INDIANAPOLIS -- Mike Vanderjagt was concerned for his job with the Indianapolis Colts after saying things he immediately realized he should have kept quiet.

	Vanderjagt

	Manning

Quarterback Peyton Manning didn't want the team to lose the most accurate kicker in NFL history, despite his anger over Vanderjagt's public criticism.

That, both players said, was why they ended a public feud that began with a television interview in which Vanderjagt harshly criticized his quarterback and coach. The discord escalated when Manning retaliated by calling the kicker an "idiot."

"Mike wants to be here and I want him to be here," Manning told The Indianapolis Star for a story Wednesday. "Mike is a very important part of the team."

Vanderjagt said he was concerned for his future in the NFL, not just with the Colts.

"I was concerned they would cut me and no one else would want me," he told the Star.

	“	I've retracted what I should retract and apologized, and Peyton has apologized. I just want the city of Indianapolis to like Peyton and to like me. ”
		— Mike Vanderjagt

Both players said they apologized to each other during a series of phone conversations Tuesday evening.

"We both said things we shouldn't have said, and certainly in the forum we shouldn't have said them in," Vanderjagt told The Star.

The resolution came as coach Tony Dungy said the spat should have been handled within the team.

"I really believe that when you have differences in the family, you want to keep it in-house," Dungy told a Butler University student group after a speech about religion.

Dungy's comments were the first from any Colts official since Manning harshly criticized Vanderjagt in a sideline interview Sunday during the Pro Bowl.

Manning was in Hawaii preparing for the game last week when Vanderjagt was interviewed on a Canadian cable TV sports network. Among other things, the kicker said Manning should show more emotion, Dungy is too nice to be effective, and many other Colts players lack a passion for the game.

Stung by the comments, Manning called Vanderjagt an "idiot kicker," despite Vanderjagt's quick apology and his explanation that he was just frustrated with losing.

"The sad thing is, he's a good kicker. He's a good kicker, but he's an idiot," Manning said on ABC.

Dungy said Tuesday night he had spoken with Manning and Vanderjagt, but declined to discuss specifics or the timing of those conversations.

Vanderjagt's agent, Gil Scott, said last week his client already had spoken with Dungy and Colts president Bill Polian.

Vanderjagt is coming off his worst season, in which he missed eight of 31 field-goal attempts.

Manning was selected to his third Pro Bowl and became the first NFL quarterback to throw for 4,000 yards in four consecutive seasons.

Dungy took over the Colts last year and went 10-6 before losing 41-0 to the New York Jets in the first round of the AFC playoffs.

Manning and Vanderjagt said it was time to move on.

"I've retracted what I should retract and apologized, and Peyton has apologized," Vanderjagt said.

"I just want the city of Indianapolis to like Peyton and to like me. We're not going anywhere, so we might as well all just get along."