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Atlanta Falcons

Atlanta Falcons Tickets- Morten Andersen Retires

After over two decades in the league, kicker Morten Andersen has announced his retirement from the NFL. Andersen, who is 48 years old, is the NFL's career-leading scorer with 2,427 points during his career, which began in 1982. He took the record on December 17, 2006 in a game against the Dallas Cowboys. The reason for his retirement is partly because he was unable to get a contract this season and also because of knee problems. He does not have a specific injury to his knee but recognized that he cannot perform to the same level that he once could. The Falcons are finishing their season strong and fans can get Atlanta Falcons tickets from http://www.stubhub.com/atlanta-falcons-tickets.

Andersen hails from Denmark, where he was born in Copenhagen and raised in Struer. It is also in Denmark where he announced his retirement, citing the fact that his home country had been so supportive during his career. While a youth in Denmark, he was involved in soccer, gymnastics and long jumping. Andersen immigrated to the United States in 1977 as a foreign exchange student. He attended Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis, Indiana before enrolling at Michigan State University. Andersen was quite a successful kicker while at MSU, setting school records for points after touchdown with 126 and most points scored with 261 as well as a Big 10 record for most field goals with 45. His accomplishments led to Andersen being taken by the New Orleans Saints in the fourth round of the 1982 draft.

His first year with the Saints, he played in eight games and made six out of six extra point attempts as well as two out of five field goals. He stayed with the New Orleans Saints for 13 seasons, in which he played in all 16 games in all but two seasons. From there, he spent six seasons with the Atlanta Falcons from 1995-2000, seeing playing time in every game. He was also 100 percent on point after attempts in four of those seasons. From there he played one season with the New York Giants before going to the Kansas City Chiefs for two seasons. He was with the Minnesota Vikings for one season in 2004 before finishing out his career with the Falcons in 2006 and 2007. He had a point after percentage of 100 percent his last three seasons.

Andersen's most memorable season came in 1998 with the Falcons. It was that year that the Falcons made it to the Super Bowl for the first time. Andersen kicked an overtime 38-yard field goal in the NFC championships game to send the Falcons to the Super Bowl over the Minnesota Vikings. The Falcons ended up losing the Super Bowl game to the Denver Broncos. In his career, Andersen kicked 565 field goals, 849 points after touchdowns. He had a career field goal percentage of 79.9 and a point after touchdown percentage of 98.8. With the number of teams Andersen has contributed to in his long career, he will surely be missed in the NFL.

About the Author

This article was written by Julie Cudney and is sponsored by
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Week 2: Carolina Panthers 20: Atlanta Falcons 28: Final