AdamVinatieri

dam Matthew Vinatieri is a former placekicker born December 28, 1972, in Yankton, South Dakota (6'0", 212 lbs). Undrafted in 1995, he started his career in the World League before spending 24 NFL seasons with the New England Patriots (1996–2005) and Indianapolis Colts (2006–2019). He's a four-time Super Bowl champion, three-time Pro Bowler, and holds most of the league's career scoring and field-goal records.

Vinatieri played college football at South Dakota State, where he became the program's all-time leading scorer. Going undrafted, he broke into the NFL through the Patriots' 1996 training camp, beating out veteran Matt Bahr for the starting kicker job.

He became legendary for delivering under pressure in the biggest moments: the game-tying and game-winning kicks in a blizzard against the Raiders in the 2001 playoffs ("Tuck Rule Game"), followed by the walk-off field goal in Super Bowl XXXVI against the Rams that gave the Patriots their first championship. Two years later he repeated the feat, hitting the winning kick in the final seconds of Super Bowl XXXVIII against the Panthers.

Vinatieri joined the Indianapolis Colts in 2006 and won his fourth Super Bowl (XLI) in his very first season there. Over 14 seasons with the Colts, he kept rewriting league records — becoming the first player ever to score 1,000+ points with two different franchises, and in 2018 the all-time leader in field goals made.

Vinatieri retired in 2021 as the NFL's all-time leading scorer with 2,673 points and 599 of 715 field goals made, along with the record for most games played at his position. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2026.