Adam Vinatieri may not be the NFL’s all-time leader in kicking percentage, but he’s widely considered one of the greatest kickers in league history. Vinatieri is the all-time leader in points scored and has made an incredible amount of clutch kicks in his career, which is why he’s set to become just the third place kicker to enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been highlighting the legendary careers of the five players set to enter the Hall of Fame. We started with Drew Brees, then covered Luke Kuechly before highlighting Larry Fitzgerald last week. Now, it’s time for Adam Vinatieri, and what better way to start than to see where he ranks among the best kickers in league history?

Adam Vinatieri’s Career

Before we get into the rankings, let’s talk a little bit about Adam Vinatieri’s career. The former Indianapolis Colt and New England Patriot spent an incredible 24 seasons in the NFL, where he was consistently viewed as one of, if not the best, kickers in the league.

Over that time, Vinatieri made an NFL record 599 field goals on 715 attempts, giving him a career field goal percentage of 83.776 percent, putting him 39th all-time. That may not sound that impressive for a man who is consistently referred to as the greatest place kicker in NFL history, but that’s not why people call him that.

During his career, Vinatieri was incredibly clutch. He’s credited with 29 game-winning kicks, including an NFL-record 11 in overtime. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. When it came to winning a game in the playoffs, there was no one better than Vinatieri.

In 2002, the Patriots were on the verge of winning their first Super Bowl, but the Raiders had them on the ropes in the AFC Divisional Round. This game is famously known for being the “Tuck Rule” game, but it was also the start of Vinatieri’s legendary reputation.

With 1:36 remaining, the Patriots had a chance to tie the game at 13 and send it to overtime. All they needed was for Adam Vinatieri, who had missed four of his last five field goals, to drill a 45-yard field goal in a blizzard to advance. Easy, right? Most kickers would tell you no, but Vinatieri stepped up and nailed it, sending the game to overtime, where he’d eventually win it with another field goal.

Just a few weeks later, the Patriots found themselves in the Super Bowl, but were once again tied in the closing stages of the game. New England trotted out Vinatieri to attempt a 48-yard field goal as time expired, and he drilled it right down the middle to bring the Lombardi Trophy to New England.

But that wasn’t it for Vinatieri. In 2004, just a couple of years later, the Patriots had another chance to win the Super Bowl, but they found themselves tied with mere seconds left on the clock. And once again, the Patriots rolled out their trusty kicker, Adam Vinatieri, to attempt a 41-yard game-winner. And once again, he nailed it.

There have been three game-winning kicks in the closing seconds in Super Bowl history, and Vinatieri is responsible for two of them. He may not have been the most accurate kicker in NFL history, but he knew how to step up in the clutch.

1. Adam Vinatieri

If you couldn’t tell, Adam Vinatieri is my No. 1 kicker of all-time. Again, he may not have been the most accurate, but he played for 24 years, holds the NFL record for made kicks and points scored, and is easily the most clutch kicker we’ve ever seen. If I had to choose any kicker in NFL history to hit a 45-yarder to win the Super Bowl, Vinatieri would be my first choice 100 times out of 100.

2. Justin Tucker

Alright, we can all acknowledge that Justin Tucker is not a great person. He’s been accused of sexually inappropriate behavior by 16 massage therapists in the Baltimore area, which is a big reason he’s no longer in the league. But when he was playing, he was arguably the best kicker we’ve ever seen.

Tucker played 13 seasons in the NFL, connecting on 417 of his 468 field goal attempts, giving him a career field goal percentage of 89.103 percent, putting him at No. 3 all-time. The five-time All-Pro also made 64 of his 96 attempts (66.7 percent) from 50+ yards and once held the NFL record for the longest field goal in league history at 66 yards. Oh, and it was a game-winner.

There’s no denying Tucker isn’t one of the greatest and most efficient kickers of all time, despite all his issues off the field.

3. Morten Andersen

Morten Andersen spent 25 years in the NFL, drilling 565 of his 709 field goal attempts (79.690 percent), and in 2017, he became just the second true place kicker in NFL history to enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

A 79.7 percent rate may not seem great now, because we’ve been spoiled by this new era of kickers who are basically automatic from inside 50 yards, but back in the day, that was incredibly high. Plus, to be able to maintain that for a quarter of a century while playing for five different teams is beyond impressive.

Andersen was a six-time All-Pro and seven-time Pro Bowler throughout his legendary career and was the NFL’s all-time leading scorer before Vinatieri came along. I may not have seen him play, but his legend alone was enough to earn him a top-three spot on this list.

4. Stephen Gostkowski

Stephen Gostkowski’s name isn’t brought up enough when we talk about the greatest kickers of all-time. The long-time Patriots played 15 years, spending 14 of them with New England, where he made 392 of his 454 kicks (86.344 percent), which ranks 13th all-time and sixth among retired players.

Gostkowski is a three-time Super Bowl champ, a three-time All-Pro, and a four-time Pro Bowler who led the NFL in scoring five times during his career. Despite having a short career compared to the other all-time great kickers, Gostkowski still ranks 14th on the all-time scoring list with 1,875 points.

But Gostkowski wasn’t just great in the regular season. Over the course of his career, Gostkowski went 41-for-46 (89.1 percent) in the playoffs while connecting on 89 of his 93 extra point attempts. He also went 12-for-14 in the Super Bowl, including a 41-yarder against the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII to give New England a 13-3 lead with just over a minute to go, essentially icing the game.

It’s crazy to think the Patriots had Adam Vinatieri and Stephen Gostkowski, two of the five best kickers in NFL history, back-to-back.

5. George Blanda

George Blanda is largely remembered for playing both quarterback and kicker during his NFL career, but he was also an incredible kicker for his time.

Blanda played 26 years in the NFL and to this day holds the league record for most extra points made in a career with 943. He is one of seven players in NFL history to reach the 2,000-point mark, and ranks 29th with 335 field goals made.

The three-time All-Pro and four-time Pro Bowler helped revolutionize the kicking game in the 50s, 60s and 70s, so while he doesn’t have the stats of some other top kickers, his longevity and legacy earn him a spot on this list.