Michael Moschello Anderson (born September 21, 1973) 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 ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

who played seven seasons in 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). He played college football at

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

and was drafted by the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

in the sixth round of the

2000 NFL Draft The 2000 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur U.S. college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 15– 16, 2000, at the Thea ...

. He played five seasons with the Broncos, being named the AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2000. After being waived by the Broncos in 2006, Anderson signed a four-year contract with the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

; however, he played just two seasons with the Ravens before his contract was terminated in 2008, effectively ending his NFL career. Prior to his football career, Anderson served four years in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

, enlisting out of high school. He was assigned to the

artillery battery In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit or multiple systems of artillery, mortar systems, rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, etc., so grouped to fac ...

of the 11th Marine Regiment and deployed overseas to Somalia and Kenya on peacekeeping missions. He was

honorably discharged A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. Each country's military has different types of discharge. They are generally based on whether the persons completed their training and the ...

from the Marines in 1996 as a

lance corporal Lance corporal is a military rank, used by many armed forces worldwide, and also by some police forces and other uniformed organisations. It is below the rank of corporal, and is typically the lowest non-commissioned officer (NCO), usually equi ...

High school

Anderson is a graduate of

Kennard-Dale High School Kennard-Dale High School is a mid-sized, rural, public high school located at 393 Main Street, Fawn Grove, Pennsylvania in York County. The High School is the sole high school in the South Eastern School District. According to the National Center ...

Fawn Grove, Pennsylvania Fawn Grove is a borough in York County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 476 at the 2020 census. It is served by the South Eastern School District which provides a public education. Geography Fawn Grove is located at (39.730004, ...

, where he did not compete in sports.

Military service

Anderson spent four years in the

upon completion of high school in order to earn educational benefits and in consideration of a possible military career. While in the Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton, he played on the

11th Marines The 11th Marine Regiment is an artillery regiment of the United States Marine Corps based at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. Known as the "Cannon Cockers", the regiment falls under the command of the 1st Marine Division and the I M ...

contact football team, where he was seen by an assistant coach for Mt. San Jacinto Junior College.

College career

Anderson attended Mt. San Jacinto Junior College for two years. As a freshman, helped his team win the L.A. Bowl with 1,511 rushing yards. He won the California State JUCO Player of the Year after rushing for 1,686 yards as a sophomore. Anderson went on to become a two-time all-conference player at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

where he was a teammate of former

and

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 ...

star wide receiver

Steve Smith Stephen, Steve, Stevie, or Steven Smith may refer to: Academics * Steve Smith (political scientist) (born 1952), British international relations theorist and senior university manager * Stephen Smith (journalist) (born 1956), American journalist, ...

. Anderson finished his two-year career with the best per-game rushing average in school history (102.4 avg.)

NFL career

Denver Broncos

Anderson played five seasons for the

. In his first

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

in 2000, he ended up with 1,487 yards and received the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award. He set several franchise records on December 3 at

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

with 37 carries for 251 yards and four touchdowns. He also had games with 187 and 195 yards, the only rookie in NFL history with three 175+ yard games. 48 rookies, pe
pro-football-reference.com
/ref> He was plagued by injuries in the following years, not even playing in 2004, the result of tearing both groin muscles while blocking on a punt return in the waning moments of a preseason game. The

2005 NFL season The 2005 NFL season was the 86th regular season of the National Football League. Regular season play was held from September 8, 2005 to January 1, 2006. The regular season also saw the first ever regular season game played outside the United ...

was a return to form. He rushed for 1,014 yards in 15 games. In reaching his second 1,000-yard rushing season, Anderson set several modern-day NFL records (longest stretch between seasons leading a team in rushing, longest stretch between a player's first and second 1,000-yard rushing seasons, and greatest number of seasons passed between 1,000-yard rushing seasons with no intervening seasons rushing for that distance). On March 1, 2006, Anderson was waived by the Broncos to avoid exceeding the

salary cap In professional sports, a salary cap (or wage cap) is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on players' salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both. Sever ...

. 's NFL off-season, Anderson held at least 11 Broncos franchise records, including: * Rush Attempts: rookie season (297 in 2000), rookie game (37 on 2000-12-03 @NOR; with

Olandis Gary Olandis C. Gary (born May 18, 1975) is a former American football running back who played for the Denver Broncos from 1999 to 2002 and the Detroit Lions from 2003 to 2004. He is an alumnus of the University of Georgia and Riverdale Baptist Scho ...

) * Rush Yards: game and rookie game (251 on 2000-12-03 @NOR) * Rushing TDs: rookie season (15 in 2000; with

Clinton Portis Clinton Earl Portis (born September 1, 1981) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons. He played college football for the Miami Hurricanes. He was drafted b ...

), rookie game (4 on 2000-12-03 @NOR) * Total TDs: rookie game (4 on 2000-12-03 @NOR; with

) * Yds from Scrimmage: game and rookie game (256 on 2000-12-03 @NOR) * Games with 2+ TD scored: rookie season (5; with

) * Games with 3+ TD scored: rookie season (1; with Jon Keyworth,

Terrell Davis Terrell Lamar Davis (born October 28, 1972) is an American former professional football player who was a running back for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL) from 1995 to 2001. He is the Broncos all-time leading rusher and ...

, and

)

Baltimore Ravens

On March 12, 2006, Anderson and the Ravens agreed on a contract. During the 2006 season, he was third string behind

Jamal Lewis Jamal Lewis (born August 26, 1979) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns. He played college football at Tennessee and was s ...

and

Musa Smith Musa Smith (; born May 31, 1982) is a former American football running back who played five seasons in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the third round of the 2003 NFL Draft. Smith has also been a member of ...

. He finished 2006 with 39 carries for 143 yards and 1 touchdown, as well as 9 receptions for 54 yards. On February 27, 2008, the Ravens released him, ending his NFL career.

NFL career statistics

References

External links

* Profile of Mike Anderson. {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Mike 1973 births American football fullbacks Baltimore Ravens players Denver Broncos players Living people People from Winnsboro, South Carolina United States Marines Utah Utes football players National Football League Offensive Rookie of the Year Award winners Mt. San Jacinto Eagles football players