Adam Vinatieri

Fifth in a collection of eight memorable Patriots-Giants games October 12, 2003, at Foxborough > Patriots 17, Giants 6 Though the Giants were a 53-man disaster (30th in points, 29th in points against), they held a Patriots team that finished 14-2 to season lows of 220 total yards and 12 first downs in this Week 6 meeting. The game represents one of the least effective starts of Tom Brady's career (8 of 21, 112 yards). The Patriots' biggest asset in their championship drive was a defense that was tops in the league in scoring, and this was the first of five games that season in which they held...

Call them accidental Superheroes in the making. Or, if they miss, Super-something-elses. Both Super Bowl kickers have taken uncommon paths to the title game, essentially stumbling into a job that often decides titles and legacies for better or worse. New York's Lawrence Tynes and New England's Stephen Gostkowski know one of them could be the first player celebrating — or bending over in angst — in the final seconds Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium. It comes with a job that neither aspired to while growing up. Tynes joined his high school football team so he could hang...

By Chad Finn, Globe Staff FOXBOROUGH -- For a player who won three Super Bowl championships in New England -- two of which are directly credited to his right foot -- it was somewhat surprising that Adam Vinatieri was greeted mostly with boos yesterday. But that's what happens when you join a rival, as Vinatieri did after the 2005 season when he signed as a free agent with the Colts. Yes, even for a kicker with two Super Bowl-winning field goals to his credit. "They were pretty nice to me today," said Vinatieri, who must have tuned out the chorus of boos that accompanied his...

INDIANAPOLIS - The statistics show that Stephen Gostkowski has been a better kicker than Adam Vinatieri over the last six years. He has made a higher percentage of field goals in his career and missed only one extra point. Since Vinatieri left the Patriots for the Colts as a free agent following the 2005 season, Gostkowski has made 84.4 percent of his field goals and Vinatieri 82.9 percent. The trend holds in the postseason. Gostkowski has made close to 87 percent of his field goals and Vinatieri a little more than 83 percent.

The Patriots designated Adam Vinatieri as a non-exclusive franchise player yesterday, guaranteeing the two-time Pro Bowl placekicker a salary of just over $2.5 million for the 2005 season. The move marks the second time the team has placed the franchise tag on Vinatieri, who originally signed with New England as an undrafted free agent in 1996. In 2002, Vinatieri became the first Patriot to be franchised, before agreeing to a three-year extension. A source familiar with the current negotiations said the two sides are working on a multiyear deal, which has to be signed before a March 16...

Adam Vinatieri's father, Paul, said last night that his son wanted to remain with the Patriots in the worst way. "He loved the fans there," the elder Vinatieri said from his home in South Dakota. "They treated him so well. He'll never forget that, but the Colts treated him very well in their talks. They were straightforward and upfront and were able to get it done quickly with Adam, who really appreciated their interest in him. " Paul Vinatieri had been instructed by his son not to reveal anything about the negotiations between the Patriots.

The Indianapolis Colts likely will sign veteran kicker Martin Gramatica for tomorrow's game against Jacksonville as a possible replacement for Adam Vinatieri , who is nursing a groin injury and has not practiced all week. Gramatica tried out with the Colts Wednesday. Although he was not signed after the workout, coach Tony Dungy said yesterday the team was leaning toward signing Gramatica, at least for kickoffs. "He may do everything," Dungy said. It would be Gramatica's second stint with the Colts and his third with Dungy, who...

FOXBOROUGH - There's no debating it. Stephen Gostkowski is a share-the-wealth guy. Especially when it comes to accolades, such as the AFC's Special Teams Player of the Month. Gostkowski joined Adam Vinatieri, whom he replaced in 2006, as the only kickers in Patriots history to receive the award. Gostkowski was glad to share that honor with Lonie Paxton, his long snapper, and punter Chris Hanson, his holder. "Oh, definitely," Gostkowski said yesterday at Gillette Stadium.

FOXBOROUGH -- For the past 10 years, there's been no reason to wander off to where the kickers practice unless you were lost. After all, Adam Vinatieri was the one player you never worried about. He was as good at his position as any player in the NFL. The greatest clutch kicker of all time. You didn't need statistics to point that out. You could see it. "There's no kicker I'd rather have," we heard over and over again. Only time and the success of rookie Stephen Gostkowski, a fourth-round pick out of Memphis, or veteran free agent Martin Gramatica will determine...

The bad times continue to roll for the Patriots. One of the surprise stories of NFL free agency was the tepid response Adam Vinatieri was receiving around the league, which gave rise to the possibility of him staying with New England. But the rival Indianapolis Colts, who gave the boot to Mike Vanderjagt, the most accurate kicker in NFL history, pounced on the opportunity to land Vinatieri, considered the biggest money kicker in NFL history. The Colts announced last night that they had reached an agreement in principle with Vinatieri.

INDIANAPOLIS - The statistics show that Stephen Gostkowski has been a better kicker than Adam Vinatieri over the last six years. He has made a higher percentage of field goals in his career and missed only one extra point. Since Vinatieri left the Patriots for the Colts as a free agent following the 2005 season, Gostkowski has made 84.4 percent of his field goals and Vinatieri 82.9 percent. The trend holds in the postseason. Gostkowski has made close to 87 percent of his field goals and Vinatieri a little more than 83 percent.

Fifth in a collection of eight memorable Patriots-Giants games October 12, 2003, at Foxborough > Patriots 17, Giants 6 Though the Giants were a 53-man disaster (30th in points, 29th in points against), they held a Patriots team that finished 14-2 to season lows of 220 total yards and 12 first downs in this Week 6 meeting. The game represents one of the least effective starts of Tom Brady's career (8 of 21, 112 yards). The Patriots' biggest asset in their championship drive was a defense that was tops in the league in scoring, and this was the first of five games that season in...

INDIANAPOLIS - Ten years have passed since Tebucky Jones helped the Patriots win their first Super Bowl. "Ten years?" he said. "Wow, that went by fast. " So fast, Jones said, that he hasn't lost sleep over a judge tossing out his $3.75 million malpractice claim against the Patriots doctors who treated his career-ending leg injury in 2006. Jones is appealing a Suffolk Superior Court justice's decision last year to dismiss the case against Drs. Thomas Gill and Bertram Zarins.

Adam Vinatieri lined up a Super Bowl kick and let it fly, straight through the yellow uprights. Several dozen fans surrounding the netted area applauded and cheered. What did it win? A few smiles, nothing more. That's how the kicker's long-awaited week is going. One of the most successful kickers in Super Bowl history lost his chance for another title-game winner when the Colts fell apart this season. Instead of doing Super Bowl media interviews in downtown hotels on Wednesday, Vinatieri was down the street at the convention center, participating in an NFL...

HOUSTON - There are very few things in life that Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel is absolutely, positively certain about. Kicker Adam Vinatieri is one of them. "I was sure he'd make it," said Vrabel, rubbing his son Tyler's head in the afterglow of his team's second Super Bowl victory in three years. "Adam is like Deion Sanders. If he ever messes up, you just know he's going to make sure he'll get the next one. "It's just unbelievable what he's done. The guy is so deserving of whatever comes his way. He is the best clutch kicker ever, in the...

NEW ORLEANS - There was so little time left. A day, a game, a season, a lifetime compressed into seven tiny seconds and one momentous kick. "Thinking?" said Adam Vinatieri, his kicking shoe suitable for bronzing, a showcase certain to be cleared in the Sports Museum of New England. ‘'I didn't really have much time to think. " It will be the kick that sails on for eternity in the minds of all Patriots fans - Vinatieri's 48-yard boot with 0:07 on the clock Sunday night inside the Superdome that clinched Super Bowl XXXVI for the Patriots.

Kicker Adam Vinatieri , 33, will miss the first game of his 11-year NFL career because of a lingering groin injury. Vinatieri, who left the Patriots to sign with the Indianapolis Colts in the offseason, strained his groin in last week's victory over Houston and will sit out today's game against AFC South rival Jacksonville, coach Tony Dungy said yesterday. The Colts were expected to sign veteran kicker Martin Gramatica as Vinatieri's replacement. Vinatieri, a two-time Pro Bowl selection, was the AFC special teams player of the week in the first week of the season.

When you looked back across five months of collision, concussion, and celebration, the victorious details blurred amid the weekly procession of W's, 15 of them in a row. Was it Mike Cloud who scored those two touchdowns against the Titans in October? Who caught the pass that beat the Broncos? They did knock off the Giants somewhere in there, right? But now that the Patriots have beaten the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII, now that the confetti has been swept off the Reliant Stadium floor, the parade dispersed, and the championship rings ordered, the defining moments have popped back...

Jim Caldwell had the same serious, intense look he always brings to Monday's news conference. He just sounded different. Less than 24 hours after eliminating the possibility of a winless season, Caldwell took a deep breath and sounded relieved that the Colts could finally focus on something else. "Any time you get a win, it's good, and these guys have been working hard," Caldwell said. "The guys haven't been complaining, they've worked together, they've fought together, so it's good to get a good result.

FOXBOROUGH - Bill Belichick spent the entire week leading up to yesterday's game telling anyone who would listen that the Indianapolis Colts, despite their winless record entering their matchup with the Patriots, would pose a challenge. Turns out he wasn't just blowing smoke. The Patriots headed home from their first 1 p.m. home start of the season with their ninth victory in their back pockets, but judging by the brevity of Belichick's comments at his postgame news conference and the atmosphere in the locker room, few were in a celebratory mood after the 31-24 win. "I...