When Indianapolis hosts Denver on Sunday night, Colts kicker Mike Vanderjagt could make NFL history. Broncos linebacker Ian Gold is one man who won’t be betting against him.
Vanderjagt has made 38 consecutive field-goal attempts, leaving him two short of the record of 40, set by Gary Anderson with Minnesota from 1997-98.
In fact, Vanderjagt has been, in the words of Broncos kicker Jason Elam, “simply phenomenal.”
Gold learned his Vanderjagt lesson in November 2002 on a snowy, windy Sunday night at Denver’s Invesco Field at Mile High. Being a tough, hard-nosed linebacker, Gold figured he could psych out Vanderjagt. Gold figured wrong.
With three seconds left in regulation, Vanderjagt, the most accurate kicker in NFL history, drilled a 54-yard field goal through the swirling flakes to tie the game 20-20. During overtime, he stood alone near midfield, measuring his spot for a 51-yard kick that would ice the game for the Colts.
“I looked at him and I yelled, `No way, baby, no way you’re going to make this,”‘ Gold said. “So he looks over at me, and he says, `Baby, I’m cold, I’m ice cold.’
“He had these cold, steely eyes. He knew he was going to make it. Man, I knew he was going to make it.”
Vanderjagt’s kick was true. The Colts won 23-20.
“When it went through, I said, `Man, this guy is a good kicker,”‘ Gold said with a laugh.
How about great?
Vanderjagt’s two nail-biters against the Broncos made him the first kicker in NFL history to force overtime, then decide the game with kicks longer than 50 yards.
Now he’s nearing the summit of perhaps the greatest of all kicking records. The last time Vanderjagt missed a field goal was Dec. 8, 2002, at Tennessee. He says he’s in a zone, likening it to a golfer who cranks out his drive then plucks up his tee, never bothering to watch the ball because he knows it’s down the middle of the fairway.
Vanderjagt, 33, of Oakville, Ontario, admits he’s feeling the streak’s pressure, which is exactly the way he likes it. In the Colts’ 38-7 victory over Atlanta last week, coach Tony Dungy asked Vanderjagt if he could make a 53-yarder, even though it meant putting his streak on a very thin line. Vanderjagt’s response: Let me at it.
“The thing I wanted coach Dungy to know was that I didn’t just want a couple of chip shots for the sake of the streak,” Vanderjagt said. “I wanted it to happen in the scheme of the team and the scheme of the game.”
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In the end, Dungy chose to punt, but Vanderjagt made his point.
“I can’t speak for all other kickers, but I’m sure there are guys who would say, `Just let me get the streak,”‘ Vanderjagt said. “Or a guy might say, `No, I don’t want to kick that long one.’ But I take pride in my ability to make the tough kicks.”
Elam is ultracompetitive too. In Denver’s 23-20 overtime victory Sunday over Cleveland, he became the first kicker in NFL history to score 100 points in 11 consecutive seasons. Despite all Elam has accomplished–including his record-tying 63-yard field goal in 1998–he can’t help but admire Vanderjagt’s streak.
“It’s unbelievable,” Elam said. “When Gary Anderson did it five years ago, I never thought something like that could be done again.”
Vanderjagt has made 171-of-195 field-goal attempts for an .877 percentage that ranks first in NFL history.
“I have passion for winning, and I care about what I do,” Vanderjagt said.
“I want to represent kickers in a positive light. I want to make sure everybody knows that we aren’t just little dudes running around with single-bar face masks, or that we run six-second 40s. I want it known that we are athletes.”
Said Dungy: “He wanted this to be a special year. I think . . . it comes from the fact that he missed about four kicks last year he thought he should have made. He’s a perfectionist.”
And if Sunday’s game comes down to another 50-yarder, Vanderjagt will be itching to kick, just like he was last year when he stuck a dagger in the Broncos, not once, but twice.
“I loved that situation,” he said. “The 80,000 people in the stands and the 100 other players on the sidelines had no control. It was all down to me. I loved that.”
Elam vs. Vanderjagt
Comparing the Colts’ Mike Vanderjagt and the Broncos’ Jason Elam:
Vanderjagt
– Has made 171-of-195 field goals (.877), ranking No. 1 in NFL history.
– Scored 100 or more points in six consecutive seasons, a team record.
– His 54-yard field goal against Denver last season was the longest of his career.
– His current streak of 38 straight field goals is the second longest in NFL history.
– Has made eight game-winning or game-saving field goals.
Elam
– Has made 286-of-362 field goals (.790) in his career, ranking 14th in NFL history.
– Has scored 100 or more points in 11 seasons, an NFL record.
– His 63-yard field goal against Jacksonville in 1998 tied for the longest in NFL history.
– Has made 19 consecutive field goals (from Dec. 21, 1997, to Nov. 29, 1998).
– Set an NFL record with 371 consecutive successful extra points (Nov. 21, 1993, to Nov. 17, 2002).
– Has made 14 game-winning or game-saving field goals.
— Denver Post
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