FOXBORO, Mass. – New England Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri plays for a coach, Bill Belichick, who won’t hesitate to yank a player from the lineup on game day. Vinatieri’s great-great grandfather played for the same kind of guy. Good thing, too. Otherwise, he would have been killed and the Patriots still might be looking for their first Super Bowl championship – or so the locals jest.
Felix Vinatieri, a noted 19th century composer and musician, served as the bandmaster for Gen. George Custer and the Seventh Cavalry. Ordinarily, the band followed Custer on the battlefield, but on June 26, 1876, the general ordered the 16-member band to stay behind. Basically, they were declared inactive.
That, of course, was the day of Little Big Horn, when Custer and 226 soldiers were killed by Crazy Horse and the Sioux warriors, who owned the home-field advantage in the foothills of South Dakota.
“Only one person – actually, one thing – came back (from the battle), and it was one of the horses,” Vinatieri said Thursday as the Patriots continued preparation for Sunday’s AFC Championship Game against the Colts. “So, yeah, I guess it was a good decision.”
Vinatieri could write a book about his family tree. How many players in the NFL can mention Gen. Custer and Evel Knievel in the same bio? Vinatieri is a third cousin of the famous daredevil (they exchange Christmas cards), which probably explains his fearless attitude when it comes to pressure kicks.
In nine seasons, Vinatieri has made 15 game-winning field goals in the last minute of regulation or in overtime. The list includes a 48-yarder to beat the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI, but his most memorable kick occurred two weeks earlier in the divisional playoffs.
In a blizzard, he made a 45-yarder to force overtime against the Raiders – a kick so famous that it’s the subject of a TV commercial to promote the playoffs. Owner Robert Kraft joked recently that the Patriots wouldn’t have won the title if it weren’t for Custer’s last-minute decision 128 years ago.
Vinatieri did it again last week, making a 46-yarder (barely) with four minutes left to beat the Titans, 17-14. In minus-10 wind chill, the ball felt like a brick. Just call him The Ice Man.
The way the NFL playoffs are going – four games decided by a touchdown or less – the AFC title could be settled by Vinatieri or the Colts’ Mike Vanderjagt. Kicking matchups don’t get much better than this.
Vinatieri is arguably the best clutch kicker in history and Vanderjagt, well, he’s perfect. He has made 41 straight field goals, an NFL record.
“If it comes down to a last-minute field goal, you want to be the one kicking, because these guys don’t miss too often,” Colts coach Tony Dungy said.
Vanderjagt sparked a controversy last offseason by criticizing teammate Peyton Manning, who responded by calling Vanderjagt an “idiot kicker” on national TV. Since then, they’ve made peace and have both enjoyed career years.
“I mean, come on, he’s perfect. What more can you say about the guy?” Vinatieri said of Vanderjagt. “I never thought Gary Anderson’s 40 in a row would be broken – and he’s still going.”
Vinatieri, hampered by a bad back, suffered a poor regular season (25-for-34), but this is his time – the postseason. Good thing his great-great grandfather didn’t accompany Custer that fateful day. Most historians say the band was sent to a steamboat on the Powder River, where it managed supplies. The explanation passed down to Vinatieri is that Custer, anticipating a particularly bloody battle, wanted to keep the band out of harm’s way.
This much is certain: Felix Vinatieri, 42 at the time, lived another 15 years, making music.
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