Joseph Anderson (born November 21, 1988) is an American football wide receiver who is currently a free agent. He was signed by 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 ...

after going undrafted in the

2012 NFL Draft The 2012 NFL draft was the 77th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players for their rosters. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held ...

. 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 ...

at Louisiana Tech and

Texas Southern Texas Southern University (Texas Southern or TSU) is a public historically black university in Houston, Texas. The university is one of the largest and most comprehensive historically black college or universities in the USA with nearly 10,00 ...

. He has also played for the Philadelphia Eagles and

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

of the

NFL 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 major ...

, and the Montreal Alouettes of the CFL.

College career

After graduating from Texas High School, Anderson attended Louisiana Tech University before transferring to

, where he played for three years, playing in 34 games. He recorded 154 catches for 2010 yards and 13 touchdowns. Anderson also served as return specialist, returning 16 kickoffs for 289 yards. In his final season, Anderson caught 47 passes for 638 yards and four touchdowns, finishing sixth in the

Southwestern Athletic Conference The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) is a collegiate athletic conference headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, which is made up of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southern United States. It participates in t ...

for receptions per game and ninth for receiving yards per game.

Professional career

Anderson was not drafted in the

, and was later called by the

. After rookie minicamp, Anderson was officially signed by the team. In the third preseason game 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 broke free to score the game-winning touchdown. On August 31, Anderson was among the final cuts, but was signed to the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

the following day. On October 30, Anderson was released from the practice squad, and replaced by

Raymond Radway Raymond Radway (born July 5, 1987) is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys, Chicago Bears and St. Louis Rams. He also was a member of the Los Angeles KISS in the Arena Football League. ...

. Anderson was later brought back on November 6. He was later activated to the active roster after Robbie Gould was placed on injured reserve. After being activated to the active roster, Anderson stated that he would be active against 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 ...

. Anderson was mainly used on special teams, and against the Packers, Anderson nearly blocked a punt, and made a fierce tackle of Randall Cobb on a kickoff, though the Bears still lost 21–13. On November 5, 2013, Anderson was placed on injured reserve with an abdominal and groin injury. On November 11, Anderson was placed on waived/injured. In November 2015, Anderson stood outside the

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) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

stadium, NRG Stadium, with a sign requesting a spot on the team. Six weeks later, on December 22, he was signed by the

to the practice squad. After the 2015 season, the Jets released Anderson to open up roster space for their incoming rookies. After participating in The Spring League, he signed with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League in October 2018, but was released from the practice roster later that month.

References

External links

Chicago Bears bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Joseph 1988 births Living people American football wide receivers Chicago Bears players Philadelphia Eagles players New York Jets players Texas Southern Tigers football players Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football players Players of American football from Texarkana, Texas Texas High School alumni