Bill Belichick praised Stephen Gostkowski for how he handled replacing Adam Vinatieri
"I think he showed an incredible amount of maturity and poise his rookie year."
In 2006, a Patriots legend signed with the conference rival Colts in free agency. To replace him, New England drafted a kicker from the University of Memphis in the fourth round that year.
Unlikely as it might have seemed in the moment, the rookie from 2006 would go on to appear in more Super Bowls than his accomplished predecessor, Adam Vinatieri. And as of 2018, Stephen Gostkowski has carved out a Patriots legacy of his own.
Before the second day of training camp on Friday morning, Patriots coach Bill Belichick recalled the passing of the torch between kickers, and how Gostkowski handled the uniquely difficult circumstances.
“I think he showed an incredible amount of maturity and poise his rookie year,” said Belichick. “He came into probably as difficult a situation as any player that I’ve ever – rookie player – that I’ve brought on to a team with the expectations that were with him and, obviously, with what Adam [Vinatieri] had done before he was here.”
Belichick went on to praise Gostkowski’s temperament.
“Steve’s very even-keeled there … he’s a good example for all of us, all players and coaches,” said Belichick. “He’s got a very professional attitude.”
In 12 seasons with the Patriots, Gostkowski’s made 340 out of 388 attempted field goals (87.6 percent). But Belichick also pointed out his kicker’s proficiency on kickoffs.
“He’s worked very hard at it,” said Belichick. “He’s improved tremendously. He’s one of the top kickoff kickers in the league in terms of kickoffs, placement, distance. He can do a lot of different things with the ball and helps our team out in a lot of different ways besides just kicking field goals and extra points.”
