Ras
Prolate Spheriod Fan
01:00 AM EST on Wednesday, March 29, 2006
BY TOM E. CURRAN
Journal Sports Writer
If you call Gillette Stadium and wind up on hold, you can hear what it sounded like when Adam Vinatieri kicked the field goal to beat the Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII.
If you visit the Patriots Pro Shop, jerseys with his No. 4 beckon buyers while a trophy case with one of his game jerseys is proudly displayed.
The plaque commemorating the final play at Foxboro Stadium -- Vinatieri's 23-yard field goal in the snow to beat the Raiders in January 2002 -- always will be there.
And he'll always be here, too, an indelible part of New England sports folklore for what he did as a Patriots placekicker from 1996 to January, 2006.
But he is gone now. Yesterday, he was in Indiana picking out a new home. This weekend, he'll be back in North Attleboro, cleaning out his old one.
And a week after the news came that he had signed as a free agent with the Colts, it's still a little hard to fathom that (A) he's gone, and (B) he's gone there.
Why did he go?
"That's a good question," he said late Monday night from a hotel room in Indianapolis. "Maybe you want to ask the other people [the Patriots]. All I can say is that the best opportunity I had in front of me after I weighed everything was the Indianapolis Colts. The nice thing with the Colts is that they showed they really wanted me. Not just financially. They expressed a desire to have me on their team."
Both the Patriots and Vinatieri want to prevent this from becoming a messy, public divorce. But the tone of Vinatieri's words made the next question obvious: Did the Patriots not make him feel wanted? Did they not make it easy? Most importantly, did they not believe he would leave?
"I think they knew I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of that organization for my 10-year career and it would be a tough decision to leave. And it was," he admitted. "So the answer is probably. They probably assumed it would be hard for me to leave."
Hard, yes. Impossible, no. Which is why he's house-hunting in the heartland and the Patriots currently are without a kicker.
The Colts' offer to Vinatieri overwhelmed New England's. A five-year deal averaging $2.5 million a year with a $3-million signing bonus, compared to a shorter deal with shorter money to stay with the Patriots. A salary that was less than he'd made the last two seasons when he was the NFL's best-salaried kicker.
Each side has a logical explanation for its approach to these negotiations. The Patriots don't pay at the very top-of-the-position scale. Ever. They allot a figure to a position and adhere to it. If they made an exception with Vinatieri, they'd be setting themselves up for even tougher negotiations with guys such as Deion Branch and Richard Seymour in the coming months.
"I can't comment on [the Patriots' standards]," he said. "I don't know what stands are taken with different players, and I'm never in with the meetings of the minds when they decide. The New England Patriots have a lot of amazing players, and I don't know if they're about setting or not setting precedents. It's just that each player is valued at his position -- ability, age, etc. Deion's an amazing receiver. Richard's an amazing player, Tom Brady's an amazing quarterback. How do you put price tags on that? Who knows how it was set?"
Vinatieri didn't see a lot of attention in the first stages of free agency. His first visit wasn't until March 17, when he went to Green Bay. The perception around the league -- voiced last week by Colts president Bill Polian --was that Vinatieri was going back to the Patriots. Any team courting him was setting itself up to be used as a pawn to drive up the bidding for his services.
Meanwhile, Vinatieri wasn't having his services shopped aggressively, either. When the offseason started, his interests were being represented by Jonathan Hurst, an attorney from the firm of his longtime former agent, Neil Cornrich. But Hurst was not Vinatieri's agent, and Cornrich, currently under suspension with the NFLPA, was barred from making calls to teams to gauge interest in Vinatieri. The lack of outreach to other teams and the fact that Cornrich also has been an agent for Bill Belichick didn't help the dynamic, either.
"I didn't 'switch' agents," said Vinatieri. "I didn't officially have an agent at the beginning of the process, and as it progressed along I hired (agent Gary Uberstine). I'd known him all along, but I felt like he was the type of guy who could definitely see if there was interest out there for me."
Once the Colts determined Vinatieri's return to the Pats wasn't a bag job, they bowled him over with their offer.
Vinatieri said he takes no satisfaction in signing with a rival of the Patriots.
"For me to say that would mean I have some animosity [toward the Patriots], and I don't have that," he said. "I just have great memories. If the Colts were an NFC team that had a great chance to make the Super Bowl, I would have made the same choice. The rivalry played no role."
He hasn't spoken to Belichick or vice president of player personnel Scott Pioli since leaving. He's gotten messages from Pats owner Robert Kraft but wants to get his mind right before making that return call.
"I hope (Belichick and Pioli aren't) bitter towards me," he said. "Everybody has opportunities, and in this sport sometimes players move around a little bit. I have to thank them for the amazing years I was involved with the team. We won because of their expertise. I still have the utmost respect for them and love for the Kraft family.
"Hopefully, people in New England can respect my decision in the sense that it was truly the best option for me at this point," he explained. "I'll always love New England and what it meant. It will always be special in my heart. It's not something you easily put behind you."
That's the truth.
tcurran@projo.com / (401) 277-7340
BY TOM E. CURRAN
Journal Sports Writer
If you call Gillette Stadium and wind up on hold, you can hear what it sounded like when Adam Vinatieri kicked the field goal to beat the Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII.
If you visit the Patriots Pro Shop, jerseys with his No. 4 beckon buyers while a trophy case with one of his game jerseys is proudly displayed.
The plaque commemorating the final play at Foxboro Stadium -- Vinatieri's 23-yard field goal in the snow to beat the Raiders in January 2002 -- always will be there.
And he'll always be here, too, an indelible part of New England sports folklore for what he did as a Patriots placekicker from 1996 to January, 2006.
But he is gone now. Yesterday, he was in Indiana picking out a new home. This weekend, he'll be back in North Attleboro, cleaning out his old one.
And a week after the news came that he had signed as a free agent with the Colts, it's still a little hard to fathom that (A) he's gone, and (B) he's gone there.
Why did he go?
"That's a good question," he said late Monday night from a hotel room in Indianapolis. "Maybe you want to ask the other people [the Patriots]. All I can say is that the best opportunity I had in front of me after I weighed everything was the Indianapolis Colts. The nice thing with the Colts is that they showed they really wanted me. Not just financially. They expressed a desire to have me on their team."
Both the Patriots and Vinatieri want to prevent this from becoming a messy, public divorce. But the tone of Vinatieri's words made the next question obvious: Did the Patriots not make him feel wanted? Did they not make it easy? Most importantly, did they not believe he would leave?
"I think they knew I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of that organization for my 10-year career and it would be a tough decision to leave. And it was," he admitted. "So the answer is probably. They probably assumed it would be hard for me to leave."
Hard, yes. Impossible, no. Which is why he's house-hunting in the heartland and the Patriots currently are without a kicker.
The Colts' offer to Vinatieri overwhelmed New England's. A five-year deal averaging $2.5 million a year with a $3-million signing bonus, compared to a shorter deal with shorter money to stay with the Patriots. A salary that was less than he'd made the last two seasons when he was the NFL's best-salaried kicker.
Each side has a logical explanation for its approach to these negotiations. The Patriots don't pay at the very top-of-the-position scale. Ever. They allot a figure to a position and adhere to it. If they made an exception with Vinatieri, they'd be setting themselves up for even tougher negotiations with guys such as Deion Branch and Richard Seymour in the coming months.
"I can't comment on [the Patriots' standards]," he said. "I don't know what stands are taken with different players, and I'm never in with the meetings of the minds when they decide. The New England Patriots have a lot of amazing players, and I don't know if they're about setting or not setting precedents. It's just that each player is valued at his position -- ability, age, etc. Deion's an amazing receiver. Richard's an amazing player, Tom Brady's an amazing quarterback. How do you put price tags on that? Who knows how it was set?"
Vinatieri didn't see a lot of attention in the first stages of free agency. His first visit wasn't until March 17, when he went to Green Bay. The perception around the league -- voiced last week by Colts president Bill Polian --was that Vinatieri was going back to the Patriots. Any team courting him was setting itself up to be used as a pawn to drive up the bidding for his services.
Meanwhile, Vinatieri wasn't having his services shopped aggressively, either. When the offseason started, his interests were being represented by Jonathan Hurst, an attorney from the firm of his longtime former agent, Neil Cornrich. But Hurst was not Vinatieri's agent, and Cornrich, currently under suspension with the NFLPA, was barred from making calls to teams to gauge interest in Vinatieri. The lack of outreach to other teams and the fact that Cornrich also has been an agent for Bill Belichick didn't help the dynamic, either.
"I didn't 'switch' agents," said Vinatieri. "I didn't officially have an agent at the beginning of the process, and as it progressed along I hired (agent Gary Uberstine). I'd known him all along, but I felt like he was the type of guy who could definitely see if there was interest out there for me."
Once the Colts determined Vinatieri's return to the Pats wasn't a bag job, they bowled him over with their offer.
Vinatieri said he takes no satisfaction in signing with a rival of the Patriots.
"For me to say that would mean I have some animosity [toward the Patriots], and I don't have that," he said. "I just have great memories. If the Colts were an NFC team that had a great chance to make the Super Bowl, I would have made the same choice. The rivalry played no role."
He hasn't spoken to Belichick or vice president of player personnel Scott Pioli since leaving. He's gotten messages from Pats owner Robert Kraft but wants to get his mind right before making that return call.
"I hope (Belichick and Pioli aren't) bitter towards me," he said. "Everybody has opportunities, and in this sport sometimes players move around a little bit. I have to thank them for the amazing years I was involved with the team. We won because of their expertise. I still have the utmost respect for them and love for the Kraft family.
"Hopefully, people in New England can respect my decision in the sense that it was truly the best option for me at this point," he explained. "I'll always love New England and what it meant. It will always be special in my heart. It's not something you easily put behind you."
That's the truth.
tcurran@projo.com / (401) 277-7340
