(image via New York Jets)
Last weekend, I took a trip up to the Jets’ training facility in Florham Park to interview Anders Carlson, kicker for the New York Jets. Anders grew up in Colorado and, along with football, played basketball and soccer. As a high school student in 2017, Carlson was invited to the 2017 Under Armour All-America Game and was rated a top 10 overall recruit prospect in the state of Colorado by ESPN. Carlson would go on to commit to the University of Auburn, turning down offers from schools such as Vanderbilt and Oklahoma State. In the sixth round of the 2023 NFL draft, the Green Bay Packers selected Carlson with the 207th overall pick. Carlson would go on to play for the Packers through the 2023 season, and in 2024 had a brief stint with the San Francisco 49ers before landing with the Jets. Throughout this interview, I got to ask Carlson some questions about his high school career, college, the draft, and the many ups and downs of playing football on the world’s biggest stage.
How did your Football career begin, and what led you to become a kicker?
“So I grew up playing soccer, my dad is from Sweden, so I grew up playing all the European Sports like soccer and tennis, and I had some height in basketball, and as I got to high school, I saw my brother transition into football. They needed a kicker on the high school team and I saw his success and while I was a decent soccer player I realized I could be a better Kicker, so I devoted all my time and talent towards kicking my sophomore year of high school and learned as much as possible those years and eventually got to college.”
We often get to hear about the recruitment process from QBs, wide receivers, and linemen. Being a kicker, what was the recruitment process like for you?
“Being a kicker is unique because a college team will only offer every 4 years, if they have a guy on scholarship they don’t have another one to offer so it kind of limits where you can go but I went to many different kicking camps and had gotten an offer from Vanderbilt, got an offer from Oklahoma State, got an offer from Auburn pretty early on, and I liked all three schools but I ended up going to Auburn because I wanted to play in the SEC and Vandy wasn’t as well known as Auburn at the time”
In 2017, as a high schooler, you competed in the Under Armor All-America Game- what was that experience like?
“It was awesome man I think the coolest thing was just seeing the best high school players play, some of the highly talented five star guys that you probably knew by name in high school and just seeing those quarterbacks and running backs play it was my first time seeing real division one players go at it and it was a great experience.”
Typically, when a kicker gets drafted, it doesn’t happen until the later rounds. What were your expectations for yourself going into the draft?
“You always want to head into draft day with high hopes but you also need to remember it can go any way just depending on what certain teams need at the time so I put my best foot forward at the combine and workouts and I knew I had a great shot but you never know how it goes, but once I saw Jake Moody get drafted pretty early on I knew it was going to be pretty helpful for me and on day three pretty early on my phone started ringing and things started moving and I just got ready for the call and it turned out to be Green Bay.”
Was there a specific team you were hoping to get drafted by?
“Similar to college recruitment, some teams have a great kicker; they don’t need a drafted guy, so there were about four or five teams that were interested in kickers that year, and they were all great teams, and it ended up being Green Bay.”
Before drafting you, the Packers had Mason Crosby, who played 16 years with the team and was beloved by Green Bay fans. Did you feel pressure to fill those big shoes, or did you have more of a “I’m just gonna do my own thing” approach?
“I think that was a big narrative when I got there, ‘How do you follow Mason Crosby” and for me it was always just about staying in my own lane. He’s an absolute legend for the career he had both on the field and off the field, but my biggest thing was just to create a name for myself and to do what I could while I was there in Green Bay.”
In your rookie season, there were certain points throughout the year were you struggled. How did you stay motivated during times of adversity?
“Like you said earlier, during my rookie year things started really hot in the beginning and got a little bit colder towards the end but I think kicking teaches you more about life and who you are than anything like all sports do so knowing who you are outside of football and staying grounded in those principles and just being a hard worker and approaching every day trying to get one percent better each and every day.”
In October of 2024, you were picked up by the 49ers, and in a game against the Kansas City Chiefs,you made both of your field goal attempts and kicked a career best 55 yarder-but ended up being cut not long after once their kicker returned from injury. How did you stay motivated during this kind of situation and setback?
“Going to the 49ers I knew I was going to fill in for a couple weeks, so I knew that I could just make the most of my opportunity I think I just a good job for them and got to meet some cool teammates but I knew when their kicker was going to come back I was going to go move on and so I did what I could and and wound up with the Jets and this opportunity so just putting your best foot forward like I said earlier and I’m very thankful for San Francisco and what they did.”
It’s no secret that New York is a one-of-a-kind atmosphere- what’s it like kicking in front of the best fans in the world?
“The Big Apple is the place you want to be. It’s a fun environment to be around, and like you said, the fans are loyal through thick and thin. Maybe some tougher years recently but better years to come and it’s those fans, it’s the kids, that’s what motivates any young player or inspiring athlete to just do your routine correctly and show anybody that you can do it you know I’m a kid from Colorado so whether you’re from the city or Jersey wherever you can do the same in whatever field but whatever field you choose you can do the same.”
In a game against Seattle last season, you recovered your kickoff. Walk me through that play.
“You tell me if that’s ever been done by a kicker before I don’t know if it’s a record but yeah it was a game at MetLife and hit a kickoff to the right if I remember correctly and when the returner caught it I know he didn’t really have a great hold of the ball and guys were just absolutely smashing each other left and right in front of me but somehow the returner tripped and the ball ended up just kind of sitting right in front of me, which was more luck than anything but I was happy to jump on it real quick and try to help a short field opportunity for us.”
Let’s go back to a game against the Raiders in 2023-you faced off against your brother, who plays for Las Vegas, and became the first sibling duo to kick against each other in 36 years. With family in attendance and your brother on the other sideline, how did that experience feel, and what was going through your head as you prepared for the game?
I think that was probably one of the top moments in my sports career. There’s been a lot of high highs and a couple of lows too, but I think when I get older, I’ll reflect on that day a lot more and just how special it was for my family. Going there playing him and his home stadium, he missed a couple I didn’t miss any so I kicked better than him but they did end up winning so you don’t like that but it was cool pregame, I’ve kicked with my brother so many times just on a field somewhere but to do it in NFL game warming up is something different.”
You’re very open about your faith. How has God helped you through the highs and lows of your career?
“I think faith has been extremely important to me because like you said there’s been a lot of highs and a lot of lows and you can never predict how things are going to go in sports all you can do is do your best and see what happens,so having that piece of letting go and saying hey I’ve done everything I can no matter if I go three for three this game or one for three I know who I am as a person that’s most important and surrounding yourself with people who believe in you and have a bigger perspective than just Sports maybe faith family all that stuff can help the lows be a little bit better and the highest be a little bit more humbling.”
Is there a specific coach or teammate, either in college or the NFL, who’s made a large impact on your career?
“I’ve had a ton. I’d say my high school coach, who got me into kicking, was a huge influence on me as a person first of all, but as a kicker as well. Just getting me into the role as a kicker and teaching me a few things I wasn’t very technically sound didn’t know I was doing at the time but it led to Auburn and led to this opportunity and along the way I’ve had so many great coaches I’m in head coaches like Gas Malzhan And the person he is and coaches here in the NFL as well but I spend the most time with my teammates and I’m super thankful for all the holders all the Specialists and not specialist too I mean I think of guys like Garrett Wilson and someone like last year Aaron Jones was a great great teammate so it’s been cool to see all those guys at the top of the world and to see they’re just great guys who help everyone out.”
Anders and the Jets are entering the 2025 season with a renewed sense of optimism. From key offseason acquisitions like Justin Fields to drafting Armand Membou, the Jets are doing all they can to put themselves in the best position to compete and contend. The Jets will take the field looking to make some noise in the 2025-2026 NFL season, while Anders Carlson looks to be a valuable asset to the special teams unit.
