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February 1, 2004
Kicked Up or Around
Last-second field-goal attempts shot Vinatieri to stardom, haunted Norwood
MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL STAR TRIBUNE
The Vinatieri family tree includes one very lucky limb for the descendants of a fellow named Felix.
Felix Vinatieri was born into a family of piano makers from northern Italy. A musician at heart, he became the bandleader for Gen. George Custer's 7th Cavalry and was stationed in South Dakota in the late 1800s.
About a century later, Felix's great-great-grandson, Adam, was born in Yankton, S.D. Adam said he possessed "no musical talent whatsoever" but had a passion for kicking soccer balls and footballs long into the night.
Adam leaned toward football, but was barely recruited out of Rapid City High. He settled for four years of "mediocre" Division II play at South Dakota State.
Today, Adam Vinatieri is one of the finest clutch kickers in NFL history. His 48-yard field goal as time expired in Super Bowl XXXVI gave the New England Patriots a 20-17 victory over the St. Louis Rams.
Two years later, Vinatieri and the Patriots are back in the Super Bowl, this time Super Bowl XXXVIII against the Carolina Panthers. He and Patriots fans everywhere have Felix's good fortune - and well-timed benching by Custer - to thank for it.
"You know what," Adam Vinatieri said to a group of reporters, "I might not even be sitting here talking to you guys today, if ..."
Custer's last stand was June 26, 1876, when he and 276 of his men were ambushed and massacred by Crazy Horse and his Sioux warriors at Little Big Horn.
According to a Web site for the National Music Museum at the University of South Dakota, Custer instructed Felix and his 16-member brass band to stay behind and wait on a supply steamboat on the Powder River on that fateful day. Other versions have said that Vinatieri became ill the day before. Either way, Felix survived. And on Dec. 28, 1972, Adam was born.
"I don't know the exact story," Vinatieri said. "But I'm very happy they left him back."
Vinatieri has 15 game-winning field goals, including nine in overtime. Having grown up on the prairies of the Upper Midwest and honed his skills in blustery New England for eight seasons, he is one of the best poor-weather kickers in NFL history.
That should make him all the more dangerous during what is expected to be a low-scoring defensive struggle tonight at Reliant Stadium. If it rains, the retractable roof will be closed.
The last time Vinatieri kicked at Reliant Stadium was Nov. 23. The roof was closed when he kicked a 28-yard field goal with 41 seconds left in overtime to beat the Houston Texans 23-20.
"I just block out all the external elements that don't pertain to the actual act of kicking the ball," Vinatieri said. "The fact that it's loud, and it's the Super Bowl, and it's the biggest game of the year, you have to put that out of your mind.
"Easier said than done, but it can be done."
On Jan. 17, 1971, Jim O'Brien kicked a 32-yard field goal in the final five seconds as the Baltimore Colts defeated the Dallas Cowboys 16-13 in Super Bowl V. It was the only Super Bowl decided by a field goal in the closing seconds until Vinatieri's kick.
"There's a fraternity of kickers that's tough to get into, but once you crack your way in, you feel for your fellow kickers," said John Kasay of Carolina, who will play in the Super Bowl for the first time in a 13-year career. "You never know when you're going to be put in that type of situation. For Adam to step up two years ago in such an incredibly high-intense situation and really jam that kick through was something that would make all kickers proud."
One play or one kick can define a career. Vinatieri's kick made him a star in New England, landed him on late-night talk shows and brought endorsement deals.
"Most of the stuff I'm doing is saved only for the superstar quarterbacks and the star running backs," Vinatieri said. "I'm not doing too bad for a lowly kicker. I've come a long way from Rapid City, S.D."
On the flip side is Scott Norwood. He was a Pro Bowl kicker for the Buffalo Bills in the late 1980s and early 1990s but will be forever remembered for missing a 47-yard field-goal attempt by a few feet in the final seconds of a 20-19 loss in Super Bowl XXV.
"Every kicker in the country knows of Scott and the situation that happened," Vinatieri said. "It was an unfortunate situation for a great kicker. He had a fantastic year, and if I remember right, he was a Pro Bowler who had a great year.
"It was just one of those things. And it wasn't an easy kick. A 47-yarder isn't a chip shot by any means. Obviously, his life would have been changed if it had been a few feet further to the left."
Felix Vinatieri isn't the most interesting figure in the Vinatieri family tree. Adam is a distant cousin of daredevil Evel Knievel.
"He's a very interesting man," Vinatieri said. "I'd never strap a rocket to my back and try to jump a cliff or a gorge or anything. But I respect a guy for doing it."
In a way, the life of a kicker is similar to that of a daredevil. OK, it's a stretch. But, hey, it's the Super Bowl.
"Maybe it's a similar mindset when it comes to pressure and focus," Vinatieri said. "But when we miss our landing, we probably don't break our neck."
That's little consolation to Norwood, whose Bills lost the next three Super Bowls by an average of 21.6 points.
"I always try to look at the positive side," Vinatieri said. "I don't want to think about what would have happened if I had missed."