When Bill Belichick takes the field on Thursday before New England's game against Indianapolis, don't be surprised if the Patriots coach stops to have a quick conversation with Adam Vinatieri.

Although it's been more than 10 seasons since Vinatieri last wore a Patriots uniform, Belichick still has some very fond memories of his former kicker, and we know that because he was actually willing to talk about them this week.

For the most part, if you ask Belichick about the past, he'll generally say something along the lines of, "The past is the past. This is 2018." However, when the subject of Vinatieri came up during a conference call with Colts media on Tuesday, Belichick only had positive things about his former kicker, who broke the NFL record for most field goals when he hit his 566th career kick on Sunday (He now has 567).

"Adam is a great player. He was a great player here and has been a great player for the Colts, great person," Belichick said, via quotes distributed by the team. "He works hard. He certainly doesn't fit the classic profile for a kicker. He is more of a football player. He's physically and mentally tough. When he was here, he trained and worked out with all the players. There was no special program for him as a kicker or anything like that. He embraced that."

When Belichick refers to Vinatieri as more of a "football player," it's easy to see why. Remember, this is a guy who chased down Herschel Walker to a save a touchdown during a kickoff return in 1996.

According to Belichick, Vinatieri's teammates in New England loved him, in part, because they didn't have to treat him like a kicker.

"He had a great relationship with his teammates because of the way he worked, how competitive and mentally and physically tough he was and how he was willing to help out in other areas of the team -- scout team and things like that," Belichick said. "Whatever the team needed he was always great about that. He was a clutch, dependable player in his role. So, you can't ask for much more than that."

The most notable compliment from Belichick probably came when he referred to Vinatieri as the best ever to play his position. Belichick is a football historian who rarely exaggerates, so you know he means it when he says something like that.

"He has had a fabulous career. Certainly, in my opinion, the greatest kicker in the game," Belichick said. "Not just for his longevity and production but again, the magnitude of some of the kicks that he made and the difficulty -- particularly the [snow kick against the Raiders]. But there were many besides that – the kick in the Super Bowl and the kick in the Carolina Super Bowl."

Although the Super Bowl kicks were big, Belichick believes that the snow kick against the Raiders was not only the best of Vinatieri's career, but the best kick he's ever witnessed.

"I would say it was by far the greatest kick I have ever seen," Belichick said "The conditions were very difficult. There were probably three to four inches of snow on the ground. It was a soft snow that kind of didn't go away. I mean, there was no way to get around it. The magnitude of the kick was significant. It's got to be the greatest kick of all time, certainly that I've seen."

The kick came in the fourth quarter of a divisional playoff game against the Raiders in January 2002. If Vinatieri had missed it, the Raiders would have won. Instead, he nailed the 45-yarder and sent the game to overtime, where he would hit a game-winner from 23 yards. Two weeks later, the Patriots would win their first Super Bowl under Belichick, thanks to another game-winning field goal from Vinatieri.

"Adam came through for us with some enormous kicks," Belichick said. "Congratulations to him and to the great career that he has and honestly it doesn't seem like there is much sign of him slowing down. The ball continues to go right in the middle of the uprights. It never curves. It doesn't hook. It just goes straight down the middle. So he just has an unbelievable level of consistency."

That consistency is why Vinatieri is still playing at 45 (he turns 46 in December). Now that he has the all-time field goal record under his belt, the Colts kicker will be gunning for the NFL's Holy Grail of kicking records: Most points scored ever. With 26 more points this season, Vinatieri will pass Morten Andersen as the all-time leading scorer in NFL history.