Mark Jay Anderson (born May 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 wi ...

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 formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...

. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the fifth round 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 add ...

. He played college football at

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

. Anderson also played for the Houston Texans, New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills. Anderson is an uncle to Rodney Anderson, former

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to a nickname given to the early participants in the Land Ru ...

and Cincinnati Bengals running back.

Early years

Anderson was born in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

. He attended Booker T. Washington High School in Tulsa, and was a letterman in football and

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. He was a teammate in both sports of Robert Meachem and

Felix Jones Felix Jones Jr. (born May 8, 1987) is a former American football running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers. He played college football at the University of Arkansas and was drafted by t ...

, both players who have played in the NFL. In football, he was an All-Metro selection and was named as a

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its f ...

Prep pick. Mark Anderson graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in 2001. Anderson recorded 104

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 9 sacks along with 9 receptions and 3

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

s during his senior season to help the Hornets to an 11–2 record. In his best game he notched 20 tackles, 3 sacks and 2 blocked punts in 1 game as a senior.

College years

Anderson attended the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publi ...

(where he became a member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity). He was a four-year letterwinner at Alabama (2002–05) starting 30 of 50 games, including the final 29 of his career, He finished with 141 career tackles, 13.5 sacks, 25 tackles for loss (TFL) (7th all-time at Alabama), 5 forced fumbles, 3 fumble recoveries and 2 passes deflected. He received second-team all-

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

accolades as a senior after pacing Alabama with 7.5 sacks and 18 TFLs among 40 tackles while adding 1 forced fumble and 1 blocked field goal in 12 starts. Anderson started every contest during junior campaign and ranked 8th on team with 41 tackles while contributing 11 TFLs, 1.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries and 2 passes deflected. He earned Alabama's Billy Neighbors Most Improved Defensive Lineman award as a sophomore following spring practice and went on to register 47 tackles, 8 TFLs and 2.5 sacks while playing every game and starting 6. Anderson played every game during red-shirt freshman season, finishing with 13 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 TFL, 2 forced fumbles and 1 fumble recovery earning the

Ozzie Newsome Ozzie Newsome Jr. (born March 16, 1956) is an American former professional football player and executive who is the executive vice president of player personnel of the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). Newsome was a tight e ...

Most Improved Freshman award following spring practice. He graduated with a degree in consumer science.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Chicago Bears

Anderson was selected with the 159th overall pick (5th round) in the

. Despite not being an official starter in the Bears

Cover 2 Zone coverage (also referred to as a zone defense) is a defense scheme in gridiron football used to protect against the pass. Zone coverage schemes require the linebackers and defensive backs to work together to cover certain areas of the fie ...

defensive scheme, Anderson thrived in his role as a third-down pass rusher, and during the 2006 regular season he totaled 12 sacks, a Chicago Bears

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

record, which was previously held by

Brian Urlacher Brian Urlacher (; born May 25, 1978) is an American former football linebacker who spent his entire 13-season career in the National Football League (NFL) with the Chicago Bears. He played college football for the New Mexico Lobos, where h ...

. Anderson also received consideration in 2006

Defensive Rookie of the Year Various entities present a National Football League Rookie of the Year Award each season to the top rookie(s) in the National Football League (NFL). The NFL considers the (rookie) of the year awards by the Associated Press (AP) to be its official ...

, finishing second in the voting to former Alabama teammate,

DeMeco Ryans DeMeco Ryans (; born July 28, 1984) is an American football coach and former linebacker who is the defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). Ryans played college football at the University of Alab ...

. He was named to ''

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''/

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All-Rookie team. Mark-anderson-2008

He played in all 16 regular season contests gathering 28 tackles to go along with 3 TFLs, 5 QB Hits, 2 PBUs, 4 FFs and 1 FR. Also played in all 3 postseason contests, recording 4 tackles and 1.5 sacks. He combined with Alex Brown for 19 sacks in 2006, the most by a Chicago DE duo since

Richard Dent Richard Lamar Dent (born December 13, 1960) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL), primarily for the Chicago Bears. He was the MVP of Super Bowl XX. He was elected to t ...

and Trace Armstrong recorded 24 sacks in 1993. Anderson has recorded 4 multiple-sack games in 16 career regular season games played. He registered 0.5 sack in Super Bowl XLI and 1.5 sacks among 4 tackles in 3 postseason contests. He was voted NFL Defensive Rookie of the month in October 2006. The Bears released Anderson on October 5, 2010.

Houston Texans

On October 6, 2010 Anderson signed with the Houston Texans, where he was reunited with his college teammate,

New England Patriots

On August 5, 2011, Anderson signed with the New England Patriots. Mark had a rebound year in New England, recording 10 sacks for the Patriots in the regular season. Anderson recorded 1.5 sacks and 5 tackles in Super Bowl XLVI

Buffalo Bills

On March 21, 2012, Anderson signed a four-year contract worth 20 million dollars with the Buffalo Bills. In the 2012 season, Anderson had 12 combined tackles and 1 sack through 5 games. However, he suffered a season-ending knee injury against the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

on October 7, 2012. On July 23, 2013, Anderson was released by the Bills after just one season.

Post-playing career

On July 31, 2015, Anderson was hired by former Bears head coach and

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) South division. The cl ...

Lovie Smith Lovie Lee Smith (born May 8, 1958) is an American football coach who is the head coach of the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). From 2004 to 2016, he served as the head coach of the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a ...

as a scouting department member.

References

External links

Patriots Bio
*http://www.ourlads.com/nfldepthcharts/depthchart/BUF * https://newsok.com/article/5570786/rodney-anderson-joins-the-family-business {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Mark 1983 births Living people Sportspeople from Tulsa, Oklahoma Booker T. Washington High School (Tulsa, Oklahoma) alumni Players of American football from Oklahoma American football defensive ends American football linebackers Alabama Crimson Tide football players Chicago Bears players Houston Texans players New England Patriots players Buffalo Bills players African-American players of American football 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople