Post by Funkytown on Jul 7, 2018 11:05:20 GMT -6
1982: Gary Anderson Almost the Best Kicker Drafted by James McCormack
Stats and whatnot at the link:
www.theafterdrafterclock.org/2018/07/07/1982-gary-anderson-almost-the-best-kicker-drafted/
Detroit tight end Rob Rubick was the steal of the 1982 draft, but Gary Anderson was the most interesting story.
Gary Anderson is a remarkable NFL story. Taken with the 171st pick in the 1982 draft, he would have been the first kicker chosen, but that year the Saints drafted Morten Andersen with the 86th pick, so Anderson came second, after Andersen. In the history of the NFL Anderson ranks second in the number of games played (353), behind only Morten Andersen, (382). After the 2001 season Anderson had played in 309 games, and Andersen had played in 308 games. Over the last three seasons Anderson add forty-four more games, but Andersen added forty-six, so they retired with Andersen (354) one game higher than Anderson (353). Morten Anderson came back out of retirement to play twenty-eight more games after missing one season, so he finished twenty-nine games better. Even though Gary Anderson ranks second all-time, he doesn’t rank first in his own draft class.
During the 1988 and 1989 seasons, Chicago Bears kicker Kevin Butler made twenty-four straight field goals to set an NFL record. In 1993 Morten Andersen broke Butler’s record when he made his 25th straight field goal, but then missed his next two. I have been unable to locate a source for this next “fact,” so it comes from my memory Butler and Andersen once made a friendly wager that if either of them went an entire season without missing a field goal, the other one would buy two tickets for an around the world cruise for the perfect kicker and his wife. Neither one of them completed a perfect season, so the wager died a lonely death. In 1998 Gary Anderson enjoyed a perfect season for the Minnesota Vikings, making thirty-five straight field goals. The thirty-five were part of a two-year stretch of forty straight successful field goal attempts. Well, almost perfect. After going 35 for 35 in field goal attempts during the regular season, Anderson lined up to kick the field goal that would have put the NFC champion game out of reach, sending the Minnesota Vikings to their first Super Bowl in over twenty years, and the Falcons home with a tough loss. Then, for the first time all year, Gary Anderson missed, the Falcons scored a late touchdown, sent the game into overtime, and Atlanta won on a sudden death field goal. By Morten Andersen. Ouch.
At least Gary Anderson still holds the record for most consecutive field goals made, right? No, not exactly. The Colts’ Mike Vanderjagt’s kicked forty-two straight between 2002 and 2004, so Gary Anderson stands second, again.
Gary Anderson was a steal in the draft, taken 171st and finishing as the eight best pick. Morten Andersen, for the record didn’t qualify as a steal because he was drafted in the top one hundred (86th), but Andersen ranks as the single best pick that year. Playing in three hundred eighty-two games will have that effect. The single biggest steal was Detroit’s tight end Rob Rubick. The Lions chose him with the 329th pick, and he ended up the 47th best draft choice taken in 1982. He rose two hundred eighty-two slots, more than any other player taken that year. He lasted seven seasons and eighty-eight games, a good, solid career for a guy taken at the tail end of the draft.
Gary Anderson is a remarkable NFL story. Taken with the 171st pick in the 1982 draft, he would have been the first kicker chosen, but that year the Saints drafted Morten Andersen with the 86th pick, so Anderson came second, after Andersen. In the history of the NFL Anderson ranks second in the number of games played (353), behind only Morten Andersen, (382). After the 2001 season Anderson had played in 309 games, and Andersen had played in 308 games. Over the last three seasons Anderson add forty-four more games, but Andersen added forty-six, so they retired with Andersen (354) one game higher than Anderson (353). Morten Anderson came back out of retirement to play twenty-eight more games after missing one season, so he finished twenty-nine games better. Even though Gary Anderson ranks second all-time, he doesn’t rank first in his own draft class.
During the 1988 and 1989 seasons, Chicago Bears kicker Kevin Butler made twenty-four straight field goals to set an NFL record. In 1993 Morten Andersen broke Butler’s record when he made his 25th straight field goal, but then missed his next two. I have been unable to locate a source for this next “fact,” so it comes from my memory Butler and Andersen once made a friendly wager that if either of them went an entire season without missing a field goal, the other one would buy two tickets for an around the world cruise for the perfect kicker and his wife. Neither one of them completed a perfect season, so the wager died a lonely death. In 1998 Gary Anderson enjoyed a perfect season for the Minnesota Vikings, making thirty-five straight field goals. The thirty-five were part of a two-year stretch of forty straight successful field goal attempts. Well, almost perfect. After going 35 for 35 in field goal attempts during the regular season, Anderson lined up to kick the field goal that would have put the NFC champion game out of reach, sending the Minnesota Vikings to their first Super Bowl in over twenty years, and the Falcons home with a tough loss. Then, for the first time all year, Gary Anderson missed, the Falcons scored a late touchdown, sent the game into overtime, and Atlanta won on a sudden death field goal. By Morten Andersen. Ouch.
At least Gary Anderson still holds the record for most consecutive field goals made, right? No, not exactly. The Colts’ Mike Vanderjagt’s kicked forty-two straight between 2002 and 2004, so Gary Anderson stands second, again.
Gary Anderson was a steal in the draft, taken 171st and finishing as the eight best pick. Morten Andersen, for the record didn’t qualify as a steal because he was drafted in the top one hundred (86th), but Andersen ranks as the single best pick that year. Playing in three hundred eighty-two games will have that effect. The single biggest steal was Detroit’s tight end Rob Rubick. The Lions chose him with the 329th pick, and he ended up the 47th best draft choice taken in 1982. He rose two hundred eighty-two slots, more than any other player taken that year. He lasted seven seasons and eighty-eight games, a good, solid career for a guy taken at the tail end of the draft.
www.theafterdrafterclock.org/2018/07/07/1982-gary-anderson-almost-the-best-kicker-drafted/
... and neither is this Chris guy.