ProFootballTalk.com's Top 25 In 25

No. 25:  Adam Vinatieri.

One of the few rules that we're applying to this list is that the best player from every position over the past 25 years should be on it, somewhere.  Though we couldn't bring ourselves to include punters (and if we did we would have been torn between Sean Landeta, Todd Sauerbrun, and Reggie Roby), there's no way that a list of the best 25 NFL players of the past 25 years should omit the name Adam Vinatieri.

Undrafted, as are many kickers, Vinatieri became a mainstay with the Patriots.  He went to the Super Bowl as a rookie, and lost.  He has been back four times, and won every time.  His three championships with the Pats had margins of victory of three points each, and in two of those three Super Bowls he delivered that three-point margin when it mattered most.

But his legacy in New England could be that epic evening in Foxboro Stadium, when he pushed through the dense snow a 45-yard kick that forced overtime, and later the one that delivered victory.

His defection to the Colts last year rankled many die-hard Pats fans.  But he's got another ring to show for the move, and thanks to his efforts in New England there are three trophies in the case that never will be eligible to leave as free agents.

Click here for No. 24.