NFL kicking legend Adam Vinatieri retires at age 48

Adam Vinatieri (YouTube/Wikimedia Commons)

Adam Vinatieri of Yankton, South Dakota, one of the greatest kickers in National Football League history, retired on Wednesday at the age of 48 according to Des Bieler of the Washington Post. Vinatieri, who played 24 NFL seasons with the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts from 1996 to 2019, is the league’s all-time leading scorer with 2763 points and is first in games played (397).  One must realize the 397 games played is regular season and playoffs.

Other statistical categories where you find Vinatieri number one include field goals made (599), playoff points (238), overtime field goals (12), seasons with 100+ points (21),  postseason field goals (56), field goals in a Super Bowl career (seven), points in a single postseason (49 in 2006), field goals in a single postseason (14 in 2006), consecutive field goals made (44),  and Super Bowl victories as a placekicker (four).

On October 30, 2019, in a 15-13 Colts win over the Denver Broncos, Vinatieri made a 55-yard field goal. He not only became the oldest kicker in NFL history to make a 55-yard field goal, but the oldest to make a field goal of 50 yards or more as well, at the age of 46 years and 303 days. Vinatieri also kicked a game-winning 51 yard field goal to win the game for the Colts, as they were trailing the Broncos 13-12 at the time.

Vinatieri played with the Patriots from 1996 to 2005, and with the Colts from 2006 to 2019. He won three Super Bowls with the Patriots in 2002, 2004, and 2005, and another with the Colts in 2007. Vinatieri also was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2002, 2004, and 2014. He did not play the 2020 NFL season due to a knee injury.

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