I watched the first three quarters of the Colts vs. Patriots game last night, and I was glad to find out that the Colts prevailed. I’m not writing about that as much as I’m writing about one specific thing in the game that bothered me. The fact that Adam Vinatieri was booed pretty consistently each time he was announced.
Yet I find this to be another very poor reflection on the fans in the New England / Boston area. This player in particular was not only part of their three recent Super Bowl teams, he was responsible for the winning points in two of them. Regardless of anything, there should always be more adoration than any other sentiment towards anyone who who does such things for any sports franchise.
Jordan was still cheered when he played the Bulls as a Wizard. Gretzky was cheered wherever he went regardless of his playing on that team in the past. Is Vinatieri on that level, not really – but that’s another reason why he shouldn’t be chastised for leaving (wait for it). Colts fans cheered Marshall Faulk and Jim Harbaugh upon their return wearing a different uniform. I’m pretty sure Edge will be cheered upon his eventual return.
Lets face it. Kickers aren’t the most popular figures on football teams. They always get the blame if they miss a kick, and only partially get the credit if they make the kick. They don’t get endorsements, and their contracts are less than some signing bonuses for quarterbacks and running backs. So I think he deserves it if he wants to line his bank account in the few years he has left as a top tier position player. New England had the chance to match or surpass the bid. They certainly rewarded Tom Brady with an overly fat contract that probably could have easily allowed the Pats to keep Vinatieri and Deion Branch. But what am I talking about? Bill Belichick and the New England team never does anything wrong.
So go ahead and boo the man who brought you championships, and the rest of us watching will increasingly root against your teams. Not because your teams don’t deserve respect, but because your fans never cease to be overzealous and irrational while thinking their teams are the greatest gift to the sporting world.
3 Comments
1 Rikki wrote:
Agreed, at least with your broader point, that booing Vinitieri was dumb.
Unfortunately, the TV broadcast didn’t pick up on the whole story, which is reported by this columnist for the Nashua NH Telegraph. When Vinitieri came out for the introductions, fans began to boo the uniform … until they saw the Number 4 … and switched their boos to cheers. They offered the tribute to the player, thanking him for his past performances.
Surely, you’re fair when you chide the fans for so vehemently booing each time he stepped onto the gridiron. But don’t cast your net too wildly and assume that the in-stands exhibition represents the majority of the fanbase you so gleefully malign. Check of this photo from ths stands where one of the several hoped to express his thanks to Vinitieri as well. It just so happens that voices like his weren’t the picked up on the mics.
The drunks in the stands should not be understood to represent the opinion of any Patriots fan I know. We all think Vinitieri — in Pats colors or Colts colors — is a class act who helped the team we cheer become the most dominant of the 2000s. He’ll always have that, and he’ll always be revered. Steve Buckley of the Boston Herald sums up this point nicely.
2 Rikki wrote:
Oh yeah, and considering my desire to emphasize the Maine focus, here is the Portland Press Herald Pats columnist’s read:
Anyone wondering how Adam Vinatieri would be greeted back at Gillette Stadium found out very quickly Sunday night.
Vinatieri led the Indianapolis Colts onto the field before the game and received a standing ovation from the fans crammed into the stadium.
And there was no mistaking who the crowd was cheering. Vinatieri was the lone player running from the tunnel as the rest of the team waited for the applause to subside.
In pregame warm-ups, Vinatieri shook hands with several former teammates as well as the New England owner, Robert Kraft, and Coach Bill Belichick, neither of whom he had spoken to since he left the Patriots as a free agent in the off-season.
Vinatieri, who provided the winning points in all three of New England’s Super Bowl victories, left the Patriots last summer when he signed a five-year, $12 million contract with the Colts.
His departure soured many fans, but they let him know Sunday night they didn’t hold it against him until he came out to kick in the game. Then, the 68,000-plus fans booed lustily.
3 B wrote:
I will grant you that there may have been cheers, but I was not privy to the introduction and tribute reel (neither were about 10+ people at work). I am glad to hear that did happen, however each time he came on for an extra point or field goal I did hear a chorus of boos. having been to professional football games, it takes more than one thinks for that many boos to be captured that consistently.
From what you say it also seems like the cheers before game time may very well have been simply for the fact that it was showing clips of the pats winning Super Bowls – they will always cheer for that.
Cheering once at a past highlight reel and then booing over 6-8 times when he came on to do his work erodes your point. I’m glad to hear what you state about you an many pats fans being a class act who helped them become dominant… However whether we like it or not, its the fans in the stands who are the face of the fan base. So I appreciate the tribute and the attempt at gratitude at the game, but when the fans could only react to the name without reminders on video, a good amount of them chose to boo…
You also knew I’d write this because it’d get you all spooled up…