Morten Andersen

“The mental training and visualisation I did, making practice more difficult than games, gave me an advantage on gameday.”

“Waiting to try a crucial kick sets something off inside of me. I'll tell myself. My mother doesn't care about this field goal, my father doesn't care about this field goal, and my brother doesn't care about this field goal. Five million Danes don't care if I make this kick. Please. Let me go home.”

“The kickoff is one of the single-most violent plays in football, to run at full speed for a head-on collision.”

“I was a gymnast and I was a handball player.”

“High achievers sometimes are not the nicest people.”

“American football was not on the radar at all for me.”

“I want to know for sure that I left everything on the field.”

“Nobody is guaranteed tomorrow, but why not have goals that are cool and motivational?”

“I have a deep appreciation and respect for what I discovered here in the United States of America.”

“When you try a 50-yarder in Pittsburgh in December, it's almost impossible. When you try a 50-yarder in a dome anytime, it's a lock if you kick it straight.”

“I had a really hard time for about a year and a half after football.”

“If your ears and eyes are open to new possibilities and opportunities, they are right in front of you sometimes.”

“I have a deep love for the city of New Orleans and its football team.”

“The one, single most important thing that I've had throughout the years, throughout when it didn't look good, was will.”

“I had no idea of the grandeur and vastness of the Himalayas. It is mindboggling. It makes you realize how small you are in the larger context.”

“I would argue that, besides the quarterback position, kickers affect the outcome of games more than anyone.”

“I'm not debating he doesn't have skill, but I don't think it's fair to say that Harry Kane can just insert himself as a bona fide NFL kicker - there is more to it, he has to earn that just like we earned it.”

“I think understanding where you are as an athlete is important. Creating a baseline so that you know in what direction you are moving. You are either getting better or you're getting worse. There is no status quo in the high-performance business.”

“When people ask me how I lasted so long, I tell them it was determination. I never stopped working hard, because I knew kickers were expendable. They'll slide your name out of that slot over your locker really fast and replace you if you don't get the job done.”

“Besides the quarterback there's more scrutiny on the kicker than any position, and it takes a special human being to thrive in that environment for a long period of time, because most of the time it's a series of potential failures.”