The Pro Football Hall of Fame, just like the general public, has only been paying marginal attention to special teams through the years. The placekicker position is a good example of that: in its 62 years of existence, only two pure kickers have earned a gold jacket.
On Thursday, a third should join them. Adam Vinatieri, a four-time Super Bowl champion with the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts, and possibly the greatest kicker of all time. He finds himself among 15 finalists in his first year of Hall of Fame eligibility, and the decision to enshrine him should be a fairly easy one.