Falcons' Morten Andersen almost achieves football's equivalent of shooting your age

As a result of their kicker Michael Koenen starting the year 2 for 8 in his field goal attempts, the Atlanta Falcons signed Morten Andersen to handle kicking responsibilities after week 3. Andersen recently became the leading scorer in NFL History, and more impressively, added to his lead atop the list of all-time points by Danish players (the second place Dane, Hans Nielson, has 0 points). It was generally accepted that Andersen would be useless from outside 40 yards, but would at least give the Falcons some stability at the position.

In the Falcons’ loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, Andersen laughed in the face of his critics by kicking a 45-yard field goal. In most games this is a fairly insignificant feat, but Anderson turned 46 in August and one more measley yard would have allowed him to acheive the football equivalent of shooting his age on the golf course.

While with every passing year it becomes easier for a person to shoot his or her age in golf, things will only get more difficult for Anderson- next year he will need to make a 47-yarder to achieve this milestone. After the game he commented, “My next goal is to play until I’m 50. It’s a goal I’m serious about. I know people snicker at it. They’ve been snickering at it for 10 years now. But if I can play at a high level and stay healthy, I think I can do it.”

While the NFL points record is mildly impressive, making a 50-yard field goal after his 50th birthday would rank up there with Ladainian Tomlinson’s mark of 34 touchdowns in a season as the most impressive accomplishments in NFL history.

Come on Morten, just give us three more years!