Gary Anderson, the Minnesota VikingsÆ place kicker rewrote history on Sunday when he kicked the winning goal against the BuffaloBills in the dying moments of the game.

The goal ensured a career record of 2004 points to the 41-year-old Anderson, the most points ever scored in the history of the NationalFootball League (NFL).

His achievement was the highlight of a 19-year career with the NFL, acareer far removed from his home town Parys on the banks of the VaalRiver or the soccer fields of Brentwood High School in Durban.

He inherited his ball skills from his father, the Reverend DouglasAnderson, who played professional soccer in England before moving toSouth Africa.

"As a child I spent thousands of hours kicking a ball. Little did Irealise at the time, that I was developing talents for a sport I hadnever even seen before," he said.

The Anderson family moved to the US in 1977 where the18-year-old Gary registered as a student at the Syracuse University.In his first year he was the top goal kicker for the universityÆssoccer side and he also played rugby.

But his life changed after a football coach "discovered"him at the universityÆs training camp.

Apart from kicking goals, Anderson also had a special ability toaccurately place kick just about every ball given to him. He graduatedin 1982 with a degree in business management and accounting, the sameyear he was offered a contract with the Buffalo Bills.

It turned out to be the same team against whom he would rewrite history 19 years later. "It could not have happened in amore special way," Anderson said.