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Adam Vinatieri, NFL's all-time scoring leader, retires after 24 seasons

Former Indianapolis Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri (4), shown Oct. 28, 2018, scored 2,673 total points and made a record 599 field goals over his career. File Photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI
Former Indianapolis Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri (4), shown Oct. 28, 2018, scored 2,673 total points and made a record 599 field goals over his career. File Photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI | License Photo

May 26 (UPI) -- Veteran kicker Adam Vinatieri, the NFL's all-time scoring leader, announced his retirement from the league Wednesday on The Pat McAfee Show.

"By Friday, if paperwork goes in, you heard it here first," Vinatieri told McAfee, his close friend and former teammate with the Indianapolis Colts.

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The 48-year-old Vinatieri, who was a three-time Pro Bowl selection, scored 2,673 total points over his 24-year career. The All-Pro kicker made a record 599 field goals for the New England Patriots and Indianapolis, where he spent his final 14 seasons.

The future Hall of Famer drilled 29 game-winning kicks, with three of them coming for the Patriots from 1996 to 2005. He converted a game winner in snowy conditions against the Raiders during the 2001 playoffs and made game-winning field goals in Super Bowls XXXVI and XXXVIII.

No kicker in league history has more Super Bowl rings than Vinatieri's four -- three with the Patriots and one with the Colts. He also was selected to the NFL's 100th Anniversary Team.

Vinatieri, who appeared in 365 regular-season games, is the only player in NFL history to surpass the 1,000-point mark with two different franchises.

Vinatieri didn't play last season after a lackluster 2019 campaign in which he made a career-worst 68% of his field goal attempts. He was put on injured reserve in December 2019 after battling a knee injury for most of the year.

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