Adam Vinatieri is a very known American football player who is currently playing in the NFL, as a player for an Indiana based football team named Indianapolis Colts.
He is known for his loving family views and respect for his wife and his children.
Early years
He was born as Adam Matthew Vinatieri on December 28, 1972 in a town called Yankton, in South Dakota, in the United States.
He is a true American and always speaks about the USA in the best way possible, claiming that he owns a part of his success to them.
His parents are named Judy and Paul and he has three siblings with whom he had a nice childhood and is very close with. He is still close with them, but a lot of media reporters think that they are close to him because he is rich now. He didnt disclose anything.
Adam’s family comes from Italy, Germany and English. Adam was only a five-year old boy when all of his family moved to a place named Rapid City in South Dakota.
It was a stressful experience because it took a lot of effort to get used to the new place, but he claims that it was also a good challenge for him.
Adam had problems in school when he was very young because he had problems with reading so he was placed in a class with children who also had problems with learning.
This left a big impact on his self esteem and he says that he decided not to pursue an academic career and focus more on sports.
He was a student at Central High School situated in Rapid City. High school was good for him considering all the sports he got involved with. He found out that he likes all sports and that he is excellent in most of them.
He was playjng in a football team, for a wrestling team, basketball team and even track. He was very talented in sports and all his trainers knew that he would be a known athlete after he choses his career.
He was in his senior year when he earnes his All-state honors for the first time. It was pretty tough, but he made it anyway.
In 1991, he graduated from the same school and managed to enroll college. He entered the United States Military Academy at West Point but couldn’t quite handle their routine. After only a fortnight he returned home and changed college into South Dakota State University.
He felt more relaxed here and his game was better since he didn’t feel any pressure about it.
Adam was a placekicker and punter for four years in the college’s football team and was very successful in that.
In every seaaon he played in he was awarded with all-conference honors and managed to gather 185 career points.
Career development
In 1995, Vinatieri decided to spend a few months only training and preparing for his professional career competition. It was pretty exhausting and he had to work a lot, but he knew that it would pay off so he decided to move on.
He tried himself in the World Leaque of American Football which eventually became the NFL Europe and came to the position of a placekicker and punter for an American NFL Europe team titled The Amsterdam Admirals. This team began playing in 1995, so it was a very young team.
One year later, in 1996, Adam decided to change his club so he became a player for the Patriots. He has spent his first ten years playing in New England as a part of his NFL Career. He has played in Super Bowls and won three titles of four in it so it is a great thing to be satisfied with.
1996 was the first year he appeared in Super Bowl but this team lost by Green Bay Packers. In 2001 he made a huge thing by earning his team overtime in the playoffs, and eventually they won the same game. He was the one media showed as the one who made it and he was very proud of it too.
In 2003, he was again the man to send his team to overtime which endes in their victory. His team, the Patriots won Carolina Panthers football club.
This brought Adam the title of the first player ever to decide the course of a game in Super Bowl. Adam felt like his career reached a point that if it ended then that he would still be happy with what he succeeded to do until then.
He scored very high in two next big games: against St. Louis Rams and Philadelphia Eagles. This helped him gain a lot of popularity amongst the fans and he said that it was a pretty lovely experience to be noticed amongst all of these people.
After season 2005 ended, Vinatieri became the fifth player in NFL history with such a big field goal percentage: almost 82 percent.
Adam was always involved in other events, not just football. He became a spoke person in an anti-smoking contest focused on teenagers and helped Christian athletes in their sports career.
He was happy that he could show young people that they could find joy in sports and other things.
Adam also appeares in a commercial for “Papa Gino’s” pizza from Boston. This helped him reach a wider audience and get close to those who dont usually spend much time watching sports.
In 2005, Vinatieri became a free agent and decided to change his club and signed a contract with Indianapolid Colts. His contract was on a five-year long period and he also received several millions in a bonuses just for signing with them.
After he joined the Colts, they have reached a Super Bowl and before that they defeated the New England Patriots. The Colts won the Super Bowl and this was Vinatier’s fourth victory in Super Bowls.
He played very well both in 2007 and 2008 season. In 2009, Adam missed a lot of games due to bis injury and had to undergone a surgery on his hip. Although he recuperated from this injury, he received one in his knee so he had to go through another surgery.
After that Indianapolis Colts decided to find him a replacement and they signed to Matt Stoner from Baltimore Ravens.
Vinatieri has passed his 2009 season without playing and it endes by the loss of Super Bowl of his team (against New Orleans Saints).
In 2010 Vinatieri came back to the game after spending all 2009 on the bench. He played really good and showed his skills again in the final game when he made a game-winning kick.
He became the Player of the Week after this game. Adam has made a lot of accomplishments in that year and some of them are becoming the 7th player in NFL to score 500+ point in two teams (Colts and Patriots) and the 2nd best score points in his career.
In 2014, he played in his team against the New England Patriots and reached another record: the 1st player ever in NFL to convert 50 goals in the past season time.
The same year he prolonged his contract with the Colts for a period of two years. This was a really big event in his life and he knew that he was doing very well.
In 2015, Associated Press chose Vinatieri as the First Team All-Pro Kicker.
The same year, the NFL Network has placed Vinatieri into the Top 100 Players in the year 2015. This was a big thing since usually no kickers or punters were chosen in the Top 100 (he was the first) and Adam was also the oldest player to get ranked into these Top 100.
In 2016, Adam continued his career in the same club and has signed a two-year long contract with the Indianapolis Colts. This was something he was hoping for.
In 2018, Adam showed that he can do much more than anyone expected (especially because of his years). He signed a contract with Colts but only for one year.
He broke several records and moved upwards in a lot of football parts. He even broke a record he set himself: he made a goal of 53 yards and became the oldest player to do it.
At the beginning of 2019, Adam signed a contract with Colts again, for a period of one year. This was something he always dreamt of and now that he had done it, he said that his career goals are all done and the next thing he will be focusing on will probably be the personal life aspect.
Adam has a nickname in football: “Mr. Clutch” because of his great skills in his position.
Until today when his name comes up everyone think of his persistance and stubbornes which holds him in football until today.
He is also known for all of his records that brought him fame.
Personal life
Adam grew up in South Dakota in a part of it called Black Hills. He was very close to his parents and to his sister.
He has a sister Christine Erickson, who is in politics. His sister’s son Chase, decided to become a football player just like him.
In 2013, Adam starred as himself in “Parks and Recreation”.
Adam has been dating his girlfriend Valeri for a long period of time but in 2001 they decided to get married. They have two children together: a daughter Allison and a son AJ. In 2018 he became a father again: to a baby boy named Gabriel.
Other than his sister Christine, Adam also has a brother named Beau. They are all pretty close. Adam thinks that the whole process of moving and switching houses changed them into being much more aware of the things around them.
His son A.J. which stands for Adam Junior goes to high-school and is also involved in the school’s footbal team. Adam is a good fazher and doesn’t force his kids, especially not A.J., to go through the same path as he did.
His daughter likes baseball and he coached her team for a while. However, he doesnt want to pursue her to become basketball player if she doesnt wish to do so. He is proud because she is following his steps, but wants her to finish school as well.
He loves his children more than anything in the world and he shows it through his social media accounts and soeaks about it in his interviews and on TV shows.
That is why he has no problembeing involved in other community events connected to children and he always responds to all charity events he is called to.
Quick summary
Full name: Adam Mathew Vinatieri
Date of birth: December 28, 1972
Birthplace: Yankton, South Dakota, United States
Age: 47
Profession: professional football player
Height: 183 cm
Weight: 92 kgs
Net Worth: $10 million