Tag: morten andersen

Chiefs K Harrison Butker aspires to long, Hall of Fame worthy career

Kansas City #Chiefs K Harrison Butker opened up about his career aspirations during a recent interview.

The Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl LVIII team players are still basking in the well-earned glow of being champions. Point-of-view reactions and interviews regarding the latest championship season give a unique view of every player and their mindset moving forward.

Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker recently appeared on the Catholic current events show EWTN News in Depth. He opened up about his hopes to have a long career in the NFL that could end with enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

“Well, I don’t really think about my goals in terms of stats,” Butker explained. “It’s hard not to think about the Hall of Fame. And as a kicker, if you want to get there, you have to have a long career. Morten Andersen, he kicked, I think, until (his) late 40s, early 50s.

“So you want to be a kicker, and you got to make it there, and you want to get there. You got to play for a long time. And I always wanted to get there to play until my late 40s and get in the Hall of Fame. But now, when you have a wife, and you have children, you start to think, Okay, how much of their life am I going to miss? When I have this six-month-long season?”

Butker will enter his eighth season with the Chiefs after being drafted in the seventh round by the Carolina Panthers in the 2017 NFL Draft. The 28-year-old has made All-Rookie teams and led the NFL in scoring in 2019.

“I’m at the facility seven days a week, pretty much,” Butker said. “I don’t want to miss their life because I am still their father, I’m still my wife’s husband, and I need to be present as much as I can in their life. So, there will be this kind of negotiation with myself as I continue, and hopefully, God blesses me with the ability to play for a long time. I’d love to be able to make that decision not to play when the time comes. But really, every season is up to him if he wants me to do well or not. Every kick is up to him if that’s going through the uprights or not.”

Butker’s health will be a significant factor in his hopeful Hall of Fame career, as kickers do not have the best chances to make the cut in most years. After battling an ankle injury in 2022, he returned with a solid and consistent 2023.

Morten Andersen on Saints hiring Jim Mora: ‘We went from a country club to boot camp’

New Orleans Saints legend Morten Andersen was the first kicker to go into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He looks back on a long NFL carer.

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What was it like to experience a coaching change on the ground level? For legendary New Orleans Saints kicker Morten Andersen, the switch from Bum Phillips to Jim Mora in 1986 was drastic.

Andersen discussed the move and many other topics in a lengthy conversation with John Butler of Canal Street Chronicles, where he reflected on a storied NFL career and that included a heel turn with the NFC South-rival Atlanta Falcons. But the stark contrast in life under Mora’s administration as opposed to Phillips’ coaching helps illustrate what many NFL players experience amid regime changes.

“That’s like eating a cupcake and now you have to eat liverwurst,” Andersen began. “We went from a country club to boot camp. It was absolutely brutal because the ownership changed too. And John Mecom was fantastic. He spent money on the players. We had a really good training camp down in Vero Beach, great food, seafood. We worked, but it was relaxed; it was fun. That changed with Jim Mora. It was not fun with Jim Mora because we hadn’t had the results.”

But the results Mora brought in after that retooling impressed Andersen: he recalls his days with the “Dome Patrol” defense and quarterback Bobby Hebert fondly, though he’s still disappointed that group never had much playoff success. A four-time Pro Bowler in the 1980s, Andersen was also happy to know his coach trusted him to be more than a point-after kick specialist.

“I was glad to be part of it,” Andersen continued. “They used me as a weapon. I was used a lot. I was showcased, in many ways. It was unusual for a kicker to get that much action, but they trusted me for the long balls and the big kicks. That was my heyday for sure.”

It’s a fascinating read from an important member of the team’s — and the NFL’s — history, so check out the interview over at CSC.

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Morten Andersen recounts patriotism, sportsmanship from Chiefs fans

Chiefs Wire contributor Ed Easton Jr spoke with Andersen about the Chiefs vs. Giants game following September 11.

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.

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”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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2021 College Football Hall of Fame Ballot includes former Michigan State Football players

The 2021 College Football Hall of Fame Ballot includes former Michigan State Football players and one former MSU coach.

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The 2021 College Football Hall of Fame Ballot was released this past Tuesday. The 2021 Ballot includes two former Michigan State Football players, OT Flozell Adams and Placekicker Morten Andersen, along with former Michigan State coach Darryl Rogers.

Check out the capsule bio on each potential inductee offered by the Football Foundation:

OT Flozell Adams

“1997 First Team All-American and Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year…Three-time All-Big Ten performer who helped Spartans to three consecutive bowl appearances…Helped running backs rush for more than 100 yards in 21 games throughout career and allowed only two QB sacks in 1997 season.”

Kicker Morten Andersen

“1981 First Team All-American who left MSU as the Big Ten’s all-time leader in field goals (45)…Set still-standing conference record with 63-yard field goal in 1981 and was a three-time All-Big Ten performer…Led the Spartans in scoring for three seasons.”

Coach Darryl Rogers

“Took Fresno State to two bowl games…Achieved an unprecedented national ranking at San Jose State…Named Big Ten Coach of the Year in 1977 and National Coach of the Year by Sporting News in 1978…Won the Big Ten title in 1978.”

The 2021 College Football Hall of Fame Class is presented by ETT and will be officially inducted on Dec. 7, 2021, during the 64th NFF Annual Awards Dinner at the New York Hilton Midtown.

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Former Chiefs kicker Morten Andersen wants more international players in the NFL

The former Kansas City Chiefs kicker has a plan to attract international audiences and get more international players in the NFL.

International players have long been a staple of the National Football League.

The Kansas City Chiefs, for instance, have always taken interest in international players. Look back to the 1966 AFL Draft when the team drafted Jan Stenerud, a native of Norway who came to the United States for college on a skiing scholarship. He’d go on to become a Pro Football Hall of Fame kicker.

Most recently, they have Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, who won Super Bowl LIV with Kansas City. He was drafted in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL Draft and is the starting right guard for the Chiefs. He calls Saint-Jean-Baptiste, Quebec home and played college football at McGill University.

Another included in the Chiefs’ lineage of international players is Pro Football Hall of Fame kicker Morten Andersen, who found football as a youth exchange student from Copenhagen, Denmark. To this day Andersen holds a number of NFL records and is one of just two kickers (along with Stenerud) in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Andersen has long been a proponent of adding more international players to the NFL player pool. I recently spoke to Andersen, fortuitously just days after the NFL announced nine athletes from eight countries were set to compete for a spot in the 2020 International Player Pathway Program. When I talked with Andersen about it he was thrilled to hear it, but he still wants to see more players receive an opportunity to showcase their talents.

“I think it’s great and I want to get more guys,” Andersen said. “I’m just looking at it and  I want to get more guys from Denmark. We have some talent there and then I know there are kids in Germany and England. If the plan from the NFL side is to become popular worldwide, the more international players you can assign the better.”

The International Player Pathway Program was first implemented in its current form in 2017. Through the program, one NFL division is chosen to be assigned international players. At the conclusion of training camp, those players are eligible for a practice squad exemption with their assigned team. A number of players to participate in this program remain on NFL rosters to this day such as Jordan Mailata, Efe Obada, Moritz Boehringer and others.

Andersen was a big proponent of NFL Europe and what it did to put American football on the map in other countries. One day he hopes there will be an NFL team in London, assuming they can work out the logistics.

“Eventually, hopefully, you have a team in London,” Andersen said. “That would be really great. I loved it when we had NFL Europe. I was doing games for Fox over there as an analyst for about a month and I really enjoyed it. It was popular, but it wasn’t financially viable, so that’s why they shut it down. But it was good and a lot of players from NFL Europe came to the NFL — Kurt Warner, Adam Vinatieri. I could go on and on with players that played in NFL Europe who had Hall of Fame careers in the NFL. So you just don’t know. It just opens up the talent base, you know? And it also engages the fan base internationally when they have somebody to root for from their own country.”

For an NFL franchise to work abroad, there needs to be a vested interest from the fans. Andersen knows this first hand from the response that Denmark showed him when he was in the NFL. The best way to foster the type of interest needed for an NFL franchise abroad is to get more international players into the league, playing in prominent roles.

“Once they get assigned, of course, they have to win the job,” Andersen said. “I get that, but at least they’re in there and just the fact that an international player gets into a training camp is a big deal in their native country. Trust me, because we have a guy with the New England Patriots right now, a fullback from Germany [Jakob Johnson] and it’s front-page news constantly. You root for that; you root for another guy to make the final roster and you root for a guy to get playing time. . . I was kind of a one-man show for a long time and I was a specialist so I wasn’t an every-down player. So getting an offensive lineman or somebody who plays more has more visibility would be fantastic.”

So I asked Andersen, “What is the biggest challenge preventing more international players from getting an opportunity with the NFL.”

“Finding them,” Andersen responded. “You’re going to have to trust that the local guys working with these athletes are telling you the truth and not just trying to get them placed, you know? And what are the criteria? So to me, if there was a systematic consistent way of grading guys, in other words, how do you grade college players coming up for the draft, right? A combine.”

The NFL had its inaugural international scouting combine in 2018 at Gold Coast, Australia. It included 49 athletes from around the globe, who tried out at regional combines in Fiji, Auckland, Samoa, Wellington, Brisbane and Sydney. The most recent iteration took place in Germany this past October with players from 18 countries participating. The NFL has yet to announce plans for a 2020 international combine, but it seems unlikely given the global pandemic.

These events certainly are creating opportunities and a path for international players to reach the NFL. The problem is that the NFL has yet to turn them into a spectacle like the annual NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana.

“I know we go to Indianapolis for the NFL combine, but why couldn’t you make that an international event and you could monetize that,” Andersen said. “You could put that on TV. You could put that out on and stream the workouts and how popular would that be in those countries? I think it would be tremendous.”

In Andersen’s eyes, if the NFL can create an even playing field for those international players and provide them with the opportunity to compete, it will create stronger pockets of international fans throughout the globe.

“It’s going to be oranges versus oranges. It’s not going to be somebody telling you, ‘This player from Slovakia is a great player.’ Well, let’s compare them. Let’s invite him to a combine and let’s compare his numbers. If he’s a running back, let’s look at the Chiefs’ first-round pick [Clyde Edwards-Helaire] and compare them.”

This interview is the third of a multi-part series with Hall of Fame kicker Morten Andersen sponsored by NJ Online Gambling. You can find links to Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 below.

Part 1: Dustin Colquitt and the specialist stigma

Part 2: On RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire being compared to Priest Holmes

Part 3: Harrison Butker, the next great Chiefs kicker

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Morten Andersen believes Harrison Butker can be next great in long lineage of Chiefs kickers

A Pro Football Hall of Famer believes Harrison Butker has what it takes to be considered the next great kicker in Kansas City.

Former Kansas City Chiefs kicker Morten Andersen still enjoys keeping up with the team, especially the kicking game.

Andersen has met with current Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, speaking with him and his father. He had an opportunity to reveal decades of knowledge and some tips and tricks that helped Andersen reach all-time heights in the NFL. Butker actually grew up an Atlanta Falcons fan and watched plenty of film and highlights on Andersen himself.

“I like the kid,” Andersen said of Butker. “He’s talented, he’s got a leg, he is a stud. He was a Georgia Tech kid and I met him down at Georgia Tech. I was actually working another kid out from LSU at their facility and Harrison was there and was getting ready. Tall kid, strong kid. He seemed real together, very confident but not cocky.”

Butker first signed with Kansas City off of the Panthers practice squad during the 2017 season, his rookie year, replacing injured Chiefs kicker Cairo Santos. Despite the late start to his rookie season, joining the Chiefs in Week 4, he still broke the NFL record for most field goals made by a rookie with 38.

“He’s just a great asset not only on field goals but also on kickoffs,” Andersen said. “And he’s made some big kicks.”

Some of those big kicks came during the Chiefs’ postseason run this past year. Butker has been a model of consistency for Kansas City since his arrival, breaking a number of franchise records in the process. Andersen believes this is only just the beginning of a bright career for Butker.

“You know he can be there for a long time,” Andersen said. “He just signed a five-year deal not too long ago. So they’ve got over $20 million invested in the kid. So they obviously believe in him.”

Butker’s contract extension had Andersen a little nostalgic, recalling what he made during his first year in the league.

“I’ll give you a comparison, I made $40K in my first year,” Andersen quipped

Money aside, Andersen believes that Butker can become the next great kicker in a long lineage of kickers to play in Kansas City. He wouldn’t be surprised to see him with Chiefs for 10 years or more.

“He’s at a franchise that’s had some of the best kickers in the history of the game starting with Jan Stenerud and then with Nick Lowery and so on,” Andersen said. “So really, there’s some lineage there to aspire to.”

Butker already has won a Super Bowl. He owns franchise records for points scored in a season, career field goal percentage, and more. Time will tell if he is held in the same regard as players like Stenerud, Lowery and even Andersen. For now, he’s uniquely situated to stick with Kansas City for many years to come. That should help his case to become one of the greats.

This interview is the second of a multi-part series with Hall of Fame kicker Morten Andersen sponsored by NJ Online Gambling. You can find links to Part 1 & Part 2 below.

Part 1: Dustin Colquitt and the specialist stigma

Part 2: On RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire being compared to Priest Holmes

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Morten Andersen careful to compare Clyde Edwards-Helaire to former Chiefs teammate Priest Holmes

A former teammate of Kansas City Chiefs RB Priest Holmes isn’t ready to make the comparison for Clyde Edwards-Helaire just yet.

Draft analysts cannot help themselves, as sure as the sun will rise, incoming NFL players will always be compared to those who came before them. It’s perhaps an unfair burden that we put on players who have yet to play a down in the NFL, to compare them to some all-time great players at their position. But it’s also so fun to envision what new players could be at the peak of their potential.

When the Kansas City Chiefs drafted LSU RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire with pick No. 32 in the 2020 NFL Draft, the comparisons started to come in quickly. We heard comparisons to Brian Westbrook, Darren Sproles and Maurice Jones-Drew almost immediately after he was selected.

One comparison that made some noise on the airwaves came from NFL Network Analyst Daniel Jeremiah, who compared Edwards-Helaire to former Chiefs RB Priest Holmes.

Hall of Fame kicker Morten Andersen was with the Chiefs in 2002 and 2003, which happened to be two of the best seasons in Holmes’ career. When I asked Andersen what he thought about the comparison, he was careful to make it, because he witnessed those impressive seasons from Holmes first hand.

“In order to be compared to a Priest Holmes, you have to perform like a Priest Holmes,” Andersen said. “And I don’t believe Edwards-Helaire has taken a snap yet in the NFL. So until he takes a snap and performs or does not perform, we won’t know if he could be compared to Holmes. Because Holmes, for quite a while in the NFL was a really good player.”

In the two seasons that Holmes and Andersen played together, Holmes led the NFL with a combined 51 touchdowns from scrimmage. He accumulated over 4,300 yards from scrimmage in those two seasons, leading the NFL in yards from scrimmage in 2002. That production from Holmes helped Andersen reach career heights in extra points attempted and made, scoring 109 points for Kansas City in that span.

What Andersen was willing to admit, is that the Edwards-Helaire and Holmes might have similar skill sets.

“Maybe he has a similar skillset to Holmes,” Andersen continued. “We know he can run the ball, he’s small in stature, he can catch the ball out of the backfield. We know that about the kid because that’s what he did at LSU. So he’s multifaceted, we know that. But until he takes a snap in the NFL in a game and starts performing, we’re not going to know if he’s Priest Holmes material or worthy of having that comparison. I’m real careful to label guys until they show me the money— until you put shoulder pads on them and the lights come on, you don’t really know if you have an All-Pro or if the guy is going to bust.”

Andersen and the rest of the Chiefs Kingdom should find out very quickly if Edwards-Helaire is worthy of the comparison to Holmes. The bright lights will be on the Chiefs from the get-go of the 2020 season as the reigning Super Bowl champions, opening the NFL season against Houston Texans.

If Edwards-Helaire is able to recapture some of what he showed at LSU during their 2019 championship-winning season, he’ll be well on his way to meeting the expectations set by some of these draft comparisons. And maybe then Andersen will be a little more comfortable making the comparison to his former teammate.

This interview is the second of a multi-part series with Hall of Fame kicker Morten Andersen sponsored by Bet Pennsylvania. You can find a link to part 1 below.

Part 1: Dustin Colquitt and the specialist stigma

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Morten Andersen on departure of Chiefs P Dustin Colquitt and the specialist stigma

HOF kicker Morten Andersen reflects on his career while talking Kansas City Chiefs punter Dustin Colquitt and his Hall of Fame chances.

It was a bit of Déjà vu for Pro Football Hall of Fame kicker Morten Andersen when he learned of the release of Kansas City Chiefs longtime punter Dustin Colquitt.

“I saw the news come over the ticker and I was like, ‘What?'” 

Andersen had been there before. He was with the New Orleans Saints for over a decade, and following the 1994 season, they had released him. They’d say it had nothing to do with his performance, that the decision was based on the $1.2 million owed against the salary cap, which in the ’90s was a substantial amount.

“They said that I was a declining player,” Andersen explained.

But history would prove that Andersen wasn’t a declining player and still had a lot of good football left to play. He’d go on to set the NFL records for field goals and points scored, but he’d do with the Atlanta Falcons with a few years playing for the New York Giants, Kansas City Chiefs and Minnesota Vikings in between.

Are the Chiefs making the same mistake with Colquitt that New Orleans made with Andersen?

“He’s one of the best punters in Chiefs history,” Andersen said of Colquitt. 

The words “Chiefs history” stand out like a sore thumb. Andersen is one of only five specialists to have been selected to the Hall of Fame. Only one punter, Ray Guy, has been selected to be immortalized in the Hall of Fame.

Colquitt has more punts, yards, and a higher per punt average to Guy during his career. Colquitt has played for one more season than Guy, but he never led the NFL in punting average, something Guy did four times. Colquitt also has seen six punts blocked, and Guy only had three punts blocked in his 207-game career.

So what of Colquitt’s chances to reach the Hall of Fame?

“Well, I don’t think he’s done playing yet,” Andersen said. “He’s gonna play somewhere, right? I mean, he’s too good. He’s going to play somewhere quickly. You know, somebody is going to snag him and he’ll continue.”

Perhaps Andersen sees a bit of himself in Colquitt, knowing that his own journey with football hadn’t yet ended when he was released. Colquitt just became a Super Bowl champion for the first time, after all. It’s something that could ignite the spark to keep the 37-year-old going at this juncture in his career.

Right now, Andersen is a bit skeptical about Colquitt’s Hall of Fame chances because he thinks the ink isn’t dry on Colquitt’s story. It’s also in part because of his own experiences with it.

“I had to wait five years,” he said. “I still think there are kickers [and punters] that should be in there. Gary Anderson should be in there. Jason Hanson —guys who played long careers over 20 years — who are not in there. Adam Vinatieri will be in there, but you know there are very few spots for a lot of worthy guys.””

So if not Colquitt, then who? Those three that Andersen mentioned are deserving kickers, but what punters are deserving of the gold jacket and bust in Canton, Ohio?

“I think Shane Lechler or Sean Landeta, those were two guys that probably go in before him,” Andersen said. “Every time I talk about the Hall of Fame and specialists, it’s discouraging because there’s a lot of pushback. There’s just not a lot of love in the room for specialists. And you know, a guy like Steve Tasker, I would love to see in there, who I think deserves to be in there and then there’s Devin Hester, you know? So where does a punter fall in that? Listen, Ray Guy is the only Punter in there right now. So is Colquitt the next guy? That’s really tough for me to say.”

Kickers and return specialists have the benefit of scoring points, they make splashy high-pressure game-changing plays on the regular. The work of a punter isn’t as easily seen. The position is judged on an entirely different set of criteria. Maybe the fact that Colquitt is No. 3 all-time with 462 punts inside of the 20-yard line is enough? Truly, Andersen doesn’t know for sure. It all feels almost random to him.

“He has put together a great resume,” Andersen said. “Clearly, to me, [he is] the best punter in Chiefs history and should be afforded every accolade with the Kansas City Chiefs, with his name being put up in the Ring of Honor. But I don’t know about the Hall of Fame. I think the verdict is still out.”

What Andersen does believe is worthy of the Hall of Fame is Colquitt’s character. Colquitt proved it time and again on the field, in the locker room and off the field. He was even the Chiefs’ nominee for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award in 2009 and 2018 because of his work in the Kansas City community.

“I think also what he stood for as a professional,” Andersen said. “He was really good in the locker room. He was really just a kind person, you know, and did a lot off the field. And when you combine that with his stellar performance on the field, you’re having a true professional that you should be proud of the career he had in Kansas City. And the Chiefs should feel very privileged and lucky that they had him for that long.”

Colquitt could go on to play elsewhere, as Andersen believes he will, but no matter what happens in the future, Colquitt’s legacy with the Chiefs will remain unchanged. He was one of the great ones to hold a locker room at Arrowhead Stadium and his presence will be greatly missed, perhaps more than we currently realize.

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This interview is the first of a multi-part series with Hall of Fame Kicker Morten Andersen sponsored by Bet Pennsylvania. 

Vikings kicker Morten Andersen weighs in on the GOAT kicker conversation

Former Vikings kicker Morten Andersen named several players as ones that he thinks should be considered the best kickers of all time.

Asked about his favorite kicker he likes to watch in the current NFL, Morten Andersen gave a pretty straight-forward answer: Justin Tucker.

“You have to look at him and say ‘wow, that’s impressive,'” Andersen said.

Andersen, a former Vikings kicker who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2017, also pointed to former Rams and current Cowboys kicker Greg Zuerlein, Saints kicker Wil Lutz, 49ers kicker Robbie Gould and current free agent Matt Bryant as players he likes to watch.

“I always look at the initial trajectory, how you’re kicking it obviously, but the sound of the ball, and how does it explode off your foot and does it go high right away?”

Andersen is an authority on this subject, considering he once held the record for field goals and points scored in the NFL. But since he retired in 2007, Andersen has been passed by Adam Vinatieri in both those categories.

Despite loving to watch Tucker, between Tucker and Vinatieri both in their primes with the game on the line, Andersen is choosing Vinatieri.

“I’m taking Vinatieri just cause of his resume,” Andersen said. “He did it in Super Bowls he did it in the snow, he’s done it in all kinds of weather. So I’m going to take Vinatieri right now, but Tucker is certainly capable.”

However, Andersen didn’t give just one player when asked about the greatest kicker of all time.

“There’s a couple of good guys,” Andersen said. “Vinatieri is right up there, Tucker is right up there. I feel like I belong,” Andersen said.

“I feel [Jan] Stenerud belongs, Gary [Anderson] belongs, Jason Hanson, I don’t think you can just say this is the guy; there are several guys that are right up there in the top tier.”

Andersen is now an ambassador of NJ Online Gambling, a source of information for legal online casinos in New Jersey.