By Peter Lefko / Sportsnet.ca

A kicker's life can sometimes be measured by success or failure on one particular play, as Sunday's NFC and AFC championship games clearly illustrated.

Lawrence Tynes of the New York Giants nails a 31-yard field goal to help his team beat the San Francisco 49ers 20-17 in overtime to win the NFC game and he's interviewed after the game. Earlier in the day, Baltimore's Billy Cundiff missed a 32-yard field goal that would have sent the game into overtime in the Ravens' 23-20 loss to New England in the AFC game. He was not interviewed immediately afterward, although later in the locker room he shouldered the blame for the missed boot.

Two extreme plays, one in which one kicker is hailed as a hero, while the other is labeled a goat.

"Everyone says it's the ultimate team sport. Well if it's a team sport, why is everyone pointing the finger on one player and one play?" B.C. Lions kicker Paul McCallum told sportsnet.ca. "I just get fed up when anyone wants to point the finger. Sure, the kicker may make mistakes, but it just baffles me that in a team game you point the finger of blame on one person when you've got how many plays in a football game?"

McCallum has experienced the highs and lows of kicking, a profession that is not physical but more mental and emotional. The kicker may be on the field for only a few seconds, but they are precious and can influence a win or a defeat. Some football players will denounce kickers because of their limited role, but that's their job.

No sooner had Cundiff missed the field goal and the Twitter world was full of snide remarks about Mike Vanderjagt, Scott Norwood and McCallum, three kickers who have known joy and disappointment in their job. Norwood missed a 47-yard attempt at the end of the game that would have given the Buffalo Bills the win over the New York Giants in the 1991 Super Bowl. He would cruelly be referred to as "Wide Right," his value leading up to that point diminished forevermore. Vanderjagt set an NFL record one year with the Indianapolis Colts, becoming the first kicker to go through an entire season without missing a field goal or point-after try. But some people - certainly those in the Twitter world - were recalling his missed 46-yard field goal that cost the Colts a chance to send the game into overtime in a 2005 playoff game against Pittsburgh. For all Vanderjagt had done to that point, it was that miss people chose to remember.

In the 2006 Grey Cup, McCallum successfully kicked all six field-goal attempts in the B.C. Lions' 25-14 victory over the Montreal Alouettes and was later voted the Most Outstanding Canadian player of the game. But McCallum is also known for missing an 18-yard field goal in overtime in the Saskatchewan Roughriders' 2004 West Division Final loss to B.C. He had eggs thrown at his home, manure dumped on a next-door neighbor's driveway and his family received some death threats.

And following Cundiff's miss, McCallum took to his Twitter account, offended that some people were blaming Cundiff instead of looking at it as a team game and a team loss. In McCallum's mind, the kicker wasn't the sole reason the Ravens lost, noting the dropped ball in the end zone on the same series by receiver Lee Evans.

"I'm not saying he shouldn't have made it, he should have," McCallum said. "He made a mistake and missed it, just like the receiver dropped the ball in the end zone."

When asked what advice he would give to Cundiff, McCallum said: "You've made kicks before, it's just unfortunate you missed in a situation like that. You just have to think to yourself you're better than that and don't let the outside distractions and negative people get to you. Just do what you've been doing, keep your head up and keep kicking."

McCallum also had some interesting thoughts about Tynes, a player he knew from his days in the CFL with the Ottawa Renegades.

"For me, Lawrence Tynes didn't win that game himself. He did his job and helped his team win," McCallum said. "The offensive lineman blocked for (quarterback) Eli Manning to pass the ball, everyone did their job. If those guys don't do those things, Lawrence doesn't have an opportunity to kick the field goal. For people to say Lawrence won the game is a little narrow-minded."

When asked how long the missed kick stayed with him, McCallum replied with a laugh: "We're talking about it, aren't we? It's just how you deal with it. I've made so many kicks since then, but (people) still talk about it.

"People are twittering about me right now. I just keep on going. One mistake is not going to define career, so if people want to talk about it, go ahead, but I've done a lot since then."

By Don Manley / Marcoislandflorida.com

Monday was a big day for Marco Island Charter Middle School as its new football program held its inaugural practice that afternoon.

About 18 Marco charter students got familiar with each other and the team’s coaches, who schooled them in the basics of the game.

For two hours, the sixth through eighth graders paid rapt attention to coaches instructions and practiced some of the passing, kicking, blocking and pass-catching techniques they will utilize next football season.

Kat Bray, whose son Jordan Barrett is on the team, is ecstatic with the new addition to the school’s sports roster.

“I think that all schools should have a football team, whether your child is interested in playing football or another sport, because it brings the school together, gives a sense of camaraderie and it can carry over to many other areas,” such as cheerleading and band, said Bray.

The Marco Island Charter Middle School Eagles head coach is former NFL great Mike Vanderjagt, who lives on the island and will also coach the Marco Island Academy high school team.

Vanderjagt was a place kicker for the Indianapolis Colts and the Dallas Cowboys for nine years, and spent four years playing in the CFL. Vanderjagt formerly held the NFL record for career field goal accuracy.

That NFL background is already paying dividends.

Vanderjagt and his assistant coaches — Chris Burt, Scott Gibbs, Jim Young and his brother Lee Vanderjagt — visited with one of Mike Vanderjagt’s former head coaches, Tony Dungy, in Tampa last week.

In fact, the Eagles will use a Dungy-designed defense that’s popular around the NFL — “Tampa 2.”

“Jim Young and I will do our offense based on our knowledge and what we want to do offensively,” Vanderjagt said. “But we’re going to go with Tony’s scheme defensively and from a head-coaching standpoint, just what I’ve learned from Jim Mora, Tony Dungy and Bill Parcells — I’ll be leaning on what I learned while I was in the NFL, which I guess isn’t a bad thing.”

Vanderjagt said another six practices will be held before the June 9 close of the school year and practices will resume in August.

Roger Lalonde / Naples Daily News

MARCO ISLAND, Fla. — The new Marco Island Academy has decided to add football to its sports programs, and it will have a big name heading the coaching staff.

Mike Vanderjagt, former record-setting NFL place-kicker, is the coach.

“I’ve wanted to get into coaching for a couple of years now,” Vanderjagt said. “I talked to Lely (High) and a few other schools, but nothing materialized. Now I can stay on the island and coach, it is the best of both worlds.

Vanderjagt, 41, will coordinate the entire program as it develops. His career field goal accuracy was 86.5 percent.

“There has been a lot of interest and it seems like there is no time like the present to start football as we grow with other sports programs,” said Roger Raymond, the school’s first athletic director.

The CFL’s Toronto Argonauts signed him in 1996, with Vanderjagt being a key in the team winning two straight Grey Cups. In those two championship games he made all nine of his field goal attempts. For his 1996 efforts he was named the game’s most valuable Canadian. He also led the CFL in yardage per punt in 1997.

He played nine seasons in the NFL, for the Indianapolis Colts from 1998-2005 and with the Dallas Cowboys in 2006. He was released in the latter portion of the 2006 season.

He is best known for his stupendous field-goal kicking effort that actually took parts of three seasons. While with the Colts he made good on four field goals at the end of the 2002 season, then went a perfect 37-for-37 in 2003, until his streak ended in the 2004. Few were chippies, with the longest being 51 yards.

Jane Watt, the school’s chairwoman, is thrilled to have Vanderjagt.

“Can you believe it?” she said. “I am so excited that he wants to work with the kids. We are so lucky to have this amazing professional to share his knowledge and talents. Most kids only dream of meeting a professional football player, and to actually be coached by one is amazing.”

Chris Pellant, school principal joins in the enthusiasm.

“I’m really excited about coach Vanderjagt as our head football coach,” he said. “His background as a professional football player adds instant credibility to the program. No one becomes the most accurate kicker in NFL history without having an incredible work ethic and passion for the sport. More importantly, however, is his ability to work well with kids and to be a positive role model for them.”

Vanderjagt owns and operates Vandy’s 5 Brothers Restaurant on the island. He also resides on Marco with wife Janalyn and son Jay.

He has worked with young kids on the island in football, basketball and soccer.

“I like working with that age group,” he said. “I like their innocence of them for one. I want to have a program that includes a lot of fun. Basically, coaching at this age is like an artist’s version of a blank canvass. You can kind of mold them to be a good player because they have no preconceived notions in general about sports.”

Vanderjagt has already talked to possible coaching assistants, all from Marco, he said.

Also on his side is Tony Dungy, former NFL championship coach, who Vanderjagt was under at Indianapolis.

“I plan on taking my staff up to Tampa for a chalk-talk with him,” Vanderjagt said. “He is on my speed dial.”

The school will start out with freshman and sophomore students. Will that be difficult to recruit players who now go to Lely, St. John Neumann, or other off-island schools?

All those involved with the school think that Vanderjagt can have an immediate impact on attracting additional students. Like some of those schools, it can enroll students from all over the county.

“I can tell those who are considering coming here that I will make them into a good football player,” Vanderjagt said. “As for scholarships, Peyton Manning went to a small high school. As we grow we can provide as good an opportunity as anywhere in Southwest Florida.”