Best Saints By The Numbers: #7

All summer long, we’re going to list the best players in New Orleans Saints history to wear every number, 00-99.

Yesterday, we did #6.

Today, #7:

The pick: Morten Andersen

When picking the best Saints player ever to wear #7, the choice is limited to quarterbacks Danny Wuerffel and Guy Benjamin, punters Steve Weatherford and Ben Graham, and kicker Morten Andersen.

The obvious choice here is Andersen, who held 21 NFL career records at the end of his 25-year career.

A seven-time Pro Bowler, Andersen was named a member of the All-decade teams for both the 1970s and 1980s, and remains the all-time leading scorer for two different organizations, the Saints and the Atlanta Falcons.

A native of Denmark, Andersen was selected by the Saints in the fourth round of the 1982 NFL Draft out of Michigan St.

His career got off to a rough start, when he hurt his ankle on his first career kickoff, forcing him to miss eight weeks.

Andersen came back to have a successful year, and career, kicking 302 field goals, while scoring 1318 points.

In 1991, against the Chicago Bears, Andersen kicked a 60-yard field goal, tying him with Steve Cox for the second-longest field goal in league history at the time, behind the 63-yard record-holder kicked by Tom Dempsey.

Following the 1994 season, Andersen was released by the Saints, before signing with the Atlanta Falcons, where he kicked through 224 field goals.

After his first stint with the Falcons came to an end in 2000, Andersen kicked one year for the New York Giants, two seasons for the Kansas City Chiefs, and one year for the Minnesota Vikings, before he returned to the Falcons to kick for two more years, before retiring following the 2007 season at the age of 47.

In 13 years with the Saints, Andersen converted on 302-of-389 field goal attempts, and 412-of-418 PAT's, giving him a club record 1,018 total points.

In 25 career seasons, Andersen was successful on 565-0f-709 field goal attempts, and 849-of-859 PAT's, giving him an NFL record 2,544 total points.

Andersen, who holds the NFL career record for the most games played (382), was inducted into the New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame in 2009.