WEBVTT - Pats from the Past, Episode 43: Adam Vinatieri 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:09.800 Yeah, it's time now for another episode of Packs from 0:00:09.800 --> 0:00:11.560 the Past podcast Matt Smith. 0:00:11.280 --> 0:00:13.800 Along with a hall Throllo. We're pleased to be joined 0:00:13.800 --> 0:00:17.000 by soon to be I don't know when you're retired. 0:00:17.040 --> 0:00:18.880 I can't remember, so I don't I can't do math. 0:00:19.640 --> 0:00:22.720 Looks he looks pretty good. But former Patriots kicker and 0:00:22.800 --> 0:00:25.200 soon to be Hall of Fame kicker. We all hope 0:00:25.239 --> 0:00:27.720 Adam Vanitary. Adam, thank you so much for coming here 0:00:27.720 --> 0:00:28.200 and joining us. 0:00:28.800 --> 0:00:31.000 My pleasure. Thanks for having me on. Yeah, what a 0:00:31.080 --> 0:00:32.239 what an introduction. Thank you. 0:00:33.240 --> 0:00:35.080 Well, let's tell fans what you're up to these days. 0:00:35.120 --> 0:00:35.519 What are you? 0:00:35.560 --> 0:00:38.280 What is Adam Vanitary doing to keep himself busy these days? 0:00:38.360 --> 0:00:41.000 Well, because you just retired, like last week, right, a couple. 0:00:40.800 --> 0:00:43.960 Of years now, I've been really enjoying some family life. 0:00:44.000 --> 0:00:48.080 It's when you're when you're fifty now and just not 0:00:48.159 --> 0:00:50.479 too long retired, you get you get to do a 0:00:50.479 --> 0:00:53.400 lot of fun stuff. So been coaching both of my 0:00:53.479 --> 0:00:56.760 sons in football and baseball, and and just really just 0:00:56.760 --> 0:01:00.320 just kind of embracing the the opportunities of doing some 0:01:00.320 --> 0:01:02.400 stuff that I never had the opportunity. 0:01:01.840 --> 0:01:02.480 To do before. 0:01:02.600 --> 0:01:05.120 So get into the honeydew list, get into stuff that 0:01:05.160 --> 0:01:07.240 I've put off for years, and kind of just chipping 0:01:07.240 --> 0:01:09.319 away at some things that I wanted to do a 0:01:09.319 --> 0:01:11.920 lot of traveling. Have a ranch out in Missouri, so 0:01:12.160 --> 0:01:14.280 I'd do a bunch of hunting and fishing and traveling 0:01:14.319 --> 0:01:17.440 and doing some of that stuff. So just enjoying some 0:01:17.520 --> 0:01:20.120 free time, and it's nice. It took me a long 0:01:20.200 --> 0:01:25.480 time to reprogram my mind into the not get up 0:01:25.480 --> 0:01:26.840 in the morning, get you a cup of coffee on. 0:01:26.800 --> 0:01:29.119 The way to work, and doing all the you know, 0:01:29.280 --> 0:01:30.720 it really took me about. 0:01:30.560 --> 0:01:34.080 Two or three years to decompress from football schedule and 0:01:34.360 --> 0:01:36.360 be able to watch the news and drinking cup of 0:01:36.400 --> 0:01:39.440 coffee at a slower pace. I guess so's it's kind 0:01:39.440 --> 0:01:41.600 of been a fun, fun transition for me. 0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:45.319 I think Patriot fans and football fans alike back in 0:01:45.360 --> 0:01:48.160 February when the Super Bowl was around, they saw the 0:01:48.200 --> 0:01:51.320 fan duel commercials and they said, well, who's this person. 0:01:51.720 --> 0:01:54.160 That's not Adam Van Terry. That's not the guy I remember. 0:01:54.200 --> 0:01:56.640 So I think people a lot of people were going, wow, 0:01:56.720 --> 0:01:58.800 look at and we'll talk about more of this later, 0:01:58.840 --> 0:02:01.880 but you've sort of you informed yourself from the skinny 0:02:01.960 --> 0:02:05.440 kicker that was chasing herschel walker down. You look like 0:02:05.480 --> 0:02:07.520 you could be in a bodybuilding competition if you wanted 0:02:07.560 --> 0:02:07.960 to tomorrow. 0:02:08.000 --> 0:02:10.400 I don't know about that, but yeah, I've had a 0:02:10.440 --> 0:02:13.640 lot of free time to stay in shape. My oldest 0:02:13.639 --> 0:02:17.520 son is twenty years old trying to get into a 0:02:17.520 --> 0:02:20.239 little bit of this influencing stuff. So he's kind of 0:02:20.280 --> 0:02:23.320 been pushing me, helping me with diet. And you know, boy, 0:02:23.320 --> 0:02:24.760 I tell you what, it's one of these things I 0:02:24.800 --> 0:02:26.280 am hold on for dear life. 0:02:26.280 --> 0:02:27.800 He's shooting this away and so. 0:02:28.160 --> 0:02:30.720 He doesn't have me yet, but he's not not far off, 0:02:30.760 --> 0:02:32.560 so I'm I think he helps me. 0:02:33.000 --> 0:02:33.960 It's probably that. 0:02:34.000 --> 0:02:37.120 Competitive nature too that you have in football, and it's 0:02:37.200 --> 0:02:40.040 fun kind of just doing some stuff that way too. 0:02:40.160 --> 0:02:42.080 And and you know, I've always said like people are like, 0:02:43.160 --> 0:02:44.880 you know, why why do you want to do this? 0:02:45.000 --> 0:02:49.280 And the tongue in cheek answer is, hey, you know what, 0:02:49.400 --> 0:02:50.640 when I get out of the shower, I want to 0:02:50.639 --> 0:02:52.239 look better naked than I do with my clothes on. 0:02:52.639 --> 0:02:54.480 And then it sounds silly and it's not. 0:02:54.720 --> 0:02:56.760 Really, but at the end of the day, you know, 0:02:58.120 --> 0:03:00.799 you know, at some point I'm going to continue to 0:03:00.840 --> 0:03:02.880 keep getting older, and I just I just want to 0:03:02.919 --> 0:03:05.000 feel good. I want to I want to keep my 0:03:05.040 --> 0:03:06.520 body in shape. I want to be able to do 0:03:06.560 --> 0:03:09.320 a bunch of stuff. And and looking in the mirror 0:03:09.320 --> 0:03:11.600 and being proud of the hard work that you continue 0:03:11.600 --> 0:03:12.920 to do is important to me. 0:03:13.080 --> 0:03:15.560 Well, you should, shouldn't he look? He should be very 0:03:15.560 --> 0:03:16.760 proud of how he looks in the mirror. 0:03:16.840 --> 0:03:18.480 Are you saying that you were? I'm proud of how 0:03:18.520 --> 0:03:18.760 we look. 0:03:18.880 --> 0:03:21.600 No, I didn't say that, but that's what. 0:03:21.160 --> 0:03:21.320 Yeah. 0:03:21.600 --> 0:03:26.920 Whatever, So with the I'm interested to coaching the kids too, 0:03:27.000 --> 0:03:28.399 And you mentioned they're little old. 0:03:28.440 --> 0:03:30.920 How did you get a little. 0:03:30.760 --> 0:03:32.600 Bit of a coaching bug? Did you like that? 0:03:33.000 --> 0:03:33.200 Well? 0:03:33.240 --> 0:03:37.560 You know, yeah, well, well, and that's the fun thing. Well, 0:03:37.600 --> 0:03:39.960 and that's the fun thing. High school plays on Friday nights, 0:03:39.960 --> 0:03:41.800 and you know, you're always kind of one of these 0:03:42.400 --> 0:03:44.120 you know, you go to a game, but and you 0:03:44.200 --> 0:03:45.800 want to be part of it, but you're always thinking 0:03:45.840 --> 0:03:48.119 about your own football stuff, and and you know you're 0:03:48.160 --> 0:03:49.600 traveling on the weekend. 0:03:49.320 --> 0:03:51.200 And and you miss out on some of the stuff. 0:03:51.240 --> 0:03:53.200 So when they were young, I coached him in some. 0:03:53.200 --> 0:03:55.560 Soccer and stuff in the off season in the summertime 0:03:55.560 --> 0:03:58.560 when you had some time. But but I really enjoyed 0:03:59.120 --> 0:04:03.680 trying to help young and impressionable kids, you know, teach 0:04:03.720 --> 0:04:06.800 them football, teach them, teach them all the right stuff, 0:04:06.840 --> 0:04:10.280 you know, like how to take pride in your job. 0:04:10.360 --> 0:04:13.040 And you're playing for the insignia on your head and 0:04:13.080 --> 0:04:15.920 the nave on your back, and you know, so it's 0:04:15.920 --> 0:04:18.640 not about just you, it's about your team and trying 0:04:18.640 --> 0:04:21.760 to instill some morals that I've learned from Hall of 0:04:21.760 --> 0:04:24.440 Fame coaches, some of the greatest people that I've been around. 0:04:24.839 --> 0:04:27.120 A good goosebumps thinking about it, just because it's like, 0:04:27.640 --> 0:04:30.920 it's fun to be able to share some experiences and 0:04:30.960 --> 0:04:33.920 what you've learned through twenty four years of playing in. 0:04:33.880 --> 0:04:36.440 The National Football League. There's lots of lessons. 0:04:36.120 --> 0:04:39.440 To be learned, and teaching them football the x's and 0:04:39.480 --> 0:04:43.120 o's is one thing, but teaching them how to be 0:04:43.360 --> 0:04:46.400 accountable and how to help your team win, and hey, 0:04:46.400 --> 0:04:47.359 this stuff is important. 0:04:47.440 --> 0:04:47.680 You know. 0:04:48.200 --> 0:04:49.960 In high school there's so many things. There's so many 0:04:50.000 --> 0:04:52.719 things that are pulling them in different directions. If it's 0:04:52.800 --> 0:04:55.320 school girls, parties, this that, and all that stuff, and 0:04:55.360 --> 0:04:57.920 you're like, hey, you know, you get one shot at this, 0:04:58.160 --> 0:05:00.719 you know, you might have X amount of years and 0:05:00.880 --> 0:05:03.640 teaching them. Hey listen, not many guys get to play 0:05:03.640 --> 0:05:05.920 in college. Not many guys even even a lot less 0:05:05.960 --> 0:05:08.760 get to play in the in the pros. So for 0:05:08.839 --> 0:05:10.520 some of you, this might be your last year if 0:05:10.560 --> 0:05:12.520 you're a senior in high school, like, let's go out 0:05:12.560 --> 0:05:14.440 with a bang, you know, let's do the best we can. 0:05:14.480 --> 0:05:16.719 And we've had some success. Their teams have been to 0:05:16.800 --> 0:05:20.000 some of the state championships and stuff. So it's I 0:05:20.320 --> 0:05:22.240 get that competitive side. I'm not on the field. 0:05:22.600 --> 0:05:26.080 It's more stressful for me not being able to contribute 0:05:26.080 --> 0:05:28.080 on the field, you know, trying to teach these kids 0:05:28.080 --> 0:05:28.320 that way. 0:05:28.360 --> 0:05:29.360 But but I enjoy it. 0:05:29.400 --> 0:05:31.680 And then my younger son is only is going into 0:05:31.720 --> 0:05:35.080 eighth grade. He's the he's he's a wild man. He's 0:05:35.120 --> 0:05:37.440 the redheaded crazy kid. Where he got the color, I 0:05:37.480 --> 0:05:41.000 don't know, but but it's just so much fun teaching 0:05:41.040 --> 0:05:43.520 those young kids and watching them grow and mature and 0:05:43.560 --> 0:05:44.200 all that stuff. 0:05:44.279 --> 0:05:46.960 So I love it. I I you know, it's not 0:05:48.240 --> 0:05:50.359 not getting paid to do it, and it's not why. 0:05:50.160 --> 0:05:50.600 You do it. 0:05:50.600 --> 0:05:52.120 It's it's for the love of the game, and it 0:05:52.200 --> 0:05:55.200 truly is and and I think it's a ton of fun. 0:05:55.279 --> 0:05:57.360 It's awesome that you're able to do that with your kids. 0:05:57.640 --> 0:05:59.400 And this one is a little bit different and probably 0:05:59.480 --> 0:06:02.279 not a name of familiar to Patriot fans. Letst They 0:06:02.360 --> 0:06:04.200 really did a deep dive into your career at him, 0:06:04.200 --> 0:06:08.320 But it's kind of similar like Doug Blevins, Like he 0:06:08.360 --> 0:06:11.560 didn't have to help you, and I don't know how 0:06:11.600 --> 0:06:14.240 instrumental he was in your career and maybe to help 0:06:14.320 --> 0:06:17.200 set the stage before you do. Here's a guy who 0:06:17.279 --> 0:06:19.960 is teaching a future Hall of Fame kicker how to kick, 0:06:20.800 --> 0:06:23.680 who's doing it from a wheelchair. How instrumental was he 0:06:23.720 --> 0:06:24.600 in your career at him? 0:06:24.680 --> 0:06:28.760 Yeah, So my senior year in college, I would say 0:06:28.800 --> 0:06:31.960 that people would say that he was raw. He had 0:06:32.120 --> 0:06:34.120 good leg strength and power, but he was still raw. 0:06:34.200 --> 0:06:35.520 Right. I didn't never got. 0:06:35.360 --> 0:06:37.800 Really any real coaching other than what I learned on 0:06:37.839 --> 0:06:39.640 my own. You know, kick a ball and figure it 0:06:39.640 --> 0:06:43.480 out on your own. There's not that many kicking coaches 0:06:43.520 --> 0:06:46.520 out there, and even as many as there is, I 0:06:46.520 --> 0:06:48.479 think there's half of them that actually know what they're 0:06:48.480 --> 0:06:49.000 talking about. 0:06:49.080 --> 0:06:49.279 Right. 0:06:49.440 --> 0:06:53.800 So I met Brian Hanson who was a guy that 0:06:53.880 --> 0:06:56.080 was from South Dakota that was the punter for the Jets, 0:06:56.080 --> 0:06:58.720 who had known Doug and working out with him. 0:06:58.720 --> 0:07:00.960 He said, hey, go go goach this guy out. You know, 0:07:01.000 --> 0:07:02.960 he's passionate about it. He's pretty smart. 0:07:03.200 --> 0:07:04.960 Went out and worked out with Doug and he said, 0:07:05.040 --> 0:07:07.560 you should move out here and work with me. And 0:07:07.640 --> 0:07:11.320 so I moved to Abingdon, Virginia, got a job waiting 0:07:11.400 --> 0:07:13.800 tables and helping the high school team out there, just 0:07:13.840 --> 0:07:15.200 so I had a place to work out and kick 0:07:15.240 --> 0:07:17.400 and all that stuff. And Doug and I worked for 0:07:17.480 --> 0:07:21.560 a year, and I, you know, obviously hindsight, you know, 0:07:22.040 --> 0:07:24.640 had an opportunity to play for the Amsterdam Admirals, which 0:07:24.680 --> 0:07:29.560 was the NFL European League, and Doug was helping with 0:07:29.640 --> 0:07:33.160 that league as well, and it kind of springboarded me 0:07:33.280 --> 0:07:35.520 to the Patriots and the rest is history. 0:07:35.560 --> 0:07:36.920 You know, it's pretty pretty neat. 0:07:36.920 --> 0:07:39.560 But having along the way, I mean, there's so many, 0:07:39.800 --> 0:07:41.920 you know, there's so many people that helped along the way. 0:07:41.960 --> 0:07:45.040 Obviously, have a great family and parents who who. 0:07:45.360 --> 0:07:47.480 Took care of me and gave me what I needed 0:07:47.560 --> 0:07:50.720 and taught me their true life lessons. But coaches and 0:07:51.480 --> 0:07:53.360 you know, friends and people, you know, I mean, there's 0:07:53.360 --> 0:07:55.640 a million people that you can thank for. 0:07:55.320 --> 0:07:57.680 The success that you have. I'm not just talking to me. 0:07:57.720 --> 0:07:59.960 Anybody in life you could probably look at that way too, 0:08:00.240 --> 0:08:05.880 But Doug was definitely helped helped me develop my skills 0:08:05.920 --> 0:08:08.280 to the level that I needed to get to and 0:08:08.440 --> 0:08:09.200 then from there. 0:08:09.240 --> 0:08:10.400 So what was that experience? 0:08:10.520 --> 0:08:12.520 Like, you get to meet Doug and you find out 0:08:12.560 --> 0:08:15.160 he's got a little bit of a different circumstances, Matt said, 0:08:15.160 --> 0:08:17.480 you know, not a guy that you would expect to 0:08:17.480 --> 0:08:19.640 be a kicking expert in the situation that he was in. 0:08:19.680 --> 0:08:21.560 When we first thought he had cerebral palsy. 0:08:21.880 --> 0:08:22.000 Uh. 0:08:22.160 --> 0:08:24.120 I get to the airport, don't know that he's in 0:08:24.120 --> 0:08:26.800 a wheelchair, gets wheeled up to me. Hey, Adam, great 0:08:26.840 --> 0:08:28.680 to meet you, you know, crippled hand and all this, 0:08:28.720 --> 0:08:31.760 and I thought I was getting punked. Honestly, I was 0:08:31.800 --> 0:08:34.440 like looking around, like this has got to be a joke, right, 0:08:34.640 --> 0:08:38.360 But we later that day we went out onto the 0:08:38.400 --> 0:08:41.079 field and he was he was a kicking coach and 0:08:42.240 --> 0:08:45.400 in a wheelchair with a linebacker mentality right like he was. 0:08:45.600 --> 0:08:48.400 He was always fired up, always had a great attitude. 0:08:47.960 --> 0:08:49.960 Always wanted a go go, go, go go, and so 0:08:50.440 --> 0:08:53.120 I knew within minutes that he not only knew what 0:08:53.120 --> 0:08:55.240 he was talking about, but I knew right away that 0:08:55.320 --> 0:08:58.080 we were going to have a good relationship, you know, 0:08:58.200 --> 0:09:00.640 moving forward. So spent the week with him, and he said, 0:09:00.679 --> 0:09:02.360 you know what, I think you got what it takes, 0:09:02.679 --> 0:09:06.760 but you need some fine tuning. And he said, you know, 0:09:07.160 --> 0:09:09.000 how bad do you want it? I said more than anything. 0:09:09.040 --> 0:09:11.559 He said, pack up, you know, give a two week notice, 0:09:11.559 --> 0:09:13.880 pack up your stuff and come out here get a job. 0:09:14.320 --> 0:09:16.640 We'll work together for as long as it takes. 0:09:16.679 --> 0:09:19.160 So gave my two week notice and he expected me 0:09:19.200 --> 0:09:21.080 there like three days later. I drove through the night, 0:09:21.120 --> 0:09:23.640 got there in less than a day, and you know, 0:09:24.360 --> 0:09:26.840 his wife goes to check the newspaper or whatever and 0:09:26.880 --> 0:09:28.280 sees that my truck is parked. 0:09:28.360 --> 0:09:29.600 You know, I'm sleeping in my truck. 0:09:29.600 --> 0:09:31.080 I didn't want to wake anybody up when I got 0:09:31.120 --> 0:09:33.880 there at three o'clock in the morning. But yeah, he 0:09:34.080 --> 0:09:36.199 you know, he told the stories like man, when when 0:09:36.200 --> 0:09:37.600 I saw that, I knew you were committed. 0:09:37.679 --> 0:09:39.559 So together we did some great things. 0:09:39.760 --> 0:09:41.920 What was the experience like in Europe? 0:09:42.000 --> 0:09:44.680 You know, patriots are obviously going to be heading to 0:09:44.720 --> 0:09:48.880 Germany this year, but Amsterdam different kind of league. 0:09:49.640 --> 0:09:51.880 You know what am I getting myself into here? 0:09:51.960 --> 0:09:52.679 So I loved it. 0:09:52.960 --> 0:09:57.120 I loved my experience in Europe. A lot of the 0:09:57.160 --> 0:09:59.560 guys who got allocated, so it was kind of one 0:09:59.600 --> 0:10:02.440 of these most guys got allocated. I just got drafted 0:10:02.480 --> 0:10:05.040 by the admirals to go and play there. The guys 0:10:05.040 --> 0:10:07.160 that got allocated had probably a different idea. It's like, 0:10:07.200 --> 0:10:09.680 oh man, you're you're demoting me to the minor leagues 0:10:09.720 --> 0:10:11.640 and they didn't really want to do that. 0:10:11.679 --> 0:10:12.880 For me, it was a stepping stone. 0:10:12.920 --> 0:10:15.240 I was like, this might be the best opportunity that 0:10:15.280 --> 0:10:16.840 I'm going to have to and. 0:10:16.760 --> 0:10:18.080 It's professional football. 0:10:18.120 --> 0:10:19.840 Now we're not getting paid a ton of money, but 0:10:20.320 --> 0:10:22.320 you're getting to see a bunch of different countries. 0:10:22.360 --> 0:10:25.080 You have a day off. I jumped on the train, 0:10:25.200 --> 0:10:27.720 went sight Seed on my day off. I thought it 0:10:27.760 --> 0:10:28.240 was awesome. 0:10:28.440 --> 0:10:30.920 The level of football was another bump up from what 0:10:30.960 --> 0:10:33.120 I was used to at the college level. And I 0:10:33.160 --> 0:10:35.439 sat there and I was like, Hey, this is my opportunity 0:10:35.480 --> 0:10:38.360 to show these NFL teams what I am about what 0:10:38.440 --> 0:10:41.840 I have and so it was great because it was 0:10:41.880 --> 0:10:44.840 a truly professional thing. You're not going to class anymore. 0:10:44.880 --> 0:10:47.200 You're not worried about grades and all. This this is 0:10:47.240 --> 0:10:51.080 about your skill on the football field. And fortunately for me, 0:10:51.160 --> 0:10:53.000 it worked out pretty well and did pretty well. 0:10:53.080 --> 0:10:54.400 And you know, the. 0:10:54.280 --> 0:10:57.080 Patriots and the Colts were the two teams that were 0:10:57.120 --> 0:11:00.800 really interested in me, and Mike's men was a special 0:11:00.800 --> 0:11:03.200 teams coach that I talked to every week when I 0:11:03.280 --> 0:11:05.560 was over there, and he said, listen, we've got an 0:11:05.559 --> 0:11:08.000 older kicker, Matt Barr. He said, we just signed Tom 0:11:08.000 --> 0:11:10.120 Tupez a punter. We don't have a guy that can 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:11.760 kick off, and we need a guy. And they said, 0:11:11.800 --> 0:11:13.320 we're going to bring in a couple of rookies. The 0:11:13.320 --> 0:11:15.360 best one is going to get a job. That's what 0:11:15.440 --> 0:11:17.880 I was told. And I said, well, I'll roll the 0:11:17.920 --> 0:11:19.880 dice with that. I'll give them what I got and 0:11:20.400 --> 0:11:22.720 and at that, you know, you have to trust the 0:11:22.760 --> 0:11:24.400 fact that they're telling you the truth. We get to 0:11:24.400 --> 0:11:26.920 training camp, there's myself and a couple Blair Cully and 0:11:26.960 --> 0:11:32.960 another rookie there and and. 0:11:31.000 --> 0:11:31.600 It worked out. 0:11:31.679 --> 0:11:33.440 They ended up cutting those guys and it was just 0:11:33.440 --> 0:11:35.120 Matt and I and we were competing. 0:11:34.720 --> 0:11:35.240 For the job. 0:11:35.320 --> 0:11:40.160 And and Bill Parcells after the before the third preseason game, 0:11:40.200 --> 0:11:40.760 he said. 0:11:40.800 --> 0:11:43.680 If I can say this or not, he said, well, this. 0:11:44.000 --> 0:11:47.640 Kind of PG right, he said. He walked up, you know, 0:11:47.679 --> 0:11:49.840 before the meetings, and he said, hey, Adam. 0:11:50.040 --> 0:11:52.079 This is the deal. Tomorrow. You're gonna take all the kicks. 0:11:52.160 --> 0:11:54.280 You're gonna take all the field goals, extra points, kickoffs. 0:11:54.280 --> 0:11:56.520 He said, see if you got what it takes, or 0:11:56.559 --> 0:11:58.840 if you pack up your ship and go home. I said, 0:11:58.880 --> 0:12:00.960 he said, you are right with that? I said, yes, sir, 0:12:01.480 --> 0:12:03.079 had a good game. And they cut Matt bar the 0:12:03.120 --> 0:12:05.600 next day and I didn't even didn't even know. I 0:12:05.600 --> 0:12:07.520 walked into the building the next day feeling pretty good 0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:09.640 that I kicked pretty well in the game, and and 0:12:09.720 --> 0:12:11.120 he called me into his office and he says, I 0:12:11.120 --> 0:12:13.080 don't want to hear anything in the media about you 0:12:13.160 --> 0:12:14.840 beat out Matt and this. And at this point I 0:12:14.840 --> 0:12:17.679 still didn't know Matt wasn't here. I was like okay, 0:12:17.800 --> 0:12:20.280 And then all of a sudden, the old Foxborough Stadium, 0:12:20.320 --> 0:12:23.480 the old dungeon. We walked downstairs and guys like, hey man, congratulations, 0:12:23.559 --> 0:12:26.480 good job. And I was like holy cow, like like 0:12:26.520 --> 0:12:29.400 this is now. It's becoming real. But even at that point, 0:12:29.440 --> 0:12:31.320 I'm so naive. I didn't even I thought I knew 0:12:31.320 --> 0:12:33.960 what it means. But you're you're one bad kick from 0:12:34.200 --> 0:12:35.800 getting kicked out of here anyway. 0:12:35.800 --> 0:12:37.800 Right, and and we'll get to that in a second. 0:12:37.800 --> 0:12:41.280 But I mean, I don't look at that is I mean, 0:12:41.440 --> 0:12:42.320 bars A Parcels. 0:12:42.320 --> 0:12:43.160 Guys, that's a Bill. 0:12:43.040 --> 0:12:45.320 Guy and so favorite all. 0:12:45.240 --> 0:12:48.320 Time kicker, right, And so he's a really good player. 0:12:48.679 --> 0:12:51.480 Plus he's really tight with the coach. 0:12:51.800 --> 0:12:54.400 So not only do you have to outperform, you've got 0:12:54.440 --> 0:12:57.760 to like trouble or triple outperform to beat out his guy. 0:12:57.960 --> 0:13:00.000 And I wonder if that was going through your mind 0:13:00.200 --> 0:13:02.280 as you're doing this or is it just competition? 0:13:03.080 --> 0:13:05.000 I you know, the way I was told that you're 0:13:05.000 --> 0:13:07.040 going to be the kickoff specialist this year, and then 0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:11.199 all of a sudden, as can't progressed along, they start 0:13:11.360 --> 0:13:14.120 letting me go head to head against Matt. And I think, listen, 0:13:15.200 --> 0:13:17.400 all the respect in the world to Matt Barr, great kicker, 0:13:17.440 --> 0:13:20.560 did amazing things. As stats speak for himself. I learned 0:13:20.600 --> 0:13:23.080 a lot from just watching him. I think it was 0:13:23.120 --> 0:13:27.280 one of those perfect storm situations where you know he 0:13:27.320 --> 0:13:29.240 was getting older, and he didn't quite have the same 0:13:29.280 --> 0:13:31.360 leg strength anymore. And I was a young legged guy 0:13:31.360 --> 0:13:33.839 and I was I was, you know, and I had 0:13:33.840 --> 0:13:35.120 the competitive side and it too. 0:13:35.360 --> 0:13:37.880 I remember tupa saying, man, we know if I liked 0:13:37.920 --> 0:13:40.320 you or not because you were I don't know if 0:13:40.320 --> 0:13:43.040 he said arrogant, but I wasn't backing down. I guess 0:13:43.040 --> 0:13:43.559 this is my thing. 0:13:43.600 --> 0:13:45.520 And so so we get into camp and the first 0:13:45.559 --> 0:13:47.720 thing that I'd do is I'd know that, hey, outside 0:13:47.720 --> 0:13:49.319 of forty five, Matt doesn't have much of a leg, 0:13:49.400 --> 0:13:50.160 so I'd warm up. 0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:51.280 I'd go right outside of. 0:13:51.200 --> 0:13:54.600 Fifty and hit every kick fifty fifty four, fifty six, 0:13:55.000 --> 0:13:58.640 just to say I got more right. So that's the difference. 0:13:58.960 --> 0:14:01.680 And I don't think that that was I don't know. 0:14:01.760 --> 0:14:04.600 Maybe Coach Parcels maybe was like, well, we'll give him 0:14:04.600 --> 0:14:06.200 a shot and if he sucks, we'll bring back Matt. 0:14:06.320 --> 0:14:06.520 You know. 0:14:06.679 --> 0:14:08.480 I don't know what the thought was. 0:14:08.440 --> 0:14:11.920 But I'm just happy to have the opportunity to show my. 0:14:11.880 --> 0:14:14.400 Skills because I don't know if I don't remember if 0:14:14.400 --> 0:14:16.280 it was week one or week two and we're talking 0:14:16.360 --> 0:14:21.320 ninety six two week two in Buffalo, and you missed three. 0:14:21.560 --> 0:14:23.120 Missed the extra point two field goals. 0:14:23.200 --> 0:14:26.280 Yeah, so that's the old NFL line. Not for long 0:14:26.480 --> 0:14:28.200 were you feeling any of that at that point? 0:14:28.520 --> 0:14:28.880 For sure? 0:14:29.000 --> 0:14:32.680 No, I felt that that day, every day before, and 0:14:33.120 --> 0:14:34.280 every single day of. 0:14:34.240 --> 0:14:36.880 My career after. Like, I never felt comfortable. 0:14:37.240 --> 0:14:39.320 And not to say that I didn't feel comfortable, because 0:14:39.320 --> 0:14:41.560 I was confident later on in my career, my skill 0:14:41.640 --> 0:14:44.080 level and all that, but I was always like, hey, listen, 0:14:44.360 --> 0:14:47.240 don't ever get complacent. Work your butt off every single 0:14:47.320 --> 0:14:50.520 day off seasons. Make sure you're doing all the stuff 0:14:50.560 --> 0:14:52.920 with the training staff in the weight room and eating right. 0:14:53.600 --> 0:14:56.880 I always felt like, listen, you were always a week 0:14:57.000 --> 0:14:59.880 or two or three from getting from from you know, 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:03.640 they're always looking to either replace you with somebody better, cheaper, whatever. 0:15:03.760 --> 0:15:04.880 So I understood the game. 0:15:04.920 --> 0:15:09.440 I understood, so I never felt like I was overly comfortable. Now, 0:15:09.800 --> 0:15:12.040 you know, a couple of Super Bowl kicks in a 0:15:12.040 --> 0:15:14.960 few years later, I don't think that there you're. 0:15:14.800 --> 0:15:17.960 Not weake to weak. But on the other side, I. 0:15:17.840 --> 0:15:20.240 Always felt like I always every single year I had 0:15:20.280 --> 0:15:22.840 to reprove myself. And maybe that's why I played as 0:15:22.880 --> 0:15:25.560 long as I did, because I never felt like anything 0:15:25.600 --> 0:15:26.160 was guaranteed. 0:15:26.280 --> 0:15:29.720 So now you go to week three in Jacksonville and 0:15:29.760 --> 0:15:32.160 you don't have all those Super Bowl kicks on your resume. 0:15:32.320 --> 0:15:34.160 L So did you feel like you were a weak 0:15:34.160 --> 0:15:35.080 to week? I think you made four. 0:15:35.560 --> 0:15:38.200 I know Parcells said I was weak to week, so 0:15:38.400 --> 0:15:40.760 I mean, I didn't want to listen to the media, 0:15:40.800 --> 0:15:43.760 but I knew what that meant. And thank goodness, I 0:15:43.800 --> 0:15:45.640 think I made five kicks and a game winner at 0:15:45.680 --> 0:15:47.720 the end of the game, and you know, yeah, and 0:15:47.760 --> 0:15:51.040 overtime and and that kind of built a little confidence 0:15:51.080 --> 0:15:52.800 and kind of gave me a little bit and the 0:15:52.840 --> 0:15:54.400 rest of the season after. I don't want to say 0:15:54.400 --> 0:15:55.840 I don't I think I still missed a couple of 0:15:55.880 --> 0:15:58.840 kicks after that, but it was pretty pretty good season 0:15:58.920 --> 0:16:01.720 after that moving forward, So it helped out. 0:16:01.840 --> 0:16:04.600 I think that week I needed it. 0:16:05.040 --> 0:16:06.560 That fanboy Paul was at that game. 0:16:07.040 --> 0:16:09.560 I remember being in a parking lot waiting to go 0:16:09.640 --> 0:16:12.480 to a wedding and staying in the car, going I 0:16:12.560 --> 0:16:15.680 can't I'm not gonna leave until he makes this kick, which. 0:16:15.520 --> 0:16:16.400 I was confident in. 0:16:16.840 --> 0:16:18.920 Let's fast forward a little bit that year, Adham and 0:16:18.960 --> 0:16:21.040 we're talking about kicking, and that's what your role is 0:16:21.120 --> 0:16:23.920 and nobody expects the kicker to be able to make 0:16:23.960 --> 0:16:26.160 a tackle, get in the way maybe if he can. 0:16:26.680 --> 0:16:28.840