Super Bowl Revelry Continues: Patriots Kicker Cheered at Disney-MGM Studios

Super Bowl Revelry Continues: Patriots Kicker Cheered at Disney-MGM Studios

Adam Vinatieri, who kick-started the New England Patriots' AFC playoff push with two clutch field goals in a snowstorm and then booted his team into the Super Bowl winner's circle, put his foot in it Thursday -- cement, that is. In a variation of Hollywood's celebrated "hand-print ceremony" custom-designed for a football placekicker, Vinatieri pressed his kicking foot into the goo at Disney-MGM Studios.

Surrounded by hundreds of cheering fans and autograph seekers, Vinatieri pressed both his famous feet into a 2-by-3-foot mold filled with wet cement before signing his name for posterity. Referee Goofy judged the cast good during a ceremony held in front of The Sorcerer's Hat, the theme park's new icon.

It was part of a hero's welcome at the Walt Disney World theme park for the Super Bowl XXXVI champion kicker: Joined by his wife, Valerie, Vinatieri also rode as grand marshal of the studios' "Disney Stars and Motor Cars" parade.

Thousands of guests lining the same parade where Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady was honored earlier this month cheered and applauded as the Vinatieris approached in a vintage car, repeatedly raising their arms in the manner of a football official signaling a made field goal.

Vinatieri provided the most dramatic finish in Super Bowl history by booting a last-second, 48-yard field goal to snap a tie and propel New England to a 20-17 win over the favored St. Louis Rams.

--Posted February 25, 2002

Source: Walt Disney World Press Release