Burying
the hatchetA year after feuding,
Manning enjoys the Pro Bowl
with Vanderjagt
If Peyton Manning and Mike Vanderjagt wanted to insult each other again during Pro Bowl week, they could have done it to each other's faces this time.
It's not likely, however: A year after the Indianapolis Colts' quarterback and kicker traded barbs in interviews from Toronto to Honolulu, both players are on coach Tony Dungy's AFC team for today's game.
The All-Pros both were key forces in the Colts' most successful season since moving to Indiana in 1984, and their differences have long been resolved. Manning, the NFL's co-MVP along with Tennessee's Steve McNair, is in his fourth Pro Bowl, while Vanderjagt got his first trip to Hawaii after a perfect season on field goals and extra points.
"Those guys are professionals, and that's over," Dungy said of the feud. "It's just great that they both got rewarded with a trip to this game, because I don't think there's anybody more deserving at their positions."
Though everyone involved with the feud now rolls his eyes when the subject is broached, it's almost hard to believe Vanderjagt's future with Indianapolis seemed to be in jeopardy at this time last year because of a few pointed comments.
During an interview with a Canadian sports cable network shortly after a blowout playoff loss, Vanderjagt criticized Manning and Dungy for not showing enough emotion and leadership. He even said he didn't think the Colts could get much better with the two men in charge.
Manning didn't have much to say about the criticism during the week before the Pro Bowl, but he ripped Vanderjagt on national television during a sideline interview, saying he couldn't believe he was wasting time talking about "our idiot kicker who got liquored up and ran his mouth off."
After a few awkward phone calls in the following days and weeks, the players reached detente -- and they both played the best football of their careers in the Colts' run to the AFC South title and a trip to the conference title game.
For Manning, the incident is far in the past. After a spectacular regular season that included a league-leading 4,267 yards passing and an AFC-best 29 touchdown passes, he traveled to the Pro Bowl with his family for the first time -- at least since his trips to watch his father, former New Orleans quarterback Archie Manning.
Peyton Manning's eyes sparkled when he remembered his first experiences in Hawaii -- including the times when he scared his mother by swimming too far into the ocean.
"They were good times, I remember that," Manning said. "I do remember I used to wear jeans on the beach, whatever that means. ... I always look forward to this. As a player, I enjoy the camaraderie. The friends you meet and the players you see over here are the people you're going to be around in the years to come."
Vanderjagt's first trip to Hawaii was a reward for one of the most spectacular seasons in NFL history for a kicker. He went 37-for-37 on field goals, extending a streak that began in 2002 to 41 straight -- an NFL record.
It's easy to forget Vanderjagt nearly was cut twice by the Colts in the offseason -- once before agreeing to restructure his contract in February, and again after missing all three of his field goal attempts in the preseason.
"I'm star-struck," Vanderjagt said in the AFC locker room after practice at Aloha Stadium. "I look around here and see Ray Lewis, Priest Holmes, everybody. It's amazing.
"When it takes 12 hours to get here, you start to think maybe it isn't such a great idea. But once you're here, it's unbelievable. I'd love to make this an every-year thing."
