The Twitter reaction from those where there should have offered a hint as to how unbelievable the story truly was.
When he sat next to me during pre-game I honestly thought he was kidding. After he explained what happened I thought, "We are fuc*ed". But, It worked out. https://t.co/mdIgtXYBX4
— christian fauria (@christianfauria) April 21, 2020
The story was this ...
- In the final month of the 2003 season the Patriots lost their long-snapper Lonie Paxton to a knee injury. The player they signed to replace him, Sean McDermott, only lasted one game before being injured.
- The Patriots convinced Brian Kinchen, who had been out of football for three years, to come back and serve as their long-snapper for the postseason. Kinchen had played in Cleveland when both Bill Belichick and Scott Pioli were there.
- After performing without incident in the Patriots' first two postseason wins -- over Tennessee and Indianapolis, both played on cold days in Foxboro -- Kinchen had problems in the days leading into the Super Bowl. After some poor practices, Kinchen called Pioli the Thursday night before the big game told the then-director of player personnel he wanted to leave the team.
- Kinchen was convinced to stay with the team, being told by the Patriots they wouldn't have been able to find another long-snapper before the Super Bowl.
- The morning of the game -- about six hours before kickoff -- Kinchen cut his hand with a steak knife trying to slice a dinner roll. He was forced to get stitches.
- The game, of course, came down to Adam Vinatieri's field goal, which was helped by a perfect snap from Kinchen.
In Super Bowl XXXVIII, Brian Kinchen snapped the ball on Adam Viniatieri's game-winning kick. Just a few days earlier, he'd almost quit the team. And just months before that, he was teaching middle school.@scottpioli51 shares one the craziest Super Bowl stories ever. pic.twitter.com/eDmPXKs0EC
— NFLonCBS (@NFLonCBS) April 20, 2020
