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Patriots Legend Barely Sneaks Onto NFL’s 140 Greatest Players List
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- Patriots Legend Barely Sneaks Onto NFL’s 140 Greatest Players List
Patriots Legend Barely Sneaks Onto NFL's 140 Greatest Players List originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
Adam Vinatieri spent much of his career making sure the New England Patriots survived by the smallest possible margin. It is only fitting that he needed the final available spot to make another historic list.
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The Sporting News ranked Vinatieri at No. 140 in its countdown of the 140 greatest players in NFL history. He was the only kicker selected.
"The Sporting News list would not be complete without the best clutch kicker in the game," the outlet wrote, pointing to Vinatieri's NFL-record 2,673 points and four Super Bowl championships.
No. 140 may sound like a modest placement. For a kicker, however, simply getting through the door represents a major accomplishment.
Vinatieri made a career out of succeeding when failure would have ended somebody else's season.
His 45-yard field goal through heavy snow against the Oakland Raiders in January 2002 remains one of the most difficult and important kicks in NFL history. It tied the divisional-round game before Vinatieri won it with a 23-yard field goal in overtime. Two games later, he connected from 48 yards as time expired to give New England a 20-17 victory over the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. The kick secured the first championship in Patriots history.
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He did it again two years later, drilling a 41-yard field goal with four seconds remaining to beat the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII.
MORE: Tom Brady Claims No. 1 Spot In Ranking Of NFL's 140 Greatest Players
Vinatieri Built A Hall Of Fame Résumé
Vinatieri spent his first 10 seasons with the Patriots before joining the Indianapolis Colts in 2006. He won three championships with New England and added another during his first season in Indianapolis. By the time he retired, Vinatieri had played 24 seasons and scored more points than any player in NFL history. He made 599 regular-season field goals and added another 56 in the playoffs.
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Vinatieri also remains the NFL's career leader in postseason points with 238. The argument against kickers receiving the same recognition as every-down players has existed for decades. Vinatieri is the player capable of ending that conversation.
The Patriots did not ask him to block, tackle or touch the ball 20 times per game. They asked him to deliver when an entire season came down to one swing of his right leg.
He almost always did.
No. 140 was the final spot on the list. Vinatieri, appropriately, split the uprights just before the countdown ended.
