Willie Lee "Flipper" Anderson Jr. (born March 7, 1965) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in 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 for the Los Angeles Rams (1988–1994), the Indianapolis Colts (1995), the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

(1996), and the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

(1997). As a Bronco, he was part of their Super Bowl XXXII championship team over the Green Bay Packers. As a Ram, he set the NFL record for most receiving yards in a game with 336 against the Saints on November 26, 1989. (Anderson accumulated 40 of those yards in overtime).

Early life

Anderson was born in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. He played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

at Paulsboro High School in southern New Jersey and was one of the nation's top high school football recruits of the Class of 1983.

College career

Anderson played college football at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

where he was the main receiving target for quarterback

Troy Aikman Troy Kenneth Aikman (born November 21, 1966) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. After transferring from Oklahoma, he played college football at UCLA, ...

Professional career

Anderson was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the 2nd round (46th overall) of the

1988 NFL Draft The 1988 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, 1988, at the Marriot Ma ...

. Anderson played ten seasons in the NFL, and holds the

record for most receiving yards and yards from scrimmage in a game, with 336 yards on 15 receptions with a 22.4 yards per reception average, set during the 12th week of the 1989 season against the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

. He finished the season with a career-high 1,146 yards off just 44 receptions, giving him an average of 26 yards per catch. On January 7, 1990, during a divisional playoff game, the Rams won the

coin toss A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to ...

after taking the New York Giants to

overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...

. The Rams drove 77 yards in four plays, the last being a 30-yard touchdown pass to Anderson, who caught the ball in the

end zone The end zone is the scoring area on the field, according to gridiron-based codes of football. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on an opposite side of the field. ...

and ran directly through the tunnel and into the locker room. He caught two touchdown passes in that 19-13 win. Anderson finished his career with 267 receptions for 5,357 yards and 28 touchdowns, giving him a 20.1 career yards per catch average.

Personal life

Anderson lives in

Suwanee, Georgia Suwanee is a city in Gwinnett County and a northeastern suburb of Atlanta in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 15,355; this had grown to an estimated 20,907 as of 2019. Portions of Forsyth and Fulton counties ...

and is a high school basketball referee. Anderson's son, Dres Anderson, played wide receiver for the

Utah Utes The Utah Utes are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of Utah, located in Salt Lake City. The athletic department is named after the Ute tribe of Native Americans. The men's basketball team is known as the Runnin' ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Flipper 1965 births Living people American football wide receivers Indianapolis Colts players Los Angeles Rams players UCLA Bruins football players Washington Redskins players Denver Broncos players Paulsboro High School alumni People from Paulsboro, New Jersey Sportspeople from Gloucester County, New Jersey Players of American football from New Jersey Players of American football from Philadelphia