HoF Retrospective: Adam Vinatieri's Career in Doinks

Adam Vinatieri’s first entry here at OTU comes from a Week 2 matchup in 1996 against the Bills in Orchard Park, where he logged two doinks in the same game - both falling no good.

23 years later - seven years ago today - Vinatieri hit the upright in Indianapolis for the final time in his career. The first quarter field goal found a favorable bounce to give the Colts 3 points. It didn't decide the game, but those points were vital for the Colts in the 27–24 win over the Falcons. This past August, Vinatieri was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame - making this particular anniversary one worth a second look.

Across his storied career, Vinatieri officially struck the iron 20 times - 18 field goals + 2 extra points (both following the 2015 extra point distance change) - across 24 seasons (and once in the preseason in 1999).

Almost every NFL kicker to play since 1996 has logged at least 1 doink (there's only one qualifying kicker [min. 80 games played] to never hit the upright), which is its own form of parity. Whether due to injury, partially blocked attempts, or just plain ol' bad luck, doinks are a part of the game of football and of the art of kicking.

Doinks are a peculiar lens for analysis - a funhouse mirror where it's hard to separate meaningful signal from random noise. For instance, Adam Vinatieri averaged 17.1 games between doinks, compared to Brandon McManus and Matt Bryant, sitting at 18.6 and 22.7 games between doinks, while combined field goal and extra point made doink percentage puts Vinatieri (25%) head and shoulders above McManus and Bryant (10% and 0% respectively).

There are much better ways to quantify kicker performance; Vinatieri sits alone atop the all-time NFL scoring list, having put more points on the board than any other player to have suited up for the shield. When it comes down to what matters, there's a reason Vinatieri is the greatest kicker of all time, even if he's only tied for 3rd in all-time points from doinks.