.
Later that month, in Week 12, Adam Vinatieri hit a game-winner with no time remaining at San Diego.
39.
In July 2009, Adam Vinatieri had surgery on his right hip to alleviate a nagging injury, but the Colts expected that he would be ready for the season.
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Also, Adam Vinatieri was placed on the injured reserve list for the rest of the season.
41.
However, Adam Vinatieri struggled early in the season and complained of soreness in his knee.
42.
Doctors found loose cartilage in an MRI, and Adam Vinatieri underwent arthroscopic surgery during the Colts' bye week.
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Adam Vinatieri was expected to miss four to eight weeks while recovering.
44.
Adam Vinatieri returned to the lineup and kicked a field goal but missed an extra point attempt in a Week 15 loss to the New York Jets, but then was inactive for the final game of the regular season as well as throughout the Colts' postseason run.
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Adam Vinatieri did not play in Super Bowl XLIV, which the Colts lost to the New Orleans Saints.
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Adam Vinatieri was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame First Team All-2000s Team.
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The 2010 season showed a return to form after Adam Vinatieri's injury-plagued 2009 season.
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Adam Vinatieri converted all 51 extra point attempts and 26 of 28 field goal attempts.
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Adam Vinatieri was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for the second time after the game.
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Adam Vinatieri led the league in extra points attempted and made.
51.
On March 11,2014, Adam Vinatieri signed a two-year extension with the Colts.
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Adam Vinatieri finished the season 30-of-31 in field goal attempts, and did not miss an extra point try in 50 attempts.
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Adam Vinatieri was named to his third career Pro Bowl.
54.
On January 2,2015, Adam Vinatieri was selected by the Associated Press as the First-team All-Pro kicker, his third such selection.
55.
On May 6, Adam Vinatieri was ranked on the NFL Network's NFL Top 100 Players of 2015 list as the 98th best player heading into the 2015 season, becoming the first specialist ever to be ranked in the Top 100 Players List, as well as the oldest player to be ranked at the time.
56.
In Week 4 of the 2015 season, Adam Vinatieri became the Colts' all-time leading scorer and the first player in NFL history to score 1,000 points with two teams.
57.
In Week 11, Adam Vinatieri converted three extra points and a game-winning field goal to give the Colts a come-from-behind win in Adam Vinatieri's 300th NFL game.
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On March 8,2016, Adam Vinatieri signed a two-year, $6 million extension with the Colts.
59.
On September 10,2017, Adam Vinatieri started his 22nd season in the NFL in a game against the Los Angeles Rams.
60.
On February 22, Adam Vinatieri signed a one-year contract extension with the Colts through the 2018 season.
61.
In Week 2, against Washington, Adam Vinatieri hit three extra-point attempts to score 2,501 points in his career and became only the second player in NFL history to score over 2,500 points; he moved into fourth place all-time in extra-point attempts with 828.
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In Week 3, against the Philadelphia Eagles, Adam Vinatieri connected on an extra point and 3-of-3 field goals, allowing him to tie the NFL record of 565 field goals made by Morten Andersen.
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In Week 4, Adam Vinatieri hit 4-of-4 extra points and 2-of-2 field goals in a losing effort to the Houston Texans to make him the all-time leader in field goals made.
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Adam Vinatieri surpassed George Blanda, moving him into fourth place all-time in career games played with 341.
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On October 4,2018, Adam Vinatieri kicked a 54-yard field goal to break his own record of the oldest player to hit a 50+ yard field goal.
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Adam Vinatieri surpassed Gary Anderson, moving him into second place all-time in field goal attempts with 674.
67.
In Week 6, against the New York Jets, Adam Vinatieri scored 10 points, hitting 2-for-2 in field goals and 4-for-4 in extra points, surpassing Anderson and moving into third place all-time in extra-point attempts.
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In Week 8, against the Oakland Raiders, Adam Vinatieri scored 10 points and became the all-time NFL leader in points scored with 2,550.
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Adam Vinatieri earned AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his game against the Raiders.
70.
In Week 14, in a win over the Texans, Adam Vinatieri made 3-for-3 extra points to move into second place all-time with 860 and he connected on a 54-yard field goal to break his own record of oldest player to connect on a 50+ yard field goal.
71.
Adam Vinatieri became the fourth player in NFL history to play in 350 games.
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Adam Vinatieri became the fourth oldest player to play in a game.
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Adam Vinatieri finished the 2018 season converting 44 of 47 extra point attempts and 23 of 27 field goal attempts.
74.
On September 8,2019, Adam Vinatieri started his 24th season in the NFL in a game against the Los Angeles Chargers.
75.
In Week 3 against the Atlanta Falcons, Adam Vinatieri rebounded and went a perfect 3 for 3 on extra points and a perfect 2 for 2 on field goals, including a 49 yarder which hit the lower crossbar and barely went over.
76.
In Week 5, Adam Vinatieri made all four field-goal attempts and an extra point in a win over the Kansas City Chiefs.
77.
Adam Vinatieri was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance despite having missed a field goal and an extra point within the game.
78.
On December 9,2019, the Colts placed Adam Vinatieri on injured reserve after he underwent season-ending knee surgery.
79.
Adam Vinatieri finished 17 of 25 on field goal attempts and 22 of 28 on extra point attempts.
80.
On May 26,2021, Adam Vinatieri announced his retirement from the NFL after 24 seasons on the daily radio show of former Colts teammate and punter Pat McAfee.
81.
Adam Vinatieri retired as the NFL's all-time leading scorer, as well as the last active player to have played in the 1990s, and the last to play before Tom Brady.
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Adam Vinatieri grew up in the Black Hills of western South Dakota.
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Adam Vinatieri's great-great-grandfather was Felix Vinatieri, an Italian immigrant who served as Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer's bandmaster.
84.
Adam Vinatieri stated that Custer told Felix Adam Vinatieri to head back to camp instead of going ahead with the regiment to the Battle of the Little Bighorn, a direction that saved his life.
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Adam Vinatieri is a third cousin to daredevil Evel Knievel and second cousin to scientist and author Tim Foecke.
86.
Adam Vinatieri has an interest in motor racing and co-owns Miller Adam Vinatieri Motorsports with former racing driver Jack Miller, which competes in multiple series in the Road to Indy.
87.
Adam Vinatieri starred in a FanDuel commercial alongside tight end Rob Gronkowski, in which he coached Gronkowski on how to effectively kick a field goal.