Courtney Jerome Anderson Sr. (born November 19, 1980) 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 wi ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Lik ...

. Born in

Greenville, Texas Greenville is a city in Hunt County, Texas, United States, about northeast of Dallas. It is the county seat and largest city of Hunt County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 25,557, and in 2019, its estimated population was 28,827. ...

, Anderson attended high school in

Richmond, California Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was incorporated on August 7, 1905, and has a city council.

and 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 in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

Contra Costa College Contra Costa College is a public community college in San Pablo, California. It is the west campus of the Contra Costa Community College District. It is part of the California community colleges system, one of the three college systems in Califor ...

and

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) ...

. He was drafted by the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Ra ...

in the seventh round of the

2004 NFL Draft The 2004 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 2004 at the Theater at ...

and spent three seasons with that team. Later, he was a member of the

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

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at For ...

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcon ...

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 ...

and

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their home games at NR ...

. He is currently a firefighter for the community of Milpitas, CA.

Early life and college career

Born in

, Anderson graduated from Richmond High School in California, where he lettered in football, basketball, and track and field. In the football team, Anderson was quarterback, wide receiver, and defensive linebacker in the football team. In 1998, he caught 50 passes for 1,005 yards, scored 12 touchdowns, and earned all-state honors. Anderson was a member of the 1999 Richmond Oilers basketball team coached by Ken Carter that was dramatized in the movie ''

Coach Carter ''Coach Carter'' is a 2005 American biographical teen sports drama film starring Samuel L. Jackson and directed by Thomas Carter (no relation). The film is based on the true story of Richmond High School basketball coach Ken Carter (played ...

''. For two years, Anderson attended

. In football, he lined up at wide receiver before moving to

. He then transferred to

where, in 23 games, hauled in 36 passes for 477 yards (13.3 avg.) and seven touchdowns. He also majored in

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

Professional career

Oakland Raiders

Anderson was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the seventh round (245th overall) of the

. In his rookie season, he made 13 catches for 175 yards and one touchdown in nine games (four of which he started); he left Week 9 with an ankle injury. The next season, Anderson played in 14 games, of which he started in 13, and caught 24 passes for 303 yards and three touchdowns. In his three seasons with Oakland, Anderson had 62 receptions for 763 yards and six touchdowns and occasionally caught passes deep midfield. The Raiders released Anderson before the 2007 preseason.

Miami Dolphins

Anderson went to training camp with the

in 2007 but was released on September 1, 2007.

Detroit Lions

Anderson was signed by the

on September 24, 2007 to replace the injured starter Dan Campbell, whose starting position was taken by Sean McHugh. He played two games with the Lions and then was cut on October 28, 2007.

Atlanta Falcons

The

claimed Anderson off waivers on November 13, 2007 from the Lions.

Buffalo Bills

Anderson signed with the

on March 10, 2008, but was released on August 30 during final cuts.

Houston Texans

After spending the 2008 regular season out of football, Anderson was signed to a future contract by the

on January 5, 2009. He was waived by the team on April 30.

References

External links

San Jose State Spartans bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Courtney 1980 births Living people African-American players of American football American football tight ends Atlanta Falcons players Buffalo Bills players Contra Costa Comets football players Detroit Lions players Houston Texans players Miami Dolphins players Oakland Raiders players People from Greenville, Texas Sportspeople from Richmond, California Players of American football from California Players of American football from Texas San Jose State Spartans football players Sportspeople from the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex Richmond High School (Richmond, California) alumni 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people