Colt Anderson (born October 25, 1985) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

and coach who is the assistant special teams coach for the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

and was signed by the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2009. He has also played for the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

and

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

Early years

Anderson was born on October 25, 1985 in

Butte, Montana Butte ( ) is a consolidated city-county and the county seat of Silver Bow County, Montana, United States. In 1977, the city and county governments consolidated to form the sole entity of Butte-Silver Bow. The city covers , and, according to the ...

to parents Mike and Michele Anderson. He has three uncles that played

between the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fal ...

and

Montana State University Montana State University (MSU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's largest university. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 6 ...

during the 1970s. He attended Butte High School where he

lettered Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

for three years, and

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

for two years. He played football as a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

and

. As a junior, he was named honorable mention all-state, and as a senior in 2004, was an all-state first-team safety and honorable mention running back. The Butte High Bulldogs had an imperfect season with a record of 0-9 in Anderson's senior season. Over the course of his career, Anderson recorded 310

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking u ...

, nine

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

s, 850

rushing yards Rushing means a sudden forward motion, or a surge or onslaught. Rushing may refer to: Tactics * Rush (gridiron football), advancing the ball by running on offense. On defense, charging the quarterback or kicker is a pass rush. * Human wave atta ...

, and 12

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s.2008 Montana Grizzlies
(PDF), ''2008 Montana Football Media Guide'', University of Montana, p. 20, 2008. He was not recruited out of high school and chose to attend the

.A look at the Griz’s ‘Butte Rat’
, ''The Montana Kaimin'', November 2008.

College career

Anderson attended the

, where he studied

business administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

. He walked onto the team,Bill Schwanke
Anderson, Dlouhy ultimate role players
''

The Missoulian The ''Missoulian'' is a daily newspaper printed in Missoula, Montana, United States. The newspaper has been owned by Lee Enterprises since 1959. The ''Missoulian'' is the largest published newspaper in Western Montana, and is distributed througho ...

'', September 30, 2006. and sat out the 2004 season on

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

status. In 2005, he saw action in five games on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

, but suffered a broken thumb after making a tackle against

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. His injury curtailed his playing time, and he finished the season having recorded seven tackles. During the offseason, he worked to improve his conditioning and impressed the coaching staff enough to garner a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

. In 2006, Anderson started all 14 games and recorded 92 tackles. The conference named him to the All- Big Sky first-team as both a safety and on

. When asked if he looks for "big-hit opportunit es in 2006, he said, "I just like to fly around and make plays and every now and then you’ll come across a guy that you can hit." In 2007, he started in all 14 games. Anderson tallied 85 tackles including 58 solo and seven for loss, three forced

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful ...

s, four interceptions, and nine pass deflections. The conference again named Anderson to the All-Big Sky first team, while

The Sports Network The Sports Network (TSN) is a Canadian English language sports specialty channel established by the Labatt Brewing Company in 1984 as part of the first group of Canadian specialty cable channels. Since 2001, it has been majority-owned by comm ...

named him an honorable mention All-American, and ''College Sporting News'' named him to its "Fabulous Fifty" team. In

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, Anderson served as the

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

and saw action in all 16 games. He recorded 129 tackles including 63 solo and 6.5 for loss, one

quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage in th ...

, three interceptions returned for 80 yards, six passes broken-up, one forced fumble, and two fumble recoveries.2008 Cumulative Season Statistics
, University of Montana, retrieved August 7, 2009. That season, Montana advanced to the national championship game before falling to

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, 24–7. Anderson was selected as a Buck Buchanan Award candidate. The conference named him an All-Big Sky player for the third year and he also received the team's

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

honors.Colt Anderson named Grizzly MVP
''The Missoulian'', Associated Press, February 1, 2009. Virtually every FCS All-America team selector named him to its first team. The

American Football Coaches Association The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) is an association of over 11,000 American football coaches and staff on all levels. According to its constitution, some of the main goals of the American Football Coaches Association are to "mainta ...

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

, ''College Sporting News'', and the

Walter Camp Foundation The Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF) is one of the organizations whose College Football All-America Team is recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The organization also presents various awards. It is named in honor of foo ...

named Anderson to their first teams,UM's Anderson named AFCA All-American
''USA Today'', December 18, 2008. while the Sports Network named him an honorable mention All-American. After the season, he participated in the

Texas vs. the Nation Texas vs The Nation was an American college football all-star bowl game played from 2007 to 2013. Originally played at the Sun Bowl Stadium, the format of the game pitted 50 top-rated college seniors who played college or high school football i ...

all-star game.

Professional career

Pre-draft

The

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W 5 ...

-affiliated NFL Draft Scout assessed Anderson as the 13th-ranked of the 106 free safeties available for the

2009 NFL Draft The 2009 NFL Draft was the seventy-fourth annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. T ...

, and considered him as a potential seventh-round selection or free agent. A Scout.com assessment commended his instincts and tackling, but described his size as "marginal for the NFL" and said he was more suited for zone coverage than man-to-man.Kevin Brown
Scout’s Notebook: S Colt Anderson
Scout.com, July 28, 2009. Anderson said, "Shoot, I'm like any other person. I'll watch the first 10 picks, or maybe the first round, and then just check on it from time to time. Any NFL fan will watch that first round. Once the second round starts, I’ll be laying around, taking a nap."

Minnesota Vikings

Anderson was not selected in the 2009 draft, but he reported that ten teams pursued him shortly afterward. The

signed him as an

, which included a $20,000 signing bonus, a comparatively large sum. Anderson said, "I just felt Minnesota was the best opportunity for me. They thought I could have an impact for them." The Vikings won the 2009 NFC North Division title while Anderson was on the practice squad. On September 5, 2010, Anderson was signed to the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

by the Vikings.

Philadelphia Eagles

Anderson was signed to a three-year contract off of the Vikings' practice squad on November 9, 2010 by the

. Despite playing at a

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

level in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

as a special teams player, Anderson suffered a torn

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...

(ACL) in a game against the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

, leading to his placement on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

on December 5. He was placed on the

physically unable to perform list Physically unable to perform (PUP) is a roster designation used in the National Football League (NFL) for players who suffered injuries during football-related activities prior to the start of training camp. Players on the PUP list may participate ...

(PUP) for the start of training camp on July 22, 2012. Anderson played eight games in 2010 and 14 games in 2013, helping the Eagles win the NFC East Division Championship in 2010 & 2013. In 4 seasons with the Eagles, Anderson played in 48 games with 6 starts.

Indianapolis Colts

Anderson signed with the

on April 21, 2014. He was one of the only NFL players ever to have the same first name as his team. On March 10, 2015, Anderson re-signed with the Colts. On October 18, 2015 against the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

, Indianapolis coach

Chuck Pagano Charles David Pagano (born October 2, 1960) is a former American football coach and player. Pagano spent six seasons in the National Football League (NFL) as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts from 2012 to 2017. He also served as the defensiv ...

called for a fake punt on 4th and 3 late in the third quarter. The play left

Griff Whalen Griff Whalen (born March 1, 1990) is a former football wide receiver. He played college football at Stanford and was signed by the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent in 2012. Whalen has also been a member of the Miami Dolphins, ...

snapping the ball to Anderson with no Colts teammates blocking and two Patriots players standing over the ball. Anderson was tackled for a loss, and the Patriots took over on downs and scored a touchdown en route to a 34-27 victory. Anderson helped the Indianapolis Colts win the 2014 AFC South Division Championship, reaching the Conference Championship against the New England Patriots in the 2015 AFC Championship Game.

Buffalo Bills

Anderson signed with the

on April 12, 2016. On October 10, 2016, he was placed on injured reserve with a hand injury. On January 27, 2017, Anderson was re-signed by the Bills. He was released on September 4, 2017, but was re-signed the next day. He was placed on injured reserve on October 3, 2017. He was activated off injured reserve to the active roster on December 28, 2017. Anderson helped the Bills reach the Wild-Card playoffs on January 7, 2018.

NFL statistics

Coaching career

Anderson was hired by the

as the team's assistant special teams coach on February 10, 2020.

References

External links

Indianapolis Colts bioPhiladelphia Eagles bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Colt 1985 births Living people Sportspeople from Butte, Montana Players of American football from Montana American football safeties Montana Grizzlies football players Minnesota Vikings players Philadelphia Eagles players Indianapolis Colts players Buffalo Bills players Cincinnati Bengals coaches Ed Block Courage Award recipients