Adam Vinatieri’s time with the Indianapolis Colts has officially come to an end.
Who would’ve thought? I think I speak for all Colts fans when I say that. We watched (painfully, I might add) as you nailed game-winner after game-winner for the rivals in the East. Colts fans cheered louder for a team that wasn’t our own than ever before when Tom Brady fumbled that football in the snow. And yes, I do say fumble because that’s a known fact.
Our hopes of a Patriots loss were dashed when you kicked not one, but two impossible field goals through the uprights in a blizzard. Of course, to cap it all off, you kicked the game-winner in the Super Bowl that same year. And you just had to kick another title-winning kick two years later, didn’t you? You kick-started the most hated dynasty in all of sports. So, thanks, I guess.
I’m not going to say Colts fans hated you. We never did. But any member of the Patriots deserves tough love, that’s a simple fact. Regardless of that, our happiness as fans was at a high when you joined Peyton and the bunch in 2006. Who better to replace Mike Vanderjagt than the best kicker in the NFL?
You went on to bring us memories we could only dream of. In 2006, we wouldn’t have even reached the conference championship if not for your five incredible field goals to lift us to victory. With four consecutive postseason games of three or more field goals made, you set your first of many records in Blue and White.
While the team won't say it, #Colts GM Chris Ballard basically confirmed today that Adam Vinatieri won't be back https://t.co/vJIEKW85M6
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) July 29, 2020
Who could forget our own blizzard kick in 2017? Your miraculous 43-yard extra point was perfect through the snow in Buffalo and tied the game to send it into overtime. Although it proved to be meaningless, it still sits in fans’ hearts as one of your greatest moments.
What about your record-breaking kick the following year to become the NFL’s all-time leader in points scored? It was nothing more than a chip shot for you, but it cemented your place as the best kicker to ever do it.
Adam Vinatieri, wherever you go after this, whether it’s to another team or into the sunset to retire, we wish you the best. You’re just as synonymous with Indianapolis as Peyton is. I hope and pray you’ll have a statue outside of Lucas Oil Stadium because gosh darn it, you deserve it.
There aren’t many athletes in the world that have the impact you did in your career. You aged like fine wine, with your number of game-winning kicks growing faster than your age. Your hair turned gray but you still won games in the clutch just like you did as a 29-year-old before the turn of the century.
Life without seeing you suit up every weekend is going to be a tough one. While some fans might accept moving on, the majority of NFL watchers, from New England to California, will know that the league has lost an all-time great.
The kids of the 90s will cry the day LeBron James decides to move on from his life as a basketball superstar. For kids of the 80s, you’re all that’s left of a generation that grew up on Tecmo Bowl, Walkmans, the moonwalk, and Star Wars.
This could be the end for Adam Vinatieri - He's been kicking in the league since 1996. https://t.co/Z6XYnqEQDO
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) July 29, 2020
In the words of John Tomase and the rest of us:
Please don’t go. We’re not ready.
Because we really aren’t. I’d like to think I’ll be strong when you decide to retire but that simply isn’t the case. I’ve only cried once in my sports life (during Peyton’s retirement press conference). It’s about to be two once you hang up your legendary cleats.
Automatic Adam. Iceman. The Italian Stallion. Clutch. The GOAT.
Most importantly: Adam Vinatieri, Colts Hall of Famer.
Thank you, Adam. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.
Sincerely,
Colts Nation