On Wednesday, the Indianapolis Colts announced that legendary placekicker Adam Vinatieri will be the latest member to join the franchise’s illustrious Ring of Honor, and in the same year that he’ll be enshrined in Canton, Ohio, for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026 later this summer:
Vinatieri will be inducted Sunday, October 18th for the 1 PM EST game against the rival Tennessee Titans.
Regarding Vinatieri, the undisputed GOAT at the kicking
position all-time has remained a foregone conclusion that he’d eventually join some of his prolific Colts’ Super Bowl winning teammates in the Ring of Honor.
It’s a question now of whether he’ll be the final member of the 2006 Super Bowl winning squad to reach such an honor, although in my humble opinion, there should still be a place for former NFL Defensive Player of the Year Bob Sanders, who’s the only defender to accomplish that feat in Indianapolis franchise history and was such a catalyst for that Lombardi trophy deserving defense down the final stretch run.
As it relates to Vinatieri though, the Super Bowl Champion, NFL First-Team All-Pro, and Pro Bowler with the Colts, played his final 14 seasons in Indianapolis, after arguably already achieving a Hall of Fame worthy career in New England.
During that span, Vinatieri largely aged like a fine wine, kicking until he was an astounding 47 years old, until injuries, physical wear-and-tear, and perhaps even father time finally caught up with his golden leg in 2019.
From 2006 until that final season, Vinatieri converted 336 of 394 his field goal attempts (85.3%) and 507 of his 524 extra point attempts (96.8%). He appeared in 205 career games with the Colts, and his 19 postseason games are the most by any player in Indianapolis franchise history.
It was in Indianapolis where he became the highest scoring player in NFL history, with 2,673 career points scored, including a whopping 599 career field goals made with both New England and Indianapolis collectively.
Perhaps Vinatieri’s most memorable moment was during the Colts’ magical Super Bowl run back in 2006, where in tough and hostile road conditions in Baltimore for the Divisional Round playoff game, he went a perfect 5 for 5 from field goal range—scoring all of Indianapolis’ offensive points in a 15-6 win against a stingy Ravens defense.
The Colts do not win a Super Bowl without him, which also happened to be Vinatieri’s first season with Indy.
Vinatieri was not only a stabilizing kicking force, and in critical in-game moments, but he was also highly valued as a veteran leader in the Colts locker room later in his career. This is an incredibly well deserved honor for him.
