The Sports Corner

NFL all-time points leader Andersen hangs them up

The NFL’s all-time leading point scorer, kicker Morten Andersen, has announced his retirement today from his home in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The 48-year-old kicker was without an NFL contract this season after 25 years in the league and 2,544 points. It was the end to a long illustrious career for the Dane who preferred soccer, especially when he walked onto the Michigan State football team in 1977 as a foreign exchange student who had never played the game before.

“I realized I no longer can train in an optimal way because of my knees,” Andersen said. “So I am retiring. It’s not that I cannot kick, play golf or go bicycling, but it’s not the same anymore.”

And it is no wonder Andersen’s knees feel a little worn out after kicking 565 of 709 field goal attempts and 848 of 858 extra points.

He was a seven time Pro Bowler and spent the first thirteen years of his career with the New Orleans Saints where he is still regarded a fan favourite. Andersen then spent a further eight seasons with the Atlanta Falcons in two stints, including last season, and a year with both the Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants.

He never captured his elusive championship ring despite being regarded as the best kicker in the game for well over a decade, his closest chance was the 1999 Superbowl where the Falcons lost to John Elway’s Denver Broncos. 

And so ends the unusual story of a Danish foreign exchange student who walked into a 25 year career in a sport he never played before and retired as its greatest point scorer ever.