Hall of Famer offers his assistance to Carli Lloyd

Posted by Darin Gantt on August 29, 2019, 8:03 AM EDT
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If soccer star Carli Lloyd is serious about a bid to become an NFL kicker, she could have the help of one of the best to ever do it.

Hall of Fame kicker Morten Andersen posted a video on Twitter, offering his assistance to the two-time World Cup champion and two-time FIFA women’s player of the year.

“If you want to know what it’s like to kick in the NFL for 25 years, contact me and I’d love to work with you,” Andersen said. “Go get it.”

Andersen played in 382 games in his career and scored 2,544 points, and was just the second kicker inducted into the Hall.

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33 responses to “Hall of Famer offers his assistance to Carli Lloyd”

  4. Let her compete in a fair competition.
    There seems to be a shortage of competent kickers, so competition is welcome.
    Having said that, I have my doubts she can beat out other kickers in a fair competition, as opposed to a PR stunt.
    Prove me wrong, go out there and earn a spot on merit.

  5. The NFL (through Andersen) has opened the door. Carlie is awfully old to try to make the switch. A pressure loving player in her 20s might be able to make the switch. How many kickers are older than she is? Not many and most of them in their last year or 3.

  6. Why is no one asking the question, why doesn’t a male professional soccer player kick for the nfl?

    If she can kick 55 yards, I’m sure a man can kick longer

  7. I don’t know why some people are so scared of competition for when rosters are expanded to 90 men. We see it all the time with track guys and wrestlers. Heck even the strong man that played The Mountain on flirted with playing with the Colts. Usain Bolt created a ton of buzz with NFL fans years ago when he was being incited to try football. Nobody cared that they never played football in their life. Bill Belichick told story’s about how he had to have the equipment guys teach former free style world champion wrestler Stephen Neal how to put on his equipment and what the equipment was for. Neal went on to win 3 super bowl championships with the Pats. No outcry back then. Real men accept the challenge and compete. They don’t grab their phones and proclaim that it’s not fair.

  8. Obviously she has the talent and skill to do this. Whether someone ear-holes her into oblivion is the only real question.

  10. red says:
    August 29, 2019 at 8:17 am
    So what happens if there’s a bad snap and a 250 pound man tackles her?
    ——-
    Same thing that will happen to Kyler Murray. The Gramatica brothers (Martin and Bill) were not any bigger than she is. If she would be willing to take that risk I don’t think any of us should try to stop her. As long as she will willing to take all of the risks and play by the same rules I’m all for anyone competing.

  11. She could do it I just wouldn’t wanna see a blocked kick turn into her attempting to tackle somebody, and putting herself in a position where someone could take a real shot at her, because then the whole world will stop spinning and people will start saying the guy who hit her sought her out for a cheap shot. Oh you know that will happen if she ever gets laid out during a play so get ready for it

  12. I honestly hope she’s serious and gives this a real go. If anyone can do it, she can. Anybody who has spent more than 30 min watching her play knows that she is more than capable of handling any duty a NFL kicker has responsibility for.

  13. I can’t wait for the season to start so this PR stunt can be put to rest. That is all it is. Everyone knows this doesn’t pass the smell test. Unless the smell test is for a PR stunt.

  16. jonathankrobinson424 says:
    August 29, 2019 at 10:20 am
    She will be the BEARS kicker by week 5. Bet Nagy does’nt throw her under the bus for a tipped FG.
    ______________________________________________

    The Bears are the only reason the Packers won’t be cutting Mason Crosby, that I can assure you of.

  17. red says:
    August 29, 2019 at 8:17 am
    So what happens if there’s a bad snap and a 250 pound man tackles her?
    ——————————————————————————————
    I don’t know. Probably the same thing that happened to 140-pound kickers. We’re splitting hairs here.

  19. pftthoughtpolicemostwanted says:
    August 29, 2019 at 8:15 am
    If the advice isn’t grow a few more inches, put on another 30 lbs, and learn to kick a field goal without taking seven steps he’s giving her bad advice.
    —————
    You forgot “trim 10-15 years off of your age”. No NFL GM would even sign a man, at age 38, with no experience.

  22. Top athlete…check
    Multiple World Championships…check
    Never competed in a sport where everyone outweighed her by at least 100 lbs…check
    Never been blasted into oblivion by a special-teamer trying to make a name for himself…check
    Never been rolled up by a 300+ lb D-lineman…check
    Never tried out for a new sport at an age where most are retiring from it…check

    Yeah, this will end well.

  23. Carli has an uphill climb to get a roster spot, but down the road, there really isn’t a good reason why a big, athletic female kicker couldn’t make it.

    Makes me laugh with all the NFL teams whining about their kicking woes and not one of them thinks of the CFL. Lewis Ward of Ottawa just set a pro football record of 69 consecutive regular season field goals, crushing Vinateri’s record of 44.

    It’s harder to kick field goals in the CFL than in the NFL: smaller stadiums more open to the wind, worse weather, hash marks are very wide apart compared to the NFL, with goal posts at the front of the end zone making for difficult angles. To top it off, missed field goals can get run back and there’s no punt cover team out there, just big, slow blockers. Missed long field goals can easily be run back for six. CFL kickers have to be half decent tacklers.

  24. She is good enough to try out. No reason to prohibit her from being evaluated. Plenty of kickers from other sports, even Youtube trick shot guys, get looked at every year. It’s a tough and crucial position though so if she does make it, it will be because she is the real deal. No team would keep a kicker that can’t hack it just for a PR stunt.

  25. dartmouthstevens says:
    August 29, 2019 at 8:41 am
    The NFL (through Andersen) has opened the door. Carlie is awfully old to try to make the switch. A pressure loving player in her 20s might be able to make the switch. How many kickers are older than she is? Not many and most of them in their last year or 3.

    —————————————————————————————————————————————————–

    Everything I’ve read about Carli Lloyd says she’s an extremely competitive person who thrives on the pressure she creates for herself. I don’t think age is a huge factor since it doesn’t take a great amount of stamina to be a kicker as compared to say a running back or a pass rusher.

  26. Equality for all… That what we’re after right? Let her compete, but only if she’s better. Not because of a “pronoun”…

    She won’t make it…

  27. If she works with Anderson/coaches for the next 10 or so months, maybe she can be brought in to play in the preseason either as part of a kicking competition or behind a steadfast veteran with job security. Either way, the NFL wins

  28. I see a lot of small minded men here showing obvious signs of somehow personally being challenged or threatened by the possibility of this signing. Is it something deeper than being threatened a woman can do something they can’t? Either way, grow a set and accept that even though high end women athletes typically can’t compete with high end men athletes, they can all still own your couch potato whining self.

    I welcome the day a woman athlete earns her way onto a men’s squad. It should be celebrated and anticipated, not feared.

  29. youngnoize says:
    August 29, 2019 at 10:51 am
    Why are people acting as if kickers tackle all the time. I’ve seen kickers try to slide tackle guys.

    ============

    Slide tackling (tripping) is illegal.

  31. Sure she made a 55yd FG but she took 5 steps plus a studder-step to start off so every attempt would be smacked right back into her face!

    NFL kickers ONLY take 2 steps no matter how long the FG is!

  32. Robert “HandyMan” Kraft says:
    August 29, 2019 at 2:18 pm
    youngnoize says:
    August 29, 2019 at 10:51 am
    Why are people acting as if kickers tackle all the time. I’ve seen kickers try to slide tackle guys.

    ============

    Slide tackling (tripping) is illegal.
    _______________________________________

    So what! The kicker is the last line of D so if I’m the HC I’ll take the penalty over a TD any day, all day, every day!

  33. “I see a lot of small minded men here showing obvious signs of somehow personally being challenged or threatened by the possibility of this signing. Is it something deeper than being threatened a woman can do something they can’t? Either way, grow a set and accept that even though high end women athletes typically can’t compete with high end men athletes, they can all still own your couch potato whining self.

    I welcome the day a woman athlete earns her way onto a men’s squad. It should be celebrated and anticipated, not feared.”

    ——————-

    Easy there, champ. My point of view is different than a lot of others up here, but raising concerns is not something to be criticized.

    I think it’s fair that Carli Lloyd gets shot. She is not ready yet, though, judging solely from that video. Can she get to the point where she can hit 50+ yarders without those extra steps (giving the defense adequate time to block) and get the ball trajectory up so that’s harder to get tipped? If she can, then the other concerns (namely her size and tackling acumen) are much less important. On one hand, most kickers aren’t reliable tacklers anyway. On the other, she is significantly smaller than any kicker today (and even twenty plus pounds lighter than Martin Grammatica, whom everyone is bringing up) and has professional tackling experience. Even though kickers don’t tackle much, there needs to be enough threat of a tackle to at least influence the direction of the ball carrier so that the other players can make a stop.

    I think Lloyd, with practice, may have a decent chance to at least get a serious invite if nothing else, but she’s a ways away at the moment. Though her age is up there, we’ve seen successful kickers stick around in their later years, so it may be possible. There are a lot of things for her to work on first, though.

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