Pro Football Hall of Fame placekicker Morten Andersen has experienced many unique situations during the course of his legendary career. During his 25-year career in the National Football League, which included a two-year stint with the Kansas City Chiefs, Andersen became the all-time points scorer in league history.
Chiefs Wire contributor Ed Easton Jr spoke with Andersen via NJ Online Gambling about a unique game in his illustrious career, prior to joining the Chiefs. The game took place at Arrowhead Stadium during the 2001 season, following 9/11, while Andersen was playing for the New York Giants.
”We didn’t play football after 9/11,” said Andersen, ”We played the following week, and we [Giants] had to go to Arrowhead to play the Chiefs. And it’s the only game in 25 years where I was on the visiting side where the home fans gave the visiting team a standing ovation. So imagine as you’re running into Arrowhead Stadium, 80,000 Chiefs fans stood up and for like, minutes, you know, and applauded. It was, whew, it was very powerful, man.”
The NFL paused for a week following the September 11 terrorist attacks, and the Giants coming from New York, which had suffered the brunt of the attacks, were honored by the Arrowhead Stadium faithful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_Ob_rtvX3E
”We experienced 911. We had played Denver on Monday night and came back that morning at 6am. And then all hell broke loose around nine o’clock in Manhattan, the Pentagon. I was told later our United flight was parked next to flight 93 that went down in Pennsylvania. So we landed and that plane was, you know, sitting there ready to leave. And yeah, in New Jersey Newark Airport.”
Andersen’s Giants would leave Kansas City victorious that day, but the impact left by the Arrowhead crowd was a lasting memory. He would join the Chiefs the following season and serve as the placekicker until 2003.
”To best describe Chiefs fans would be that game,” said Andersen, ”And then, of course, being on the home side, it was fantastic and driving. When you drove to the game, I lived in Mission Hills, which was about a 20-minute drive to the stadium. Just surface roads and I just took my time from the plaza and there out to the stadium, and you could see, from quite a ways out see smoke, and you go, Oh, yeah, that’s Arrowhead, and you start smelling the barbecue, And then as you got closer, there would be like a gauntlet of fans welcoming you through, all the way up to the stadium.”
Andersen appreciated the supportive patriotic spirit of the Chiefs Kingdom following 9/11. He’d eventually learn whether he was on the home sideline or the opposing sideline, the crowd of fans at Arrowhead are among the best.
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