In today’s media-dominated world of press conferences, interviews and soundbytes there needs to be some consistency for trash talking in sports. Somebody somewhere needs to sit down and lay down the rules for who can speak and when. Back in the day, “guarantees” were few and far between. When someone did go out on a limb to make sure the entire world knew how much of a psychic they were, their prophecy most often came true, like Broadway Joe in Super Bowl III and The Bambino’s called shot.
Nowadays, the art of trash talking has been cheapened so much that everyone thinks they can do it. When Chad Johnson starts guaranteeing wins for the Cincinnati Bengals, you know there is a problem. And when a kicker whose leg gets more rest then Barry Bonds in his clubhouse recliner starts talking crap to the winner of two out of the last three Super Bowls, something must be done.
Mike Vanderjagt has some serious issues if he thinks he has any warrant for calling the Pats “ripe for the picking”. Vanderjagt was the game’s best kicker … a season ago. Converting all of his 37 field goals last year is no small feat, but this year the best kicker in the league is that of his opponent, Adam Vinateri.
Vanderjagt could also be one of the league’s least used kickers. He plays for a team that has a 99.9 percent chance of scoring a touchdown every time it has the ball. Going 20-25 this year while playing half of your games inside the RCA Dome is pretty pathetic.
The man must think that he is some integral part of the team, when he is really just as replaceable as the waterboy. Kickers change teams on the kicking carousel just as much as coaches do on theirs every year. Finding someone to earn less than a million to trot onto the field a couple of times a game and kick a ball through two posts is not that difficult. The position requires no thinking or physical strength and is the softest position on a field filled with the biggest beasts around.
You only hear about kickers when they screw up, because they are expected to do what they do. For as little as they are used and as much as they are paid, kickers should make their field goals and get their touchbacks every single time.
Vanderjagt keeps his mouth shut the entire season as his team steamrolls through opponents, he sits on the bench and now, at playoff time, he decides to open his mouth. Who is babysitting this guy? I don’t think the defending Super Bowl champs need any more motivation, but if they were lacking, they have all the drive they need now. Having a kicker call out your team is like having your kid brother beat you up. It’s just not done.
If Peyton Manning, the league’s MVP, an actual asset to the franchise, said something, I’m sure that people would respect it more then the junk Vanderjagt spewed the other day. Telling people his goal next year is to kick in the CFL just shows his head definitely is not on straight. Something needs to be done before he costs his team the game, on the field or off. After all, as Tom Brady so eloquently put it, “He’s just a kicker.”
