image: Morten Andersen
K / K

Morten Andersen

Class of 2017
Seasons25
All-Decade Teams80s & 90s
Pro Bowls7
Will
comes
to
the
forefront
when
your
back
is
against
the
wall.
image: Enshrinement Speech

Enshrinement Speech

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Morten Andersen entered the National Football League as the fourth round draft pick of the New Orleans Saints in 1982. He left the game 25 seasons later as the most prolific scorer in league history.

Following a strike-shortened rookie season, Andersen kicked into high gear in his second season as he netted 91 points for New Orleans in 1983. It marked the first of 22 seasons in which he recorded 90 points or more. He topped the 100-point total 14 times in his career. The first occasion of reaching the century mark came in 1985 when he connected on 31 of 35 field goals and added 27 extra points for 120 points. For his efforts, he earned the first of seven Pro Bowl nominations and was also named first-team All-Pro for the first of five times.

After 13 seasons in New Orleans and ranking as the franchise’s all-time leading scorer, Andersen joined the Atlanta Falcons in 1995 and eventually became that team’s career scoring leader. He recorded a spectacular season his first year in Atlanta when he scored a career-high 122 points, which included a then-NFL record for most 50-yard field goals in a season (8). On Dec. 10, 1995, in a 19-14 win over his former team the Saints, he made NFL history when he became the first kicker ever to convert three field goals of 50 yards or longer in the same game.

Andersen kicked for the Falcons for six seasons before continuing his reliable scoring with the New York Giants (2001), Kansas City Chiefs (2002-03), and Minnesota Vikings (2004). In 2006 he was lured out of retirement by Atlanta and finished his career with two more campaigns with the Falcons.

Among the most notable league records he set were career points (2,544), most field goals (565), and games played (382). In addition, his 40 field goals of 50 yards or longer were the most in NFL history at his retirement.

He is one of the rare players to be named to two NFL All-Decade Teams (1980s and 1990s). In all, he converted 565 of 709 field goal attempts and 849 of 859 point-after-attempts. He led his teams in scoring 22 times, led the NFL in field goals in 1987, the NFC in scoring in 1992 and topped all conference kickers in most field goals in 1985, 1987, and 1995.

  Kicking
Year Team G XP XPA FG FGA Pct Lg. Pts.
1982 New Orleans 8 6 6 2 5 40.0 45 12
1983 New Orleans 16 37 38 18 24 75.0 52 91
1984 New Orleans 16 34 34 20 27 74.1 53 94
1985 New Orleans 16 27 29 31 35 88.6 55 120
1986 New Orleans 16 30 30 26 30 86.7 53 108
1987 New Orleans 12 37 37 28 36 77.8 52 121
1988 New Orleans 16 32 33 26 36 72.2 51 110
1989 New Orleans 16 44 45 20 29 69.0 49 104
1990 New Orleans 16 29 29 21 27 77.8 52 92
1991 New Orleans 16 38 38 25 32 78.1 60 113
1992 New Orleans 16 33 34 29 34 85.3 52 120
1993 New Orleans 16 33 33 28 35 80.0 56 117
1994 New Orleans 16 32 32 28 39 71.8 48 116
1995 Atlanta 16 29 30 31 37 83.8 59 122
1996 Atlanta 16 31 31 22 29 75.9 54 97
1997 Atlanta 16 35 35 23 27 85.2 55 104
1998 Atlanta 16 51 52 23 28 82.1 53 120
1999 Atlanta 16 34 34 15 21 71.4 49 79
2000 Atlanta 16 23 23 25 31 80.6 51 98
2001 N.Y. Giants 16 29 30 23 28 82.1 51 98
2002 Kansas City 14 51 51 22 26 84.6 50 117
2003 Kansas City 16 58 59 16 20 80.0 49 106
2004 Minnesota 16 45 45 18 22 81.8 48 99
2006 Atlanta 14 27 27 20 23 87.0 45 87
2007 Atlanta 14 24 24 25 28 89.3 47 99
Career Total 382 849 859 565 709 79.7 60 2,544