Morten Andersen: The Toughest Place To Kick? For Me, It Was This Place

(EDITOR’S NOTE: To listen to Morten Andersen, click on the following link: https://www.spreaker.com/user/fullpresscoverage/eyetest-20220915-1059)

Kickers were everywhere the first week of this year’s NFL.

The Steelers survived Cincinnati when Chris Bowell nailed a 53-yard field goal in OT. Will Lutz saved New Orleans with a last-second 51-yard in Atlanta. Rookie Cade York drilled a 58-yarder to lift Cleveland to a last-gasp victory over Carolina.

But there were a couple of notable misses, too – like Randy Bullock’s wide left in Tennessee and Brandon McManus with a  desperate, last-second 64-yarder in Seattle.

So that had us reach out to Morten Andersen, one of only two placekickers in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, to find out what’s going on. More to the point, we wanted to know what he had to say about the toughest places to kick.

And he said a lot.

“A big thing for us is footing,” he said of kickers. “Where can I get a good plant? And Chicago was run by the city of Chicago … the stadium (Soldier Field) was … and it was sand. So when you planted, you would basically have your foot move forward a foot or so, and the turf would just (give way).

“They would use it for multiple other (events). They would use it for concerts and lots of other things. I think we played a playoff game there, and a couple of days before they had a Rolling Stones concert there. The thing was chewed up, and by the end of the first quarter it was almost unplayable.

“It was just very difficult because when you expect your plant foot to be in one place and then it ends up a foot further, your strike point on the ball changes. You just have no chance to deliver a good strike on the football if that plant foot is moving. So, I would say Chicago was (the worst) because of the footing.”

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Consider Andersen an authority. Not only did he hit 80 percent of his career field-goal attempts, but he was also a two-time all-decade choice, played 26 seasons, and last kicked when he was 47.  He nailed 89.3 percent of his field goals in his last season.

Nevertheless, there were stadiums other than Soldier Field he didn’t like.

“Candlestick Park, San Diego,” he said. “Those type of places where you had dual purpose fields – meaning, you play baseball on it … a lot of the old stadiums (like) Pittsburgh, Philadelphia — had that. Fulton County in Atlanta, where you would play baseball and football. So, when you got to Sunday, and you were playing NFL football you would still have the dirt … the infield … the pitching mound.

“They would basically patch the pitching mound and grind it down a little bit. I remember in San Diego, there was still a little bit of a mound. The field wasn’t completely level.

“Candlestick was tough because of the wind. It was right on the bay. A swirling wind, going from grass to dirt. Dirt to grass. Those things are tough. You may get a ball that’s right in the seam, between dirt and grass … Those are tough situations. (But) now you’ve got better fields overall. There’s not a stadium anymore where you’re playing baseball and football. Everybody has their own place.”