The NFL’s Longest Careers

According to the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA), the average career for an NFL player is about 3.5 seasons. A player can be injured, cut, or simply retire. The wear and tear of the game on the individual is great.

Of NFL Players, kickers have the shortest average career length of the positions, yet of the three men who have the longest careers in the National Football, two were/are full time kickers and one…well, one was one of a kind, but was also a kicker among a great many other things.

#3 All Time: Gary Anderson, 23 Seasons

Anderson was born and grew up in South Africa, relocating to the United States after he had graduated high school. His father was a professional soccer player and his intention was to follow him, but he happened into a try-out arranged for him with four college scouts and was offered a scholarship at Syracuse.

In an interesting twist of fate, the man who sits third all time for number of games played, was cut before he even took the field. He was drafted in 1982 by the Bills, but was cut before the start of the season. After being cut, he signed with the Steelers and spent the first 12 years of his career in Pittsburgh. In 1995, he left for the cross-state Eagles as a free agent, where he played for 2 years, then signed with the 49ers for a year. In 1998, he signed on with the Minnesota Vikings and stayed through the 2002 when he retired. He was signed after the first game of the 2003 season by the Titans as an injury replacement and came out of retirement again in the 2004 season with the Titans under similar circumstances.

He scored 2,434 during his career, placing him second on the all time list.

His first year with the Vikings, 1998, was the year the Vikings went 15-1 and were considered to be a lock for a Super Bowl title. Anderson was the first kicker in NFL history to convert all field goal attempts (39) and extra point attempts (59) only to miss his first and only field goal that year in the NFC Championship game on a 38-yard attempt with less than 2 minutes remaining. The Vikings lost the game in over time on a 38-yard kick by….

#2 All Time: Morten Andersen, 24 seasons (and counting)

Andersen grew up a soccer player, a gymnast, and long jumper. He came to the United States from Denmark in 1977 as an exchange student and began kicking for the high school team. Michigan State University was so impressed with his kicking, he was offered a scholarship. With his success at Michigan, he signed on with the New Orleans Saints in 1982.

He played with the Saints for 12 years – 1982 through the 1994 season. He was released by the Saints after 1994 when the team determined that his production would not justify his salary cap numbers. He left New Orleans a fan favorite and as the teams all-time scoring leader.

He signed on with the Atlanta Falcons and in that first year he became the first kicker to ever kick 3 50-yard field goals in a game against the same Saints team who had let him go. He played with success with the Falcons through the 2000 season, when he signed with the Giants for a year, spent two years with the Chiefs, and a year with the Vikings. After the 2004 season, he sat out the 2005 season while he announced NFL Europe games.

He rejoined the Falcons and the NFL during the 2006 season after two games where the Atlanta kicker had made only 2 of 8 field goal attempts. He resigned with the Falcons after two games, in which the Falcons missed 3 or 4 field goal attempts, for 2007 as well. At the time of his return to the Falcons in 2006, he was second all time in field goals made (520) and had made 798 extra point attempts (98.76% accuracy). He holds the record of 40 field goals of 50 or more yards.

During the 2004 season with the Vikings, he played in his 341^st NFL game – breaking the record held by…

#1 All Time: George Frederick Blanda, 26 seasons

George Blanda holds the record for service years in the NFL with 26 and is third all time in games played with 340. He was a versatile player: signed as a quarterback and place kicker, he also saw duty as a linebacker and safety as well during his first few years in the league with the Chicago Bears. He played the 1949 season with the Bears, and was on the roster for 1 game with the Baltimore Colts backing up YA Title in 1950 after an off-season trade. He was released by the Colts and returned to the Bears for the rest of the 1950 season and through 1959. He had no completions, attempts or other statistics from that game with the Colts as he sat on the bench (the Colts lost 38-14 to the Redskins). In 1953, he became the Bears’ starting quarterback, but a shoulder separation injury against the Browns in 1954 reduced his role to that of kicker. He missed the last 4 games of the 1954 season – those 4 games were the only games he ever missed due to injury.

After 10 years in the league, he retired in 1959, largely resulting from his displeasure with his kicking role and with Bears management regarding salary. For 22 of his 26 professional seasons, he held an off-season job as a trucking company sales manager and for a 4 year period his Bears salary did not increase.

When the American Football League (AFL) was formed in 1960, he joined the Houston Oilers and led them to the first two AFL Championships. He was the AFL player of the year in 1961 and through 1965, he was a dominant passer in the league setting marks for completions, passing yards and touchdowns.

He was placed on waivers by the Oilers in 1967, and was quickly signed by the Oakland Raiders as a back up quarterback and kicker where he played until 1976 although he was waived in 1970, but was retained. Which was ultimately a good thing for the Raiders: at age 43 that year, he became the oldest quarterback to play in a championship game when he relieved Daryle Lamonica in the loss to the Colts. He played his last game in the 1975 AFC Championship game against the Steelers, and was released in August, 1975 – at age 48 and 11 months.

He played in 340 games, made 943 of 959 (98.3% accuracy) extra point attempts (201 of these in the five year period between 1967 and 1971), and was the first player to score 2000 points – which does not include the 236 touchdowns he threw – retiring with 2002. He also set the dubious mark of 42 interceptions in a season in 1962. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1981.

Despite these achievements, the Pro Football Hall of Fame notes he will likely be best remembered for a five game stretch in 1970 where he helped the Raiders win 4 games and tie one with last second scoring drives of touchdowns or field goals. He was also the first player to score 500 points with three different teams.

REFERENCES:

NFL Service Records, URL: http://www.nfl.com/history/randf/records/indiv/service

NFL Players Association, URL: http://www.nflpa.org/Faqs/NFL_HopefulsFaq.aspx

Black Athlete, URL: http://www.blackathlete.com/Blackbox/042604.shtml

George Blanda, wikipedia, URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Blanda

Everything.com URL: http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1889944

ESPN, URL: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2916811

Chicago Bears, URL: http://www.chicagobears.com/tradition/hof-blanda.asp

Oakland Raiders, URL: http://www.raidersonline.org/georgeblanda.php

MSN/Encarta, URL: http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761595669/George_Blanda.html

Morten Andersen, wikipedia, URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morten_Andersen

“Falcons reach agreement with veteran K Andersen,” ESPN, url: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2595177

Database-football, URL: http://www.databasefootball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=ANDERMOR01

Gary Anderson, wikipedia, URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Anderson

Reference:

• www.nfl.com/history/randf/records/indiv/service