Adam Vinatieri’s path to the Pro Football Hall of Fame will come with a familiar face standing beside him.
The former Indianapolis Colts kicker, who is headed into the Hall as part of the class of 2026, said Colts owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon was the obvious choice to do the honors for his induction. For Vinatieri, the decision wasn’t complicated.
“I love both organizations, I’ve got so many memories and so many great friends on both sides,” Vinatieri said on Football Night in America. “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.”
a special moment for @cirsay from future HOFer @adamvinatieri. pic.twitter.com/GXcpkOaG16
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) July 23, 2026
That connection to the Irsay family was front and center in a Colts video released weeks ago, when Vinatieri asked Irsay-Gordon directly to be the one to induct him.
“Me? What?”
Irsay-Gordon said in the video. “I would be honored to do that.
That means so much you would want me to do that.”
“That's what I want,” Vinatieri said. “You, your family, your father, meant the world to me and my family. It just makes me emotional.”
Vinatieri’s résumé stretches across two eras and two franchises. He spent 1996 to 2005 with the New England Patriots before joining the Colts from 2006 to 2019.
Along the way, he won a Super Bowl with both teams and delivered plenty of clutch kicks for each. But when it came time to choose who would usher him into Canton, the Colts side of his career clearly carried extra weight.
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