Sources: Colts kicker Vanderjagt attempts life

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Sources: Colts kicker Vanderjagt attempts life

By CLIFF BRUNT, Associated Press Writer
January 17, 2006

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Colts kicker Mike Vanderjagt attempted to take his own life yesterday at his Indianapolis home.

Carmel 911 received a frantic call from Janalyn Vanderjagt at about 4:35 Monday evening. Apparently, Janalyn had just arrived home along with the couples son Jay Michael. Janalyn found her husband Mike attempting to hang himself in the couples bedroom. Janalyn tried to persuade Mike to rethink what he was about to do. Mike repeatedly attempted to kick the chair out from under him but was unsuccessful.

That's when Janalyn called 911. Police along with fire and rescue were dispatched to the suburban Indianapolis home. Rescue personnel were able to talk Vanderjagt down after about 10 minutes. Vanderjagt remained in an area hospital today in stable condition.

Colts fans couldn't believe that the normally dependable Vanderjagt missed a 46-yard field goal with 21 seconds left that could have sent the game into overtime. They were equally shocked that the Colts, who started the season with 13 straight wins and had the league's best record, trailed 21-3 heading into the fourth quarter.

The result was all too familiar, as Indianapolis has qualified for the playoffs the last four seasons but hasn't reached the Super Bowl.

James Dungy, the 18-year-old son of Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy, was found dead in a Tampa-area apartment last month.

Dungy said that Vanderjagt did a great job for the Indianapolis Colts, but the bottom line is he came up short -- again.

http://www.iiffl.net/nflnews/ap/news...ype=story.html