The Courier-Journal (Louisville)
Vanderjagt not haunted by miss or ‘Manning fiasco’
INDIANAPOLIS – Mike Vanderjagt, one of the Indianapolis Colts most memorable kickers known for his swagger and telling things exactly the way he saw them, said Friday he and Peyton Manning have long since made up over the so-called liquored-up kicker comment that Vanderjagt said really was a nonissue from the start.
The 54-year-old Vanderjagt also revealed the struggles he had during the 2005-06 season that ended with him missing a 47-yard field goal in the AFC divisional playoffs against the Steelers that would have sent the game into overtime.
In a nearly 25-minute radio interview on “Query & Company” on WFNI, a softer, more humble side of Vanderjagt was revealed. Host Jake Query said as Vanderjagt kept talking, he was in awe of how open and sincere his answers were.
“It’s crazy that I (left) as the most accurate kicker in the history of the NFL in a Colts uniform, and you want to talk about the two things that I would really rather not talk about, but anyway, the Pittsburgh kick and the Manning fiasco,” Vanderjagt said, laughing. “I’m just playing with you. It’s not a big deal.”
Vanderjagt retired in 2006 after a season with Dallas, having made 86.5% of his field goal attempts in his career. He is currently ranked ninth in the league’s history for kickers who made at least 100 attempts.
The ‘Manning fiasco’
In February 2003, Vanderjagt went on a Toronto cable TV show and criticized Manning and Colts coach Tony Dungy for lacking a competitive spirit when it came to their leadership roles with the team.
During a third-quarter interview from the Pro Bowl in Honolulu, Manning struck back, describing Vanderjagt as “our idiot kicker who got liquored up and ran his mouth off.”
“I emailed Peyton. It might have been a year ago. And I was just like, ‘Listen, man, as I raise my son, I try to raise him to live without regrets,’ ” Vanderjagt told Query on Friday. “And I said, ‘You know, one of the biggest regrets I had is how I handled the interview in Toronto.’ ”
Manning responded, according to Vanderjagt, saying, “Listen, listen, man, I value your friendship. It was a long time ago and, you know, we’ve well moved past it, bro. All the best.”
The two still talk and exchange texts on occasion.
“I was out on a cruise one year, and I looked down at my phone and Peyton Manning’s wishing me happy birthday,” Vanderjagt said. “So, we are linked more than just because we were a couple of dumbasses on an off season.”
Vanderjagt said he and Manning “squashed it almost immediately,” but the “media made it last a lot longer than it ever needed to.”
“But, you know, from the outside world, much like a lot of things in life, people think they have an opinion and they know what’s what,” he said. “And they really don’t.”
Pittsburgh miss: ‘That season was a mess’
No one knew it during the 2005-06 season, but Vanderjagt was struggling. There was no way to know it. He missed just two fields goals in 17 games.
“As a field goal kicker, you certainly can’t make them all. And, you know, I certainly tried. Just, for the record, I’m not sure you can hang the fact that we did not win the Super Bowl on one of two missed kicks in 17 games,” he said.
“And you know, to be honest, my technique and my form the entire 2005 season was a mess.
“I couldn’t make kicks in pregame. I couldn’t make kicks in practice. I had no idea what I was doing. I would get into games, and I would make kicks and I would have no idea how I made them. I think I went 4-for-4 in a Jacksonville game on the road and I was presented a game ball and I’m thinking to myself, ‘How on earth am I getting a game ball?’ ”
His struggles came to a head Jan. 15, 2006, in the AFC divisional playoffs against the Steelers, Pittsburgh leading 21-18 with 17 seconds left and ....
“Oh, geez. He snapped and he just kicked it way wide out of the way,” the announcer said as the ball sailed to the right of the goal post. “Pittsburgh’s going to the AFC Championship and the Colts are going home.”
“Does it still haunt you?” Query asked Vanderjagt on Friday.
“Oh, absolutely not. It does not still haunt me. If you take the eight years that I was in Indy, if you take my percentage and you put it against the eight pro bowlers from the AFC during my stint there, I have a better percentage,” he said. “So, I literally could have been a pro bowler every year I was in Indy.
“It really was a situation of just a lack of confidence, a lack of even knowledge of what the heck I was supposed to do to make this ball go in. I just wasn’t confident in what I was doing at that point in my career.”
Where he is now
Vanderjagt has three acres on Lake Ontario, lives in New York and has been running a company for 10 years. He coaches kickers and punters and says Buffalo Bills territory has rubbed off on him a bit.
“I think I’m a Bills fan just by the fact that it’s Bills Mafia where I live, so I’ve kind of adopted that,” he said. “I’ve always been a Josh Allen fan, since even before he came into the league. I thought he was going to be one of the best guys that were drafted at the time. I’m an NFL fan more than anything.”
But he does have a horseshoe tattoo on his shoulder. “I’m always going to be a Colt for life.”