Vanderjagt eager to start new streak
By
Alyson Brodsy
and
Michael Marot |
The Associated Press
POSTED AT
12:00 AM ON Sep. 14, 2004
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INDIANAPOLIS -- Mike Vanderjagt thinks he should make every kick for the Indianapolis Colts. Anything less is unacceptable in his world.
So when Vanderjagt missed a potential game-tying, 48-yarder last week at New England, he grimaced, clapped his hands once and walked away feeling sick. Gone was the NFL record of 42 straight field goals and a 21-month stretch of perfection, but not the confidence that has made him one of league's top kickers.
"It was supreme disappointment," Vanderjagt said Monday. "I have higher expectations of myself than anyone could possibly imagine."
Since joining the Colts in 1998, Vanderjagt has typically met his lofty goals.
He has scored at least 100 points in a club-record six straight seasons and is an amazing 14 of 20 all-time on kicks from at least 50 yards.
And few kickers could match Vanderjagt's success in 2003 when he made the Pro Bowl for the first time, became the fourth kicker in league history to complete a perfect season by making all 37 field goals and 46 extra points and broke the NFL record for consecutive field goals with his 41st in the season-finale at Houston. He extended the record to 42 last week before pushing the 48-yarder wide right.
Now, Vanderjagt must start over.
"It meant the world to me because I expect perfection and I was achieving it," Vanderjagt said of the streak. "So it was very disappointing."
But one miss has not changed Vanderjagt.
He still holds the distinction of being the most accurate kicker in NFL history, with a field-goal percentage of 87.5, and, by most accounts, he's also the league's confident kicker.
He's embraced fans who try to chastise him, welcomes the time-outs other teams take to freeze him and even has been caught making a money sign while standing on the sideline before a game-winning or game-tying kick.
That's just Vanderjagt.
"Mike is cocky," cornerback Nick Harper said, smiling. "He's as sure a thing as you get."
On the field, Vanderjagt has proven his value. Despite doing most of his work indoors, he's delivered consistently in the rain, fog and cold weather and has excelled in some of the harshest environments.
In a driving snowstorm at Denver in 2002, Vanderjagt hit a 53-yarder to force overtime and a game-winning 51-yarder, and he's been nearly as good outdoors (87.2 percent) as he has been indoors (87.7).
So when he missed last week on a rainy night in Foxboro, Mass., Vanderjagt blamed himself -- not the conditions.
"I hurried it," he said. "There are three things I usually tell myself and the first thing is patience. Then I forgot everything I told myself when I kicked it. (Adam) Vinatieri made them, I should have made them."
Vanderjagt also has a brash, unconventional style.
His locker is adorned with a Nerf basketball hoop and a wheeled desk chair -- things his teammates do not possess. In training camp, he joked about extending the streak to a nice round number like 50.
In January 2003, he even dared to criticize quarterback Peyton Manning and coach Tony Dungy publicly before making amends and then producing his best NFL season.
But his teammates believe he's the best kicker in the game even when he does make an occasional mistake.
"He didn't lose the game for us, but it was a shocker," defensive tackle Montae Reagor said. "He's one guy we can count on."
Just one game into 2004, though, Vanderjagt's most cherished record is in the books.
The Streak is history and he'll have to wait until Sunday at Tennessee to try and match, or surpass, Dean Biasucci's franchise record for field goals. Biasucci has 176, Vanderjagt 175.
All Vanderjagt is thinking about this week is starting a new streak that will allow him to break his own record.
"I'm so eager to start a new one," he said. "First, you've got to make 20, then 30, then 40. Forty-two is nice, but it's not good enough."