INDIANAPOLIS – South Dakota native Adam Vinatieri announced Wednesday that he will retire from the NFL as one of the league’s greatest placekickers ever and its all-time leading scorer with 2,673 points.
Vinatieri made the news known on the satellite radio show of his former Colts’ teammate, Pat McAfee.
Vinatieri, who was born in Yankton and graduated from Rapid City Central, where he was an all-state player as a senior in 1991, was a kicker for four seasons at South Dakota State, where he became the Jackrabbits’ all-time leading scorer.
After playing in Amsterdam in the World League of American Football in 1996, Vinatieri joined the New England Patriots later that year and spent 10 seasons there, winning three Super Bowls. He went to the Colts in 2010 and won another Super Bowl. Vinatieri last kicked for the Colts in 2019.
Vinatieri also holds the NFL records for field goals (599), consecutive field goals made (44), and games played (397, including postseason).
He will be eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2025, and will almost without doubt become the third placekicker enshrined in Canton, joining Jan Stenerud and former Minnesota Viking Morten Andersen.
Comments