Former New Orleans Saints kicker Morten Andersen, the NFL's all-time leading scorer, is one of 25 semifinalists being considered for the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2014.
The Hall of Fame's Selection Committee chose the 25 modern-era semifinalists from the previously announced list of 126 nominees.
Andersen, who played for the Saints from 1982-94 and is the franchise all-time leading scorer with 1,318 points, finished with 2,544 points. He also is the all-time leading scorer for the Atlanta Falcons, for whom he played eight seasons.
Andersen was a seven-time Pro Bowler, a six-time All-Pro and a member of the NFL All-Decade team in the 1980s and 1990s. He made 565 of 709 career field-goal attempts and kicked 302 field goals as a Saint.
The list of 25 semifinalists will be reduced by mail ballot to 15 modern-era finalists. That list increases to 17 finalist nominees with the inclusion of the two recommended candidates of the Hall of Fame's Seniors Committee.
The Seniors Committee nominees, who were announced in August, are punter Ray Guy (1973-1986 Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders) and defensive end Claude Humphrey (1968-1978 Atlanta Falcons, 1979-1981 Philadelphia Eagles).
The results of the modern-era reduction vote to 15 finalists will be announced during a one-hour special on NFL Network on Wednesday, Jan. 8 2014 at 10 p.m. ET
The Class of 2014 will be determined at the Selection Committee's annual meeting on Saturday, Feb. 1, in New York, the day before Super Bowl XLVIII. The Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2014 will be announced during "3rd Annual NFL Honors," a two-hour primetime awards special to air nationally that evening from 8-10 p.m. (ET) on FOX.
"NFL Honors" will be taped earlier that evening at Radio City Music Hall in New York City from 6-8 p.m. (ET) when the 2014 Hall of Fame Inductees will be introduced for the first time. In addition, the NFL and The Associated Press will announce their annual accolades in this awards show with the winners on hand to accept their awards.
The Class of 2014 will be officially enshrined on Saturday, Aug. 2 in Canton, Ohio as the main event of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Annual Enshrinement Festival Celebration.
