Having watched the Sunday's SuperBowl, I had wondered about the ancestry 
of Adam Vinatieri, of the New England Patriots, who kicked the winning 48-yard 
field goal in Superbowl game, on the last play of regular time, the kick 
splitting the uprights with 0:00 showing on the clock. [Actually it was 0:02 
on the clock, but the Rams did not request those 2 seconds to be put back 
on the clock]. 

No Super Bowl had ever gone into Overtime before, and this tie breaking kick,
resulted in the latest in any Super Bowl game, that the outcome was decided.

The Patriots were a 14 point underdog, but were 14 points ahead at one time, 
before the St Louis Browns staged a comeback that resulted in the game being 
tied with 1:21 left for the Patriots to stage a comeback starting on their 
own 17 yard line. 

LA Times writer Houston Mitchell in calling Vinatieri "The Impact Player" put 
it: "Adam Vinatieri  has nerves of Steel. He calmly strolled onto the field and 
kicked the game winning field goal as if it was something he did every day for the 
last 20 years. Of course there wasn't a howling wind and it wasn't snowing as 
it was against the Oakland Raiders, so maybe it seemed easy in comparision." 

(Mitchell is referring to the field goals Vinatieri kicked against Oakland to 
win the League Championship Game, in awful weather!)

Bill Plaschke of the LA Times called Adam: ..."the making of a New England 
hero who, right this minute, is bigger than Carlton Fisk." 

Vinatieri had kicked a 37 yard field goal earlier to put the Pats up 17-3.
Adam had also kicked the two PAT's.

Adam is the great, great grandson of Felix (Felice) Vinatieri (1834-1891), an 
immigrant from Turino, Italy, who served as Gen. Custer's bandmaster. See 
http://www.usd.edu/smm/vinatieri.html for more information on Felix. 
 
Additionally, Adam's cousin is motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel.