Can you imagine the last 14 years of Adam Vinatieri's career in a uniform other than the blue and white of the Indianapolis Colts?
According to a recent report from Sports Illustrated's Andrew Brandt - a former NFL executive and league agent - the future Hall of Fame kicker nearly signed elsewhere in 2006 before inking a deal with the Colts.
Brandt writes that Vinatieri nearly chose the Green Bay Packers over the Colts in free agency in 2006, changing his mind late in the process to come to terms with Indianapolis.
What you may not know about Adam is that he was this close to becoming a Packer. Adam became a free agent in 2006, the same year we lost our kicker, Ryan Longwell, to the Vikings in free agency. Playing on our prior relationship and friendship, Adam agreed to visit the Packers. At first, I thought he was just going to use us to get more money from the Patriots, something I could understand and I would have helped him with if he wanted me to. However, the more we talked, the more it became clear that he was dead-set on leaving New England. And after having a nice dinner together, I went to bed truly believing that Adam was going to be a Packer.
At the time, Brandt was an executive with the Packers, having previously served as Vinatieri's agent until 1999 when he got out of the agent business and landed in the front office at Lambeau Field.
That makes the pursuit of Vinatieri by the Packers in 2006 make all the sense in the world.
Despite Brandt's feelings heading to bed that night after dinner, Vinatieri called the next morning, telling his former agent and Packers' executive that he was signing with the Colts, leaving New England after three Super Bowl championships and two of the biggest kicks in NFL history.
The next morning, however, things changed. Adam called with an apologetic tone, treating me more as a friend and former client than as a team executive. He sighed and said, “Andrew, [Bill] Polian [the general manager of the Colts] called. I gotta go there. It’s a dome!” The Colts offered less money than we did, but they had something we could not compete with: the opportunity to kick in a dome, which Adam thought (correctly) would extend his career by years. I sometimes think, as I do now, that if Polian hadn’t called that night, Adam would have been kicking at Lambeau Field, and we never would’ve drafted Mason Crosby the next year. The world works in mysterious ways.
Thankfully for the Colts, Vinatieri chose the dome and controlled conditions, over the historic pull of the frozen tundra at Lambeau Field, eventually kicking 14 years with the Colts.
Who knows how long his career would have lasted had he signed with the Packers.
Have thoughts on Andrew Brandt's report of Adam Vinatieri nearly signing with the Green Bay Packers in 2006? Drop a line in the comments section below!
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