Mike Vanderjagt opens up on what happened during 2005 season.
When Mike Vanderjagt retired, he was one of four kickers to never miss a kick during a season. In 2003 with Indianapolis, Vanderjagt went 37/37 on field goals and 46/46 on extra points. He retired with the most points scored in Colts history.
Despite all of his success in his eight year career with the Colts, he will always be remembered for what happened in the 2005 AFC Divisional round against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Indianapolis started that season 13-0 and then lost back-to-back games to the San Diego Chargers and Seattle Seahawks. It has been largely considered one of the best Colts teams in franchise history.
On Query & Company Friday afternoon with Jake Query, Vanderjagt was asked by Query if that kick still haunts him.
“Absolutely not, it does not still haunt me. 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.”
For someone that was 23/25 on field goals that season to admit that he had no idea what he was doing, is remarkable. You hear about kickers in today’s NFL losing confidence and never being able to find it again, but Vanderjagt’s comments back up those statements.
“I couldn’t figure it out and it wasn’t about the Pittsburgh kick. I just lost my swing and I couldn’t figure it out. Normally, I have that swagger and when I walked onto the field in Pittsburgh it’s just kind of hitting hope and it went so far right because you’re just standing over the ball thinking ‘How do I get this ball into those uprights?’ It wasn’t the regular Mike Vanderjagt going out there for that Pittsburgh kick for sure.”
Following that moment, Vanderjagt stood at his locker and answered every question that the media had for him. Jake Query applauded Vanderjagt for that and the former kicker admitted that he hopes people remember him as someone who didn’t shy away when things weren’t going his way on the football field.
Eventually Vanderjagt did an interview where he criticized Peyton Manning and Tony Dungy that led to Manning’s calling him a “idiot kicker” and that he “ruined kickers for life” during a sideline interview at the 2005 Pro Bowl.
During his visit on Query & Company, Vanderjagt revealed where things stand now between him and Manning and the following:
