The world of football has seen many kickers come and go, but none impressed Bill Belichick as much as Adam Vinatieri. The former Patriots star helped Belichick win numerous crucial games, including Super Bowl XXXVI with a game-winning, last-second kick. After being named a Hall of Fame finalist, Belichick had high praise for Vinatieri, who could become just the fifth kicker ever elected to the Hall.
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As mentioned, Belichick saw Vinatieri deliver a game-winner for the Patriots to secure the Super Bowl in 2002. However, the former HC doesn’t consider that to be Vinatieri’s greatest kick ever.
“The kick he made in the snow to beat Oakland, to me, it’s the greatest kick of all time,” Belichick said on The Coach Show.
It’s one of the most talked about kicks to this day. The “Tuck Rule” game, as it’s been known ever since, saw Tom Brady appear to have fumbled the ball on a sack, and it looked as though the Raiders had recovered and were going to go on to the AFC Championship. But one ref said he saw Brady’s arm moving forward before the fumble, deeming the play an incomplete pass.
The Pats would then get the ball back and march down into field goal range. Vinatieri then drilled the 45-yarder to tie the game, and it went into overtime. He would eventually kick another for the win. Raiders head coach Jon Gruden tried to ice Vinatieri before the kick, as many coaches do, but the plan backfired, giving Vinatieri extra time to clear the snow for a clean operation.
He made the kick, and the Patriots went on to win the Super Bowl. Without that snow kick, the legendary Brady-Belichick era and the Patriots dynasty might never have happened. It’s a key reason why Belichick holds Vinatieri in such high regard today.
“Best kicker in the history of football,” Belichick remarked. “His ball was so straight, unlike my golf shots… And then, after a great career with the Patriots, he went on to an even greater career with the Colts.”
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Vinatieri joined the Colts when he was 34. He had already been in the league for 10 years but would go on to play until he was 47 and ended with a longer career with the Colts than he had with the Pats. It’s incredible stuff. Vinatieri was one year off from becoming the oldest player to ever log a game.
Today, Vinatieri finds himself among the 2025 Pro Football Hall of Fame finalists. Alongside other greats from the 2000s like Torry Holt, Eli Manning, and Luke Kuechly — Vinatieri has a decent chance of getting in. The committee can elect up to five members with over an 80% vote. He should undoubtedly reach that mark.
Vinatieri would become just the fifth kicker to join the HOF, alongside Morten Andersen, Jan Stenerud, George Blanda, and Lou Groza.
If the greatest head coach of all time is saying that Vinatieri is the greatest kicker of all time, then he should definitely be in the Hall of Fame. If not this year, shortly after.
