Morten Andersen On WFAN: 'Can't Think Of Anything Greater Than Going To Canton'

NEW YORK (WFAN) -- Morten Andersen says he believes this year may have been his last chance to receive entry into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The former Saints and Falcons kicker was one of seven people elected into the Hall of Fame this past weekend.

"I thought honestly if it wasn't going to be this year, I would go into the abyss and never be heard from again," Andersen told WFAN's Mike Francesa on Tuesday. "So I'm very grateful."

Andersen spent 25 years in the NFL -- 13 with New Orleans, eight with Atlanta. He also kicked for the Giants in 2001 and did stints with the Chiefs and Vikings.

He is the NFL's all-time leading scorer and was a member of two all-decade teams.

Andersen will become just the second pure kicker in the Hall of Fame -- ex-Chief and Packer Jan Stenerud is the other.

"I'm very fortunate," he said. "Worked with a lot of great people, and I took great pride in my work and tried to bring it every day. I had very stubborn will, and it's been a great ride and I can't think of anything greater than going to Canton and being immortalized up there."

Andersen said if he had to choose one team to identify with -- like is done for baseball's Hall of Fame -- he would pick the Saints.

"Played 13 years. I started there," he said. "I was drafted by the Saints in the fourth round in 1982. And I'm their leading scorer. I'm in their Ring of Honor."

A native of Copehagen, Switzerland, Andersen arrived in Indianapolis as an exchange student when he was 17. He was asked to try out for kicker on his high school's football team.

"I said, 'I like soccer. Do you have a soccer team?'" Andersen recalled. "They go, 'We don't have a soccer team.' I'm very grateful that they didn't have a soccer team because we wouldn't be talking right now."

To listen to the interview, click on the audio player above.