Gary Anderson ( placekicker ) Gary Allan Anderson ( born July 16 , 1959 ) is a former National Football League placekicker . He was the first NFL kicker to have a " perfect regular season , " successfully making every field goal and every PAT during regular season play in 1998 . Early life . Anderson was born in Parys , South Africa and grew up in Durban . His father , the Reverend Douglas Anderson , played professional football 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 . 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 US , 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 grew up playing Rugby and was drop kicking them from the 50 - yard line . A high school football coach and personal friend of Dick Vermeil watched Gary and arranged a tryout with the Philadelphia Eagles the next day . Gary was just 18 having just graduated high school , so after the tryout there were University scouts present , all four scouts offered scholarships to Gary on the spot . Gary 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 . After graduating from Syracuse University , he was drafted as a placekicker by the Buffalo Bills in the 1982 NFL Draft but was cut before the season began . He then , within a few days , signed as a free agent with the Pittsburgh Steelers and spent the following 12 seasons in Pittsburgh . For the 1995 and 1996 seasons , Anderson signed as a free agent with the Philadelphia Eagles . He then spent the 1997 season as a member of the San Francisco 49ers . He also had the distinction of wearing a one - bar facemask throughout his career , even though the NFL outlawed their use prior to his final season in 2004 - he , along with Arizona Cardinals punter Scott Player , were afforded a grandfather clause . In 1998 , Anderson signed with the Minnesota Vikings and converted all 35 of his attempted field goals and 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 . His only miss of the season came in a playoff game against the Atlanta Falcons where his choke allowed the Falcons to tie and eventually win in overtime to go to Super Bowl XXXIII . Anderson played for the Vikings until 2002 . In 2000 while with the Vikings , Anderson surpassed the legendary George Blanda to become the NFL ' s All - Time Leading Scorer and held the record upon his retirement from the NFL in 2004 . Anderson played his final 2 seasons with the Tennessee Titans in the 2003 and 2004 seasons . Gary played 23 years in the NFL ; only Morten Andersen and George Blanda have had longer playing tenures . Retirement . Anderson stayed with the Vikings until the 2003 season , then he joined the Tennessee Titans as a replacement for the injured Joe Nedney . Anderson connected on 27 of 31 field goal attempts in the regular season despite rotating periodically with punter Craig Hentrich , who booted four of five FGAs . In Tennessee ' s playoff win over Baltimore Anderson connected on the winning 46 - yard field goal in the final seconds , while in Tennessee ' s playoff loss to New England he missed on his one attempt . After that season , Anderson was making plans to retire and turned down offers from several teams to come kick for them . Also , in June 2004 , Anderson and his wife , Kay , and sons Austin and Douglas moved to the Canadian Rocky Mountains in Canmore , Alberta , Canada ( just outside of Banff National Park ) . When Nedney went down with another season - ending injury after the start of the 2004 season , Anderson again agreed to kick for the Titans , commuting from Canada each week . At the time of his retirement , Anderson was the last active player in the NFL to have played under former Steelers head coach Chuck Noll . Anderson ' s son Austin , began his University career the Fall of 2008 as a Freshman at the McGill University in Montreal , Quebec and remained the starting placekicker for the McGill Redmen Football Team until his graduation in April 2012 . Gary , and his wife , Kay , give back to their community by hosting an annual charity golf tournament in Canmore , Alberta with the mission to : To make a positive difference in the lives of Bow Valley School Athletes , primarily through providing financial support , to assist them to become Leaders , Valuing Teamwork , and Achieving Athletic and Academic Excellence . Anderson also gives back by coaching the local boys high school soccer team in Canmore . Anderson is passionate about fly fishing and is also a spokesman for the fly fishing industry .