James Nathaniel Anderson (born September 26, 1983) 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 ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

. 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 ...

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

and was drafted in the third round (88th overall) of the

2006 NFL Draft The 2006 National Football League Draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with ad ...

by the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

Early career

Anderson was a high school and

teammate of

DeAngelo Hall DeAngelo Eugene Hall (born November 19, 1983) is a former American football defensive back who played 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Virginia Tech and was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons eighth ov ...

and Darryl Tapp at Deep Creek High School and

College career

Anderson redshirted in 2001 at Virginia Tech, performing on the scout team. He played in every game in 2002, earning three starts and posting 47 tackles (28 solos) with a half sack, three stops for losses and a forced fumble. He spent the bulk of the 2003 season playing on special teams, as only four of his 41 tackles (29 solos) came during defensive action. Anderson started 12 games at weak-side linebacker in 2004, performing in 117 special teams and 368 defensive snaps. He ranked seventh on the squad with 48 tackles (21 solos) and had 2.5 sacks with 6.5 stops behind the line of scrimmage. He also recovered two fumbles and intercepted a pass. He started every game as a senior, ranking second on the Tech team with a career-high 82 tackles (41 solos). Anderson registered three sacks and tied for third on the team with 8.5 stops for losses. He caused and recovered a fumble, batted away three passes and had two interceptions, returning one for a touchdown. In 53 games with the Hokies, Anderson started 28 times. He collected 218 tackles (119 solos) with seven sacks for minus-26 yards and 18 stops for losses of 75 yards. He was credited with six quarterback pressures, three fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles. Anderson also gained 53 yards with a touchdown on three interception returns and deflected five passes.

Professional career

Carolina Panthers

The

selected Anderson in the third round (88th overall) of the

. The Panthers obtained the selection as compensation for failing to re-sign cornerback

Ricky Manning Richard "Ricky" Manning Jr. (born November 18, 1980) is an American football coach former cornerback who is currently a defensive assistant for the New York Jets of the National Football League. He played college football at UCLA and was drafted ...

as a

Restricted free agent A restricted free agent (RFA) is a type of free agent in the National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), or National Basketball Association (NBA). Such players have special restrictions on the terms under which they can retain ...

. In his debut season, he appeared in 16 games and recorded 25 tackles. He made his first career start at 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 ...

on October 22. In the 2007 season, he played in ten games and recorded 11 tackles. In 2011, Anderson was re-signed by the Panthers with a 5-year deal worth 22 million dollars and 8.5 million guaranteed. In 2012 against the

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

, Anderson recorded a franchise record 20 tackles in a single game. He was later released in March 2013 to save salary cap room. Anderson ended his tenure with 94 appearances, the most by a linebacker in Panthers history at the time of his release.

Chicago Bears

On March 24, 2013, Anderson signed a contract with the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

, and wore number 50, becoming the first Bears player to wear the number since

Mike Singletary Michael Singletary (born October 9, 1958), also known by his nickname Samurai Mike, is an American professional football coach and former middle linebacker. After playing college football for the Baylor Bears, Singletary was drafted by the Chi ...

retired in . Anderson ended the 2013 season leading the Bears in tackles with 102, and tied for the team lead with 10 tackles for loss.

New England Patriots

Anderson signed with 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 ...

on June 4, 2014. The Patriots released Anderson on August 24, 2014.

Tennessee Titans

Anderson signed with the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

on September 16, 2014, replacing an injured Zach Brown.

Atlanta Falcons

Signed with the

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) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

on November 20, 2014. He was released on December 24, 2014.

Dallas Cowboys

On December 30, 2014, Anderson signed with the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

New Orleans Saints

On November 10, 2015, Anderson signed with 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 ...

NFL statistics

Key * GP: games played * COMB: combined tackles * TOTAL: total tackles * AST: assisted tackles * SACK: sacks * FF: forced fumbles * FR: fumble recoveries * FR YDS: fumble return yards * INT: interceptions * IR YDS: interception return yards * AVG IR: average interception return * LNG: longest interception return * TD: interceptions returned for touchdown * PD: passes defensed

Personal life

Anderson's nephew is former

Liberty Flames The Liberty Flames and Lady Flames are the athletics teams of Liberty University, in Lynchburg, Virginia, United States. They are a member of the NCAA Division I level in 20 sports. LU is a member of the ASUN Conference for most sports. Two spor ...

starting quarterback and current

quarterback

Malik Willis Malik Antonio Willis ( ; born May 25, 1999) is an American football quarterback for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Auburn before transferring to Liberty, where he won the 2020 Dudley Aw ...

. James appeared on the ABC Network miniature golf reality show, ''

Holey Moley ''Holey Moley'' is an American sports entertainment, sports reality competition television series created for American Broadcasting Company, ABC by Chris Culvenor. The series is produced by Eureka Productions and Unanimous Media, with Culvenor, ...

'' in August 2020. He set a record for longest time on the mechanical gopher. After winning in the first round, he was defeated by the Cookie Lady on "Putt the Plank" when his tee shot landed in the sand trap.

References

External links

Chicago Bears bio

New England Patriots bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, James 1983 births Living people People from Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina Sportspeople from Chesapeake, Virginia Players of American football from Virginia Players of American football from North Carolina American football linebackers Virginia Tech Hokies football players Carolina Panthers players Chicago Bears players New England Patriots players Tennessee Titans players Atlanta Falcons players New Orleans Saints players