It has been a tough start to the season for former New England Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri. The current Indianapolis Colts kicker has been in the league for 24 years and at age 46, he is the oldest active player in the NFL. And so far, he has looked like it.
Through two games this season, Vinatieri has already missed five kicks. He is 1-of-3 on field goal attempts while going a woeful 2-for-5 on extra points. It seems that age simply may have caught up to him and Vinatieri might be realizing that.
After Sunday's game, Vinatieri gave a cryptic message to Stephen Holder of The Athletic on his way out of the stadium.
Monday is usually the off day for NFL players, so Vinatieri wouldn't be seeing media members on Monday unless it was for a special occasion. That seems to indicate that Vinatieri might be calling it quits amid his recent struggles, and he could organize a Monday press conference to announce his potential retirement.
NBC's ProFootballTalk believes that may be the case as well, but that the Colts might try to convince the veteran to stay.
Right now, these are only rumors, so it is important to take them with a grain of salt. But still, it seems possible that Vinatieri is seriously considering retiring.
Vinatieri was one of the greatest kickers in Patriots history, and he hit countless game-winning kicks for the team, including a 41-yarder that sealed their Super Bowl 38 victory over the Carolina Panthers. During his 10-year Patriots career, he converted on nearly 82 percent of his kicks and won three Super Bowl rings. And despite many believing he didn't have a lot of years left in the tank when the Patriots moved on from him, he has kicked for 14 more years since being replaced by Stephen Gostkowski.
New England Patriots
We'll soon see if Vinatieri is considering hanging up his cleats but if he does, he certainly won't have anything to be ashamed of. He has converted the most field goals in NFL history (583) and was named a first-team All-Pro three times. He'll be a sure-fire Hall of Famer after he does retire.
Tom Curran's takeaways from Patriots big win over Dolphins>>>
Click here to download the new MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Celtics easily on your device.