One of the most painful free agent departures of this century for Boston sports fans was Adam Vintieri leaving New England to sign with the hated Indianapolis Colts.
It’s right up there with Johnny Damon signing with the Yankees and Ray Allen signing with the Heat.
Sure, he was just a kicker. But wasn’t your average specialist.
While in a Patriots uniform, Vinatieri was the author of two of the most difficult kicks in NFL history - both taking place in the same game against the Oakland Raiders in the 2001 AFC Divisional Round.
The first was a 45-yard field goal with 27 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime, and the second being a 23-yard field goal to close out the old Foxborough Stadium with a 16-13 win, advancing the Patriots to the AFC Championship Game. Both kicks occurred in blinding snow - images forever etched into Patriots lore.
Later that postseason, Vinatieri played hero again, as he kicked a 48-yard field goal as time expired to beat the St. Louis Rams 20-17 in Super Bowl XXXVI.
Two years later, he put the hero cape on yet again, kicking another Super Bowl-winning field goal. This time, it was against the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII, as Vinatieri was good from 41 with four seconds left, sealing a 32-29 win.
With another Lombardi Trophy added in 2004, Vinatieri was already among the most decorated kickers in NFL history, seemingly with a long career ahead of him as one of the faces of the Patriots franchise.
At least that’s what he wanted.
“Honestly, I had no intention, no want to leave at all,” Vinatieri told WEEI Afternoons on Tuesday. “The way the negotiations and all that crazy stuff went down - that’s a whole story in itself. I’ll write a book about this someday, and it will be a best seller. Not because I’m a good writer, [but] because it’s a damn-good story and it’ll blow a lot of your minds on how it went down.
“I had absolutely no intentions on leaving. I just - I kinda got backed into that corner a little bit, so to say. And so the Colts did everything right, right? I mean, they courted me. They sent me - you know, I just wanted a multi-year contract. And at that point with New England, I got franchised multiple times and never saw free agency until after my 10th year in the league. If you can believe that, Ted [Johnson] - 10 years, never saw free agency. So, it came down to, ‘This is what I was hoping for.’ They didn’t want to do that, and so we found other people that did.”
As Patriots fans are well-aware, Vinatieri went on to kick for the Colts for the next 14 seasons, winning a fourth Super Bowl ring in his first season as Peyton Manning’s teammate.
When it was all said and done for Vinatieri’s NFL career, he retired as the game’s all-time leading scorer at 2,673 points. He also holds the record for most consecutive field goals made (44), most combined regular season and postseason games played (397), most career field goals made (599), most career field goal attempts (715), most seasons with 100+ points (21), most career overtime field goals (11), and most field goals made in a single postseason - nailing 14 on his way to his lone ring with the Colts in 2006.
“If I had to leave New England, and had to make a decision, a very tough, tear-felt situation, on leaving the New England Patriots, the Colts was the next-best situation,” said Vinatieri. “And once I got here, they were open-armed. They were really, really good. And, you know, looking back on it now, I have no regrets.
“It worked out very well for me, playing another 14 years, and in the year of winning the Super Bowl [in 2006], playing with, like you mentioned before, Peyton Manning and [Edgerrin James] and [Marvin Harrison] - some of these great, great players as well, you know? It was a blessing that, you know, could’ve went a different way, but it worked out pretty well in the end.”
Amidst the reminiscing as Vinatieri awaits word of a possible induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame during Thursday’s NFL Honors show, he revealed that Patriots CEO and chairman Robert Kraft had nothing to do with his mid-career relocation to Indianapolis.
In fact, he may have been as surprised as Vinatieri by the news.
“There’s zero hard feelings,” said Vinatieri. “I had a wonderful conversation with Mr. Kraft about it this past year, and I think some of it he didn’t even know, to be honest with you, on how the negotiation went down, and how everything went. So, we had a wonderful conversation about it. I feel really good about it, I think he does as well, at this point.”
It sounds like former head coach/de facto general manager Bill Belichick is taking the blame for this one in Vinatieri’s eyes.
But unfortunately for Patriots fans, we’ll have to wait to get the full story from the greatest kicker of all-time.
“I’m gonna write a book about this, and I think it will blow people’s minds just on how that worked out,” said Vinatieri. “Because I’ve met a lot of New Englanders that are like, ‘How could you leave?’ And I’m like, ‘You don’t even understand, and I wish you did. And if you had 30 minutes and a couple of beers, we could talk about it and I’ll blow your mind.’”
If Vinatieri is selected as an inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Thursday, he will join Morten Andersen and Jan Stenerud as the only pure placekickers in NFL history to receive a gold jacket.
And with the 52-year-old winning three times as many rings in a Patriots uniform as he did in a Colts uniform, he’ll always be remembered as a Hall of Famer for New England.