Adam Vinatieri Stands Alone As The NFL's All-Time Leader In Field Goals

Adam Vinatieri continues to cement his legacy as a Hall of Famer and build towards becoming the greatest kicker in NFL history, if he isn’t there already. In the second quarter against the Texans, the 45-year-old Colts kicker hit a 42-yard field goal with ease to pass Morten Andersen as the league’s all-time leader in field goals made with 566.

Now in his 23rd season, Vinatieri began his career in 1996 with the Patriots where he hit 81.9 percent of his field goals, hit two Super Bowl-winning kicks and won three total championships. He joined the Colts in 2006 where he won a title in his first season in Indianapolis and has hit 86.5 percent of his attempts. It’s likely that we won’t see this record broken for quite some time. The closest is 43-year-old Phil Dawson, who needs over a hundred to catch up at 436, and kickers have such a high standard of accuracy to maintain nowadays that there’s only a small chance another kicker will hit the 20-year career mark.

Vinatieri already held the NFL records in the most consecutive field goals made (44), postseason field goals (56) and postseason points scored (234). All that’s left for him to break is Andersen’s all-time leading scorer crown, which, after this kick, he’s only 30 points behind.