Roger John Anderson (born February 14, 1956) 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

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 ...

for the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

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) for 12 seasons from 1978 to 1989. A native of

Waukesha, Wisconsin Waukesha ( ) is the county seat of Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. It is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. Its population was 71,158 at the 2020 census. The city is adjacent to the Village of Waukesha. History The area that ...

, Anderson was selected as the Packers' most valuable defensive player three consecutive years. At the end of his career with the Packers, he was the team's all-time leader in

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 ...

and was tied with

Ray Nitschke Raymond Ernest Nitschke (December 29, 1936 – March 8, 1998) was a professional American football middle linebacker who spent his entire 15-year National Football League (NFL) career with the in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in , he was the a ...

for the Packers' career record in

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 by a linebacker. Anderson was named a second-team player on the

NFL 1980s All-Decade Team The NFL 1980s All-Decade Team was chosen by voters of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The team was composed of outstanding performers in the National Football League in the 1980s. The squad consists of first- and second-team offensive, defensive and ...

and was inducted into the

Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combina ...

in 1996. Anderson also 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 ...

as a linebacker and

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

for the Michigan Wolverines from 1974 to 1977. He was selected as a first-team All-

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

player in 1976 and a first-team All-American in 1977. In 2009, he became the linebackers coach at

Carroll University Carroll University is a private university affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and located in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Established in 1846, Carroll was Wisconsin's first four-year institution of higher learning. History Prior to its esta ...

Early years

Anderson was born in

, in 1956. He attended

Waukesha South High School Waukesha South High School is one of three high schools located in Waukesha, Wisconsin. It was opened in 1957 as a southern campus to Waukesha High School, then in downtown Waukesha. The downtown campus is now Les Paul Middle School - Central Camp ...

where he played both football 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 ...

University of Michigan

Anderson enrolled at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 1974 and played

for head coach Bo Schembechler's

Wolverines The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for " glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscu ...

teams from 1974 to 1977. He was a backup outside linebacker as a freshman in 1974. He was converted to a

in 1975 and started one game at that position. As a junior, Anderson started 10 games at defensive end for the 1976 Michigan Wolverines football team that compiled a 10-2 and allowed opponents to score only 95 points (7.9 points per game). Anderson contributed 65 tackles and three interceptions for the 1976 Wolverines.(to retrieve information for a particular season, go to "Games & Totals by Season" and select the year for which statistics are to be retrieved) At the end of the 1976 season, Anderson received the team's Frederick Matthei Award, and he was also selected as a first-team All-

player. As a senior, Anderson was moved to the

outside 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, ...

position where he started all 12 games for the 1977 Michigan team that compiled a 10-2 and allowed opponents to score only 124 points (10.3 points per game). Anderson tallied 73 tackles, one fumble recovery and one interception for the 1977 team. In 1977, Anderson received the team's Meyer Morton Award and was selected by the

Football Writers Association of America The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...

as a first-team linebacker on the 1977 College Football All-America Team.

Green Bay Packers

Anderson was selected by the

with their second of two first-round selections (26th overall pick) in the 1978 NFL Draft (the Packers' first pick being

James Lofton James David Lofton (born July 5, 1956) is an American former professional football player and coach. He is a former coach for the San Diego Chargers but is best known for his years in the National Football League as a wide receiver for the G ...

). Anderson signed with the Packers and was selected to the NFL's all rookie team in 1978 after intercepting five passes and registering 102 total tackles in 13 games. After breaking his arm in December 1978, Anderson missed the last three games of the 1978 season. He broke his arm again in training camp in 1979 and missed the first nine games of that season. Despite the early injuries, a sports writer in ''

The Milwaukee Journal The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently o ...

'' in September 1980 wrote that Anderson was the Packers' "best overall athlete", a "complete football player" who "doesn't make mental mistakes" and "has size and speed and strength" and who "possesses all the stuff superstars are made of" except for "color." Anderson ultimately played 12 seasons with the Packers from 1978 to 1989, appearing in 146 games, 140 of them as a starting linebacker. Anderson was selected as the Packers' most valuable defensive player three consecutive years. He totaled 15 fumble recoveries, 25 interceptions, 167 interception return yards and one interception returned for a touchdown. By the end of Anderson's 12-year career, he was the Packers' all-time leader in

with 1,020, and was tied with

for the Packers' career mark in

s by a linebacker. (Note: The Packers have only compiled stats on tackles since 1975.) Anderson was named a second-team player on the

as selected by voters of the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...

, and he was inducted into the

in 1996.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Later years

Upon retirement, Anderson became a sportscaster for

WITI Witiness Chimoio João Quembo (born 26 August 1996), known as Witi, is a Mozambican professional footballer who plays for Portuguese club C.D. Nacional as a winger. Club career Born in Beira, Witi began his career with Sporting Club da Be ...

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

. In 1998, he was hired as a middle school Earth Science teacher at Brookfield Academy in

Brookfield, Wisconsin Brookfield is a city located in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States in the Milwaukee metropolitan area The Milwaukee metropolitan area (also known as Metro Milwaukee or Greater Milwaukee) is a major metropolitan area located in Southeast ...

. In 2009, he was hired by

in Waukesha as the football team's linebackers coach. He retired from teaching at Brookfield Academy in 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, John 1956 births Living people American football linebackers American sports announcers Green Bay Packers players Michigan Wolverines football players Sportspeople from Waukesha, Wisconsin Players of American football from Waukesha County, Wisconsin Schoolteachers from Wisconsin