Gary Anderson
Gary Anderson was born in Parys, Free State, South Africa on July 16th, 1959 and is the Football Player. At the age of 64, Gary Anderson biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
At 64 years old, Gary Anderson has this physical status:
Gary Allan Anderson (born July 16, 1959) is a former National Football League (NFL) placekicker.
The first South African to appear in an NFL regular season game, Anderson played in the league for 23 seasons with six teams.
He spent the majority of his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers and is also known for his tenure with the Minnesota Vikings.
A four-time Pro Bowler and two-time first-team All-Pro, Anderson set several records during his two decades in the league and was named to the NFL's All-Decade teams of the 1980s and 1990s, as well as the Steelers All-Time Team. As a member of the Vikings in 1998, Anderson became the first NFL kicker to successfully convert every field goal and point after touchdown during regular season play.
During the postseason, however, he missed a critical field goal in the 1998 NFC Championship Game, which is regarded as a primary factor in the Vikings' subsequent defeat.
Anderson continued to play in the NFL for six more seasons before retiring.
At the time of his retirement, Anderson held the NFL records for points scored and field goals made.
He ranks second in games played (353), third in points scored (2,434), and third in field goals made (538) and is also the Steelers' all-time leading scorer at 1,343.
Early life
Gary Anderson was born in Parys, South Africa and grew up in Durban. His father, the Reverend Douglas Anderson, played professional soccer in England. His mother was South African. Shortly after Gary graduated from high school at Brettonwood High, Reverend Anderson left South Africa and moved his family to the United States.
Gary Anderson had hoped to follow in his father's footsteps and become a professional soccer player in Europe. On his third day after immigrating to the United States, Gary Anderson had been given a few American footballs to kick. He went to a local high school football field in Downingtown, Pennsylvania to see what kicking this type of ball was like. Gary Anderson grew up playing rugby and was drop-kicking them from the 50-yard line. A high school football coach and friend of Dick Vermeil watched Gary Anderson and arranged a tryout with the Philadelphia Eagles the next day. Gary Anderson was aged only 18, having just graduated high school, so at the tryout there were university scouts present, all four of whom offered scholarships to Gary Anderson on the spot. Anderson chose Syracuse after they promised him that he would also be able to play on the school's soccer team. He played for the Syracuse soccer team in 1978 and 1979, scoring nineteen goals, before devoting himself to football his junior and senior seasons.
Professional career
He was drafted as a placekicker by the Buffalo Bills in the 1982 NFL Draft, but he was cut before the season began. He then signed as a free agent with the Pittsburgh Steelers for a few days and spent the next 13 years in Pittsburgh. Anderson was a free agent with the Philadelphia Eagles between 1995 and 1996. He spent the 1997 season as a member of the San Francisco 49ers.
He had the privilege of wearing a one-bar facemask throughout his career, even though the NFL prohibited their use prior to his 2004 debut – along with Arizona Cardinals punter Scott Player – who was given a grandfather waiver.
Anderson began working with the Minnesota Vikings in 1998 and converted all 35 of his attempted field goals, as well as all 59 extra points in regular season play, becoming the first placekicker to finish the regular season with a 100% success rate on both field goals and extra points. In 1998, he was his only game of the season in the Atlanta Falcons' NFC Championship Game. The Falcons won the game in overtime, sending them to Super Bowl XXIII. Anderson didn't play for the Vikings until 2002. Anderson, who was with the Vikings in 2000, defeated George Blanda to become the NFL's All-Time Leading Scorer and held the record until his release from the league in 2004. Anderson played for the Tennessee Titans for two seasons in 2003 and 2004. Anderson spent 23 years in the NFL; only Adam Vinatieri (24 seasons), Morten Andersen (25 seasons) and George Blanda (26 seasons) have had longer playing careers; in addition, Vinatieri and Andersen are the only players to play in more career games than Anderson; Anderson's number one has also not been reissued by the Steelers since being officially retired, even though he was not officially retired.
Anderson and Morten Andersen, another retired celebrity placekicker, have a number of surprising coincidences. Anderson and Andersen were born within a year of one another outside of the United States (Andersen was born in Denmark), moved to the United States as teenagers, had long and fruitful NFL careers, and are currently second or second in a number of NFL records for scoring, field goals, and longevity. Both FGs and PATs have similar accuracy, with their career percentages being within.5 percent of each other. Anderson missed a field goal for the Minnesota Vikings before Andersen converted his winning kick for the Atlanta Falcons in 1998, despite being separated by the same distance (38 yards). Andersen made history by beating Anderson in December 2006. Andersen then surpassed Anderson in the NFL's career leader in field goals made over the weekend, December 24-24.