INDIANAPOLIS – In Adam Vinatieri's Hall of Fame career, he has played nearly two seasons worth of postseason games.
The 30 playoff games Vinatieri has suited up for is a record no player in the history of the NFL has ever reached.
Playing 30 career postseason games is a remarkable number with four playoff games being the most a player can play in a single season.
So here's Vinatieri entering a 20th NFL season with 30 playoff games on his resume.
Currently, there are 15 active NFL franchises that have participated in less playoff games in their existence than Vinatieri.
The Chargers, Bills, Jets and Chiefs are just a few of the organizations that haven't reached the 30-game playoff plateau.
Vinatieri entered the offseason last year not knowing if he would reach the 30-game mark with the Colts.
He was a 2014 free agent and, at the age of 41, Vinatieri had to mull several factors regarding his NFL future.
A two-year deal was signed between the Colts and Vinatieri. This season, he will become the only player in NFL history to play at least 10 years for two different teams.
Vinatieri connected on 30-of-31 field goal attempts last season (96.7 percent, fifth in NFL history) while earning All-Pro honors.
During the 2015 playoffs, Sports Illustrated’s Peter King shared this in a piece on Vinatieri:
A little bit of history here. Vinatieri was kicking for the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe in 1996 when a coaching friend told New England coach Bill Parcells he should look at the South Dakotan. Parcells was interested in replacing declining veteran kicker Matt Bahr anyway, so he brought Vinatieri in for 1996 training camp. Vinatieri beat out Bahr. And in the first three games of the season, Vinatieri missed four field goals. In the fourth game, against newbie Jacksonville, Parcells found himself on the sidelines of a tie game in overtime as Vinatieri lined up a 40-yard attempt to win the game. Parcells was thinking: "If he misses this, we'll have to bring in some competition for him this week in practice." Vinatieri kicked a 40-yarder to win, and the rest is history.
"I never thought in a million years I'd play 19 years—plus," Vinatieri said. "I think what has made me play this long, and play well this year, is I have tried to live a cleaner life. I eat right. I eat healthier than I have. I've dropped a few pounds, eight or nine. The older you get, if you want to stay an athlete, you probably need to drop a few pounds. I don't have a bunch of alcohol anymore. I know physically what I'm supposed to do, and I do it. I get enough sleep. I find that when I take care of myself, if I have some aches and pains, they usually go away. You know physically what you're supposed to do."
