Falcons kicker Morten Andersen spreading his love of the NFL in his native country
Pro Football Hall of Famer Morten Andersen’s kick in overtime of the 1999 NFC Championship Game sent the Atlanta Falcons to their first Super Bowl. It’s still arguably the most important kick in Atlanta history, but it’s also the most critical NFL field goal of all time for one small European country.
More than 20 years later, the man who made that kick is still helping to popularize the NFL in that country.
Nicknamed “The Great Dane,” Andersen was born in Copenhagen and grew up in Struer, Denmark. He played 17 seasons in the NFL without many taking notice in his home country, but that changed when he made the biggest field goal of his life.
“It became kind of a big catalyst for increasing interest in the game,” Andersen said of his game-winning field goal in the 1999 NFC Championship game. “It sparked something in the national pride.
“That’s the year people, the fans, the country actually realized there was a Danish guy playing in the NFL. Then it became really mainstream, everybody kind of jumped on it, and then that’s when they started showing the games on a more regular basis.”
Andersen says his country showed the Super Bowl every year in certain places before his big kick, but starting in 1999, the Danish took a greater interest in the league on a week-to-week basis. Technology has only further helped the spread of the NFL’s popularity in Denmark during the 21st Century.
Diehard fans in Copenhagen can watch live NFL games Sunday evening and into the late night and early morning on niche sports television stations, but NFL Game Pass is also available in the country. Not only does that enable fans to watch the league’s games on tablets and phones, but it also allows viewers to time shift games to when it’s convenient for them. Time shifting sporting events is rare in the United States, but it’s key in places where the NFL’s best primetime games air starting at 2 am.
In retirement, Andersen is also doing his part to share his love for football with his native country. He’s hosted multiple Super Bowl parties in Denmark and did so again when the Kansas City Chiefs faced the San Francisco 49ers this past February. About 500 fans showed up at The Circus Building in Copenhagen to not only watch the game but take part in an “American-styled” party.
“The premise is you come have dinner, you know the big American dinner. We had the ribs, we had the wings, we had beer sponsors -- that kind of thing,” Andersen said when describing this year’s Super Bowl bash. “You eat, you drink and then we do the show, and then the game comes on, and then halftime, of course, everyone wants to watch the halftime show with J-Lo and Shakira, and then everybody stumbles home at five in the morning. So it was pretty fun.”
As part of the show, Andersen shared his personal experience of playing in Super Bowl XXXIII with the Falcons. He went 2-for-3 on field-goal attempts and made his only extra point try in that game, but the Falcons lost to the Denver Broncos, 33-19.
Andersen now lives in Atlanta where he played eight seasons for the Falcons from 1995-2000 and again from 2006-07. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017 and is an ambassador for Vegas Insider and RotoGrinders.
While there are no sports games to bet on, Vegas Insider and RotoGrinders is taking cetain prop bets and is still releasing Super Bowl odds for the 2020 season.
No Danish person has contributed more to the NFL, during his career and after retirement, than Andersen. In addition to his hall of fame induction, Andersen broke the record for most points scored in NFL history in 2006 and remained first in points scored until Adam Vinatieri passed him last season.
Based on population, Denmark is not quite the size of Maryland, and American football is still significantly behind other more conventional Danish sports such as soccer, handball and badminton, but thanks in large part to Andersen, the NFL has a growing market in Denmark.
It all started with one faithful kick in 1999.
