Even future Hall of Famers have bad days.
Adam Vinatieri, one of the greatest kickers in NFL history, who has made countless pressure-packed boots in huge situations, had an awful day at the office. And it cost the Indianapolis Colts dearly in a 30-24 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
The 46-year-old Vinatieri missed two of three field-goal attempts and one extra point. The seven missed points proved massive in a tight tilt.
"I was lousy," Vinatieri said, via ESPN. "Obviously, I did not kick well today and let my team down. They played well. Proud of the guys who fought their butts off and came back. ... I feel like that loss is 100% on me. You play a team like the Chargers, who obviously are a good team, can't come in here and miss three kicks and expect to win. That's too many points to give away."
Sunday marked the first time in Vinatieri's 24-year career that he has missed two or more FGs and one or more PAT in the same game.
"If you're a [general manager], you'd cut me, wouldn't ya?" Vinatieri asked. "I don't make those decisions. Those are decision for somebody else to make. I'm going to go out there and figure out what I did wrong and try to fix that, and let those decision be made by other people."
He's right. If he were a no-name street free-agent with no history that the Colts had taken a gamble on, he'd be cut Monday morning. He's not. He's Adam Vinatieri. He's has been kicking in the NFL longer than some of his teammates have walked this earth.
Maybe his age is finally catching up with him. Maybe it's the beginning of a quick end. Maybe.
Or maybe after 24 years of kicking in the NFL, Vinatieri had a bad day at work.
The Colts aren't going to have a knee-jerk reaction.
"He's the one guy I'm not worried about," Reich said. "We have the greatest kicker of all time. He didn't have a good day. There were a lot of guys that didn't."
