Lawrence Andrew Anderson (born September 25, 1956) is a former professional

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 ...

player who played

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

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 ...

for seven seasons for the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

and the Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts. Anderson started his football career at

Neville High School Neville High School is a high school in Monroe, Louisiana, United States. It is administered by the Monroe City Schools Board. It is located 1/2 mile from the Ouachita River. Its mascot is the Tiger. Academics Neville offers a wide variety of aca ...

Monroe, Louisiana Monroe (historically french: Poste-du-Ouachita) is the eighth-largest city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and parish seat of Ouachita Parish. With a 2020 census-tabulated population of 47,702, it is the principal city of the Monroe metropolita ...

, where he played running back and defensive back, while also returning kicks and punts, and was a member of the school's 1972 state championship team. He went on play

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 ...

Louisiana Tech University Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activ ...

. Joining the team as a walk on, he did not play in any games until his senior season in 1977. That year, Anderson was the nation's second-leading punt returner, with 44 punt returns for 441 yards and two touchdowns. He also returned 14 kickoffs for 435 yards (an average of 31.5 yards per return) and two scores, and intercepted five passes on defense. Anderson was selected to the

College Football All-America Team The College Football All-America Team is an honor given annually to the best college football players in the United States at their respective positions. The original use of the term ''All-America'' seems to have been to the 1889 College Football ...

and went on to be selected by the Steelers in the 4th round of the 1978 NFL draft. Anderson played for the Steelers until 1981, primarily as a kickoff returner. In his rookie season, he was second in the NFL in kick return yardage, returning 37 kickoffs for 930 yards and a touchdown, assisting the team to a championship win in

Super Bowl XIII Super Bowl XIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

. In the following season, the Steelers made it to

Super Bowl XIV Super Bowl XIV was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Los Angeles Rams and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champi ...

, where Anderson set a Super Bowl record with 5 kickoff returns for 162 yards in a 31–19 victory. In 1981, Anderson joined the Colts and spent three seasons with them before retiring. He finished his career with 75 punt returns for 587 yards, 189 kickoff returns for 4,217 yards and a touchdown, 2 interceptions, and 4 fumble recoveries, one of which he returned 41 yards for a touchdown. Anderson was inducted into the

Louisiana Tech University Athletic Hall of Fame The Louisiana Tech University Athletic Hall of Fame was established in 1984 to honor student-athletes, coaches, administrators, and benefactors who have been highly successful at Louisiana Tech and who have distinguished themselves professionally. ...

in 1988.

References

External links

NFL.com player page
1956 births Living people People from West Monroe, Louisiana American football cornerbacks American football return specialists Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football players Pittsburgh Steelers players Baltimore Colts players Indianapolis Colts players {{defensiveback-1950s-stub