Mike Anderson (running back)

Michael Moschello Anderson (born September 21, 1973) is a former American football running back and Marine. He was originally drafted by the Denver Broncos in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft. He played college football at Utah.

Anderson, who earned the AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award in 2000, has also played for the Baltimore Ravens in his career.

High school

Anderson is a graduate of Kennard-Dale High School in York County, Pennsylvania, where he did not compete in sports.

Marine Corps

Anderson spent four years in the United States Marine Corps upon completion of high school in order to earn educational benefits and in consideration of a possible military career.^[1][2] While in the Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton, he played on the 11th Marines contact football team, where he was seen by an assistant coach for Mt. San Jacinto Junior College.^[2]

College career

Anderson attended Mt. San Jacinto Junior College for two years. He won the California State JUCO Player of the Year after rushing for 1,686 yards as a sophomore, and as a freshman helped his team win the L.A. Bowl. During the season, Anderson posted 1,511 rushing yards. Anderson went on to become a two-time all-conference player at the University of Utah where he was a teammate of Baltimore Ravens star wide receiver Steve Smith. Anderson finished his two-year career with the best per-game rushing average in school history (102.4 avg.)

NFL career

Denver Broncos

Anderson played five seasons for the Denver Broncos. In his first season in 2000 he ended up with 1,487 yards and received the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award. He was plagued by injuries in the following years, not even playing in 2004, the result of tearing both groin muscles while blocking on a punt return in the waning moments of a preseason game. The 2005 NFL season was a good one for him. He rushed for 1,014 yards in 15 games. In reaching his second 1,000-yard rushing season, Anderson set several modern-day NFL records (longest stretch between seasons leading a team in rushing, longest stretch between a player's first and second 1,000-yard rushing seasons, and greatest number of seasons passed between 1,000-yard rushing seasons with no intervening seasons rushing for that distance). On March 1, 2006, Anderson was waived by the Broncos to avoid exceeding the salary cap.

Baltimore Ravens

On March 12, 2006, Anderson and the Ravens agreed on a contract. During the 2006 season, he was third string behind Jamal Lewis and Musa Smith. He finished 2006 with 39 carries for 143 yards and 1 touchdown, as well as 9 receptions for 54 yards. On February 27, 2008 the Ravens released him, ending his NFL career.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mike Anderson (running back).

• C. Mark Brinkley (March 1, 2007). "Test yourself against the NFL combine". Marine Corps Times. Retrieved 2007-04-22.  Profile of Mike Anderson.