He changed agents as he sought to nail down a deal. Over the years, the Patriots have made a cottage industry out of moving on from star players who either made or wanted to make a dollar or two more than the team thought they were worth, and as much as he loved being a Patriot and working with Belichick and Brady, Vinatieri said he was tired of working under the franchise's terms. He recalls thinking, 'You've rented me enough. ... I'm 32 years old. I've got plenty of years left. I've helped you win Super Bowls. Just give me what's fair."
Maybe the Patriots felt the Vinatieris' emotional attachment to the region would carry the day. But Adam did not give Belichick a chance to match the Colts' offer, and his wife, Valerie, shed a few tears over the move. To some, this seemed like a bigger gamble than the one taken by Vinatieri's third cousin, Evel Knievel, when he tried (and failed) to rocket himself across the Snake River Canyon. Vinatieri signed on to replace the league's most accurate leg, Mike Vanderjagt, whose miss at the end of the divisional playoff game against Pittsburgh had just cost Indianapolis its season. The Colts had been eliminated by New England in their 2003 and 2004 championship seasons, and they were paying Vinatieri for one specific reason...