Vander-what??
No matter what happens with Terrell Owens in Dallas, Jerry Jones and Bill Parcells can take comfort in knowing that Owens will not be the biggest idiot on their roster. The Cowboys made sure of that this offseason when they signed Mike Vanderjagt to be their kicker. Yesterday, Vanderjagt validated that dynamic when he was asked about his shank against the Steelers in last year's playoffs."Michael Jordan missed game-winning jump shots, Tiger Woods missed putts. Does that mean they're not as good as you think they are?" Vanderjagt said.
"I'm the best kicker in the history of the game regardless of whether I missed my last kick or not, and that's the way I look at it."
Someone needs to let the liquored up kicker know that the Gatorade commercial with Jordan missing against the Cavs is a fake. Also, the reason that Jordan and Woods are as good as we think they are is because in addition to missing in a few big moments, they also actually came through in some rather memorable clutch situations. That's something that the best kicker in the history of the game has yet to do. For the record, the last clutch kick Vanderjagt actually made was Dec 26, 2004 when, after Manning drove the team down to the Chargers 13, Money Mike nailed a game winning 30 yard FG in overtime. Not exactly Vinatieri in the snow against the Raiders, but at least it keeps his resume from being blank.
I think Vanderjagt just got a little confused when he heard everyone calling him a goat and he thought they were calling him G.O.A.T. It could happen to anyone. Well, not anyone...but certainly to a bumbling idiot.
posted by insomniac @ 9:56 AM (permalink)
6 Comments
6 Comments:
Nice pull. We are bummed about Jim Bob, too.
Very few people remember Vandy cost the Colts their season by missing against Miami in OT in the playoffs about five years ago. This wasn't the first money kick he's gagged on. He also missed an OT game-winner against Tampa Bay on MNF during his "perfect season," but that was wiped out by a bogus penalty. He then banged the retry in off the upright.
Good call on the Tampa Bay and Miami games. I'd forgotten about those. Vanderjagt is very fortunate that the Cowboys released Larry Allen. L.A. was liable to rip Vanderjuck's head off after a big miss (assuming the Cowboys were to actually play a big game.)
A bigger idiot than Terrel Owens? That's extreme, and there's not enough evidence here.
Kickers get no respect and all of the blame. If they make every kick, thery are a displaced soccer player who is not a real part of the team. If they miss, they are the reason the team lost, no question.
I could see snickering at Vanderjagt's claims, but why destroy him? It seems athletes have to say and believe stupid things to stay in the right frame of mind to possibly succeed. I can understand criticizing Vangerjagt criticizing Manning (and vice versa), but why this, and how is this worse than Owens?
Besides, if Vanderjagt is a choke artist, he fit right in with the rest of the team.
I thought I was paying respect to kickers by tearing down Mike Vanderjagt's claims. It would seem to me to be more disrespectful to kickers to agree that Vanderjagt is the best that they have to offer. Plus, I mentioned Adam Vinatieri in a positive light, indicating that I do see that value that a clutch kicker can have for a team.
I also understand needing confidence to succeed, but the guy compared himself to Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods. Did you see Vanderjagt's last kick? It wasn't Scott Norwood just missing it by a few inches. The football looked like it was caught in a 50 mph windstorm. So while Tiger Woods doesn't make every putt, I've never seen him line up a putt and then urinate on himself either. But I don't really watch much Golf Channel, so maybe I just missed it.
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