Morten Andersen
| Morten Andersen | |
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Position (s): Kicker |
Jersey numbers: 5, 6, 7, 8, |
| born on August 19, 1960 in Copenhagen , Denmark | |
| Career information | |
| Active : 1982 - 2007 | |
| NFL Draft : 1982 / Round: 4 / Pick: 86 | |
| College : Michigan State | |
| Teams | |
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| Career statistics | |
| Field goals scored | 565 |
| Points after touchdown | 849 |
| Points | 2544 |
| Stats at NFL.com | |
| Stats at pro-football-reference.com | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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| Pro Football Hall of Fame | |
Morten Andersen (born August 19, 1960 in Copenhagen ) is a former Danish American football player on the position of kicker , who was last active for the Atlanta Falcons in the National Football League (NFL). At 47, Andersen was the oldest active player in the NFL, a year older than his last head coach, Bobby Petrino . Furthermore, he holds many NFL records in the field of kicking and as a "long-runner". He has been called up to the Pro Bowl seven times (including four times in a row from 1986 to 1989) and is also a member of the NFL Allstar teams of the 1980s and 1990s. He is a member of the 2017 Pro Football Hall of Fame Class.
life and career
Early years
Andersen was born in Copenhagen but grew up in Struer in western Jutland . Even in his school days he was very athletic, he had successes in long jump and gymnastics and just barely missed the leap into the youth football team of Denmark.
Getting started in high school and college
Andersen first came into contact with football during a student exchange in 1977 when he was playing for the exchange year at a high school in Indianapolis and made such an impact that Michigan State University spontaneously offered him a scholarship. He put almost all records of the university on new, such as a 63- yard - field goal against the rivals of Ohio State University , which is even in the Conference his university still record. This earned him so-called "All-American Honors," which means that he was elected to the All-Star Team of all college football teams in the United States in 1981.
In the NFL
"Mr. Automatic “- 13 years with the Saints
On this career, Andersen was selected in the fourth round of the 1981 NFL draft by the New Orleans Saints . Here he quickly became one of the best and, above all, most reliable kickers in the entire league. In addition to the six of his seven Pro Bowl appointments, he also set up some "brands" as kicker, such as: B. A 60-yard field goal against the Chicago Bears in 1991 . This makes him one of just six kickers in the NFL who could score a field goal from 60 yards or more, and he also has an advantage over his long-time competitor Gary Anderson . Due to its high reliability (see table below) it was named “Mr. Automatic ”as the name for his kicks, which always looked good and almost all of them hit their target. After the 1994 season, the Saints wanted to force a pay cut on him so that they would stay below the salary cap . Due to his reliability, however, he did not see this and terminated the contract. Many Saints fans and officials mourned the missed opportunity to extend their contract with this poor offer for a long time.
Switch to competitor Atlanta Falcons
After Andersen was free for the player market, it was the Atlanta Falcons who gave him a new contract. So he was able to “return the favor” directly to his old team, as they meet twice a year as division opponents. He did so in December of his first season with the Falcons, when he scored three field goals over 50 yards in one game, setting another record. He also achieved this season with 122 points, resulting from 31 field goals and 29 extra points, the highest score of his career. Furthermore, Andersen was invited to his seventh Pro Bowl here and led the Falcons through his field goal in extra time against the Minnesota Vikings in the 1998 Conference Championship for the first Super Bowl in team history. He stayed with the Falcons until 2000.
Further teams from 2001 and return to Atlanta
From 2001, Andersen gradually became a "globetrotter" and "temporary worker" as a kicker due to his increasing age. A season with the New York Giants was followed by two in Kansas City with the Chiefs . Here he seemed to gain a foothold again until he fell victim to the team's final "cut" to 54 players in favor of rookie Lawrence Tynes . (To prepare for the season, the teams still have up to 80 players in their squad, which they have to reduce to 54 by the start of the season - usually in several steps. Of these, "only" 45 are allowed to enter the field on match day) . The Minnesota Vikings took advantage of the situation and signed Andersen for one season (2004). Now Andersen was slowly becoming a cult figure since he was now 44 years old. After that season, however, he was released again and did not play in the NFL for the first time in 22 years in the 2005 season. After appearances in the NFL Europe , as it was called at the time, it also seemed in 2006 that no team wanted to take on Andersen. However, after the Falcons' uniqueness of uniting Michael Koenen as kicker and punter in one person failed due to Koenen's lack of quality as a kicker, Andersen got a new contract with his old team. Here he scored on December 16, 2006 with an extra point after the touchdown, his 2436th point, which made him the best point collector of all time, ahead of Gary Anderson. That extra point was celebrated as much as someone who would have decided the game. At the beginning of the season, he was named the NFL Player of the Week as the oldest player. According to the US sports newspaper Sports Illustrated , Andersen planned to play by 2010 to become the first person over 50 to play in the NFL. To become the oldest player of all time, he would have had to play until December 8, 2008 to overtake George Blanda , who last played at 48 years and 109 days. Both projects fail him. He retired on December 8, 2007, as a knee injury prevented him from continuing his career.
Statistics, Honors, and Trivia
Career statistics
| Year (s) | team | Games | FGM | FGA | % | LNG | BLK | XPM | XPA | % | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982-1994 | NO | 196 | 302 | 389 | 77.63 | 60 | 9 | 412 | 418 | 98.56 | 1318 |
| 1995-2000 | ATL | 96 | 139 | 173 | 80.35 | 59 | 6th | 203 | 205 | 99.02 | 620 |
| 2001 | NYG | 16 | 23 | 28 | 82.14 | 51 | 0 | 29 | 30th | 96.67 | 98 |
| 2002-2003 | KC | 30th | 38 | 46 | 82.61 | 50 | 1 | 109 | 110 | 99.09 | 223 |
| 2004 | MIN | 16 | 18th | 22nd | 81.82 | 48 | 0 | 45 | 45 | 100 | 99 |
| 2006 | ATL | 12 | 18th | 21st | 85.71 | 44 | 1 | 25th | 25th | 100 | 79 |
| Total: | 366 | 538 | 679 | 79.23 | 60 | 17th | 823 | 833 | 98.8 | 2437 | |
Legend: NO = New Orleans Saints; ATL = Atlanta Falcons; NYG = New York Giants; KC = Kansas City Chiefs; MIN = Minnesota Vikings; FGM = transformed field goals; FGA = field goal attempts; LNG = longest field goal; BLK = blocked field goals; XPM = converted extra points; XPA = extra point attempts; PTS = points scored (FGM * 3 + XPM)
Honors and records
Andersen became the first member of the Danish American Football Association's Hall of Fame in January 2006 . In 2017 he was also inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame . In addition, he was appointed to the Pro Bowl seven times, namely from 1986 to 1989, 1991, 1993 and 1996. Also in college football in 1981 he was part of the Allstar team, the All-americans. Andersen holds the following records (as of October 2018)
- Most games - 366
- Most field goal attempts - 679
- Most field goals from 50 yards or more in one season - 8 (along with Jason Hanson )
- Most field goals from 50 yards or more in a game - 3 (v New Orleans, December 10, 1995)
- Most seasons with 100 or more points - 14 (along with Gary Anderson)
Pro Bowl records:
- Most points in Pro Bowls - 45 (15 extra points, 10 field goals)
- Most extra points in Pro Bowls - 15
- Most field goal attempts in Pro Bowls - 18
- Most field goals in Pro Bowls - 10
Andersen came second in the following records:
- Most extra point attempts - 833 (behind George Blanda, 959)
- Most Extra Points - 823 (behind George Blanda, 943)
- Most field goals from 50 yards or more total - 40 (behind Jason Hanson , 41)
- Most points - 2,544 (behind Adam Vinatieri , 2,550)
- Most field goals - 538 (with Gary Anderson) - (behind Adam Vinatieri, 568)
Worth mentioning
There are many connections between Morten Andersen and Gary Anderson. Not only do they have almost the same last name, but they were born within a year, came to the USA from abroad (Denmark or South Africa) at a young age, had long and successful careers in the NFL at the same time, and are eternal with some Statistics represented in first and second place.
Individual evidence
Web links
- Morten Andersen at NFL.com
- Profile Andersen's of the Copenhagen Post
- Profile Andersen's of the Copenhagen Post II
- Story about Andersen
- Andersen's homepage
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Andersen, Morten |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Danish American football player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 19, 1960 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Copenhagen |