Morten Andersen played a sensational 25-year career that spanned three decades and is highly regarded as one of the greatest kickers in NFL history. For 25 consecutive seasons, no kicker was
Following a clutch four-year career at Michigan State University (1978-1981), where he finished with 261 points scored, Andersen entered the 1982 NFL Draft and was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the fourth round. The young placekicker showed flashes of potential during his strike-shortened rookie season but didn’t begin kicking his way into the record books until the following season. In 1983, Andersen netted 91 points for the Saints, the first of twenty-two seasons in which he’d score at least 90 points in a season.
In 1985, he hit the century mark for the first time after nailing 31 of 35 field goals and 27 of 29 extra-point attempts for 120 points. Andersen reached triple-digits a total of 14 times in his career. The following season, he set a career-high field goal percentage after accurately banking on 26 of 30 attempts for 86.6%. During his 13 seasons with the Saints, Andersen made the Pro Bowl six times and became the franchise’s All-Time leading scorer.
In 1995, he joined the Atlanta Falcons and quickly became that team’s leading scorer after six seasons. His first campaign with the Dirty Birds was a specular one when he finished with a career-high 122 points, including a then-NFL record eight 50-yard field goals in a season. On December 10, 1995, in a game against his former team, New Orleans, Andersen converted three field goals from 50-plus yards, making him the first kicker to ever do so in NFL history.
In 1998, Andersen’s 38-yard field goal won the Falcons their first NFC Championship over the Minnesota Vikings in overtime, propelling the team to its first Super Bowl appearance. He made two field goals in Super Bowl XXXIII, but it wouldn’t be enough as the Falcons lost 34-19 to the Denver Broncos.
At the turn of the century, Andersen turned a new leaf from Atlanta by signing a season-long contract with the defending NFC Champion New York Giants in 2001. Where he continued his reputation for being a reliable kicker, scoring 98 points.
Following the ’01 campaign, Andersen moved to the Midwest, spending the 2002 and 2003 seasons in Kansas City. Thanks to a high-powered offense, Andersen set career highs for most PATs made in a single season in 2003 (58 of 59). He made at least 50 extra-point attempts in both seasons with the Chiefs.
At age 41, Andersen left Kansas City, swopping out his red jersey for a purple one by joining the Minnesota Vikings for the 2004 season before retiring. However, one of his old teams, the Atlanta Falcons, coaxed him out of retirement to play two more years in the NFL.
During his final stint in Atlanta, Andersen set several NFL records at the time of his retirement (2008), including becoming the league’s all-time leading scorer (2,544), making the most field goals (565), and playing in the most games (382). Additionally, Andersen’s 40 field goals from 50 yards or longer are the most in league history.
Andersen is among the few players to be named to two NFL All-Decade teams (the 1980s and 90s). He finished his career after the conclusion of the 2007 season, totaling 565 conversions on 704 field goal attempts and driving in 849 of 859 PATs. In 22 of 25 career seasons, Andersen led his teams in scoring and led the NFL in field goals in 1987. In 1992, he led the NFC in scoring and topped all conference kickers in most field goals during the 1985, 1987, and 1995 campaigns.
Andersen was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017 and will forever be known as one of the great kickers that were accurate, reliable, and cool under pressure.
