Gallerie » INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Adam Vinatieri will still be the NFL’s

oldest active player next season.The 46-year-old kicker and the Indianapolis Colts have agreed to a new deal https://www.coltsfanshop.com/hats , general manager Chris Ballard announced Friday on 1070 The Fan, the radio station that broadcasts the team’s games. Terms of the deal were not immediately available.But it was hardly a surprise. The day after Indy’s season ended with a divisional-round loss to Kansas City, Vinatieri said he would “probably” be back for his 24th season in the league. And if all goes as planned, the NFL’s career scoring leader might still be adding to his record total of 2,600 a while longer.“There are no guarantees for any of us that there’s a next day, a next year, anything. I’ve kind of always prepared myself thinking that way,” Vinatieri said last month after noting he’d like to play 10 more seasons. “There are no guarantees, and when you get to my age, you’re absolutely right, your days are numbered.”The four-time Super Bowl champion has showed no signs of slowing down.He made 23 of 27 field goal attempts last season and finished with 113 points — extending his league record to 21 100-point seasons.But that’s just part of Vinatieri’s resume.In September, he broke Morten Andersen’s league record for field goals made and needs 10 more to become the first player with 700 field goals. In October, he broke Andersen’s NFL scoring record. In December, he became the fourth player in league history to participate in a game at age 46.His 32 career playoff games are second all-time, behind former teammate Tom Brady, and he’s the only player to score 1,000 points with two different franchises — Indy and New England.Yet somehow Vinatieri and his white beard seem like a perfect fit in this young locker room.“He seems like he’s the same age he was when I first came in here and I guess that’s been eight years,” left tackle Anthony Castonzo said earlier this month. “That’s pretty impressive, eight years, going through your early 40s that you don’t really seem any older. I’m always impressed with how he’s able to hang out with the young guys and be one of the guys despite being old enough to be one of our dads.”Andrew Luck added: “Vinny is the best. I love him.”And there are more milestones ahead for Vinatieri if he stays healthy.His next game played will be No. 354, breaking a tie with Gary Anderson for second on the career list, and if he’s still kicking after he turns 47 in late December, Vinatieri would join Andersen and George Blanda as the only 47-year-olds to play in a game.But Ballard saw another reason to bring back the league’s oldest player for another season.“Do I think he can still kick in this league and be a really good kicker? Absolutely I do Indianapolis Colts Hoodie ,” Ballard said Jan. 14 in his season-ending news conference. “He is as important a guy in that locker room as anyone. I don’t know if I have been around a special teams player that has as much impact as Adam does in the locker room. From a positive standpoint, all of our young guys that come in get to see Adam Vinatieri work, rehab, prepare his body every year, be a pro, handle the hard times, handle the good times. I mean all of that, what Adam brings, brings a lot of value to this team.” INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indianapolis Colts kept insisting Andrew Luck would play better after shoulder surgery.He did.Frank Reich acknowledged some of his best work came in a backup role.Apparently, It still does.A healthy Luck and an opportunistic first-year coach led the Colts on a historic midseason turnaround, ending with a playoff run and a glimpse into a potentially promising future.“We left our hearts on the field every game,” Luck said Sunday, a day after a 31-13 elimination loss at Kansas City. “I know we all wished we played better yesterday. It’s sad. We wanted this somewhat magical season to continue and we’ll use that to motivate us.”That could be bad news for a team that seemed to defy the odds at every turn.Most figured the Colts hit rock bottom when Josh McDaniels backed out of a deal to become the Colts’ new coach while Luck continued to rehab his throwing shoulder in early February. General manager Chris Ballard wasted no time in making Reich, the offensive coordinator for the Super Bowl champion Eagles, his second choice.The odd sequence included Reich inheriting a defensive coordinator in Matt Eberflus, who he didn’t know much about and was already plotting a conversion from a 3-4 front to a 4-3. Reich followed the advice of Ballard by keeping him in the same role and adding two more first-year coordinators to his staff.To outsiders, it looked like a complete rebuild.But the Colts never bought into the perception and delivered the kind of season nobody thought possible when they lost their fourth in a row in mid-October.That’s when things changed.Luck rounded into form, the Colts developed a balanced attack, their revamped offensive line became a virtual fortress and the oft-criticized defense suddenly emerged as one of the league’s stingiest units.The Colts (11-7) won nine of their last 10 regular-season games to become the third team in league history to make the postseason after starting 1-5, followed by a wild-card win at Houston.“You wonder as a first time head coach, what is this really going to be like? I just couldn’t have imagined in my wildest dreams how this year was,” Reich said. “The guys in this building, the guys in that locker room http://www.coltsfanshop.com/Bobby-Okereke-Jersey , the coaches and players they just exceeded any of my wildest expectations.”Everyone else’s, too.Luck had the best overall season of his career, throwing for nearly 4,600 yards and 39 touchdowns while setting career highs in completions, attempts and percentage. He was sacked a league-low 18 times, one season after the Colts allowed a league-high 56 sacks.Meanwhile, Marlon Mack fought off injuries to finish with five 100-yard games — the most by a Colts running back in more than a decade.Eric Ebron finally delivered on the first-round promise the Detroit Lions saw in 2014 by catching 13 touchdowns to lead the league’s tight ends and earning his first Pro Bowl selection.“It was a helluva time, a helluva season,” center Ryan Kelly said. “Guys were fighting for each other and it was just a good time.”But Reich’s favorite might have been watching the rookies develop.Quenton Nelson and Braden Smith were rock solid at left guard and right tackle, and linebacker Darius Leonard led the league in tackles with a franchise-record 163. Nelson and Leonard became the first rookie teammates to earn first-team All-Pro honors since Dick Butkus and Gale Sayers achieved the feat in 1965.Now, with Luck heading into his first healthy offseason in four years, a veteran coach and proven players, Reich knows the expectations will increase next season and he promises to be ready.“We had an opportunity to learn so many lessons this year,” he said. “We lost four or five and then won 10 or 11. So we’ve had a taste of that. I think handling success and high expectations is always more difficult but I believe in the guys, the players, the leaders to get that done.”NOTES: Kelly wouldn’t rule out having surgery on his injured left knee but described the procedure as minor. … Pro Bowl tight end Jack Doyle said he spent two days in the hospital after suffering a season-ending kidney injury in late-November. Doyle told reporters he was feeling “pretty good,” though he’s still recovering. … Kicker Adam Vinatieri hopes to return for his 24th season after missing the shortest field goal of his career on Saturday. He broke the NFL’s career scoring record this season and now has 2,600 points. … Indy signed tight end Billy Brown, cornerback Jalen Collins, offensive linemen Antonio Garcia and De’Ondre Wesley, receivers Krishawn Hogan and Steve Ishmael, quarterback Phillip Walker and defensive linemen DeShawn Williams and Anthony Winbush to futures contracts Sunday.