Another Pro Football Hall of Fame snub for the dynasty-era Patriots
Former New England Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri was not inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2025 after being named a finalist in his first year on the ballot.
Adam Vinatieri’s first year of eligibility for the Pro Football Hall of Fame will not end with his induction. The Hall’s Class of 2025 was announced on Thursday night at NFL Honors, and it did not include the former New England Patriots kicker.
Jared Allen, Eric Allen, Antonio Gates, and Sterling Sharpe will make up the Class of 2025. Vinatieri reached the finalist stage, but did not get enough votes in this final step.
The Hall of Fame’s Modern Era Committee can select up to five players each year for induction. Vinatieri was left out of the group, despite that committee only choosing three players this year, leaving two spots on the table (Sharpe got in via the Seniors Committee).
There’s a strong case to be made for Vinatieri’s induction. He’s the NFL’s all-time leading scorer with 2,673 career points over 24 seasons, and has hit some of the biggest field goals in the history of the sport.
The first 10 seasons of Vinatieri’s career were spent with the Patriots, after the team signed him out of the World League of American Football (later NFL Europe) in 1996. Vitantieri scored 1,156 points with the Patriots, which was the franchise record before it was broken by Stephen Gostkowski in 2014. He also won three rings with the Patriots.
It wasn’t just the volume of Vinatieri’s kicks that highlighted his Patriots career, but his ability to consistently come through in big moments. He hit 18 game-winning field goals for the Patriots, including the deciding kicks in Super Bowls XXXVI and XXXVIII.
On top of the game-winners, he hit a number of other notable kicks. Most famously, he hit a 45-yarder in a snowstorm to force overtime in the Divisional Round of the 2001 playoffs against the then-Oakland Raiders, then hit a 23-yarder in overtime to win the game.
Following the 2005 season, Vinatieri left the Patriots in free agency, signing with the Indianapolis Colts. He’d play 14 more seasons for Indy, winning a fourth Super Bowl.
Vinatieri will have another chance next year to become the 12th former Patriot to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He’ll be among the top contenders once again to be the team’s next Hall of Famer (who would be the 12th in franchise history). Also on that shortlist from the modern-era ballot are 2025 semifinalists Vince Wilfork and Rodney Harrison (whose case we’ve made repeatedly in the past). Notable Patriots who will be in their first year of eligibility are Julian Edelman and Stephen Gostkowski. Bill Belichick will also be eligible through the Coaches Committee (which has a separate voting process).
