 Andersen in 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||
| No. 7, 5, 8 | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Kicker | ||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1960-08-19)19 August 1960 (age 65) Copenhagen, Denmark | ||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 217 lb (98 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||||||
| High school | Ben Davis (Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.) | ||||||||||||||||||
| College | Michigan State (1978–1981) | ||||||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1982: 4th round, 86th overall pick | ||||||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||||||
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Morten Andersen (born 19 August 1960), nicknamed "the Great Dane",[1] is a Danish-American former professionalfootballkicker who played in theNational Football League (NFL) for 25 seasons, most notably with theNew Orleans Saints andAtlanta Falcons. Following a career from 1982 to 2007, Andersen holds the NFL record for regular season games played at 382. He also ranks second in field goals (565) and points scored (2,544). In addition to his league accomplishments, he is the Saints all-time leading scorer at 1,318 points. Andersen was inducted into thePro Football Hall of Fame in 2017. Along withJan Stenerud, he is one of only two exclusive kickers to receive the honor.[2][3]
Andersen was born inCopenhagen and raised in the westJutland town ofStruer.[4] As a student, he was a gymnast and along jumper, and just missed becoming a member of the Danish junior nationalsoccer team. He visited the United States in 1977 as aYouth For Understanding exchange student.[5] He first kicked anAmerican football on a whim atBen Davis High School inIndianapolis. He was so impressive in his one season of high school football that he was given a scholarship toMichigan State University.
Andersen, with his left leg as his dominant kicking leg, starred at Michigan State, setting several records, including aBig Ten Conference record 63-yard field goal againstOhio State University. He was named anAll-American in 1981. His success landed him the kicking job with theNew Orleans Saints. On 24 September 2011, he was inducted into the Michigan State University Athletics Hall of Fame.
Andersen's NFL career got off to a rocky start. On his first NFL kickoff to start the strike-shortened 1982 season, Andersen twisted his ankle and missed eight weeks of the season.[6] 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 sixPro Bowls, kicked 302field goals, and scored 1318 points. In 1991, againstChicago, Andersen kicked a 60-yard field goal, tying him withSteve Cox for the second-longest field goal in league history at the time, behind 63-yard record-holder kicked byTom Dempsey. Andersen's kick has since been matched byRob Bironas,Dan Carpenter andGreg Zuerlein, and surpassed bySebastian Janikowski (twice),Jason Elam,Justin Tucker,Jay Feely,Matt Bryant,David Akers,Matt Prater,Jake Elliott,Graham Gano,Brett Maher,Brandon Aubrey andStephen Gostkowski. 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 theAtlanta 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 against the Saints, he became the first player in NFL history to kick three field goals of over 50 yards in a single game.
In week 17 of the 1996 season, Andersen missed a 30-yard field goal that enabled theJacksonville Jaguars to make the playoffs.[7] Two years later, he kicked a game-winning field goal in overtime in the1998 NFC Championship Game to beat theMinnesota Vikings and send the Falcons to their first-everSuper Bowl appearance, falling to the Denver Broncos inSuper Bowl XXXIII.[8]
There are a number of interesting coincidences between Andersen and former NFL placekickerGary Anderson. Anderson and Andersen have nearly identical last names, were born within a year of one another outside the United States (Anderson was born in South Africa), came to the United States as teenagers, were both drafted in1982, had long and successful NFL careers throughout the 1980s and 1990s (and both retiring in the 2000s decade), and hold first or second place in a number of NFL records for scoring, field goals, and longevity. Their overall accuracy is also nearly identical; their career percentage being within .5% of each other on both FGs and PATs. Also, Anderson missed a field goal in the 1998 NFC Championship Game for theMinnesota Vikings before Andersen kicked his winning kick, both from the same distance as well (38 yards).
Andersen went on to play with theNew York Giants for the 2001 season, followed by theKansas City Chiefs the following two seasons. In the 2004 offseason, Andersen was beaten out for the kicking job by rookieLawrence Tynes. He was released by the Chiefs for the final roster cut, and was subsequently signed by the Vikings.[9] 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 announcedNFL Europe games in the 2005 season.
In January 2006, Andersen was inducted as the first member of theDanish American Football FederationHall of Fame. Later that year, Andersen returned to the NFL, re-signing with theAtlanta Falcons; Andersen was brought in to helpMichael Koenen, who was at the time performing double duty as punter and kicker (an extremely rare occurrence in the NFL) missing several field goals in that capacity, and Koenen reverted to strictly punting after Andersen's signing. His first game back was against his former team, the Saints, onMonday Night Football. The game was the first game in theLouisiana Superdome sinceHurricane Katrina prevented its use for the entire 2005 regular season. Andersen scored the only Falcon points with a 26-yard field goal in the first quarter. In his second game back, Andersen made 5 of 5 field goals (matching his career-best for the ninth time), as well as both extra-point attempts.[10] 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.[11] He is the team record holder in points for the New Orleans Saints.[12]
On 16 December 2006, Andersen passedGary Anderson to become the all-time leading scorer in NFL history. The following weekend, 24 December 2006, Andersen again passed Anderson to become the NFL's career leader in field goals made. On 17 September 2007, he again signed with the Falcons in an attempt to secure their unreliable kicking game. By the end of the regular season, he had made 25 of 28 field goals (89.3%), the most accurate season of his career.
In the 2008 season, Andersen did not receive a contract offer from any team, but waited until 8 December to officially retire.[13][14] Andersen had stated that his goal was to be the first NFL player to play until he turned 50 in 2010. However, he retired just two days after he would have become the oldest player ever to appear in an NFL game, had he played on or after 6 December he would have been the oldest NFL player to play.[15][16] The record held byGeorge Blanda still stands – Blanda played in his last NFL game on 4 January 1976 (the1975 AFC Championship) at the age of 48 years, 109 days.[17]
On 6 November 2009, Andersen was inducted into the New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame.[18] On 25 June 2011, Andersen was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.[19] On 10 August 2013, Andersen was inducted into the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame.[20] On 21 December 2015, he was inducted as the fourth member of the team's Ring of Honor.[21][22] On 4 February 2017, it was announced that Andersen would be inducted into thePro Football Hall of Fame.[23]
On 10 September 2020, he launched a new weekly football podcast with the VegasInsider Podcast Network titled "Great Dane Nation" with co-host Tom "FreezePops" Carroll.[24]
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| NFL record | |
| Led the league | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Underline | Incomplete data |
| Year | Team | GP | Field Goals | PATs | Kickoffs | Pts | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FGM | FGA | Lng | FG% | XPM | XPA | XP% | KO | Yds | Y/K | TB | TB% | ||||
| 1982 | NO | 8 | 2 | 5 | 36 | 40.0% | 6 | 6 | 100.0% | — | — | — | — | — | 12 |
| 1983 | NO | 16 | 18 | 24 | 52 | 75.0% | 37 | 38 | 97.4% | — | — | — | — | — | 91 |
| 1984 | NO | 16 | 20 | 27 | 53 | 74.1% | 34 | 34 | 100.0% | — | — | — | — | — | 94 |
| 1985 | NO | 16 | 31 | 35 | 55 | 88.6% | 27 | 29 | 93.1% | — | — | — | — | — | 120 |
| 1986 | NO | 16 | 26 | 30 | 53 | 86.7% | 30 | 30 | 100.0% | — | — | — | — | — | 108 |
| 1987 | NO | 12 | 28 | 36 | 52 | 77.8% | 37 | 37 | 100.0% | — | — | — | — | — | 121 |
| 1988 | NO | 16 | 26 | 36 | 51 | 72.2% | 32 | 33 | 97.0% | — | — | — | — | — | 110 |
| 1989 | NO | 16 | 20 | 29 | 49 | 69.0% | 44 | 45 | 97.8% | — | — | — | — | — | 104 |
| 1990 | NO | 16 | 21 | 27 | 52 | 77.8% | 29 | 29 | 100.0% | — | — | — | — | — | 92 |
| 1991 | NO | 16 | 25 | 32 | 60 | 78.1% | 38 | 38 | 100.0% | 79 | 5,157 | 65.3 | 43 | 54.4% | 113 |
| 1992 | NO | 16 | 29 | 34 | 52 | 85.3% | 33 | 34 | 97.1% | 81 | 5,178 | 63.9 | 38 | 46.9% | 120 |
| 1993 | NO | 16 | 28 | 35 | 56 | 80.0% | 33 | 33 | 100.0% | 76 | 4,825 | 63.5 | 35 | 46.1% | 117 |
| 1994 | NO | 16 | 28 | 39 | 48 | 71.8% | 32 | 32 | 100.0% | 82 | 5,087 | 62.0 | 14 | 17.1% | 116 |
| 1995 | ATL | 16 | 31 | 37 | 59 | 83.8% | 29 | 30 | 96.7% | 82 | 5,646 | 68.9 | 27 | 32.9% | 122 |
| 1996 | ATL | 16 | 22 | 29 | 54 | 75.9% | 31 | 31 | 100.0% | 71 | 4,717 | 66.4 | 16 | 22.5% | 97 |
| 1997 | ATL | 16 | 23 | 27 | 55 | 85.2% | 35 | 35 | 100.0% | 63 | 4,125 | 65.5 | 17 | 27.0% | 104 |
| 1998 | ATL | 16 | 23 | 28 | 53 | 82.1% | 51 | 52 | 98.1% | 90 | 6,153 | 68.4 | 20 | 22.2% | 120 |
| 1999 | ATL | 16 | 15 | 21 | 49 | 71.4% | 34 | 34 | 100.0% | 63 | 4,048 | 64.3 | 7 | 11.1% | 79 |
| 2000 | ATL | 16 | 25 | 31 | 51 | 80.6% | 23 | 23 | 100.0% | 64 | 4,168 | 65.1 | 12 | 18.8% | 98 |
| 2001 | NYG | 16 | 23 | 28 | 51 | 82.1% | 29 | 30 | 96.7% | 27 | 1,585 | 58.7 | — | — | 98 |
| 2002 | KC | 14 | 22 | 26 | 50 | 84.6% | 51 | 51 | 100.0% | 64 | 3,788 | 59.2 | 6 | 9.4% | 117 |
| 2003 | KC | 16 | 16 | 20 | 49 | 80.0% | 58 | 59 | 98.3% | — | — | — | — | — | 106 |
| 2004 | MIN | 16 | 18 | 22 | 48 | 81.8% | 45 | 45 | 100.0% | 8 | 433 | 54.1 | — | — | 99 |
| 2006 | ATL | 14 | 20 | 23 | 45 | 87.0% | 27 | 27 | 100.0% | — | — | — | — | — | 87 |
| 2007 | ATL | 14 | 25 | 28 | 47 | 89.3% | 24 | 24 | 100.0% | — | — | — | — | — | 99 |
| Career | 382 | 565 | 709 | 60 | 79.7% | 849 | 859 | 98.8% | 850 | 54,910 | 64.6 | 235 | 27.6% | 2,544 | |
| Year | Team | GP | Field Goals | PATs | Kickoffs | Pts | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FGM | FGA | FG% | XPM | XPA | XP% | KO | Yds | Y/K | TB | TB% | ||||
| 1987 | NO | 1 | 1 | 1 | 100.0% | 1 | 1 | 100.0% | — | — | — | — | — | 4 |
| 1990 | NO | 1 | 2 | 4 | 50.0% | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 6 |
| 1991 | NO | 1 | 2 | 2 | 100.0% | 2 | 2 | 100.0% | 5 | 298 | 59.6 | 2 | 40.0% | 8 |
| 1992 | NO | 1 | 2 | 2 | 100.0% | 2 | 2 | 100.0% | 5 | 345 | 69.0 | 3 | 60.0% | 8 |
| 1995 | ATL | 1 | 2 | 2 | 100.0% | 2 | 2 | 100.0% | 5 | 226 | 45.2 | — | — | 8 |
| 1998 | ATL | 3 | 7 | 8 | 87.5% | 6 | 6 | 100.0% | 17 | 1,092 | 64.2 | 7 | 41.2% | 27 |
| 2003 | KC | 1 | 1 | 2 | 50.0% | 4 | 4 | 100.0% | — | — | — | — | — | 7 |
| 2004 | MIN | 2 | 1 | 2 | 50.0% | 6 | 6 | 100.0% | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | — | — | 9 |
| Career | 11 | 18 | 23 | 78.3% | 23 | 23 | 100.0% | 33 | 1,971 | 59.7 | 12 | 36.4% | 77 | |
At the end of his career Andersen held the following NFL records (as of 2009[update]):
Team Scoring Records:
Pro Bowl records:
Andersen holds 2nd place in the following NFL records:
Andersen became a naturalized American citizen in 2019.[34]
