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89rabbit
01-18-2004, 11:38 PM
Adam Vinatieri kicked his way to another Super Bowl. Patriots beat the Colts 24 to 14 on the strength of a former SDSU Jackrabbit, Adam Vinatieri, who was 5 for 5 on FGs and 1 for 1 on Extra Points. This will be Adams second trip to the Super Bowl. In 2001 Adam Kicked a 48 yard FG to win the game in Super Bowl XXXVI, as the Patriots beat the Rams 20 to 17. Best of luck to Adam and his teamates, I will be pulling for them!

http://www.patriots.com/team/personal.sps?playerid=447&playertype=1&image6.x=14 &image6.y=3


Go SDSU!

89rabbit
01-26-2004, 07:09 AM
http://www.argusleader.com/sports/Mondayfeature.shtml

Not just a kicker
By JIMMY GOLEN
Associated Press

published: 1/26/2004

S.D. native Vinatieri has Patriots' respect

FOXBORO, Mass. - The game was coming down to a final kick, as so many of the New England Patriots' games do.

Coach Bill Belichick didn't fret: He had Adam Vinatieri.

"We put one of our best players out there," Belichick said, "and let him kick it."

Some coaches might feel squeamish about letting the season ride on the foot of one of the smallest players on the field, but no one on the Patriots feels that way about Vinatieri, a South Dakota native who went to high school in Rapid City and then attended SDSU.

With 15 game-winning field goals in his career, including the one to win the Super Bowl two years ago, he has shown he can handle the pressure and just about anything the New England weather can throw at him.

"He's Mr. Clutch," backup quarterback Damon Huard said. "The Snow Bowl and the Super Bowl kicks have defined his legacy here. But we see him do it every day in practice. He's first class. I'm glad he's on my team."

Vinatieri was always a solid kicker, ranking in the top 10 of the league's all-time list for accuracy. But his legend grew in the 2002 playoffs, when he helped the Patriots squeak out a victory over Oakland in the playoff game known around here as the "Snow Bowl."

Vinatieri made a 45-yard field goal off the sloppy and frozen turf with 32 seconds left to send the game into overtime (thanks in part to Tom Brady and the NFL's "Tuck Rule"). Then, Vinatieri won it with a 23-yarder give New England a chance to play for the AFC title.

In the Super Bowl, it all came down to Vinatieri again. And when he kicked a 48-yarder as time expired, the Patriots had a 20-17 victory over the St. Louis Rams and their only NFL title.

"He has the respect from us that when the game's on the line, we know he'll come through," linebacker Roman Phifer said.

Vinatieri hit 90 percent of his field goal attempts last year and hit 33 in a row from 40 yards or less before a three-week span in which he went 3-for-7. He finished the regular season by making 18 of his last 23 attempts and then connected on 6-of-7 in the playoffs, including the game-winner against Tennessee and all five he tried in the AFC title game against the Colts.

Phifer jokes with Vinatieri about the kicker's life, but he knows it's not an easy one.

"I always tell Adam he's got the best job in football. When we're still in meetings, he's hanging out in the hot tub, or having lunch." Phifer said. "But Adam's stepped up big for us. He's the one with the pressure job. His job is to score points, and points are important in football."

Phifer concedes there's something a little silly about a struggle between 300-pounders being decided by a guy who trots in from the sideline in a clean uniform for a handful of plays a game. For many, the signature moment for place-kickers was when Miami's Garo Yepremian tried to recover after a botched snap by throwing the ball in the 1973 Super Bowl.

The ball slipped out of his hands, and the Redskins scored.

The Dolphins won anyway to finish the season a perfect 17-0, so they were able to laugh when Yepremian, a native of Cyprus, explained: "Many big people were chasing me. I didn't know what to do. So I thought I would surprise them and throw it."

Larry Izzo, a special teams specialist for the Patriots, said few of the league's kickers fit that stereotype any more. And Vinatieri is one who fits in well with the more physical players on the team.

"He's a great athlete, a tremendous competitor. He's able to, if needed, to make a good open field tackle on a great athlete who would be a returner," Izzo said. "So he's a guy that's obviously got some athletic ability and he's shown that at times."

That's what Belichick means when he pays Vinatieri the highest compliment he can muster.

"He's more of a football player than he is a kicker," the coach said. "He really is."

Adam Vinatieri's clutch kicks

Some of the biggest kicks of Adam Vinatieri's career:

• Super kick: In Super Bowl XXXVI, he nails a 48-yard field goal as time expired to win game.

• Snow kick: During 2002 playoffs, he made a 45-yard field goal on a sloppy, snowy field to force OT. He later won the game with another kick.

• Playoff winner: Hit a game-winner in the playoffs against Tennessee during this playoff run.

Bisonfan1
01-27-2004, 02:31 AM
Well check this out, I am a big history buff, I read everything to do with Custer and the 7th Cavalry.General George Armstrong Custer employed Adams great-great Grandfather, Felix Vinatieri as the 7th Cavalry's bandleader. As History would have it, Custer instructed Felix and the rest of his 16 member band to wait on the supply boat at the Powder River, rather than join the 7th at the Little Bighorn. As we all know, Custer and 276 men were defeated at the Battle of The Little Bighorn. There are other versions of the story, regardless, Felix survived, and in the future came Adam Vinatieri, Kicker for the Jacks and the New England Patriots.

SDSUFAN
01-27-2004, 02:35 PM
Bison1fan:

Yes I have heard that fact of family history too. Adam's family for a while were located in Yankton and had a furniture store as I recall. *

Adam has come a long ways since his days as a Jackrabbit. *He used to be so hard on himself when he missed a FG. *As a Rabbit fan I used to share feelings of frustration with him. *The one year if he had not hit the cross bar against MSU-Mankato, SDSU would have won that game an very likely a playoff spot. *So going to two super bowls makes up for that. I am proud of Adam. Also in the Empire Mall in Sioux Falls, SDSU has a big poster add using the theme. "That you can go anywhere from SDSU". We have mostly sucessfull alums in medical science, but the one in the Empire Mall has Adam Viniteri in it with his New England uniform.

IowaBison
01-28-2004, 07:24 PM
Should have had the Band Leader in charge if you ask me.

I was thinking last night (before reading this post), that if Custer hadn't destroyed the 7th due to his own incompetence, Fort Lincoln might still be home to a Brigade or Division. Thanks a lot, George.

89rabbit
01-28-2004, 11:24 PM
Should have had the Band Leader in charge if you ask me.

I was thinking last night (before reading this post), that if Custer hadn't destroyed the 7th due to his own incompetence, Fort Lincoln might still be home to a Brigade or Division. *Thanks a lot, George.

Major Reno and Capt. Benteen are the real culprits at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, IMHO. I would go into detail, but no one wants that. Ah. . . a History degree such a great thing for my profession, sales! ;)

89rabbit
01-28-2004, 11:30 PM
The Kansas City star ran a huge story on Adam today. Besides the Custer thing, Adam is Evel Knievel's cousin.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/

89rabbit
02-01-2004, 05:08 PM
The Sioux Falls, SD paper the Argus Leader has a good story on Adam Vinatieri today. It is super long so I am not going to post the whole thing, but it is good reading.

http://www.argusleader.com/news/Sundayfeature.shtm


Adam automatic
Mick Garry
Argus Leader

published: 2/1/2004

Former SDSU kicker is toast of New England

When the New England Patriots play in today's Super Bowl, their Rapid City- raised and South Dakota State University trained kicker, Adam Vinatieri, will be poised once again to deliver history.

Vinatieri kicked a pair of the most memorable field goals in NFL history during the postseason two years ago. Life has never been the same for the man known in Boston as "Adam Automatic." . . .


Go Adam!
Go Pats!
Go SDSU!

BisonMav
02-02-2004, 03:30 AM
Congrats, your boy did it again Jacks.

Bisonguy
02-02-2004, 03:33 AM
Congrats, your boy did it again Jacks.

Yeah, but he was just trying to be a glory hog by missing his first two attempts ;D ;) ;D

WYOBISONMAN
02-02-2004, 03:37 AM
Sorry to rain on everybodys party, but after living in Greenville, SC I have to say......Fuck Adam.......


Oh well....the pats played a hell of a game. Best Super Bowl I can remember. Thanks to both sides for a hell of a game.

89rabbit
02-02-2004, 03:55 AM
Come on now. You gotta love a Jackrabbit winning the Super Bowl, again! ;D

Go Adam!
Go Pats!
Go SDSU!

IowaBison
02-02-2004, 05:19 AM
.I was very happy for him, especially in light of his poor performance early in the game, but I still hate the patties