Patriots honor Adam Vinatieri at halftime against the Raiders, the team he beat in the snow

The New England Patriots will honor Adam Vinatieri at halftime of Sunday’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders at Gillette Stadium, giving the newly enshrined kicker, in front of the fan base he first won over, the Ring of Excellence that goes to every Hall of Famer.

The opponent gives the afternoon its symmetry. Nearly 25 years ago, Vinatieri’s kicks in a January snowstorm at the old Foxboro Stadium knocked the Raiders out of the playoffs and set the franchise on the path to its first championship. The club is folding his ceremony into a wider celebration of that 2001 title team, whose members are back in town this weekend and will be recognized in a separate pregame ceremony.

Adam Vinatieri graces the cover of today’s GameDay magazine for Patriots-Raiders.

Vinatieri will be honored at halftime. pic.twitter.com/3xbznsGMRw

— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) October 11, 2026

The kicks New England remembers

The divisional-round game against the Raiders in January 2002 is the one most often replayed. Trailing late, the Patriots sent Vinatieri out for a 45-yard attempt through heavy, swirling snow, and he made it to force overtime, a kick that is still widely regarded as the hardest in league history. He then ended the game in the extra period from 23 yards into the wind.

Two weeks later he settled Super Bowl XXXVI from 48 yards as the clock ran out, a 20-17 upset of the St. Louis Rams that began two decades of New England contention. Two years after that he did it again, hitting from 41 yards with nine seconds remaining to beat the Carolina Panthers 32-29 in Super Bowl XXXVIII. He left after the 2005 season with three championships and the franchise record for career points.

A record-setting career

Vinatieri spent his final 14 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts, won a fourth title with them in his first year there and kept kicking until 2019, when he was 47. He retired with 2,673 points and 599 field goals, and three league records remain his: 715 field-goal tries, a streak of 44 straight makes and 21 seasons with 100 or more points.

He reached Canton this summer in his second year of eligibility, only the third full-time placekicker to be enshrined after Jan Stenerud and Morten Andersen. The tributes are not finished: Indianapolis adds him to its own Ring of Honor next Sunday, October 18, when the Colts play the Tennessee Titans.

What comes next

Kickoff between the Raiders and Patriots is 1:00 p.m. EDT, with Vinatieri’s ceremony at halftime; follow it in the Raiders at Patriots Game Center. New England hosts the New York Jets on Sunday, October 18, at 1:00 p.m. EDT, and Las Vegas welcomes the Buffalo Bills the same day at 4:25 p.m. EDT.