On teams that have won championships and got to the big game, there's a certain vibe and feel in that locker room. Everyone talks about how there's a brotherhood in that locker room, there's not a lot of dissent, there's not guys that go off on their own. It's a team atmosphere.
Adam Vinatieri
There's a lot of fun things about this sport, but trying to hoist that trophy at the end is what we all play for.
I suppose any person who's played somewhere for a certain amount of time and then has the opportunity to go back and just reminisce a little bit, maybe it holds a different feeling than some of the other places.
Selective amnesia is a good thing to have. So is good focus.
I'm enjoying watching my kids grow and play sports. That's a ton of fun.
I know my body needs to have the proper nutrition so that I can keep kicking at a high level. The same goes with sleep.
Preparation meets opportunity, and that causes success if you're prepared to do your job and you practice a lot, more times than not you're going to be successful.
When you have an opportunity to help your team in crunch time - as a kicker - that's a dream come true.
Eleven wins is hard to come by.
To be able to play a couple of decades, I never thought I'd play that long.
I had great grades. Why? Because I studied twice as long and twice as hard as everybody else.
I don't think past experiences guarantee anything and I don't think you can rest on your morals.
I know I'm going to shoot a leopard.
Three surgeries on the same limb, that's a tall order.
I don't know if I'm a clutch hunter, but I'm an avid one.
Will it make the game safer for people by moving the extra point back to a 43-yarder? If anything, players are going to rush harder because they're thinking, 'That far of a field goal-type try, we have to go after blocking it more.'
This is a hard enough sport when you're giving 100 percent. If you're giving anything less than that, it'll swallow you up.
One thing I always noticed out of Bill Parcells is that he always wanted a good class of blue-collar, hardworking guys that he felt like he could win games with that way... When the difficult times came about he knew who was going to perform.
I would compare kicking to being a closer in baseball. This whole game gets played, or the cake is made in front of you, so to speak, and you have to turn around and put the icing on the cake.
People think kickers in general kick field goals. But kickers are actually good athletes; we run and work out just like the rest of the football team.
I'm a South Dakota kid.
Living in Indy, you have to be a race fan.
I guess, for me, the ultimate goal is to help me team win games every time I step on the field.
Obviously this all-time leading scorer thing I knew was out there and I thought, 'Man, if I stay healthy, I would like to reach that goal.'
Cleaning out your locker the first week of January is not a whole lot of fun and it always leaves a lousy taste in your mouth.
Super Bowl kicks, those are the most memorable moments.
As kickers, it's all about being able to block out the crowd noise, being able to block out certain aspects of the game, and just do your job no matter what the circumstances are.
I have to admit I've dreamed of kicking the game-winning field goal in the Super Bowl many times. That's the fun thing about being a kicker, you never know when it's going to come down to your kick deciding the game.
It's fun running out onto the field. It's much more fun playing in the playoffs.
Indianapolis is home to me and my family.
I'm not a quitter.
I don't know if I'm ever going to quit playing football. I'm just kidding.
I love the Irsay family, but I understand this is a business.
Ask a receiver, can we take his gloves off because he's catching the ball too well? Nobody is going to be overly happy about that.
If anything, make a 50-yard field goal worth four points instead of three.
Sometimes you have to work through some things, and the mental side of kicking is definitely there.
None of us should assume stuff.
I've played with some of the best that have ever played, obviously. I don't know if there is anybody that is a better technician than Peyton Manning. Tom Brady is another quarterback that I was fortunate enough to play with for a bunch of years.
Will I still get a slice of pizza? Will I drink a beer or two? Absolutely. You still have to live, but I try to do things in moderation.
A lot of people can kick a ball a long way, but sometimes you get in a little funk and you work your way out of it.
Coming from a small South Dakota school, it was a different route to get to the NFL. I went from South Dakota State to the World League of American Football with the Amsterdam Admirals, and fortunately I did well enough there that the New England Patriots decided to sign me and give me a chance.
NFL Europe helped me quite a bit. It was a situation where I came out of college and spent the first few months of my career over in Europe.
Sometimes we all need a little time to decompress and think about stuff.
The older you get, the more difficult it is to keep your body right.
I feel that as long as I'm an asset and not a liability I'm still loving the game as much as I ever have.
I think the thing is that kickers are getting better.
Kansas City might be the loudest stadium that I've played in.
There's a brotherhood with the specialists. There's not many of them and we don't get any respect, so we have to show a little respect for each other. We have to help each other out if we have the opportunity.
I don't ever take an extended period off between minicamp and the start of training camp.
There's some guys - Michael Jordan and Mariano Rivera and Tiger Woods - that were blessed with the ability just to be... great.
