NEW ORLEANS — Although Morten Andersen grew up with absolutely no notion of kicking an American football, he always had designs on playing sports at an elite level — albeit with his hands.
As he neared the end of high school in his native Denmark, he had an invitation to try out for his country’s junior national handball team. Instead, he heeded his parents’ wishes that he spend a school year abroad in the United States.
He opted to become a more well-rounded citizen of the world, and serendipitously put himself on a path to becoming one of the best at kicking a not-so-well-rounded ball.