Ottis Anderson
| Ottis Anderson | |
|---|---|
|
Position (s): running back |
Jersey numbers: 32, 24 |
| born on January 19, 1957 in West Palm Beach , Florida | |
| Career information | |
| Active : 1979 - 1992 | |
| NFL Draft : 1979 / Round: 1 / Pick: 8 | |
| College : Miami | |
| Teams | |
|
|
| Career statistics | |
| Running game | 10,273 yards |
| average | 4.0 yards |
| run touchdowns | 81 |
| Stats at NFL.com | |
| Stats at pro-football-reference.com | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
|
|
Ottis Jerome "OJ" Anderson (* 19th January 1957 in West Palm Beach , Florida ) is a former American American football poker players in the position of running backs . He played at the University of Miami College Football and was drafted in the first round of the 1979 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals .
Anderson won the Super Bowl twice with the New York Giants . He was elected Super Bowl MVP for his performance in Super Bowl XXV .
He is currently the Cardinals record holder for runs , touchdowns and yards (as of November 2017).
Football career
college
Ottis Anderson played college football at the University of Miami from 1975 to 1978 . During that time, he broke Chuck Foreman's career rushing record and became the first college player to run 1,266 yards in his senior year , more than 1,000 yards in one year. In total, he ran 3,331 yards during his college days and was the college's all-time rushing leader until 2014 .
NFL
Anderson was selected eighth in the first round of the 1979 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals . With 193 yards run, he had one of the greatest debut games in NFL history against the Dallas Cowboys . With this performance he was only one yard behind Alan Ameches NFL debut game record. Ameche ran for 194 yards in his first game at the Baltimore Colts in 1955 . His season run of 1,605 rushing yards was one of the glimmers of hope during the Cardinals' 1979 season, which they finished 5-11, and the reason they were named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year .
Except for the 1982 season , Anderson ran over 1,000 yards in each of the next few years. In 1982, due to a strike by the players, only nine instead of 16 games were played. With 587 yards run in eight games, however, 1,000 yards over the full 16 games would have been probable. In 1982 the Cardinals reached the play-offs for the first time since 1975 and the last time until 1998 . In the only play-off game against the Green Bay Packers , Anderson ran 58 yards in eight runs.
Injury problems reduced his playing time and his explosiveness as a tailback . Little by little, Stump Mitchell established himself as the top runningback of the cards, which made Anderson dispensable and in the middle of the 1986 season swapped for two unnamed draft picks to the New York Giants . There was clear that he briefly running situations in the field and short runs at the goal line is needed. In the 1986 play-offs he ran for only six yards in seven runs, but was able to run a touchdown in Super Bowl XXI against the Denver Broncos .
In his first 2.5 years with the Giants, Anderson never fumbled the ball . In 1989 he was named the top running back in Bill Parcell's ball-controlling offense and was named NFL Comeback Player of the Year . That year he had his season best with 14 touchdowns and ran 1,023 yards in 325 runs. In the following year he was the top running back of the Giants and was able to win the Super Bowl XXV against the Buffalo Bills with 20:19. After the game, he was voted Super Bowl MVP with the Pete Rozelle Trophy , which was first awarded after the game and is named after former NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle (102 yards gain, 21 runs, one touchdown). It was noticeable that, despite the close result, the Giants had more than twice as much ball possession than the Bills. One reason for this was that the Giants were able to drive long attack series through their strong running game (" Smashmouth Offense ") and thus gave the opponent little chance of possession. Due to the strong running game, it was the first Super Bowl where no team caused a turnover .
After he was replaced as top runningback by Rodney Hampton in 1991 , Anderson ended his career after the 1992 season . During his time with the Giants, he fumbled the ball only three times out of 739 contacts.
When he retired, he was seventh in the list of running touchdowns and eighth in running yards. He is currently one of 29 running backs who have run more than 10,000 yards in their career.
After the playing career
The end of Anderson's 14 year football career marked the beginning of his career as an entrepreneur and motivational speaker. He has also appeared on several major local and national radio and television shows.
Web links
- Homepage of Ottis Anderson
- Ottis Anderson at pro-football-reference.com
- Ottis Anderson in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Chicago / St. Louis / Arizona Cardinals Career Rushing Leaders - Pro-Football-Reference.com. In: pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 12, 2017 .
- ^ Ottis Anderson College Stats - College Football at Sports-Reference.com. In: Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved November 12, 2017 .
- ↑ Miami (FL) Hurricanes Rushing - College Football at Sports-Reference.com. In: Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved November 12, 2017 .
- ↑ Dallas Cowboys at St. Louis Cardinals - September 2nd, 1979 - Pro-Football-Reference.com. In: pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 19, 2017 .
- ↑ Chicago Bears at Baltimore Colts - September 25th, 1955 - Pro-Football-Reference.com. In: pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 19, 2017 .
- ↑ Frank Litsky: Anderson is traded to giants. The New York Times , October 9, 1986, accessed November 21, 2017 .
- ^ John Turney: The Unusual Case of Ottis Anderson. In: nflfootballjournal.blogspot.com. April 10, 2016, accessed November 21, 2017 .
- ^ NFL Rushing Yards Career Leaders - Pro-Football-Reference.com. In: pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 21, 2017 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Anderson, Ottis |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Anderson, Ottis Jerome (full name); Anderson, OJ (nickname) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American football player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 19, 1957 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | West Palm Beach , Florida , United States |