Mr. Clutch
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – We decided to conduct a quick poll of the New England Patriots because, even though we did the same thing a year ago, the answer can change as long as Adam Vinatieri keeps getting better.
So go ahead, name the greatest performance ever by the Patriots' kicker.
As a refresher, here are some of the prime contenders:
In the divisional playoffs against Oakland in 2002, he hit a 45-yard game-tying field goal with 1:43 remaining through driving, heavy snow.
Same game, same conditions: He drilled a 23-yard game-winner in overtime.
His 48-yarder in Super Bowl XXXVI beat the buzzer and St. Louis.
In the divisional playoffs against Tennessee in 2004, he booted a 46-yard game-winner when the football felt like a block of ice (due to the single-digit temps) through wild wind.
Any of the five field goals he kicked in the snow during the AFC championship game victory over Indianapolis last year.
The buzzer-beating, deja vu 41-yarder he made to win Super Bowl XXXVIII against Carolina.
(We won't even include any of his other 13 career game-winners).
"The Super Bowl ones are obviously my personal favorites," linebacker Mike Vrabel said.
Which Super Bowl winner?
"The last one," linebacker Willie McGinest said. "Always the last one."
"Probably the one in the snow against the Raiders in the game they cry about now," defensive lineman Richard Seymour said.
Which one against the Raiders?
"That's right," Seymour realized, "there were two."
"You know," said linebacker Tedy Bruschi, as he considered them all, "I don't like looking back. How about the next one?"
Just about any kicker in the history of the National Football League would take any one of the aforementioned performances and retire a happy man.
Make a couple of them and you can make the argument Vinatieri is one of the greatest clutch kickers in football history. For Vinatieri, the question is what's next.
Namely, could he go three-for-three on Super Bowl game-winners?
He'd certainly welcome the opportunity.
"I look at guys like Michael Jordan, guys who always want the ball in his hands," Vinatieri said. "A guy like Joe Montana. Throughout sports there are plenty of examples. Clutch players, team leaders, true champions. I believe there are guys who want the ball in their hands.
"I consider myself a guy who likes to have the opportunity."
If any other kicker even remotely compared himself to Jordan or Montana (and Vinatieri only did it after heavy media prodding) he'd be laughed out of the Super Bowl. But after a career such as this one, why not?
It's not so much that he's made all of these pressure kicks as much as you can't remember him ever missing one.
At 32 years old, the South Dakota native has never been better. He won the scoring title this season after hitting 31 of 33 field goals (.939) and all 48 extra-point attempts. He is a perfect 4-for-4 in field-goal attempts in the playoffs, including a 48-yarder at Pittsburgh that tied a team playoff record.
Any discussion of greatest kicker in NFL history has to begin with Vinatieri. He should one day join Jan Stenerud as the only kickers in the Hall of Fame.
An added beauty is that Vinatieri is as much of a true football player as a kicker can be. As a rookie in 1996, he won the respect of his teammates when he chased down Herschel Walker and made a game-saving tackle. The former high-school quarterback and linebacker has never stopped acting like an all-around player (he even threw a touchdown pass this season).
"He has an attitude about him," McGinest said. "He gets after guys on kickoffs."
Perhaps it comes from his family. His cousin is Evel Knievel and his great, great grandfather was Felix Vinatieri, who was General Custer's bandmaster. On June 26, 1876, Custer told Felix to stay behind and wait for a supply ship while the General led 276 other men to Little Big Horn, where Sioux warriors massacred them all.
After surviving that, what's an open-field tackle really mean for a Vinatieri?
"He trains with us," Seymour said. "Last offseason, Adam and I worked out together, ran and lifted weights together. He always wants to go out there and hit someone."
"He's valuable, though. We just want him to kick. We tell him, 'Hey, kick back bud, don't get hurt.' "
That's unlikely. You can see where Vinatieri's mental toughness comes from. He laughs when opposing coaches try to ice him with timeouts.
"I don't think that works," Vinatieri said. "If anything, it's good. You have the opportunity if the field conditions or weather conditions are not optimal to patch up the field, clear snow. It's a good opportunity to take a deep breath and refocus."
So with no consensus among his teammates, what is Vinatieri's choice as his greatest kick ever?
"I think the most difficult one was in the snow against Oakland because of the weather conditions," he said of the historic 45-yard game-tying shot. "The season is on the line, four or five inches of snow; don't make it [and] your team is done for the year.
"You can't get much more pressure than that."
Remember that Sunday if he is lining up for a third Super Bowl winner.
