Adam Matthew Vinatieri (born December 28, 1972) is an American former professional football placekicker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 24 seasons with the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts. Vinatieri is the NFL's all-time leading scorer at 2,673 points, in addition to holding the NFL records for field goals made (599), postseason points (238), and overtime field goals made (12). He is considered one of the greatest placekickers of all time.
Vinatieri joined the Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 1996, where he played for 10 seasons, and was a member of the Colts for 14 seasons. A four-time Super Bowl winner – three with the Patriots and one with the Colts – Vinatieri has the most Super Bowl wins for a kicker. He is also the only player to score 1,000 points for two different franchises. Retiring in 2021 after a year in free agency, Vinatieri was the last active player in the NFL whose career began in the 1990s.
Celebrated for his kicking accuracy and success under pressure, Vinatieri completed several of the most crucial field goals in NFL history. During the 2001–02 NFL playoffs, he converted the game-tying and winning kicks of New England's AFC Divisional Playoff game in blizzard conditions and the game-winning kick in the final seconds of Super Bowl XXXVI, earning the Patriots their first championship. Vinatieri would again convert a final-second kick to win Super Bowl XXXVIII, establishing himself as a key contributor of the Patriots' dynasty. He was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2026.
Vinatieri was born in Yankton, South Dakota, on December 28, 1972, the second child of four children to Paul Vinatieri and Judy M. (Goeken). His father is of Italian descent and his other ancestry includes German and English. His younger brother Beau was a kicker at Black Hills State University before graduating in 2003.
When Vinatieri was five years old, his family moved to Rapid City, South Dakota. As a child, he struggled to read and enrolled in classes for children with learning disabilities. Vinatieri attended Central High School in Rapid City and was a letterman in football, wrestling, basketball, soccer, and track. In football, he earned first-team All-State honors as a senior. He graduated from Central High School in 1991. Before starting as a kicker, Vinatieri was a quarterback and middle linebacker. When asked in 2005, several years into his NFL career, why he no longer played one of those positions once he reached college, he replied, "I'm 6 feet tall and 200 pounds, and unfortunately the linebackers aren't that small, and neither are the quarterbacks."
Vinatieri received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, but was only there for two weeks before deciding to return home, where he then enrolled at South Dakota State University. He was a four-year letterman there as a kicker and punter and he finished his collegiate career as the school's all-time leading scorer with 185 career points as well as being awarded first-team all-conference honors in each of his seasons.
After going undrafted in the 1995 NFL draft, Vinatieri received some interest from Canadian Football League teams but decided to keep training for an NFL career. In February 1996, he was selected by the Amsterdam Admirals of the World League of American Football (WLAF) in the 14th round of the 1996 WLAF draft. Vinatieri played in all ten games for the Admirals during the 1996 WLAF season, punting 41 times for 1,612 yards (39.3 average) while also converting nine of 10 field goals and four of four extra points.
After the WLAF season ended, Vinatieri signed with the New England Patriots on June 28, 1996. In order to become their starting kicker, he had to compete with 17-year veteran Matt Bahr. Bahr at first seemed to be the favorite. He had a long history with Patriots coach Bill Parcells, including a Super Bowl win under Parcells in the 1990 season. However, Parcells ultimately made the decision to cut Bahr during the preseason and go with Vinatieri, mainly because Bahr was no longer capable of efficiently performing kickoffs.
In his rookie season, Vinatieri chased down and tackled Dallas Cowboys returner Herschel Walker on a kickoff, leading Parcells to tell his rookie kicker "You're not a kicker—you're a football player." In Week 4, Vinatieri converted five of six field goal attempts against the Jacksonville Jaguars, to earn AFC Special Teams Player of the Week. He converted the 40-yard game-winning field goal in overtime of the 28–25 victory. He finished his rookie season converting 39 of 42 extra point tries and 27 of 35 field goal attempts. His first Super Bowl appearance was in his rookie season of 1996 when he played with the Patriots in their 35–21 loss to the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXI. All-Pro and game MVP Desmond Howard's Super Bowl-record 99-yard touchdown return ended the Patriots' bid for a comeback. The game would mark the only Super Bowl defeat of Vinatieri's career (he did not play in the Colts' loss in Super Bowl XLIV due to injury). Vinatieri was named to the NFL All-Rookie Team.
In Week 7 of the 1997 season, Vinatieri won AFC Special Teams Player of the Week after converting all three extra point tries and all four field goal attempts in the 33–6 victory over the Buffalo Bills. In the 1997 season, Vinatieri converted all 40 extra point attempts and 25 of 29 field goal attempts as the Patriots went 10–6 and earned a playoff berth. He was responsible for scoring all of the Patriots' points with two field goals in their game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Divisional Round.
In Week 5 of the 1998 season, Vinatieri converted three extra point and three field goals tries in the 30–27 victory over the New Orleans Saints. His last field goal attempt was a 27-yarder with six seconds remaining to put the Patriots in position to win the game. He earned AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his game against New Orleans. The Saints game was the beginning of a month for Vinatieri where he won AFC Special Teams Player of the Month. He finished the 1998 season converting all 32 extra point attempts and 31 of 39 field goal attempts.
In the 1999 season, Vinatieri won AFC Special Teams Player of the Month for September. He converted 29 of 30 extra point attempts and 26 of 33 field goal attempts as the Patriots went 8–8.
In the 2000 season, Vinatieri converted all 25 extra point attempts and 27 of 33 field goal attempts in the Patriots' 5–11 season.
In Week 14, Vinatieri converted all four field goal attempts in a 12–9 victory over the Buffalo Bills. The last of the four was the game-winner in overtime. He won AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his game against Buffalo. In the 2001 regular season, Vinatieri converted 41 of 42 extra point attempts and 24 of 30 field goal attempts. In the 2001 playoffs, during a blizzard against the Oakland Raiders in the final game at Foxboro Stadium, Vinatieri kicked a 45-yard field goal into a swirling winter wind to tie the game 13–13 and send it to overtime. The Patriots won the game on another field goal of 23 yards by Vinatieri. In Super Bowl XXXVI that season, Vinatieri kicked a 48-yard field goal on the final play to give the New England Patriots their first Super Bowl victory, a 20–17 upset win over the St. Louis Rams, who were 14-point favorites coming into the game.
In Week 17, against the Miami Dolphins, Vinatieri converted all four field goal attempts in the 27–24 victory. The last of the four was the game-winner in overtime. He won AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his game against Miami. In the 2002 season, Vinatieri converted all 36 extra point tries and 27 of 30 field goal tries as the Patriots went 9–7 and missed the playoffs. He earned Pro Bowl and First Team All-Pro honors.
In the 2003 regular season, Vinatieri converted 37 of 38 extra point tries and 25 of 34 field goal attempts. In an almost identical situation to the Super Bowl two seasons prior, he kicked a 41-yard field goal with four seconds left in Super Bowl XXXVIII to boost the Patriots to another championship (after missing one field goal and having another attempt blocked in the first half). This time, the Patriots defeated the Carolina Panthers 32–29, making Vinatieri the first player ever to be the deciding factor in two Super Bowl games (Vinatieri kept the footballs used on both of these kicks).