National Football League

After 24 seasons and many memorable moments, Adam Vinatieri calls it a career

Updated May. 26, 2021 9:16 p.m. ET

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Adam Vinatieri, the NFL's all-time scoring leader, announced Wednesday that he is retiring after 24 seasons.

On the "Pat McAfee Show," Vinatieri told his former Indianapolis Colts teammate that his retirement should be finalized by the end of this week.

"By Friday, if paperwork goes in, you heard it here first," Vinatieri said.

Vinatieri entered the league as an undrafted free agent in 1996. He played 10 seasons with the New England Patriots before joining the Colts in 2006 for his final 14 seasons. 

Vinatieri, 48, is a three-time Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro selection and four-time Super Bowl champion — three with the Patriots and one with the Colts. No placekicker has more Super Bowl wins.

In his 24-season career, Vinatieri made 29 game-winning kicks, including game-winning field goals in Super Bowls XXXVI and XXXVIII.

He made more game-tying or go-ahead field goals in the last two minutes or overtime (regular season and postseason) than any other kicker in NFL history, per Elias Sports Bureau. Vinatieri is tied with Hall of Famer Morten Andersen for the most game-winning kicks on the final play of a game, with 14.

The superstar kicker holds the NFL records for points scored (2,673), field goals made (599), postseason points (238), consecutive field goals made (44) and overtime field goals made (12).

Vinatieri is the only NFL player to score 1,000 points for two teams. He is the third-oldest NFL player of all time, behind Andersen and fellow Hall of Famer George Blanda (both 48), and his 397 career games (including playoffs) are the most in NFL history.

Vinatieri didn't play in 2020 after spending most of 2019 battling a season-long knee injury that landed him on the Colts’ injury reserve. Even so, the former kicker has plenty of highlights on his résumé, and he will be eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2025.

Here are a few of Vinatieri’s most memorable moments in the NFL:

With 32 seconds left in the AFC divisional playoff game against the then-Oakland Raiders, Vinatieri kicked a 45-yard field goal to force overtime in the infamous "Snow Bowl" on Jan. 19, 2002. In the subsequent overtime, Vinatieri made a 23-yarder to win the game for the Patriots. 

In Super Bowl XXXVI, Vinatieri kicked a 48-yard, game-winning field goal as the clock expired, and the Patriots defeated the then-St. Louis Rams 20-17. It was New England's first Super Bowl championship, kicking off the Brady-Belichick dynasty.

In Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004, Vinatieri once again kicked a game-winning field goal, this time from 41 yards out with four seconds left, securing New England’s second Super Bowl victory in three years by defeating the Carolina Panthers 32-29.

In summary, two of the first three Super Bowls of the Belichick era came courtesy of Vinatieri's foot. 

But the legendary kicker did more than just make field goals under pressure. Who could forget the time he ran down Dallas Cowboys star running back Herschel Walker — tackle and all — during his rookie season with the Patriots?

After his announcement Wednesday, the news of Vinatieri's retirement brought out a slew of reactions on social media:

Next stop, Canton!

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