Master V’s Greatness: Priceless

By Os Davis  |   Monday, March 13, 2006  |  Comments( 1 )

New England Patriots
Got something to say?

Log In above and share your thoughts on this topic with other fans!
You have to love the slick implacability New England Patriots fans have taken on in the past five years with the incredible rise of their team.

The losses the Patriots shouldn't have taken during the regular season last year? "Cahm ahn, cuts the Bahstahn accent through the air, making the playoffs with more injuries than a M*A*S*H unit and one of the most difficult first-half schedules in recent history? Give us a break"

That ugly playoff loss to the Broncos?
"Ah, not even Brady can win every time. It's one game. We'll be back in the Bowl."

The recent loss of Willie McGinest to free agency?
"No prahblem! We've survived the depahtures or dropping out of seemingly key players like Terry Glenn, Ty Law, Antoine Smith and even Teddy Bruschi temporarily. Be serious. It's all about Belichick system, not the individual playahs. It's about the team."

The potential loss of Tom Ashworth, Troy Brown, Matt Chatham, Mike Cloud, Andre' Davis, Tim Dwight, Heath Evans, Christian Fauria, Doug Flutie, David Givens, Stephen Neal, Chad Scott, and/or Michael Stone?
"Yawn…see above"

Hey what about the front office allowing Adam Vinatieri to test the free-agency waters?

(Sound of needle harshly scratching the hell out of the fan's broken record.)

Just like that, the complacent cool of the New England Patriots fan thaws like Maine snows in May. Mainstream sports media have picked up this live ball of a story and run with it, everyone rushing to be first in definitively calling the Patriots' dominance quashed. You have to hate to admit it, but they may be right on this one. The Patriots should wait to see the highest offer, double it and be done, period.

Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, you may interrupt, isn't this writer falling prey to the exact sort of hyperbole that dogs the mass media every time an all-star hits the free agent market? He's a kicker, folks, a kicker. A dude whose job is to come onto the field for a total of forty seconds a game while rarely taking or receiving a hit. "Kickers are like horse manure," once opined the late great John McKay. "They're all over the place." Why should even Master V's departure cause the faith to be shaken?

Because he's not just a kicker, he's Vinatieri - the man who should have been Super Bowl MVP, the single greatest clutch kicker of all-time.

Evidence to support the claim, you request? First and foremost, check out the margin of victory in each of the Pats' three Super Bowl wins. That's right: exactly three, three and three. To be honest, Vinatieri's golden foot was needed to actually win the game in the closing minute only two of those three times. In XXXVI, Master V was named MVP by fans voting online. In our hearts, even non-Patriot fans know he was for two reasons: He nailed the game-winner and Jeff Wilkins missed. Last year, his successful tries won two games as time ticked away, and twice his boots have sealed playoff wins.

Vinatieri's importance to the team cannot be proven any more than Teddy's could. The kicker's career stats do not leap off the Football Encyclopedia pages. His 81.8% field goal percentage compares with non-luminaries such as Doug Brien, Matt Stover and Jeff Reed. The Master's career point total stands at 1167, putting him just past Jim Breech (that's right – THE Jim Breech) on the all-time scoring list.

To some extent, the Belichick believers should be listened to. The Coach's system has been proven effective and downright masterful again and again; players have been placed and replaced, shaped and reshaped like so many Lego blocks. It can also be agreed that Belichick's system reveals the superstar-level skill of some many who have worn the uniform – Ty, Roosevelt Colvin, McGinest and always and forever Brady – but Vinatieri's greatness is intangible. He is the blue and silver security blanket, the go-to guy, the NFL's version of Big Shot Rob. He's the guy that would be a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer if based on playoff statistics alone. Master V boasts talent that not even The Coach can teach any more than he could charisma, beauty or genius.

As for "seeing the beginning of the end," well, we'll see. Certain dominant football teams have a way of sticking around at the top, consecutive Bowl appearances or no. Check out the Bradshaw Steelers: four Bowls in six years with a two-year gap in-between. Or the Montana 49ers, who won four Bowls over nine years. Nothing suggests that the Patriots will finish second or worse in the still-weak AFC East, while the conference holds a good half-dozen marginal teams. A break or two (and they've got a bit of karmic payback coming after the Denver game where Lady Luck had long left their side) and New England's in the AFC championship, in which the Patriots are still undefeated. Just imagine another Indianapolis-New England...

Yet all this is idle fantasy, tenuously resting on a single cold foot. The voice of the Patriots fan returns: "Wait to see the highest ahffer, then double it. Nah, triple it!"
Got something to say?

Log In above and share your thoughts on this topic with other fans! (1)

About Os Davis

Os Davis has taken a twisted route to get to RealFootball365.com in his nearly 17 years in professional writing, working in any number of capacities in the sportswriting, news reporting and film criticism worlds. In print media, Os has served as editor at a few publications, including Albuquerque's...
read more
Article Tools Share!   |  RSS  |  Bleacher Report About Bleacher Report