Throwback to when Adam Vinatieri chased down Herschel Walker on a kick return

In what is touted to be one of the greatest kicks in the history of football, a throwback video of Adam Vinatieri has resurfaced on the internet, credits to MLFootball’s official X handle. In the beginning of his career, Vinatieri made his mark by a phenomenal performance against the Cowboys. He ran down Herschel Walker on a kickoff return that season. His performance was particularly lauded by Bill Parcells who was the head coach of the New England Patriots. He recognised the talent of Vinatieri right from his rookie days with the Patriots.


Sharing the iconic throwback clip in a recent social media post, the official handle MLFootball wrote, “LEGENDARY: #Patriots iconic kicker Adam Vinatieri chasing down the great Herschel Walker on a kick return. One of the all-time great chase-downs, @adamvinatieri. Remarkable”.
Commenting on the same, a user praised Adam Vinatieri, and wrote, “Vinatieri considered one of the greatest kickers.” At the same time, another user wrote, “Sh*t, Vinatieri is 52yrs old now?” When it came to Walker, a fan tweeted, “How old was Herschel? I know he was pretty old there.” A Vinatieri fan wrote, “Vinatieri was more of an athlete than Brady.”

The video dates back to 1996 which earned him an unforgettable compliment from the head coach of New England Patriots, Bill Parcells. Commenting on the performance of Vinatieri, he told the athlete who was still a rookie, "You're not just a kicker. You’re a football player." Later in 2000, when Bill Belichick took over as the coach, he showered praises on Vinatieri by saying, “By far the greatest kick I have seen.” This came after he scored a 45-yard field goal in blizzard conditions. He added, “There were probably 3 to 4 inches of snow on the ground. It was a soft snow that kind of didn’t go away. I mean, there was no way to get around it. The magnitude of the kick was significant. It’s got to be the greatest kick of all time, certainly that I’ve seen.”
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In a career spanning 24 seasons with New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts, Vinatieri has been regarded as one of the greatest placekickers in the history of the sport. He won the Super Bowl a total of four times, bagging the most wins for a kicker. He announced his retirement in 2021. The ex-athlete is now a proud father of three, with his son AJ being a kicker at the University of Louisville.