WhoDat!656

In early 1982, then-Saints head coach Bum Phillips had enough.

His place kicker, Benny Ricardo, a hold-over from the previous regime under Dick Nolan that had gone 1-15 in 1980 in what was one of the worst seasons in NFL history much less Saints history, couldn’t hit on his field goal attempts with any sort of consistency during Phillips’ first year as coach in 1981.

Even worse, he couldn’t resurrect the kicking career of 3rd year punter Russell Erxleben, who had been the kicker before Ricardo but wilted under the enormous pressure of being the first ever kicker in NFL history to be taken in the first round of the NFL Draft, which the Saints inexplicably did in 1979.

Frustrated, in the 4th Round of the 1982 Draft, Phillips pulled the trigger on an All-American kicker from the Michigan State Spartans named Morten Andersen, who would go on to become a Saints legend — and today’s featured player of the Saints Legends Where Are They Now? Series, for Big Easy Believer.

Where Are Saints Legends Now? Morten Andersen

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