Calvin Lee Anderson (born March 25, 1996) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Rice Owls The Rice Owls are the sports teams representing Houston's Rice University in college sports. The name comes from the owls in Rice's crest. Rice participates in NCAA Division I athletics. A member of the American Athletic Conference, Rice sponsors ...

and as a graduate transfer one season for the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and ...

Early life

Anderson attended Georgetown High School for the first three seasons of his high school career, before transferring to Westlake High School for his senior season. A undersized lineman for most of his high school career, he committed to

Rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

as a junior and remained committed to them despite offers from Power 5 schools

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship institution of the five- ...

and

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public inst ...

College career

After redshirting his freshman year, Anderson was a three-year starter at Rice where he started in 36 consecutive games for the Owls. He also garnered

Conference USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...

All-Conference Honorable Mentions in 2016 and 2017. After narrowing his graduate transfer choices down to

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, and Auburn, Anderson announced that he would transfer to Texas for the 2018 season.

Professional career

New England Patriots (first stint)

After going undrafted in the

2019 NFL draft The 2019 NFL draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville. The first round was held ...

, Anderson signed with the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

New York Jets

Anderson was waived by the Patriots on May 13, 2019, and claimed by the

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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

. He was waived by the Jets at the end of the preseason and, after being coveted by a few teams, was added to the Jets

practice squad In gridiron football, 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. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

and paid elevated practice squad salary for the first 4 weeks of the regular season.

Denver Broncos

Anderson was signed by the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

from the New York Jets' practice squad on October 1, 2019. Anderson got his first regular season NFL start during the 2020 season at right tackle in a week 10 game vs the

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West ...

. During a week 14 matchup with the Broncos and the

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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

, Anderson garnered attention after having to replace starting left tackle

Garett Bolles Garett Bolles (born May 27, 1992) is an American professional football offensive tackle for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Snow College Badgers and the Utah Utes. He was selected by ...

half an hour prior to the start of the game due to illness. The Broncos placed an exclusive-rights free agent tender on Anderson on March 16, 2021. He signed the one-year contract on May 17. He entered the 2021 season as the primary swing tackle for the Broncos. He started three games in the middle of the season. On March 14, 2022, Anderson signed a one-year $2.5m dollar fully guaranteed contract extension with the Broncos. Anderson started 7 games in 2022 season for Denver, all of which came at left tackle. Anderson also started all pre-season games.

New England Patriots (second stint)

On March 16, 2023, Anderson signed a two-year contract with the Patriots. He spent much of 2023 training camp on the non-football injury list; in April 2024 Anderson revealed it was because he had contracted

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

while doing philanthropic work in

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. He was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

on November 3, 2023, after suffering a

heart contusion A blunt cardiac injury is an injury to the heart as the result of blunt trauma, typically to the anterior chest wall. It can result in a variety of specific injuries to the heart, the most common of which is a myocardial contusion, which is a term ...

in practice. On August 27, 2024, Anderson was placed on injured reserve and released a few days later.

Pittsburgh Steelers

On September 24, 2024, Anderson signed with the

. On April 7, 2025, Anderson signed a two-year contract extension with the Steelers.

Personal life

Anderson was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and raised in Austin Texas. Anderson's father played college football at

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

and was a military flight surgeon who also obtained a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

, became an ordained minister, and served as a physician before retiring as a full-bird

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

in 2019. Anderson himself has gained notoriety for having the ability to solve a Rubik's Cube in different ways, such as behind his back or blindfolded. In his rookie season in the NFL Anderson was named a brand ambassador for Rubik's Cube by the company, representing the company at international events in the offseason. Calvin became the first professional athlete in history to be a brand ambassador for Rubik’s Cube. A mathematical economic analysis major while at Rice University, Anderson once made a PowerPoint presentation for his parents to get them to invest in

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...

prior to the revolutionary creation of the first 3D gaming app Pokémon Go. During the 2022 offseason Anderson enrolled in and completed a graduate course at Harvard Business School. Anderson is in a long term relationship with Dutch/Nigerian model, lawyer and real estate investor Sherée Olaiya Lanihun from

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. Sherée obtained a Bachelor of Laws from The University of Amsterdam, a Master of Laws from Erasmus University, and a Master of Business from Cambridge University in the UK.

References

External links

Pittsburgh Steelers bio

Texas Longhorns bio

Rice Owls bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Calvin 1996 births Living people Players of American football from Philadelphia Players of American football from Austin, Texas American football offensive tackles Rice Owls football players Texas Longhorns football players New England Patriots players New York Jets players Denver Broncos players Pittsburgh Steelers players