Courtesy Toronto Star:

Mike Vanderjagt saw himself simply as Mike from Oakville.

So he didn’t think anything he said would be, as he puts it, “worth anything.”

But what he had to say about coach Tony Dungy and star quarterback Peyton Manning after the Indianapolis Colts were thrashed 41-0 by the New York Jets in a 2002 season playoff game was worth a lot of newsprint and air time.

That outburst resulted in Manning labelling him as “our idiot kicker” and it was the beginning of the end of a superb career with the Colts. Two years later, he was released by Indianapolis. He was signed by the Dallas Cowboys in 2006 but cut 10 games into the season.

While he’s showcased himself with several NFL teams since then, nothing led to a contract.

So yesterday, Vanderjagt was back on a football field two days after signing with the Argonauts, the team he left after the 1997 CFL season and back-to-back Grey Cup victories. His return resulted in the Argos trading popular kicker/punter Noel Prefontaine to the Edmonton Eskimos.

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