Vinatieri: The 7th Cavalry’s Super Bowl Connection

In case you missed it, on January 25 the New England Patriots beat the Denver Broncos in a close and hard-fought contest. By doing so they advanced to this year’s Super Bowl. If you watched the award ceremony after the game, you saw former Pats’ kicker Adam Vinatierri presenting the AFC Championship trophy.

To many of us, though, a bit of trivia is far more interesting. Not only is Vinatieri an NFL legend, the South Dakota native has an intriguing connection to the Seventh Cavalry, Custer and the Little Bighorn. I’ll get to that shortly. First, more background.

As the  NFL prepares to announce its 2026 Hall of Fame inductees, you might hear the familiar kicker Vinatieri’s name again. His professional football career was impressive. He retired as the league’s all-time leading scorer and holds the all-time record for most field goals made (599). After his 24 NFL seasons he holds the record for most games played (397), including appearances in five Super Bowls. (He also missed one due to injury.) Vinatieri won four Super Bowl rings (three with New England and one with the Colts). Known for his clutch kicking, he booted game-winning field goals in Super Bowls XXXVI and XXXVIII.  

To top it all off, in 2019 Vinatieri was named to the NFL’s 100^th– anniversary all-time team. That track record alone will doubtless land the kicker in the league’s Hall of Fame. Regardless, those of us who enjoyed football any time from 1995 through 2019 will recognize and remember his name. What’s not so widely known is that, but for a small twist of fortune Adam might not ever have even been around.

Felix Vinatieri, Adam’s great-great grandfather, was a musician in Italy before immigrating to the United States in 1859. Born in Turin, he first became leader of the Queen’s Guard of Spagnis, a military band. Perhaps that was a portent for his life in the U.S. Music permeated his life and career, often in military settings.

In 1861 Felix enlisted in the Union Army’s 16^th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry and served as its bandmaster. Health issues seemed to plague him, and he mustered out in 1862 due to disability. Shortly after, General Order no. 91 required that all members enlisted as musicians be mustered out of all regimental bands.

Felix reenlisted in 1867 and was stationed at Fort Sully in Dakota Territory until he was again discharged in 1870. He settled in Yankton, where George and Elizabeth Custer were very taken with his music at a ball in 1873. Vinatieri enlisted once again when Custer asked him to lead the regimental band. He accompanied Custer’s 1873 Yellowstone railroad survey escort, and he also accompanied the 7^th Cavalry’s 1874 Black Hills expedition.

The exuberant, showy Custer loved music and pageantry. His commands were known for their brass bands. James Calhoun, Custer’s brother-in-law, wrote about the 16-member band all mounted on white horses leading the Black Hills expedition as it set out. On the regiment’s return to Fort Lincoln the band played Custer’s beloved “Garryowen” (yet another topic for another post) as they marched in.

In June during the 1876 campaign to force “hostiles” onto reservations, General Terry sent Custer with twelve 7^th Cavalry troops up Rosebud Creek in Montana Territory. Custer rode out toward what would be his last battle. Before leaving, Custer refused to take two Gatling guns. He was convinced they would only encumber him. Those who brought the guns along later wrote journal entries that show that he was right. The guns did prove to be cumbersome at best.

Custer also turned down the offer of 2^nd Cavalry troops from Colonel Gibbon’s Montana Column. That choice, of course, raises more questions and “what if’s.” We can only speculate on why the confident Custer turned the offer down. (Again, more on that another time.)

In the end, Custer left his beloved band behind as well, back with General Terry on the Yellowstone River. Sources state the band’s horses were needed more for armed troopers than for musicians. Steamboats were being used for hauling supplies up the Yellowstone River, and Custer left his band aboard the steamer Far West. They doubtless would have died with Custer had they ridden with him.

It’s possible that Felix Vinatieri served more valuably aboard Far West than he would have with the mounted troops. After Custer set forth and Gibbon’s troops marched up the Bighorn to meet him, the steamboat’s captain, Grant Marsh, coaxed the steamer up the Bighorn River to the Little Bighorn’s mouth. Within a few days, survivors from Major Reno’s debacle miles south of Last Stand Hill included 52 wounded. When mule-borne stretchers brought them to the Far West, band members were pressed into service caring for them.

Grant Marsh’s service in transporting the wounded on the Far West downriver to Fort Lincoln merits its own write-up (likely in July.) However, the band members’ unsung service merits mention here as well.

Felix Vinatierri was discharged a third time six months after the Little Bighorn battle. He settled in Yankton and continued a career teaching, conducting and composing music. Nearly a century later, Adam Vinatierri was born there.

Online reports say Adam Vinatierri moved to Rapid City with his family at a young age. He was a standout linebacker and quarterback in high school and also at South Dakota State University. His NFL career is legendary. But for want of horses, though, to outfit the armed troopers on Custer’s final foray, that stellar football career might never have occurred.