Theory: Vanderchoke didn’t choke at all

Written by Jamie Will

It is hard for most people to look back on this weekend’s NFL playoff game between the Colts and Steelers and see past Mike Vanderjagt, the NFL’s all-time most accurate kicker, missing the goal posts by a few counties. It is easy to say “The kicker choked! He cost Manning and Dungy their chance at the Super Bowl!” However, I have a different type of theory on the kick that I don’t think many people are ready for…

HE DID IT ON PURPOSE

Before everybody calls for my head, hear me out. The Colts’ organization’s dislike for their loudmouth kicker, who once called out Peyton Manning’s leadership in the media, has been well documented and is a known fact by many.

A lesser known point is that Vanderjagt’s contract is up this year and indications have been that he will be let go by the team. In a game in which kickers often save teams’ seasons and clutch, accurate kickers are invaluable, Vanderjagt has often gone uncelebrated and arguably disrespected by the Colts franchise.

Now back to the main point at hand. Seeing as Peyton and his buddies were dubbed the “Chosen Ones” by nearly everyone across the country throughout this season and Vanderjagt was being kicked out the door without any care, I think the atrocity that was Vanderjagt’s last kick of this season may have been intended to start several yards right of the goal posts and continue going away from them.

Yes, if what I am saying is true, and a big part of me hopes it wasn’t really his intention (out of sympathy for Tony Dungy,) it would be one of the biggest NFL scandals in a long time. But is it crazy to think this off the wall kicker didn’t act in spite of those who disrespected him and underappreciated his value to the team? For a kicker as accurate as Vanderjagt is, the fact he was in his cozy dome and that the snap and hold were fine really makes you wonder how the ball could miss that miserably, and the only feasible explanation is that he wanted it to.

His 15 yard penalty-worthy helmet smash afterwards was not in anger; unless he was mad at the fact he missed by so much, making it less believable. I believe it was rather an act of further anti-Colts sentiment on his way out the door.

So, the “choke of the year” by the kicker of the NFL’s favorite “choke artists,” was not a choke at all but rather a perfectly executed plan by a vengeful kicker on his way out the door. Vanderjagt will now likely hit the market and find a new team to be accurate and reliable for, while the Colts will need miracles to shed the choker label.