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Ray Buchanan vs. Mike Kenn vs. Morten Andersen


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Today begins our Fans' Favorite Falcon legacy series where you all will determine which former player has your favorite Falcons legacy. The series kicks off with the play-in matchup between Ray Buchanan, Mike Kenn and Morten Andersen. Voting will run through Saturday, and the winner will go head-to-head with top seed Jessie Tuggle in the first round next week.

Click here to register your vote.

Click here for all the details of the Fans' Favorite Falcon series.

And let's discuss below. Who did you vote for in the play-in matchup between Ray Buchanan, Mike Kenn and Morten Andersen and why?

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I've always been interested to know: How does Mort being the all-time scoring leader in Saints history affect your view of him? Of course, he's also the Falcons' all-time scoring leader, and he kicked the Birds into the Super Bowl. I take it those two things supersede his time in New Orleans for most fans. Just interested in hearing opinions on that.

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I've always been interested to know: How does Mort being the all-time scoring leader in Saints history affect your view of him? Of course, he's also the Falcons' all-time scoring leader, and he kicked the Birds into the Super Bowl. I take it those two things supersede his time in New Orleans for most fans. Just interested in hearing opinions on that.

Good question. I just realize that everyone has character flaws although playing for the stains is a pretty major one.

But Mort, Hebert, Iron Head and Haynes are Falcons in my mind - I block out any time spent with that other team.

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Kenn played 17 years for the Falcons and never missed a game. He never played in another uniform. Think about how amazing that is. Draft a Tackle at #13 overall and the next 17 years his position is covered. Uncanny.

Morten's OT kick is legendary. But Kenn's dedication to this franchise, IMO, trumps Mort's accomplishments.

Do the right thing people.

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I think it shows tremendous character, what Morten did. He kept it classy even though he had plenty of opportunities to act otherwise.

I truly believe that he showed a genuine love for the game.. why else would he have kept playing till he was 60?

Edit: Iirc Morten was one of the few kickers actually drafted and he played for quarter of a century (unbelieveable) in the NFL.

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Kenn played 17 years for the Falcons and never missed a game. He never played in another uniform. Think about how amazing that is. Draft a Tackle at #13 overall and the next 17 years his position is covered. Uncanny.

Morten's OT kick is legendary. But Kenn's dedication to this franchise, IMO, trumps Mort's accomplishments.

Do the right thing people.

Can I get an "Amen" from the people?

Not to mention that the guy was an exceptional OLineman. Very, very rarely penalized. (He had an outrageous string of games without a single penalty - holding, illegal motion, ANYTHING.) 5-time pro-bowler and 2-time 1st team All Pro. Every bit as valuable as Van Note, perhaps moreso.

Blows my mind that he's got to fight his way in.

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Mort was great for us when he was here, but the Taints all-time leading scorer does put a little blemish on him.

Ray was great for us, but being old school, and having played the OL when I did play (and wanting to be like Kenn when I was playing), I have major respect for anybody who can play the OL that long at the level Kenn did. Plus those OL guys never get any respect. So, the guy who is probably my favorite all-time Falcon, Mike Kenn gets my vote.

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I've always been interested to know: How does Mort being the all-time scoring leader in Saints history affect your view of him? Of course, he's also the Falcons' all-time scoring leader, and he kicked the Birds into the Super Bowl. I take it those two things supersede his time in New Orleans for most fans. Just interested in hearing opinions on that.

A disqualifier for me, all 3 are worthy but no Aint's. Ray Buchanan was on the Falcon SB team and had more effect on the overall season than Mort.

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A disqualifier for me, all 3 are worthy but no Aint's. Ray Buchanan was on the Falcon SB team and had more effect on the overall season than Mort.

Ray wouldn't have made that FG. Trust me. That's the single best play of that game by far. Maybe the best in Falcon history.

Jam, Mathis, Chandelier, Jesse and maybe Martin had a better year than Ray. Mort too.

The Aint thing doesn't bother me at all. In fact, I like it. Dude inflicted way more pain on the Aint Nation than Kenn and Big Play.

The hiring of Mort, Hebert and Ironhead gave us many great Aint moments.

With all due respect to Kenn and Ray, I'm goin with Morty Ice.

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Ray wouldn't have made that FG. Trust me. That's the single best play of that game by far. Maybe the best in Falcon history.

Jam, Mathis, Chandelier, Jesse and maybe Martin had a better year than Ray. Mort too.

The Aint thing doesn't bother me at all. In fact, I like it. Dude inflicted way more pain on the Aint Nation than Kenn and Big Play.

The hiring of Mort, Hebert and Ironhead gave us many great Aint moments.

With all due respect to Kenn and Ray, I'm goin with Morty Ice.

All three choices are solid....we will have to agree to disagree on our choices. It's all in fun and I have no problems with anyones particular vote.

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Doesn't matter ... winner faces Hammer, and we know how that's going to turn out :)

However, I'd roll with Kenn if forced to choose. He was a rock on the OL, and probably in different circumstances would deserve HOF credentials.

That's a good point. Regardless of who it is.....he will lose.

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Ray Buchanan and the spiked dog collar during media days prior to the Super Bowl. THAT WAS CLASSIC.

Mike Kenn was iconic and Mort got us to the Super Bowl with the kick, but that was a total TEAM effort taking the Vikings down to get to that point. If Mort missed the kick like Gary Anderson did, he wouldn't have even been on the team flight home.

That team wasn't supposed to go and they fought their way past the Vikings and still didn't get respect. Our team this year, was supposed to go, had the easiest path and blew an easy shot at a second apperance. With a 20-2 record at home since 2008, who really thought the Falcons were going to get shutdown in the playoffs? NOT MANY.

I'm still wishing now the Saints would have beaten Seattle. We would have beaten them and at least gotten the the NFCCG at home, which I think we'd have won vs. Chicago.

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Great stuff. For those of you who are talking about Kenn having to play his way in, as the head of the committee, believe me, these were very difficult choices to make. I think the fact that these three players have to play in is a testament to the extraordinary players who have come through the Falcons organization since its inception.

There were a couple of things about Kenn that were taken into consideration: 1. His position. It's so rare that an offensive lineman is a unanimous favorite among a fanbase. Not to say that it's not possible, or that Kenn's not worthy, because he absolutely is. But taking into consideration the big question for us, which was "Who do you think of when you think of the Atlanta Falcons?" Kenn was a tough one to figure. 2. Kenn, just like Nobis, Humphrey, et. al., played in a different era than the Deions or the Rays or the Risons. The early '90s really brought out a flamboyance and character among athletes, and I think we can attribute that to the rise of ESPN starting in the '80s and athletes just, in general, getting more attention and TV time than their counterparts in the '60s and '70s.

I think for any franchise, it's tougher for guys who played in the 60s, 70s and 80s to be considered ultimate fan favorites just because of the periods they played in and the difference in exposure between the eras.

The other thing we took into account is when we're talking about absolute, total favorite players, the guys who played more recently have a distinct advantage over the more historic players simply because those players tend to be more fresh in most minds. What I'm really interested in seeing through this series and the polls is how the players from the 60s and 70s compare to the players in the past 20 years. The newer generation of Falcons fan likely grew up with the Dirty Birds or the DVD era and so I'm going to be interested in seeing how those particular players stack up against the historic players in the collective minds of you all.

However this turns out, I think it's going to be a lot of fun to watch and I hope you all have as much fun participating, voting and debating!

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I know it was a tough decision, and I appreciate the list and the work you guys put in. Again, probably showing my age, but as a guy whose earliest memories of Falcons football include my dad screaming at Bob Lee through the TV set, I just think Kenn should've gotten more love. As much as I appreciate what Kerney and Dunn did for the team, I personally think Kenn should've been on the list.

Don't even get me started on Sanders. Ugh.

But that's just me.

Regardless, thanks for the off-season conversation piece.

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