Troy Andersen (born April 23, 1999) is an

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 ...

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, ...

for the Atlanta Falcons 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). He played college football at Montana State where previously played

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

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 handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

and fullback for them before moving to linebacker. He was named a FCS All-American and the

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference (BSC) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. Member institutions are located in the western United States in the eig ...

defensive player of the year in 2021.

Early life and high school

Andersen was born on April 23, 1999, and grew up on his family's cattle ranch in

Dillon, Montana Dillon is a city in and the county seat of Beaverhead County, Montana, United States. The population was 3,880 at the 2020 census. The city was named for Sidney Dillon (1812–1892), president of Union Pacific Railroad. History Dillon was fo ...

. He attended

Beaverhead County High School Beaverhead County High School is a high school in the small town of Dillon, Montana, Dillon, Beaverhead County, Montana, Beaverhead County, Montana. Sports The Dillon Beavers have been the Class "A" State Football Champions 8 times since 2000. Th ...

, where he played quarterback and safety for their football team, as well as on their basketball and track teams. As a senior, Andersen was named first-team All-State at quarterback and safety, as well as the Montana Defensive Player of the Year, after he passed for 1,403 yards, rushed for 877 yards, and scored 30 total touchdowns on offense and had 71 tackles with three interceptions and two fumbles recovered on defense while Beaverhead won the Class A state championship.

College career

Andersen started games at both running back and linebacker as a true freshman and was named the

Freshman of the Year after rushing for 515 yards and five touchdowns with seven receptions for 45 yards and one touchdown on offense and recording nine tackles with one sack on defense. He moved to quarterback before his sophomore season after two-year starter Chris Murray was ruled academically ineligible to play. Andersen completed 115 of 208 passes for 1,195 yards with three touchdowns and seven interceptions and also rushed for 1,412 yards and a school-record 21 touchdowns and was named first-team All-Big Sky. Andersen moved back to linebacker and also played fullback as a junior. He was named first-team all-conference after finishing the season with 54 tackles, 11.5 for loss, and 6.5 sacks with one interception and five passes broken up. Andersen

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

his senior season while recovering from injuries. As a redshirt senior, Andersen was named the Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year and was the runner-up for the Buck Buchanan Award. Andersen played in the

2022 Senior Bowl The 2022 Senior Bowl was a college football all-star game played on February 5, 2022, at Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile, Alabama. The game featured prospects for the 2022 draft of the professional National Football League (NFL), predominantl ...

Professional career

Andersen was drafted in the second round with the 58th overall pick by the Atlanta Falcons in the

2022 NFL Draft The 2022 NFL Draft was the 87th edition of the National Football League's annual draft and was held from April 28–30, 2022, at the Caesars Forum on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The first round was held on Thursday, April 28, and ...

. The Falcons previously obtained the pick in the trade that sent

Julio Jones Quintorris Lopez "Julio" Jones Jr. (; born February 8, 1989) is an American football wide receiver for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Alabama, and was drafted by the Atlanta Falco ...

to the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their hom ...

. Andersen made his season debut in Week 2 against the Los Angeles Rams. In Week 6 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 ...

, Andersen made his first professional start, where had a season-high 13 tackles in the 28–14 win.

Personal life

Andersen is a cousin of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

pitcher

Codi Heuer Codi Dalton Heuer (born July 3, 1996) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball at Wichita State University. He previously played for the Chicago White Sox. He ...

. His father played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

Eastern Oregon University Eastern Oregon University (EOU) (officially designated as Oregon’s Rural University) is a public university in La Grande, Oregon. It was formerly part of the Oregon University System, since dissolved. EOU was founded in 1929 as a teacher’ ...

, while his sister ran track at Montana State. Andersen graduated from Montana State with a degree in agricultural business in May 2021.

References

Notes

External links

Atlanta Falcons bioMontana State Bobcats bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Andersen, Troy 1999 births Living people Players of American football from Montana People from Dillon, Montana American football linebackers American football quarterbacks American football fullbacks Montana State Bobcats football players Atlanta Falcons players