Adam Vinatieri, the Colts’ 45-year-old kicker, has reached a landmark few NFL players have achieved: He now has teammates who were born after he made his NFL debut.
Vinatieri played his first NFL game on September 1, 1996, kicking a field goal and an extra point for the Patriots in a loss to the Dolphins. The Colts released their full roster of rookies for this weekend’s minicamp, and it shows two players born after that: running back Nyheim Hines, born November 12, 1996, and cornerback Henre’ Toliver, born October 21, 1996.
Last year Vinatieri had a teammate in Quincy Wilson who was less than a month old when Vinatieri made his NFL debut. Wilson was born on August 16, 1996.
Vinatieri has kicked 559 field goals and scored 2,487 points in his career, both second-most in NFL history behind Morten Andersen. If he plays all 16 games he’s sure to break Andersen’s record, and his young teammates will be there to see NFL history that started before they were old enough to watch football.
