Adam Vinatieri

I was a huge fan of Vinatieri from the day he ran down Herschel Walker on a kickoff. The man could do no wrong after that play. The clutch kicking only added to his legend.

I didn't like seeing him go, but I can see why he did. I'd rather have Ghost now, but the memories of AV and his time with the Pats are golden.

MassPats38 said:

I was a huge fan of Vinatieri from the day he ran down Herschel Walker on a kickoff. The man could do no wrong after that play. The clutch kicking only added to his legend.

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SG3 hasn't had a chance to kick a Super Bowl-winner, but he's had his share of good plays on kickoffs, including his fumble recovery against the Bills in 2009, and "Hey, the Ghost gobbled up Pacman!"

MassPats38 said:

I was a huge fan of Vinatieri from the day he ran down Herschel Walker on a kickoff.

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Must have been a loooong time ago.

West Philly Patriot said:

I still call him the Vinatraitor...

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That's perfect. Adam is the first Patriot I remember hating for leaving us. To this day I am still infuriated by it. That doesn't stop him from being my fantasy football kicker but still...

it is impossible for me to forget his two kicks in the last game played at the old Foxboro Stadium against the Raiders ... legendary ... huge ... great ...

expecially the first one...
perhaps the best ever for me

oldrover said:

We will see him Sunday... hey, I love Gostkowski... but there's always been a part of me that wished both AV and Brady could remain Pats until they retired.

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Isn't Brady still a Patriot???... firmly believe that #12 will retire in all his glory at Gillette...

RecoveringCowboy said:

Must have been a loooong time ago.

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From the video, it looks and feels like 1986. It was 1996.

West Philly Patriot said:

I still call him the Vinatraitor, it's just really clever, I can't help it. (Kudo's to whomever thought of that)

Will never forget dancing around my best friends room like a maniac as a kid, when he put it through the uprights in the super bowl. Get goosebumps thinking about it.

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My daughter & I have been calling him that ever since he left. We even modified her Vinatieri game jersey to read Vinatriator. I have a picture of her walking through the parking lots on opening day with everyone loving it.

MassPats38 said:

I was a huge fan of Vinatieri from the day he ran down Herschel Walker on a kickoff. The man could do no wrong after that play. The clutch kicking only added to his legend.

I didn't like seeing him go, but I can see why he did. I'd rather have Ghost now, but the memories of AV and his time with the Pats are golden.

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I forgot all about that until reading your post just now and I had to youtube it. Pretty freaking cool. That dude had some speed and the tackle was textbook.

AndyJohnson said:

If he stayed he would have eventually missed a clutch one, and half the fan base would have hated him.

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He actually did miss a couple of big FGs. He missed one or two in the SB vs Carolina and a playoff killing chip shot vs KC way back when. I think there were a couple more too. If he played on another less successful team nobody would know or care who he was. Gostkowski kicks them longer and more accurately that Vinatieri.

The worst part about Vinatieri leaving is that we had Robbie Gould in here too, but let him go because Vintaieri was here. Then Vinatieri dumped the Pats for greener pa$ture$.

Halifax_Pats_Fan said:

I forgot all about that until reading your post just now and I had to youtube it. Pretty freaking cool. That dude had some speed and the tackle was textbook.

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At 40 seconds, isn't that a textbook block in the back?

He is now, and will forever be, known to me as the Vinitraitor. Eff him.

captain stone said:

He is now, and will forever be, known to me as the Vinitraitor. Eff him.

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See i don't get this. He should never get boo'ed in these parts IMO. He won us SBs..not sure how you can hate a guy who won us so many big games.

I get why people may dislike him for leaving to go to play with Indy and Manning. If he went to Cincy or the Browns...you wouldn't be saying the same thing. He was us big games and SBs. I will NEVER hate him for what he brought to us fans

bresna said:

At 40 seconds, isn't that a textbook block in the back?

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I was going to say the same thing.

1960Pats said:

He actually did miss a couple of big FGs. He missed one or two in the SB vs Carolina and a playoff killing chip shot vs KC way back when. I think there were a couple more too. If he played on another less successful team nobody would know or care who he was. Gostkowski kicks them longer and more accurately that Vinatieri.

The worst part about Vinatieri leaving is that we had Robbie Gould in here too, but let him go because Vintaieri was here. Then Vinatieri dumped the Pats for greener pa$ture$.

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Gould's KOs are about as bad as Vinatieri's were (he's averaging about 61 per kickoff), so it's not like the Pats really would have been any better off with him. [Plus, it's worth pointing out that Gould is 6', 185, versus Gostkowski's 6'1", 215 (and Vinatieri's 6', 210).]

Brady_to_Moss said:

See i don't get this. He should never get boo'ed in these parts IMO. He won us SBs..not sure how you can hate a guy who won us so many big games.

I get why people may dislike him for leaving to go to play with Indy and Manning. If he went to Cincy or the Browns...you wouldn't be saying the same thing. He was us big games and SBs. I will NEVER hate him for what he brought to us fans

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I think you're over valuing the job of a kicker. If Vinatieri had gone to the Browns, Bengals, or to Indy before he came here, he would have been known as just another kicker. Instead he came to a place where the team put him in position to win those SBs, not the other way around.

ctpatsfan77 said:

Gould's KOs are about as bad as Vinatieri's were (he's averaging about 61 per kickoff), so it's not like the Pats really would have been any better off with him. [Plus, it's worth pointing out that Gould is 6', 185, versus Gostkowski's 6'1", 215 (and Vinatieri's 6', 210).]

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My only point is that we had Gould in the fold, but let him go not knowing that Vinatieri was going to dump us down the road. Gould would have been a fine replacement for AV, but neither of them can touch Gostkowski's distance.

Loved Adam when he was here. He made the greatest kicks in Pats history and I'll forever appreciate him for that. But, he chose to go elsewhere, and that was his right to do. Since he left, he's the enemy to me. No hard feelings, it just is what it is. That's exactly the way I've heard him describe the situation. These days I look at him just as I look at any other guy kicking against us - I hope he misses every field goal and PAT, unless it's against some team that we need to have lose. In that case, it's go get 'em Adam. In every other case, it's I hope you choke, MFer. I root for the laundry.

We ended up with a better overall kicker and spent less money to boot

Halifax_Pats_Fan said:

I forgot all about that until reading your post just now and I had to youtube it. Pretty freaking cool. That dude had some speed and the tackle was textbook.

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I don't know if i remember that one (it wasn't his only, he's a fine athlete). Ha ha herschel

Now i know, I'd moved to Texas and relied on the occasional Oilers Pats game (and the Drewpie SB, of course). Wasn't much besides regional network games, even with cable.