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saw that,big news. The guy is a mental case.
Finnnnnnnnallllly
Signed Martin Gramatica
saw that,big news. The guy is a mental case.
If the Cowboys can somehow find a consistent kicker, they will be very tough to beat
Not for freaking Martin Grammatica.
At least Grammatica has made super bowl kicks. I never saw vanderjagt make an important kick and told everyone he would choke when the cowboys signed him.
yeah, Grammatica rules!!!
Anyone is better than Vanderchoke.
Hmmm don't like this....not an upgrade...might even be a downgrade.
Hmmm... not sure this makes the team better...
Kicked Off
Cowboys Release Vanderjagt; Sign Martin Gramatica
Nick Eatman - Email
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
November 27, 2006 4:59 PM
IRVING, Texas - The Cowboys are one of the hottest teams in the NFL. They've got the league's highest-rated quarterback and their defense is playing at the top of its game, too.
But the Cowboys have won four of their last five games with one of the league's coldest kickers. So cold, the Cowboys were forced to finally make a change.
The Cowboys signed Martin Gramatica on Monday and released Mike Vanderjagt, who made just 13 of 18 field goal attempts this season.
By cutting Vanderjagt now, the Cowboys will absorb about $1.6 million remaining of the $2.5 million signing bonus he received last March. The Cowboys originally signed Vanderjagt to a three-year deal worth $5.4 million.
Gramatica, once one of the NFL's best field-goal kickers who made the Pro Bowl in 2001, spent five years with the Buccaneers before being released in 2004 when his field-goal accuracy dipped dramatically. He actually was signed by the Colts, who had Vanderjagt for field goals and used Gramatica strictly for kickoff purposes.
But the Colts released Gramatica in 2005, and he spent the entire season out of football before signing with the Patriots this past April. He was released at the end of training camp and signed with the Colts again as a temporary injury replacement for Adam Vinatieri.
The Cowboys have struggled to find consistency at kicker, a position they thought would be shored up this year when they signed Vanderjagt, who entered the season as the most accurate field-goal kicker in NFL history.
While Vanderjagt still leads all kickers with an .864 career percentage, his perception of being a money kicker started to change. Vanderjagt has made 13 of 18 field goals this season for a .722 percentage, which ranks 29th out of 33 NFL kickers this year with at least 10 attempts.
Vanderjagt has already missed five field goals this year, two less than his combined misses in the last three seasons. Four of those five misses have clanged off the right upright, and his other miss just missed the right upright as well.
While the Cowboys had given Vanderjagt the benefit of the doubt, mainly because of his track record, they apparently felt they couldn't wait any longer for his inconsistencies to end, especially with five games left on the schedule and the team sitting one game ahead of the Giants in the NFC East.
Gramatica will become the seventh different kicker to play in a regular-season game since Bill Parcells took over as head coach in 2003.
Billy Cundiff spent the first two seasons with the club before a quad injury in training camp last year forced the Cowboys to release him with an injury settlement. The Cowboys used Jose Cortez and Shaun Suisham, then re-signed Cundiff for six games before they released him with one game left on the schedule. Suisham returned for the season finale, but the Cowboys signed Vanderjagt in the off-season.
But Vanderjagt was far from the kicker he was in Indianapolis for the previous eight seasons. A nagging groin injury limited his availability in training camp and preseason. After missing two game-winning kicks in a preseason tie with the the Vikings, Vanderjagt was not active for the regular-season opener at Jacksonville.
The Cowboys activated Suisham, who also missed a key 36-yard attempt in the third quarter, and then kept both Suisham and Vanderjagt active for the following game against the Redskins.
But since then, Vanderjagt has been the only active kicker for the Cowboys, handling both field goals and kickoffs. His kickoffs improved in the last few games, and he recorded a touchback on Thanksgiving against the Bucs.
But he was signed for his field-goal accuracy, and missing two against the Colts on Nov. 23 ultimately helped sealed his fate here in Dallas.
http://dallascowboys.com/news.cfm?id...3D05EDE8EE6EC9
Vanderjagt WAS one of the best kickers... honestly, that kick he missed last year ruined his career mentally. I really think that he hasn't and will not get over that. Thank god we have Gramatica now, or better, ANYONE other than Vanderjagt! This will really help us out I think.
Cowboys should draft Alexis Serna or Mason Crosby.
see ya VANDERSHANK!!!
Neither of the Dramatica twins is worth a crap anymore.
The guy has zero confidence. It's a no brainer, the guy can't kick off and misses chip shots. That Steeler game really messed him up in his head lol....see ya later Vanderchoke.
I wonder if Parcells just saw that this team is on a mission, and doesn't want a possible run to be derailed by a headcase kicker - that's been struggling all year, but being kept around because he's a name. Supposedly Dungy said that Gramatica was kicking as well as he had in years. And, if there's one upside to it, he can put it in the endzone on KOs.
I agree, I think this is a good move. Vandy was too y for his own good and was given enough rope to hang himself. Guess what? He did.
I've seen Vanderjagt shank more than just that one attempt against the steelers. he choked even worse against the dolphins the year he made like 50 in a row, but in the playoffs he missed wide right from 40yrds or so to lose the game. saw him do the same crap against tampa the following year during a monday night game.
dang i have a memory of an elephant.
Rather have Venderwack than a kicker who blew his knee out celebrating a made field goal
wrong gramatica.
IMO, if Vanderjagoff had the ability to put kickoffs into the end zone he'd still be on the team. Parcells is thinking field position in the playoffs, not kicks to decide games.
Doubt the kicker they signed can do better on kick-offs
I hate that piece of .
That was Bill Gramatica not Martin Gramatica.
Dear Mike,
This is decaf, right?
Sincerely,
Peyton
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