Adam Vinatieri is finally getting the ceremonial treatment his career deserves. The Colts announced this week that they will induct the greatest kicker in NFL history into their Ring of Honor during the Week 6 home game against the Titans. The Pro Football Hall of Fame ceremony follows in August.
The Ring of Honor is the higher-stakes moment for Colts fans. Vinatieri spent 14 of his 24 seasons in Indianapolis after leaving New England in 2006. He played on the Super Bowl XLI championship team. He hit the game-winner in that Super Bowl against the Bears. His career field goal total, 599, is the most in NFL history by a margin that will probably never be closed.
What makes Vinatieri unique is not just the volume but the clutch factor. His two Super Bowl-winning kicks with the Patriots against the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI and the Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII will be his defining moments in football history. Both were late in the game. Both required perfect execution against enormous pressure. Vinatieri delivered both times because that is what he did his entire career.
The Colts’ Ring of Honor addition puts Vinatieri alongside franchise legends like Peyton Manning, Marshall Faulk, Dwight Freeney, Reggie Wayne, and Marvin Harrison. Every other name on that list was an offensive skill player or defensive playmaker. Vinatieri is the only special teamer to receive the honor, which underscores how far above his contemporaries he actually was.
His Hall of Fame case has never really been in doubt. Only two pure place kickers, Jan Stenerud and Morten Andersen, have been enshrined before him. Vinatieri belongs in that group without argument. His statistical resume, four Super Bowl rings, and reputation as the most clutch kicker of his era make him a slam-dunk first-ballot induction.
Vinatieri played his last game in 2019 at age 46. He kicked in the NFL for 24 seasons. He made 87 percent of his career field goal attempts and 99 percent of his extra points. Those numbers are absurd for a career that spanned different rules, different holders, different snappers, and different stadiums with different weather conditions.
Younger fans might not fully appreciate what it meant to have Vinatieri kicking for your team. Before the extra point rule change in 2015, extra points felt automatic. Not with Vinatieri kicking, but with Vinatieri, they were guaranteed. Before ideal kicking conditions became the norm at most stadiums, Vinatieri hit fourth-quarter game-winners in Foxborough snowstorms and Indianapolis dome pressure.
His Foxborough peak is what New England fans remember. His Indianapolis peak is what Colts fans will celebrate this fall. Both cities can rightfully claim him. Vinatieri played 10 years in New England, won three Super Bowls, hit two of the most famous kicks in NFL history. Then he played 14 years in Indianapolis, won another Super Bowl, and became the all-time leading scorer in NFL history.
The Week 6 ceremony against the Titans will be a moment. Vinatieri walks out, waves to the crowd, gets his ring, gets his standing ovation, and reminds everyone in Lucas Oil Stadium that the greatest kicker who ever lived kicked for their team. Then he heads to Canton in August to make it official.
Long overdue on both counts. Vinatieri earned every second of this year of honors.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
