Adam Vinatieri has added an unusual post-retirement achievement to a résumé already packed with NFL milestones, setting a Guinness World Record by converting a field goal at 3,454 meters in the Swiss Alps.
The 53-year-old Hall of Fame kicker made the kick Tuesday at Jungfraujoch, the mountain destination known as the “Top of Europe.” Vinatieri worked on snow-covered ground amid changing winds, conditions that echoed some of his most memorable days with the New England Patriots but came with a challenge no NFL game could match: extreme altitude.
“Snow is simply part of my time with the Patriots,” Vinatieri said, recalling a career that included major kicks in winter weather, most notably during the 2001 AFC Championship Game against the Raiders. “But kicking a field goal at 3,454 meters is something completely different from anything I’ve ever done. You feel the altitude with every breath you take, your heart rate is different, your rhythm is different, and no one can really tell you beforehand how it will affect the kick, because no one has done this before. The fact that we were able to set the record under these conditions makes me very proud.”
Vinatieri sent the ball through the uprights in front of a small group of celebrants, completing a record-setting attempt recognized by Guinness. It marked an official kick for the former NFL star nearly six years after his final regular-season field goal, which came for the Indianapolis Colts on Dec. 1, 2019.
The four-time Super Bowl champion spent 10 seasons with New England before playing 14 years for Indianapolis. He finished his NFL career with more than 2,600 points and three Pro Bowl selections, then entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, in August.
For the Swiss Alps attempt, Vinatieri wore a Patriots jersey as New England continues its countdown to its Nov. 15 game against the Detroit Lions in Munich. Even after a career defined by high-pressure postseason kicks, Vinatieri found a new way to put one through the uprights in demanding conditions.
