Adam Vinatieri experienced one of the worst days of his future Hall of Fame career in Saturday's loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. The ageless kicker missed a 23-yard field goal at the end of the first half and later shanked an extra point.
Despite the bad day at the office, the 46-year-old is talking like a man who has no plans to hang up his kicking boot.
"If they're wanting, I can't imagine (I'd) not keep playing, you know?" Vinatieri said, via the Indy Star. "I haven't made the decision yet. I'll spend a week or two and just kind of see where we're at."
Vinatieri is set to be a free agent after playing on a one-year deal. It seems likely that if he keeps his career going, it'd be on a similar plan.
The man with the most points scored in NFL history might not want to end his career missing two kicks. Previously, Vinatieri was 14 of 14 in the playoffs on FGs within 25 yards -- since 1991, Vinatieri was the only player in the NFL who was perfect on FGs within 25 yards (min 10 attempts), per NFL Research. The shanked PAT was also the first extra point miss of his postseason career (had made each of first 70 PATs in the postseason).
"I never want to make a decision on a day like today, one way or another," Vinatieri said. "That's emotional. You're not thinking through stuff."
The oldest active player in the NFL, Vinatieri is encouraged by the Colts youth, which helped Indy's rebuild take root a year before most prognosticators believed they'd be ready for a playoff run.
"Absolutely, it always does," Vinatieri said of the young team playing a role in his decision. "The fact that we've got a really good young team. ... It's an easy answer. Yes."
Despite the playoff flubs, Vinatieri remains one of the most reliable kickers in the NFL, hitting 85.2 percent of his field goal attempts, including four over 50 yards. If he wants to return for a 24th season, it'd be surprising if the Colts went in a different direction. We've seen other teams struggle to answer the kicker question far too often for a team to turn down the services of a HOFer like Vinatieri.
