Dallas Clark, John Dutton, and Jay Novacek are some of the most notable NFL alumni from South Dakota, but the legendary kicker Adam Vinatieri has to hold the crown as the Mount Rushmore State's best NFL player to date. Vinatieri is also the second kicker to make our 50 greatest NFL player list from state to state. Vinatieri is responsible for making some of the most crucial field goals in NFL history and is arguably the greatest NFL placekicker of all-time. The future Hall of Fame kicker from Yankton, South Dakota began his college football in his home state at South Dakota State and later transferred to San Diego State where he holds the school's all-time leading points record with a total of 185.
After going undrafted in the 1996 NFL Draft, Vinatieri headed across the pond to play for the Amsterdam Admirals in the NFL Europe league. That same year, Vinatieri was signed by the New England Patriots where he played ten seasons. Vinatieri currently is on his 14th season with the Indianapolis Colts and the NFL's oldest active player at 46-years-old. Throughout his legendary and lengthy career, Vinatieri is a 4x Super Bowl Champion, holds the record for most Super Bowl wins by a kicker, the most field goals made with 585, and holds the NFL record for most points scored all-time with 2,612 points through the third week of this current NFL season. You can't front kickers are responsible for putting up major numbers and Vinatieri is living proof of that.