[7][8] Celebrated for his kicking accuracy and success under pressure, Vinatieri completed several of the most crucial field goals in NFL history.

He would again convert a final-second kick to win Super Bowl XXXVIII, establishing himself as a key contributor of the Patriots' dynasty.

Vinatieri attended Central High School in Rapid City and was a letterman in football, wrestling, basketball, soccer, and track.

When asked in 2005, several years into his NFL career, why he no longer played one of those positions once he reached college, he replied, "I'm 6 feet tall and 200 pounds, and unfortunately the linebackers aren't that small, and neither are the quarterbacks.

He received a tryout for the World League of American Football (later rebranded as NFL Europe), and earned a roster position with the Amsterdam Admirals as a kicker and punter.

All-Pro and game MVP Desmond Howard's Super Bowl-record 99-yard touchdown return ended the Patriots' bid for a comeback.

[31][32] He was responsible for scoring all of the Patriots' points with two field goals in their game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Divisional Round.

[33] In Week 5 of the 1998 season, Vinatieri converted three extra point and three field goals tries in the 30–27 victory over the New Orleans Saints.

[57] In a Week 9 game against the St. Louis Rams, Vinatieri scored 16 points (four field goals and four extra points), and threw a four-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Troy Brown on a fake field goal attempt (that pass gives him a career passer rating of 122.9).

[62][63] Vinatieri scored a field goal and three extra points in the Patriots 24–21 win over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX.

[68] By the time Vinatieri finished his final season with the Patriots in 2005, he had kicked 18 game-winning field goals with less than one minute remaining, including the postseason.

In his time in New England, his community involvement included helping Christian athletes, D.A.R.E., and the Governor's Highway Safety Bureau.

[70] After the 2005 season, the Patriots chose not to place their franchise tag on Vinatieri as they had the year before, allowing him to become a free agent.

He had met with the Green Bay Packers, but was set on signing in either a warm-weather climate or a team that played home games in a dome.

[75][76] In the Divisional Round, Vinatieri kicked five field goals in the Colts' 15–6 upset of the favored Baltimore Ravens.

He kicked his 20th career game-winning FG in the final minute of a fourth quarter or overtime, this time with three seconds remaining against the Kansas City Chiefs on November 18, 2007.

[88] In July 2009, Vinatieri had surgery on his right hip to alleviate a nagging injury, but the Colts expected that he would be ready for the season.

Doctors found loose cartilage in an MRI, and Vinatieri underwent arthroscopic surgery during the Colts' bye week.

[93] He returned to the lineup and kicked a field goal but missed an extra point attempt in a Week 15 loss to the New York Jets, but then was inactive for the final game of the regular season as well as throughout the Colts' postseason run.

[115] Against the Patriots in the Divisional Round, Vinatieri became the first player in NFL history to convert 50 field goals in the postseason.

[124] In Week 4 of the 2015 season, Vinatieri became the Colts' all-time leading scorer and the first player in NFL history to score 1,000 points with two teams.

[125] In Week 8, against the Carolina Panthers, he set the NFL's all-time record for overtime field goals made in a career with 10.

[132] In a game against the Tennessee Titans on October 23, Vinatieri kicked his 43rd successful field goal in a row to break the NFL record set by Mike Vanderjagt.

[134] His streak of consecutive successful field goals ended at 44, when he missed a 42-yard kick in the Colts' Week 11 game against the Tennessee Titans.

[135] On January 1, 2017, a missed field goal in the season's final game against the Jacksonville Jaguars cost Vinatieri a $500,000 bonus.

In Week 5, Vinatieri made all four field-goal attempts and an extra point in a win over the Kansas City Chiefs.

[157] He was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance despite having missed a field goal and an extra point within the game.

[162] On May 26, 2021, Vinatieri announced his retirement from the NFL after 24 seasons on the daily radio show of former Colts teammate and punter Pat McAfee.

[178] His great-great-grandfather was Felix Vinatieri, an Italian immigrant who served as Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer's bandmaster.

[184] Vinatieri once starred in a television commercial for the Snickers candy bar with the tagline, "Split the Uprights with Adam Nougatieri.