Dan Bailey hopes to last as long as Hall of Famer Morten Andersen

Dallas Cowboys kicker Dan Bailey would like to have as long of a career as possible. Morten Andersen is the ironman he would like to follow.

Andersen, who is just the second kicker to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, played for 25 seasons. Andersen’s final season came at age 47 and he walked away as the NFL’s all-time leading scorer (2,544) with most field goals (565) and games played (382). He was an all-decade player in the 1980s and 1990s.

“It’s cool. You always like to see your position get credit and he did a lot for the game,” Bailey said. “He played for forever.”

Asked if he intends to play into his 40s like Andersen, Bailey said: “You would hope to kick into your 40s. Definitely have that mindset. … There’s a lot of guys at that position that have really had some longevity, so absolutely I’d like to play as long as I can.”

Along with Andersen, Bailey mentioned kickers such as Jason Hanson, Gary Anderson and Adam Vinatieri as models in longevity.

Bailey, 29, is going into his seventh pro season. He is the second-most accurate kicker in NFL history (89.5 percent) and has never missed a point-after attempt in his career (250-for-250).

This story was originally published August 5, 2017 at 7:02 PM with the headline "Dan Bailey hopes to last as long as Hall of Famer Morten Andersen."