Adam is going back to the Super Bowl

[89rabbit]

Adam Vinatieri kicked his way to another Super Bowl.  Patriots beat the Colts 24 to 14 on the strength of a former SDSU Jackrabbit, Adam Vinatieri, who was 5 for 5 on FGs and 1 for 1 on Extra Points.  Nice to see that one Jackrabbit had a good weekend.  Best of luck to Adam and his teamates, I will be pulling for them!

http://www.patriots.com/team/persona...amp;image6.y=3


Go State!

[89rabbit]

Re: Adam is going back to the Super Bowl

http://www.argusleader.com/sports/Mondayfeature.shtml

The Patriots will play Carolina in the Super Bowl on Feb. 1 in Houston, and were quickly installed as seven-point favorites. The Panthers won the NFC championship by beating the Philadelphia Eagles 14-3. . .

Vinatieri's 31-yard field goal 2:16 into the second quarter made it 10-0.

Law's first interception, a one-handed over-the-shoulder grab, came on Indy's first play of the next series. New England drove 52 yards - including another fourth-down conversion on a pass from Brady to Troy Brown - to set up Vinatieri's 25-yarder that made it 13-0.

Then came what was supposed to be Indianapolis' first punt of the postseason. Instead, Justin Snow snapped the ball over the head of punter Hunter Smith, who had little choice but to kick it out of bounds for a safety.

Indy's best chance before intermission came after David Macklin recovered Bethel Johnson's fumble at the New England 41. But five plays later, Rodney Harrison knocked the ball loose from Marvin Harrison, Tyrone Poole fell on it, and the Patriots had the ball back.

Indy's first score came on the opening possession of the second half. The Colts drove 52 yards on 12 plays with James going in from 2 yards.

But Brady hit Larry Centers for 28 yards on the first play from scrimmage after the score and then found Brown for 17 to set up a 27-yarder by Vinatieri that made it 18-7. Brady put together another drive that set up Vinatieri's fourth field goal with 1:32 left in the third quarter.

That was really the end for Indy.

"They have very good players and they are well coached, which helps the good players play better," Dungy said. "They are a really talented group."

[89rabbit]

Re: Adam is going back to the Super Bowl

http://www.argusleader.com/sports/Mondayfeature.shtml
Not just a kicker
By JIMMY GOLEN
Associated Press

published: 1/26/2004

S.D. native Vinatieri has Patriots' respect

FOXBORO, Mass. - The game was coming down to a final kick, as so many of the New England Patriots' games do.

Coach Bill Belichick didn't fret: He had Adam Vinatieri.

"We put one of our best players out there," Belichick said, "and let him kick it."

Some coaches might feel squeamish about letting the season ride on the foot of one of the smallest players on the field, but no one on the Patriots feels that way about Vinatieri, a South Dakota native who went to high school in Rapid City and then attended SDSU.

With 15 game-winning field goals in his career, including the one to win the Super Bowl two years ago, he has shown he can handle the pressure and just about anything the New England weather can throw at him.

"He's Mr. Clutch," backup quarterback Damon Huard said. "The Snow Bowl and the Super Bowl kicks have defined his legacy here. But we see him do it every day in practice. He's first class. I'm glad he's on my team."

Vinatieri was always a solid kicker, ranking in the top 10 of the league's all-time list for accuracy. But his legend grew in the 2002 playoffs, when he helped the Patriots squeak out a victory over Oakland in the playoff game known around here as the "Snow Bowl."

Vinatieri made a 45-yard field goal off the sloppy and frozen turf with 32 seconds left to send the game into overtime (thanks in part to Tom Brady and the NFL's "Tuck Rule&quot. Then, Vinatieri won it with a 23-yarder give New England a chance to play for the AFC title.

In the Super Bowl, it all came down to Vinatieri again. And when he kicked a 48-yarder as time expired, the Patriots had a 20-17 victory over the St. Louis Rams and their only NFL title.

"He has the respect from us that when the game's on the line, we know he'll come through," linebacker Roman Phifer said.

Vinatieri hit 90 percent of his field goal attempts last year and hit 33 in a row from 40 yards or less before a three-week span in which he went 3-for-7. He finished the regular season by making 18 of his last 23 attempts and then connected on 6-of-7 in the playoffs, including the game-winner against Tennessee and all five he tried in the AFC title game against the Colts.

Phifer jokes with Vinatieri about the kicker's life, but he knows it's not an easy one.

"I always tell Adam he's got the best job in football. When we're still in meetings, he's hanging out in the hot tub, or having lunch." Phifer said. "But Adam's stepped up big for us. He's the one with the pressure job. His job is to score points, and points are important in football."

Phifer concedes there's something a little silly about a struggle between 300-pounders being decided by a guy who trots in from the sideline in a clean uniform for a handful of plays a game. For many, the signature moment for place-kickers was when Miami's Garo Yepremian tried to recover after a botched snap by throwing the ball in the 1973 Super Bowl.

The ball slipped out of his hands, and the Redskins scored.

The Dolphins won anyway to finish the season a perfect 17-0, so they were able to laugh when Yepremian, a native of Cyprus, explained: "Many big people were chasing me. I didn't know what to do. So I thought I would surprise them and throw it."

Larry Izzo, a special teams specialist for the Patriots, said few of the league's kickers fit that stereotype any more. And Vinatieri is one who fits in well with the more physical players on the team.

"He's a great athlete, a tremendous competitor. He's able to, if needed, to make a good open field tackle on a great athlete who would be a returner," Izzo said. "So he's a guy that's obviously got some athletic ability and he's shown that at times."

That's what Belichick means when he pays Vinatieri the highest compliment he can muster.

"He's more of a football player than he is a kicker," the coach said. "He really is."

Adam Vinatieri's clutch kicks

Some of the biggest kicks of Adam Vinatieri's career:

• Super kick: In Super Bowl XXXVI, he nails a 48-yard field goal as time expired to win game.

• Snow kick: During 2002 playoffs, he made a 45-yard field goal on a sloppy, snowy field to force OT. He later won the game with another kick.

• Playoff winner: Hit a game-winner in the playoffs against Tennessee during this playoff run.



Go SDSU!

[89rabbit]

Re: Adam is going back to the Super Bowl

The Kansas City star ran a huge story on Adam today. Adam's Great Great Grandfather served with Custer and Adam is Evel Knievel's cousin.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/

[CatchEmAll_Guy]

Re: Adam is going back to the Super Bowl

Read the following article from today's Minneapolis Star Tribune. Pay particular attention to the fourth paragraph.

http://www.startribune.com/stories/679/4345631.html

As far as I'm concerned, Adam can kiss my "mediocre" SDSU alumnus :-Xss. >

[89rabbit]

Re: Adam is going back to the Super Bowl

I'm going to give  Adam the bennifit of a doubt .  Talk about the potential to have a statement taken out of contest, a one word quote. . .please.  :  That has bad journalism written all over it.  

Looks like the writter wanted to do a rags to riches story and Adam seems pretty modest.  Later he goes on to say:

"I'm not doing too bad for a lowly kicker. I've come a long way from Rapid City, S.D."

He has been very supportive of the University in the past donating iteams for auction to benefit the Authletic Dept.  If you click on the SDSU web site his picture and Bio is one of the many that pulls up.  I'm sure he was contacted and chose to take part in the project.  These are not the acts of someone who is ashamed of where he went to school.   So I would need to see more before I got down on him.  

Go SDSU!

[SDSUFAN]

Re: Adam is going back to the Super Bowl

Adam has always struck me as a fairly down to earth guy and maybe when the writer asked him about his college career he did not list a litiny of records broken. So then maybe the characterization of a mediocare college career was that of the writer.

We all know he was a very good kicker, but at times he would get down on himself especially when he missed one.  I sure Adam has not forgotten the Mankato game where late in the 4th quarter he hit the cross bar and had he made that FG, SDSU would have had at least a share of the NCC and a playoff spot.  Without checking it hard to reel off the records he did break while at SDSU. I always thought his sucessor Brett Gorden was more consistent, but he is no where near the NFL as far as I know.

His post SDSU accompolishments had been the result of a  big investment in coaches who have worked one on one with him from what I have read and been told.

So I agree with 89rabbit, Adam has not forgotten that he came from SDSU and Rapid City.  His family story and the connection to Little Big Horn is something unique and very interesting to the average NFL fan.

[jackmd]

Re: Adam is going back to the Super Bowl

I have known Adam since high school and he is a very self-confident individual who enjoys being in the spotlight. That being said, I believe his intentions towards SDSU and S.D. are good. I am certain that this is "bad" journalism as 89 describes. I suspect Mark Craig is a bit journalist trying to make a splash with comments like "Yanktown" and "mediocre".

The story about Custer's last stand, etc.. is all quite ridiculous and assanine and only fascinating to those not familiar with the midwest. It has gotten way too much play. I hope Adam does not go out and miss a big kick on Sunday, if he does the media will turn on him just as quickly as they can. Good luck Adam.

[CatchEmAll_Guy]

Re: Adam is going back to the Super Bowl

Forgive me for beating a dead horse on this one, I promise this will be my last post on Adam.

I did respond to the writer of the Star Tribune article lambasting his assertion of SDSU as mediocre even though it appeared to have come from Adam. His response was that Adam's statement was that his time here was "mediocre" because the Jackrabbits never made the playoffs, which tends to lead to people beleiving not making the playoffs equates to mediocrity.

I will be the first to applaud Adam for his professional accomplishments. I also give him credit for being the only Adam alum in the NFL that still supports State by contributing to the Stan Marshall Auction.

I'll leave it at this, Adam soured many teammates while at SDSU and for him to call his time here as mediocre only adds to the bad taste left over. There is a lot of pride for those that wore the blue & yellow, and those four years were some of the most productive in State history regardless of the lack of playoff bearths. I for one feel that many great things were accomplished for SDSU and the football program during that time and will defend our record (and records) to the end.

Go Panthers.

[JACKGUY]

Re: Adam is going back to the Super Bowl

Has Timmerman been involved in supporting SDSU since his departure?

[jackmd]

Re: Adam is going back to the Super Bowl

I must agree with CEA that Adam V. has burned a lot of bridges and has not done much to repair them. It is a funtion of his personality and part of what makes him so good at what he does. He believes that he is better than other people and that he deserves most of the credit for that. He does not feel it is necessary to acknowledge individuals from his past, except in a passe or demeaning way. Adam likes the spotlight. Fortunately, the more Adam is on the national seen, the more SDSU is, whether Adam likes it or not.

Oh yeah, I agree, GO PANTHERS. It would be interesting to see how Adam responds if he misses a big kick. Who will he blame??

[CatchEmAll_Guy]

Re: Adam is going back to the Super Bowl

Has Timmerman been involved in supporting SDSU since his departure?

I think early in his career he made a couple of trips back to SDSU for the Stan Marshall and other events. That was short-lived as he has all but cut himself off from SDSU. He will provide autographed memorabilia if the athletic department acquires and sends it to him. As far as donating $$$, I don't believe it has happened yet, but he has been asked.

The reason for Timmerman's distancing himself from SDSU is a mystery. There is much speculation, but even his closest friends from college haven't been able to give clear cut answers.

Give Fred and Keith credit, they continue to cultivate Adam, Adam, and Steve Heiden knowing they have means to help the program. Vinatieri has been gracious in his taking part in the SM Auction even though his relationship with Mike Daly was strained at best which would give him good reason to walk away from SDSU and no one would blame him. Heiden was close to coach Eidsness, so one wonders if that will affect his return trips to SDSU, let's hope not.

[JACKGUY]

Re: Adam is going back to the Super Bowl

If it's not financially maybe they can lend help when needed from a marketing perspective. Hopefully with SDSU going DI and having more visability it will entice them to be more supportive of the place that gave them the opportunity to showcase and hone their talents and reap the financial rewards they currently enjoy.

[SDSUFAN]

Re: Adam is going back to the Super Bowl

Hmmm some interesting takes are coming from all directions on this thread. Our three NFL guys are no doubt making bucks that most of us are not. I feel and still feel that any SDSU alum rich or poor should give back what they feel is right for them. It would be nice if all three were to contribute significantly with$$$$ and also with auction items at the SM event, but if they chose not to, there really isnt much we can do about.

Sid Bostic said that some significant gifts to the Pace setter Scholarship drive would soon be announced. Our three NFL guys could be included, I dont know. Whether they are or not is not important.

I going with Patriots because of Adam Vinitari and the fact that he is a SDSU Alum. I still like the Little Big Horn story.

[89rabbit]

Re: Adam is going back to the Super Bowl

I going with Patriots because of Adam Vinitari and the fact that he is a SDSU Alum.  I still like the Little Big Horn story.

I'm with you SDSUFAN! ;D

Go SDSU!