No one has given Patriots fans more moments to celebrate than kicker Adam Vinatieri.

Journal photo / Glenn Osmundson

Having grown up in Pawtucket, I am accustomed to voting early and voting often.

So, when the web site of the New England Patriots offered the opportunity to cast a ballot –– or, for us Pawtucket guys, the usual two, or three, or four ballots – for the “Top 10 Moments” of the Patriots’ first 50 seasons, how could I resist? Especially since the 2010 season will mark the fifth decade in which I’ll have covered the team. It’ll be “only” 32 actual seasons, but, because I started in 1979, it’ll be five different decades. Consequently, I have been present at many – most, actually – of the 50 great moments suggested for consideration on patriots.com.

And, upon due consideration, I have decided to divide my ballot – at least the one that appears in this column – into two sections: Top 10 On-Field Moments and Top 5 Off-Field Moments. That’s because, while the hiring of Bill Belichick resulted in three Lombardi trophies and an undefeated regular season, it didn’t exactly provide the same thrill – especially at the time – as winning those Super Bowls.

Let’s start with the Off-Field Moments:

5. The opening of Schaefer Stadium in 1971

This gets the nod over the opening of Gillette Stadium in 2002. While current Patriots owner Robert Kraft is to be applauded for building – and, more importantly, privately financing – a new stadium, his achievement pales beside what Papa Patriot, William H. “Billy” Sullivan Jr., went through to get a stadium that the Patriots (who spent the first 10 seasons of their existence bouncing from B.U. Field, to Fenway Park, to Alumni Stadium at Boston College, to Harvard Stadium) could call their own, as required by the terms of the merger between the NFL and the AFL.

4. Hiring Chuck Fairbanks in 1973

This one isn’t on the official list, while “Hiring Bill Parcells in 1993” is. It’s debatable whether the Pats were in worse shape when Fairbanks took over (six straight losing seasons, in five of which they failed to win more than four games) or when Parcells came in (four straight losing seasons, including embarrassing records of 2-14 in 1992 and 1-15 in 1990), but Fairbanks turned a team that had never had a winning season in the NFL into a powerhouse in 1976 that was loaded with young talent. Unfortunately, both coaches bailed out of New England – Fairbanks to the University of Colorado, Parcells to the Jets – after building championship-caliber teams.

3. Hiring Bill Belichick in 2000

He looked like Captain Queeg when he resigned as “HC of the NYJ.” Then he came to New England and wound up looking like Vince Lombardi.

2. Robert Kraft purchases the Patriots in 1994

They’d be the St. Louis Patriots if Kraft hadn’t stepped up to the plate. The man saved the franchise for New England.

1. Billy Sullivan awarded eighth and final AFL franchise in 1959

There would have been no pro football franchise in New England if not for Billy’s tenacity. He also kept the Patriots here when he could have made a lot of money by taking them elsewhere.

Now, for the On-Field Moments…

10. Mark Henderson clearing a path for John Smith in the Snow Plow Game in 1982

This was the kind of crazy stuff that made the old Patriots so lovable. When Ron Meyer sent Henderson, a convict who was on work-release, riding to the rescue on his John Deere (which now is proudly displayed in the Hall at Patriot Place) to clear a spot in the snow for the decisive field goal in a 3-0 Patriots victory, the heat emanating from under Don Shula’s collar melted all the snow along the Miami sideline.

9. “Snow Fireworks” versus Miami in 2003

This game captured the sheer joy of being a New England football fan. When all-time fan favorite Tedy Bruschi returned an interception for the touchdown that clinched a 12-0 win over the Dolphins, jubilant fans, in a dazzling display of wintry pyrotechnics, spontaneously tossed handfuls of snow in unrehearsed -- although perfectly choreographed -- unison to the pounding beat of Gary Glitter’s popular “Rock and Roll, Part Two.”

8. Drew Bledsoe’s overtime TD pass to Kevin Turner in 1994

That’s how it’s listed on the Pats’ web site. The much bigger story is that the pass to Turner was Bledsoe’s 70th of the game and his 45th completion – both NFL records. Throwing on 34 consecutive plays in the second half, Bledsoe passed for a club-record 426 yards while rallying the Pats from a 20-0 deficit to a 26-20 victory over the Minnesota Vikings. It’s the greatest individual, single-game performance I’ve seen in all my years of covering the Patriots.

7. The “Tuck Rule” announcement in the Snow Bowl in 2001

It was a fumble. Tom Brady knows it. Bill Belichick knows it. The Raiders most definitely know it. Hey, we all know it. Except, technically, it wasn’t. And so the Patriots retained possession and went on to win. It was payback for 1976, when a horrible roughing-the-passer call by Ben Dreith cost the Pats a playoff win in Oakland, which went on to win the Super Bowl.

6. Squish the Fish

That was the rallying cry in 1985, when Raymond Berry’s Patriots ended an 18-game losing streak in the Orange Bowl by upsetting the Dolphins of Shula and Dan Marino, 31-14, to win the AFC championship and go to the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history.

5. Tom Brady’s record-breaking TD pass to Randy Moss in 2007

Tom Terrific’s 50th TD toss and Moss’ 23rd TD catch – both NFL records – came in a 38-35 victory over the Giants and put a dramatic finishing touch on the only 16-0 regular season in league history. It’s a mark I don’t expect to ever see equaled.

4. Postgame celebration following Super Bowl XXXIX

Their 24-21 victory over the Eagles – their third NFL championship in four years –– enabled the Patriots to stake a convincing claim as the current “Team of the Decade,” following in the cleats of the Packers of the ’60s, the Steelers of the ’70s, the 49ers of the ’80s and the Cowboys of the ’90s.

3. Adam Vinatieri’s game-winning field goal in Super Bowl XXXVIII

There currently is only one kicking specialist in the Pro Football Hall of Fame – Jan Stenerud. Is there any Patriots fan who isn’t convinced that Vinatieri deserves to be the second?

2. Adam Vinatieri’s game-tying field goal in the Snow Bowl

“I’ll always remember the Super Bowl kicks,” Vinatieri told me several years ago. “Those are great memories. But if you ask me what was my best kick ever, I’d have to say the one against Oakland.”

It was in swirling snow, the ball was like a rock, and, if he missed, the season was over. Yeah, that 45-yarder with 27 seconds left that sent the 2001 AFC semifinal game against the Raiders into overtime was as good as it gets.

1. Adam Vinatieri’s game-winning field goal in Super Bowl XXXVI

That first championship, when the Patriots upset the high-scoring Rams, will always be the best one – the most memorable moment in team history.

jdonalds@projo.com