Saturday, September 4, 2004
44-year-old Andersen out as Chiefs' kicker
NFL notebook
The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Morten Andersen, the second-leading scorer in NFL history, was told Friday he has lost his job to a kicker 18 years younger.
"A tough decision. A risky decision," Kansas City Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil said.
Andersen, 44, has scored 2,259 points since breaking into the NFL with New Orleans in 1982. Only Gary Anderson has scored more.
"If he's not kicking in the league and our decision ends up not being a good decision, we'll bring him back," said Vermeil, who added the Chiefs would contact other teams to help Andersen get another opportunity.
Kicking for the Chiefs will be 26-year-old Lawrence Tynes, who was 5-of-5 this preseason with a long of 48 yards.
Andersen made his only field goal attempt, in the preseason, a 28-yarder, but his range clearly was not as great as Tynes'.
Vermeil said Andersen, who turned 44 less than a month ago, was very disappointed at the news.
"Keeping Morten Andersen would not have been a negative in any way," Vermeil said. "In no way could he hurt a football team."
RAVENS: Left tackle Jonathan Ogden is questionable for Baltimore's opener Sept. 12 against Cleveland after spraining the medial collateral ligament in his left knee Thursday.
LIONS: Safety Brock Marion has a bruised right knee but is expected to play in the team's Sept. 12 opener at Chicago. He was hurt on the opening drive of Detroit's 20-17 exhibition win over Buffalo on Thursday.
COWBOYS: Safety Darren Woodson will miss at least the first five games of the season while he heals from back surgery, and Tony Romo will be the team's No. 2 quarterback, coach Bill Parcells said.
Romo had been competing with Drew Henson for the chance to back up Vinny Testaverde. Romo was 12-for-14 passing and led Dallas to 17 points in his three drives during Thursday's 24-20 win over the Chiefs; Henson went 0-for-4 with an interception.
As for running back, Parcells doesn't plan to decide on a starter until he gets to Minnesota for the season opener. Eddie George, rookie Julius Jones and Richie Anderson are contenders.
"Who starts in the game seems to be of prime importance ... but I don't know why. It doesn't make any difference," Parcells said. "How we do it could be from week to week a changeable thing."
Dallas hasn't truly taken the running back-by-committee approach since Tony Dorsett and Herschel Walker split time in the late 1980s. Emmitt Smith was the lead back for 13 years. Troy Hambrick took over last season, but was not effective.
So the Cowboys got rid of him and made Jones their top pick, then added George. Neither stood out in the preseason - George gained just 51 yards on 24 carries, including a 23-yarder, and Jones raised eyebrows by sitting out Thursday's game against Kansas City because of sore ribs, although Parcells said he was "not annoyed with him at all."
PATRIOTS: Quarterback Jim Miller, who was released earlier this week, was re-signed. Miller, a 10-year veteran, first was signed by New England in July after spending the 2003 season out of football. He started for the Bears in 2001 and 2002, and completed 610 of 1,046 passes for 6,387 yards and 36 touchdowns in his career.
He has also played for Pittsburgh, Jacksonville, Atlanta and the Frankfurt Galaxy of NFL Europe.
JAGUARS: Jacksonville released veteran placekicker Steve Christie, whom it signed last week after rookie Josh Scobee missed three of four field goal attempts in the first two preseason games. But Christie never got a chance to kick in either of the Jaguars' final two preseason games as Scobee rallied to make his next four attempts.
TRADE: Green Bay traded strong safety Marques Anderson to Oakland for two 2005 draft picks.
The Packers will get a fifth- and a sixth-round pick for Anderson, who has 139 tackles and five interceptions in 30 career games.
REDSKINS: Washington again is ranked the most valuable NFL team by Forbes magazine, and is the first U.S. sports franchise to have a value surpassing $1 billion.
Forbes valued the Redskins at $1.104 billion, an increase of 16 percent in the last year. The team had revenues of $245 million in the last year and an operating income of $69.6 million.
Redskins owner Daniel Snyder, who also owns the team's FedEx Stadium home, paid $750 million for the franchise in 1999.
The Dallas Cowboys were ranked second at $923 million, followed by the Houston Texans at $905 million.
At the bottom of the list were the Arizona Cardinals, worth $552 million. They lost $4.9 million last year, Forbes reported.
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