Gary Wayne Anderson (born April 18, 1961 in

Columbia, Missouri Columbia is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is the county seat of Boone County and home to the University of Missouri. Founded in 1821, it is the principal city of the five-county Columbia metropolitan area. It is Missouri's fourth ...

) is an American former professional

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 ...

player who was 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 ...

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),

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL) and

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL) from 1983 to 1995.

USFL

Anderson was drafted in the first round of the 1983 NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers, but could not agree on a contract. Instead, Anderson signed to play for the

Tampa Bay Bandits The Tampa Bay Bandits were a professional American football team in the United States Football League (USFL) which was based in Tampa, Florida. The Bandits were a charter member of the USFL and was the only franchise to have the same principal o ...

of the USFL in 1983 after a

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 ...

career at the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

. Anderson had filed suit against his first agent, Dr. Jerry A. Argovitz, and the Tampa Bay Bandits. The suit alleged that Argovitz misrepresented the Chargers' offer and that Argovitz steered Anderson to the Bandits in exchange for a USFL franchise (the Houston Gamblers). Sports Illustrated August 29, 1983. Anderson started late in the season and quickly became the starting running back for the Bandits. He finished with 516 yards on 97 carries with 4

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

in 1983. In 1984, Anderson rushed for 1008 yards on 268 carries and scored 19 touchdowns ''(league leader)''. In 1985, Anderson had his best USFL season as he rushed for 1207 yards on 276 carries and had 16 touchdowns. He was named to one All-Star team in his USFL career and is the 4th leading rusher in USFL history.

NFL

In 1985, Anderson signed with the NFL's

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

and was used primarily as a backup running back and

kick returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

. He returned a

kickoff Kickoff or kick-off may refer to * Kick-off (association football) * Kickoff (gridiron football) * ''Kick Off'' (series), a series of computer association football games * ''Kick Off'' (album), a 1985 album by Onyanko Club * ''Kick Off'' (magaz ...

for a 98-yard touchdown on November 17, 1985 that was the longest kickoff return of the 1985 season. In 1986, he caught 80 passes out of the backfield for 871 yards and 8 touchdowns and was named to the

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 ...

that season. He continued to be a reserve and

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 ...

player for the Chargers until 1988, when he became the starting running back and rushed for 1119 yards on 225 carries. In 1989, he sat out the season in a contract dispute with the Chargers. Anderson returned in 1990 with the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

and rushed for 646 yards on 166 carries. He played with the Buccaneers as a reserve running back until 1993, when he played briefly for the

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 Ford ...

before retiring.

CFL

In 1995, Anderson came out of retirement to play in the CFL for the expansion

Memphis Mad Dogs The Memphis Mad Dogs were a Canadian football team that played the 1995 season in the Canadian Football League. The Mad Dogs were part of a failed attempt to expand the CFL into the United States. They played at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. ...

where he joined a man who coached against him in the USFL,

Pepper Rodgers Franklin Cullen "Pepper" Rodgers (October 8, 1931 – May 14, 2020) was an American football player and coach. As a college football player, he led the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets to an undefeated season in 1952 and later became their head ...

. Anderson scored three touchdowns and gained 523 rushing and receiving yards and scoring 4 total touchdowns in his lone CFL season. When the US teams folded, the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...

selected him the 12th round of the dispersal draft, but released him prior to the start of the 1996 season.

Professional career statistics

References

External links

NFL.com player page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Gary 1961 births Living people Sportspeople from Columbia, Missouri Players of American football from Missouri Hickman High School alumni American football running backs Arkansas Razorbacks football players San Diego Chargers players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Detroit Lions players American Conference Pro Bowl players Tampa Bay Bandits players