When Adam Vinatieri was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he had a decision to make: Would he be presented for induction by someone from the Patriots or the Colts?
Vinatieri chose Colts owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon to present him at the enshrinement ceremony, which will take place on Saturday in Canton, Ohio. Vinatieri told Mike Florio on Football Night in America that to him, it was a clear choice because of what Irsay-Gordon’s father, the late Colts owner Jim Irsay, had meant to him.
“I love both organizations, I’ve got so many memories and so many great friends on both sides,” Vinatieri said. “Living in Indy, what the Irsay family meant to me, Jim just meant the world bringing me into that organization, and Carlie I’m so excited watching her taking over her dad’s legacy.”
Unlike the Baseball Hall of Fame, which presents players wearing one team’s cap, the Pro Football Hall of Fame does not induct players as representatives of any one team, and if it did, a case could be made for Vinatieri representing either of his two NFL teams. Vinatieri played for the Patriots from 1996 to 2005 and for the Colts from 2006 to 2019. He was a first-team All-Pro for both teams and he was a Super Bowl champion for both teams. And now he’s a Hall of Famer for both teams.
But only one person will serve as his presenter, and Vinatieri wanted the owner of the Colts.
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