Burned Bridges(He Says): That’s why Indianapolis Colts will not honor their former kicker, who kicked a 46-yard FG on the ‘Streets of New York City’, while on the David Letterman Show

Former Colts kicker thinks he knows why team has not honored him
from Adam Gretz, with YardBarker.com/www.yardbarker.com

Former Indianapolis Colts kicker Mike Vanderjagt feels he belongs in the team’s Ring of Honor for the career he had with the team. Not only has the team not included him among its all-time greats, but he also says they have not included him in anything since he left the franchise, including not giving him an invite to Dwight Freeney’s Hall of Fame ceremony when the defensive end asked the Colts to invite all of his former teammates.

Vanderjagt told all of this to The Athletic’s Zak Keefer in a wide-ranging interview that discussed the two biggest moments that severed ties between him and the franchise.

The first, was when Vanderjagt gave an interview shortly after the team’s 2002 playoff loss to the New York Jets where he questioned the approach and tenacity of head coach Tony Dungy and quarterback Peyton Manning, and whether or not they had what it takes to win a Super Bowl.

That interview prompted Manning’s famous “liquored up kicker” comment at the Pro Bowl.

The second was his game-losing missed field goal in the 2005 divisional playoffs against the Pittsburgh Steelers, sending the heavily favored Colts home shockingly at a time when that core — led by Dungy and Manning — was still seeking its first championship.

Vanderjagt took ownership of the interview and explained that he and Manning buried the hatchet with one another not long after that with the kicker taking responsibility for the whole thing. But that moment, as well as the missed kick in the playoffs, has apparently been too much for Colts ownership to look past.

Especially when shortly after missing the kick Vanderjagt went on a late-night talk show, against the wishes of team president Bill Polian, and kicked a 46-yard field goal (the exact distance that he missed in the game) on the streets of New York City.

From The Athletic article:
Vanderjagt was an impending free agent. He figured after the Pittsburgh miss, his days in Indy were numbered. So not only did he go on the show, but also he kicked a 46-yard field goal on the streets of New York City with Letterman holding. This time, he made it.

“No regrets whatsoever,” Vanderjagt says.

Polian was irate.

“They weren’t bringing me back,” Vanderjagt says. “When you listen to Bill Polian’s radio show the day after the game and you’re the most accurate kicker in history and you get thrown under the bus for why we lost, you’re just like, ‘I deserve better.’ Listen, I needed to go somewhere else. It was a Bill Polian thing. I’m just not a very good ass-kisser. I’m not good at being fake.”

Vanderjagt ended up signing in Dallas as a free agent that offseason and kicked just 10 games for the Cowboys before leaving the NFL for good.

The Colts, meanwhile, signed Adam Vinatieri away from the New England Patriots and ended up winning the Super Bowl the very next season.

It’s a wild story overall, with a lot of burned bridges.

While Vanderjagt is probably deserving of a spot, and while time should have healed a lot of these wounds from the Colts’ perspective (Polian is gone from the team and the Colts ended up getting their championship the next year) it also might not be the only reason he is not in the team’s ring of honor.

The Colts have also not honored Vinatieri, who kicked in Indianapolis far longer than Vanderjagt did and won a championship there. It is entirely possible they just do not see kickers as being on the same level as the other members.

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