Adam Vinatieri has made the call on his NFL career. While appearing on The Pat McAfee Show, the legendary kicker announced he is planning to retire after 24 years in the league. He delivered the news to Pat McAfee who was his former teammate when they both played for the Indianapolis Colts.
“Put it this way, hey let me see, today’s, what Wednesday, by Friday, if paperwork goes in, you heard it here first,” Vinatieri said. Before appearing on The Pat McAfee Show, Vinatieri appeared on the Great Dane Nation podcast hosted by legendary NFL kicker Morten Anderson and said he was looking to retire but hasn’t made it official.
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“I haven’t officially retired, but I’m probably on that way,” Vinatieri said as reported by the Indianapolis Star. “Like I said, I’m continuing to do stuff to try and get there. It’s just not … there might be a time to officially do that here in the near future.” Vinatieri missed the entire 2020 season due to injuries and the struggles he had in 2019. During that season, Vinatieri only made 68% (17 of 25) of his field goals, which is a career-low. The 48-year-old also missed six extra points and only scored a total of 73 points.
Despite the struggles in 2019, Vinatieri is arguably the best kicker in NFL history. He played for the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts and won four Super Bowls (three with New England). He was selected to the Pro Bowl three times, named First-Team All-Pro three times and was selected to the 2000s All-Decade Team as well as the 100th Anniversary All-Time Team. Vinatieri holds the NFL record for most career points (2,673) most field goals made (599) and most combined regular-season and postseason games played (397).
“When I was home trying to get healthy and doing all that stuff, I spent a lot of time with my family and realized, as much as I absolutely love football, and it’s been my (professional) life for 25 years … I’ve come to find out being around my family, watching my kids grow, helping my son at his high school — he’s a punter and kicker as well — getting to do all that has made me realize, as awesome as football is, there’s more to life than just football.”
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