Morten Andersen

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Morten Andersen
Date of birth	August 19, 1960 (age 46)
Place of birth	Copenhagen, Denmark
Position(s)	Placekicker
College	Michigan State
NFL Draft	1982 / Round 4/ Pick 86
Career Highlights
Pro Bowls	1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1996
Awards	NFL 1990s All-Decade Team NFL 1980s All-Decade Team
Records	Holds several NFL records
Stats
Statistics	CBS.com DatabaseFootball
Team(s)
1982-1994 1995-2000 2001 2002-2003 2004 2006	New Orleans Saints Atlanta Falcons New York Giants Kansas City Chiefs Minnesota Vikings Atlanta Falcons

Morten Andersen (born August 19, 1960, in Copenhagen, Denmark) is an American football placekicker who played for the Atlanta Falcons in 2006 and is currently a free agent. He has enjoyed a long career as one of the NFL's most prolific kickers. At age 46, he is the oldest player in the NFL, and is seven months older than current Falcons head coach Bobby Petrino.

On December 16, 2006, Andersen passed Gary Anderson to become the all-time leading scorer in NFL history. Andersen also passed Anderson on December 24, 2006 to become the NFL's career leader in field goals made.

1 Early life
2 NFL career
3 Career stats
4 NFL records
5 Trivia
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Early life

Though born in Copenhagen, Andersen was raised in the west Jutland town of Struer, Denmark.^[1] As a student, he was a gymnast and a long jumper, and barely missed becoming a member of the Danish junior national soccer team. He visited the United States in 1977 as a Youth For Understanding exchange student. He first kicked an American football on a whim at Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis. He was so impressive in his one season of high school football that he was given a scholarship to Michigan State University.

Andersen starred at Michigan State setting several records, including a Big Ten Conference record 63-yard field goal against Ohio State University. He was named an All American in 1981. His success landed him the kicking job with the New Orleans Saints, who drafted him in the 4th round with the 86th overall pick.

[edit] NFL career

Andersen's NFL career got off to a rocky start. On his first NFL kickoff to start the 1982 season, Andersen twisted his ankle and missed eight weeks of the season.^[2] Despite the early setback, he soon emerged as one of the strongest and most reliable placekickers in the NFL. In his years with the Saints, he was named to six Pro Bowls, kicked 302 field goals, and scored 1318 points. In 1991, against Chicago, Andersen kicked a 60-yard field goal, tying him with Steve Cox for the second-longest field goal in league history at the time, behind the 63-yard record-holder kicked by Tom Dempsey. (Andersen's kick has since been matched by Rob Bironas and surpassed by Jason Elam and Matt Bryant.) Andersen's proficiency with field goal kicking earned him the nickname "Mr. Automatic." Following the 1994 season, he was released by the Saints for salary cap purposes and because his accuracy had started to decline.

Following his release by the Saints, Andersen signed with the Atlanta Falcons. He silenced those who felt him to be washed up and was once again named a Pro Bowler during his time in Atlanta. In December 1995, he became the first player in League history to kick three field goals of over 50 yards in a single game, against the Saints in Atlanta. As a Falcon, he made franchise history by kicking the game-winning field goal in overtime in the 1998 NFC Championship Game to beat the Minnesota Vikings and send the team to its first-ever Super Bowl appearance.

He went on to play with the New York Giants for the 2001 season, followed by the Kansas City Chiefs the following two seasons. In the 2004 offseason, Andersen was beaten out for the kicking job by rookie Lawrence Tynes. He was released by the Chiefs for the final roster cutdown and was subsequently signed by the Vikings. Although his leg strength had declined greatly with age, he continued to prove himself accurate for field goals. Having not been signed by a team following the 2004 season, he became a free agent and did not play in 2005. He announced NFL Europe games in the 2005 season.

In January 2006, Andersen was inducted as the first member of the Danish American Football Federation Hall of Fame. Later that year, Andersen returned to the NFL, re-signing with the Atlanta Falcons. His first game back was against his former team, the Saints, on Monday Night Football. The game was the first game in the Superdome since Hurricane Katrina prevented its use for the entire 2005 regular season. Andersen scored the first Falcon points with a 26-yard field goal in the first quarter. In his second game back, Andersen made all five of his attempted field goals (matching, for the ninth time,^[3] a career best), as well as both extra point attempts. He was named NFC special teams player of the week, becoming the oldest player to earn the honor since the award was first introduced in 1984.^[4] He is also the team record holder for both the New Orleans Saints^[5] and the Atlanta Falcons for overall points scored.

[edit] Career stats

Regular season statistics (24 seasons)
Year	Team	Games	FGM	FGA	%	<20	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+	LNG	BLK	XPM	XPA	%	PTS
1982	NO	8	2	5	40.0	0-0	0-0	1-1	1-3	0-1	45	0	6	6	100.0	12
1983	NO	16	18	24	75.0	2-2	8-8	3-4	2-6	3-4	52	1	37	38	97.4	91
1984	NO	16	20	27	74.1	0-0	9-9	4-4	5-11	2-3	53	1	34	34	100.0	94
1985	NO	16	31	35	88.6	0-0	4-5	13-14	11-12	3-4	55	1	27	29	93.1	108
1986	NO	16	26	30	86.7	1-1	11-11	6-7	6-6	2-5	53	0	30	30	100.0	120
1987	NO	12	28	36	77.8	3-3	6-6	9-9	8-12	2-6	52	0	37	37	100.0	121
1988	NO	16	26	36	72.2	1-1	11-12	8-11	5-8	1-4	51	1	32	33	97.0	110
1989	NO	16	20	29	69.0	0-0	7-8	10-11	3-6	0-4	49	1	44	45	97.8	104
1990	NO	16	21	27	77.8	0-0	5-5	5-6	8-12	3-4	52	1	29	29	100.0	92
1991	NO	16	25	32	78.1	0-0	6-6	11-13	6-9	2-4	60	0	38	38	100.0	113
1992	NO	16	29	34	85.3	0-0	10-10	8-10	8-11	3-3	52	0	33	34	97.1	120
1993	NO	16	28	35	80.0	2-2	7-7	7-7	11-14	1-5	56	0	33	33	100.0	117
1994	NO	16	28	39	71.8	0-0	9-9	11-14	8-10	0-6	48	3	32	32	100.0	116
1995	ATL	16	31	37	83.8	1-1	8-8	11-11	3-8	8-9	59	2	29	30	96.7	122
1996	ATL	16	22	29	75.9	0-0	5-5	9-11	7-8	1-5	54	1	31	31	100.0	97
1997	ATL	16	23	27	85.2	1-1	10-10	7-7	3-6	2-3	55	0	35	35	100.0	104
1998	ATL	16	23	28	82.1	0-1	8-9	7-7	6-9	2-2	53	2	51	52	98.1	120
1999	ATL	16	15	21	71.4	1-1	5-5	5-8	4-6	0-1	49	1	34	34	100.0	79
2000	ATL	16	25	31	80.6	0-0	6-6	6-7	11-15	2-3	51	0	23	23	100.0	98
2001	NYG	16	23	28	82.1	0-0	8-8	7-8	6-7	2-5	51	0	29	30	96.7	98
2002	KC	14	22	26	84.8	0-0	6-6	10-10	5-9	1-1	50	0	51	51	100.0	117
2003	KC	16	16	20	80.0	0-0	3-3	8-8	5-8	0-1	49	1	58	59	98.3	106
2004	MIN	16	18	22	81.8	1-1	8-8	5-7	4-6	0-0	48	0	45	45	100.0	99
2006	ATL	14	20	23	87.0	0-0	7-8	6-6	7-8	0-1	45	1	27	27	100.0	87
Career:		368	540	681	79.3	13-14	167-172	177-201	143-210	40-84	60	17	825	835	98.8	2445

[edit] NFL records

As of the end of the 2006 NFL season, Andersen holds the following NFL records:

Most games played (career) - 368
Most field goals (career) - 540
Most points (career) - 2,445
Most field goals attempted (career) - 681
Most field goals (50 or more yards) (total) - 40
Most field goals (50 or more yards) in a season - 8
Most field goals (50 or more yards) in a game - 3 (vs. New Orleans, December 10, 1995)
Most seasons, 100 or more points - 14 (tied with Gary Anderson)
Most consecutive games with a point (career) - 346

Pro Bowl records:

Most points in Pro Bowl (total) - 45 (15 points after touchdown, 10 field goals)
Most points after touchdown in Pro Bowl (total) - 15
Most field goal attempts in Pro Bowl (total) - 18
Most field goals in Pro Bowl (total) - 10

Andersen currently holds second place in the following NFL records:

Most points after touchdown attempted (career) - 835 (First place: George Blanda, 959)
Most points after touchdown made (career) - 825 (First place: George Blanda, 943)

Andersen has stated that his goal is to be the first NFL player to play until he turns 50 in 2010.^[6] If he plays on or after December 7, 2008, Andersen will become the oldest person ever to play in an NFL game. The record is currently held by George Blanda, who played in his last NFL game on January 4, 1976 (the 1975 AFC Championship) at the age of 48 years, 110 days.

[edit] Trivia

There are a number of interesting coincidences between Andersen and former NFL placekicker Gary Anderson. Andersen and Anderson have nearly identical last names, were born within a year of one another outside of the United States (Anderson was born in South Africa), came to the United States as teenagers, had long and successful NFL careers throughout the 1980s and 1990s, and hold first or second place in a number of NFL records for scoring, field goals, and longevity.

[edit] References

^ Morten Andersen #7. nflplayers.com. Retrieved on 2006-12-09.
^ Zimmerman, Paul. "Just For Kicks", Sports Illustrated, October 16, 2003. Retrieved on 2006-12-17.
^ SPORTSTICKER NFL RECAP (ARIZONA-ATLANTA) at CoverWire.com
^ Ageless K Andersen earns NFC honors, NFL, October 4, 2006
^ Scoring at New Orleans Saints
^ Bob Harris, 2003 Camp Battles: Kickers lace 'em up, Sports Illustrated, August 7, 2003

[edit] External links

Morten Andersen's stats on NFL.com
Morten Andersen at ESPN.com
Copenhagen Post profile of Andersen
Minnesota Score story on Andersen
NFL All-Time Statistical Leaders from The Sports Network

Preceded by Gary Anderson (2,434)	Career NFL points record holder (2,445) 2006–present	Succeeded by Current record holder
Preceded by Gary Anderson (538)	Career NFL Field Goals made (540) 2006–present	Succeeded by Current record holder
Preceded by Gary Anderson (672)	Career NFL Field Goal Attempts (681) 2006–present	Succeeded by Current record holder