Less is more for Vanderjagt
September 21, 2006
Sportsnet.ca Weekly Picks
IRVING, Texas (AP) -- Scribbled on a strip of tape across the front of Mike Vanderjagt's locker is the phrase, "Less is more."
The full meaning comes when you see another strip of tape going down the left side of his locker. On that one, the new kicker for the Dallas Cowboys has written the distance of every field goal he's missed in the NFL. The list is broken down season by season, with a "B" marking the ones that were blocked.
Less is more, indeed.
"That's the motivation: Don't run out of tape," Vanderjagt said.
It's worth noting that Vanderjagt, a native of Oakville, Ont., only jots down his misses from games that count -- not pre-season and not practice.
So for coach Bill Parcells or anyone else who got worked up over how poorly he was kicking before going 2-for-2 in his Dallas debut Sunday night, the confident Canadian who is always willing to share his opinion has this message: "Back off a little."
Vanderjagt wants everyone to know he's not hurt. He hasn't lost confidence. He's not still dwelling on his awful miss that knocked Indianapolis out of the playoffs. And his US$2.5-million signing bonus hasn't made him lazy.
He's simply a slow starter who knows what he's doing, as reflected by his 87.6 per cent success rate, the best in NFL history.
"People just don't know me here," he said. "If I was a rookie coming in and people thought, 'Can he really do it?' that would be one thing. But I had a pretty good eight years in Indy. It should've been, 'You know what? He's good. Just let him go,' instead of, `Oh, my God, he sucks."'
The Cowboys signed Vanderjagt expecting to no longer have to worry about their kicking game. Field goals were a constant concern last season, with Parcells blaming three losses on the three kickers he went through.
Vanderjagt wanted to make a good impression early on and pulled a groin muscle. That led to some messed up mechanics, which in turn sidelined him for most of the pre-season. Finally given a chance to perform, he missed two short potential winning kicks in overtime of the pre-season finale and wound up being inactive for the opener.
Parcells seethed over having to keep a second kicker on the 53-man roster and remains perturbed that he had to use both Sunday night against Washington. The other one, Shaun Suisham of Wallaceburg, Ont., was used strictly on kickoffs, which meant one less roster spot for another position.
"That will hurt us eventually," Parcells said. "Something will happen where we will suffer from that. There isn't any doubt about it. It may not happen in the next 14 games. But, someday, you do it long enough it will happen."
Vanderjagt hasn't kicked off regularly for years. He believes the Cowboys are better off with Suisham doing it. Parcells even grudgingly acknowledges that Suisham could consistently pin foes 12 to 15 yards farther back than Vanderjagt.
"Shaun is a weapon," Vanderjagt said. "For me, he's somewhat of an attribute as opposed to a liability. But as everybody here knows, it's Bill's deal. If he doesn't want to go with three (kickers, including the punter), then there's not a lot anyone can do about it."
Such blunt talk is as much Vanderjagt's forte as field goals are. Another sample comes from his admission that he only halfheartedly kicks off during practice.
"I've said it a thousand times, I'm not going to go bang kickoffs as hard as I can in practice. There's just no need," Vanderjagt said. "If he's going to evaluate me in practice, he's not going to like what he sees."
Why not bang them in practice?
"It's just my mentality," he said. "I'm a Sunday guy, or whenever the game is. I just feel like I don't really care if I miss a field goal in practice. It doesn't seem to bother me. I just go out and kick just to satisfy what the practice is supposed to do. It's hard enough to get mentally ready on a Sunday, never mind Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday."
Parcells and Vanderjagt don't speak much. In fact, their only chat in recent weeks was an awkward one. Vanderjagt was soaking in the hot tub reading a golf magazine when Parcells plopped in. They talked golf, then went their separate ways until Parcells shouted some encouraging words following a 50-yard field goal that iced Dallas' 27-10 victory over the Redskins.
Vanderjagt said he expected playing for Parcells to be easier.
"I just thought, 'I'm pretty good at what I do; he'll leave me alone.' But apparently that's not the case," he said. "I figured him out a long time ago. It's his way or the highway, so that's how I'm going to look at it."
Vanderjagt knows he'll ultimately be judged by his kicks. Or, rather, his misses, the ones that get posted inside his locker. As of Wednesday afternoon, he hadn't even written '06.
"I feel like I'm in mid-season form," he said. "I don't anticipate missing soon."
Still, he knows it is likely to happen.
"I'm sure in the next 14 weeks I'm going to miss a kick I wish I'd made and people are going to say I suck again," he said. "But you take the good with the good and the bad with the bad. I'm just going to kick and hopefully they all go in."
Sportsnet.ca Weekly Picks
IRVING, Texas (AP) -- Scribbled on a strip of tape across the front of Mike Vanderjagt's locker is the phrase, "Less is more."
The full meaning comes when you see another strip of tape going down the left side of his locker. On that one, the new kicker for the Dallas Cowboys has written the distance of every field goal he's missed in the NFL. The list is broken down season by season, with a "B" marking the ones that were blocked.
Less is more, indeed.
"That's the motivation: Don't run out of tape," Vanderjagt said.
It's worth noting that Vanderjagt, a native of Oakville, Ont., only jots down his misses from games that count -- not pre-season and not practice.
So for coach Bill Parcells or anyone else who got worked up over how poorly he was kicking before going 2-for-2 in his Dallas debut Sunday night, the confident Canadian who is always willing to share his opinion has this message: "Back off a little."
Vanderjagt wants everyone to know he's not hurt. He hasn't lost confidence. He's not still dwelling on his awful miss that knocked Indianapolis out of the playoffs. And his US$2.5-million signing bonus hasn't made him lazy.
He's simply a slow starter who knows what he's doing, as reflected by his 87.6 per cent success rate, the best in NFL history.
"People just don't know me here," he said. "If I was a rookie coming in and people thought, 'Can he really do it?' that would be one thing. But I had a pretty good eight years in Indy. It should've been, 'You know what? He's good. Just let him go,' instead of, `Oh, my God, he sucks."'
The Cowboys signed Vanderjagt expecting to no longer have to worry about their kicking game. Field goals were a constant concern last season, with Parcells blaming three losses on the three kickers he went through.
Vanderjagt wanted to make a good impression early on and pulled a groin muscle. That led to some messed up mechanics, which in turn sidelined him for most of the pre-season. Finally given a chance to perform, he missed two short potential winning kicks in overtime of the pre-season finale and wound up being inactive for the opener.
Parcells seethed over having to keep a second kicker on the 53-man roster and remains perturbed that he had to use both Sunday night against Washington. The other one, Shaun Suisham of Wallaceburg, Ont., was used strictly on kickoffs, which meant one less roster spot for another position.
"That will hurt us eventually," Parcells said. "Something will happen where we will suffer from that. There isn't any doubt about it. It may not happen in the next 14 games. But, someday, you do it long enough it will happen."
Vanderjagt hasn't kicked off regularly for years. He believes the Cowboys are better off with Suisham doing it. Parcells even grudgingly acknowledges that Suisham could consistently pin foes 12 to 15 yards farther back than Vanderjagt.
"Shaun is a weapon," Vanderjagt said. "For me, he's somewhat of an attribute as opposed to a liability. But as everybody here knows, it's Bill's deal. If he doesn't want to go with three (kickers, including the punter), then there's not a lot anyone can do about it."
Such blunt talk is as much Vanderjagt's forte as field goals are. Another sample comes from his admission that he only halfheartedly kicks off during practice.
"I've said it a thousand times, I'm not going to go bang kickoffs as hard as I can in practice. There's just no need," Vanderjagt said. "If he's going to evaluate me in practice, he's not going to like what he sees."
Why not bang them in practice?
"It's just my mentality," he said. "I'm a Sunday guy, or whenever the game is. I just feel like I don't really care if I miss a field goal in practice. It doesn't seem to bother me. I just go out and kick just to satisfy what the practice is supposed to do. It's hard enough to get mentally ready on a Sunday, never mind Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday."
Parcells and Vanderjagt don't speak much. In fact, their only chat in recent weeks was an awkward one. Vanderjagt was soaking in the hot tub reading a golf magazine when Parcells plopped in. They talked golf, then went their separate ways until Parcells shouted some encouraging words following a 50-yard field goal that iced Dallas' 27-10 victory over the Redskins.
Vanderjagt said he expected playing for Parcells to be easier.
"I just thought, 'I'm pretty good at what I do; he'll leave me alone.' But apparently that's not the case," he said. "I figured him out a long time ago. It's his way or the highway, so that's how I'm going to look at it."
Vanderjagt knows he'll ultimately be judged by his kicks. Or, rather, his misses, the ones that get posted inside his locker. As of Wednesday afternoon, he hadn't even written '06.
"I feel like I'm in mid-season form," he said. "I don't anticipate missing soon."
Still, he knows it is likely to happen.
"I'm sure in the next 14 weeks I'm going to miss a kick I wish I'd made and people are going to say I suck again," he said. "But you take the good with the good and the bad with the bad. I'm just going to kick and hopefully they all go in."
posted by The Gryphon at 6:05 PM
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