The best kick of Vinatieri’s career? Belichick offers a surprising choice

The best kick of Vinatieri’s career? Belichick offers a surprising choice originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced 15 Modern Era Finalists for the Class of 2025 last week, and former New England Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri was among the players who were held out.

The final 2025 Hall of Fame class will be revealed on February 6, 2025.

There is only four kickers in the Hall of Fame — Morten Andersen, George Blanda, Lou Groza and Jan Stenerud.

It’s often difficult for special teams players to get into Canton, but Vinatieri is in a class of his own. He made numerous playoff-clinching kicks for the Patriots and Indianapolis Colts during his 24-year career. He is also the NFL’s all-time leader in field goals made.

The Patriots won their first three Super Bowl titles by three points, including game-winning field goals from Vinatieri in the final minute to win Super Bowls XXXVI and XXXVIII. His game-tying field goal in the 2001 AFC Divisional Round against the Raiders, also known as the “Snow Bowl” or “Tuck Rule Game”, is arguably the greatest kick in NFL history taking into account the difficult snow conditions and the distance (45 meters). .

But former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick recently made the case for a different kick, considered Vinatieri’s best.

“I thought, honestly, his best kick might have been in the Carolina game to win that one, just because of the rush,” Belichick said Monday on ESPN. The Pat McAfee Show. “They had already blocked one (field goal), and that rush they had with Julius Peppers – that whole defensive line, those guys were unblockable. They were all 6-foot-5 or 6-foot-6. That ball was barely cleared the line, but he managed to pass. It was a tough kick. He had so many decisive plays.

The kick Belichick is referring to is Vinatieri’s game-winning field goal late in Super Bowl XXXVIII against the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers defensive line was incredible that season with Peppers, Kris Jenkins, Mike Rucker and others. This group blocked a Vinatieri field goal attempt in the first quarter.

The list of 2025 finalists is quite long and includes Eli Manning, Reggie Wayne, Antonio Gates, Jared Allen, Luke Kuechly, Steve Smith Sr. and Torry Holt, among others.

Despite the tough competition, Vinatieri should still be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

“It’s obvious, it has to be,” Belichick said on McAfee’s show when asked if Vinatieri should run in the first round. “This guy made so many big plays. And as great a career as he had in New England, he had just as great a career in Indianapolis.”