Anderson accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for Charley Pell and Galen Hall's Florida Gators football teams from 1982 to 1985, and shared the Gators' backfield with fullback John L. Williams for four years. Memorably, Anderson ran for a 197 yards versus the Kentucky Wildcats as a freshman in 1982, a seventy-six-yard touchdown against the LSU Tigers in 1983, and 178 yards and an eighty-yard touchdown against the Tennessee Volunteers in 1984. He was a team captain in 1985, a first-team All-Southeastern Conference selection in 1985, an Associated Press honorable mentionAll-American in 1984 and 1985, and the recipient of the Gators' Fergie Ferguson Award in 1985. In his four years as a Gator, Anderson had fourteen games with 100 yards or more rushing, 639 carries for 3,234 yards rushing and thirty touchdowns, forty-nine receptions for 525 yards receiving and two touchdowns, and ninety-seven yards passing. In terms of career rushing yardage, he remains the Gators' third all-time running back behind Errict Rhett and Emmitt Smith. Behind the rushing of Anderson, the rushing and receiving of John L. Williams, the receiving of wide receiverRicky Nattiel and the passing of quarterbackKerwin Bell, the Gators finished with identical best-in-the-SEC records of 9–1–1 in 1984 and 1985. Anderson graduated from Florida with a bachelor's degreein public relations in 1986, and was later inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 1995. The sportswriters of The Gainesville Sun selected him as No. 13 among the top 100 all-time greatest Gators from the first 100 years of Florida football in 2006.
Professional career
The Chicago Bears selected Anderson in the first round of the 1986 NFL Draft, and he played for the Bears for eight seasons from to. He joined the franchise as a rookie immediately following the Bears' championship season. The Bears picked Anderson to back up, and eventually succeed, Walter Payton, who became the Bears and NFL's all-time rushing leader during his lengthy career. After Payton's retirement in, Anderson became the team's starting running back. Anderson's best years came during the late 1980s, where he rushed for over 1,000 yards in three consecutive seasons. In all three seasons, Anderson scored over ten touchdowns and averaged over four yards per carry. Ultimately, his best season came in, when he rushed for 1,275 yards, received 434 yards, and scored 15 touchdowns. He was invited to the Pro Bowl in, 1989, and. Over his eight-year career, Anderson appeared in 116 regular season games, and started 91 of them; he amassed 6,166 yards and scored 51 touchdowns rushing, and 2,763 yards and 20 touchdowns receiving—a career total of 71 touchdowns. Anderson's career was shortened by injuries and the Bears' fall-out during the early 1990s. He is currently the Bears' third all-time franchise rusher, behind Payton and Matt Forté.
Statistics
Note: G = Games played; Att = Rushing attempts; Yds = Rushing yards; Avg = Average yards per carry; Long = Longest rush; Rush TD = Rushing touchdowns; Rec = Receptions; Yds = Receiving yards; Avg = Average yards per reception; Long = Longest reception; Rec TD = Receiving touchdowns
Year
Team
GP
Att
Yds
Avg
Long
Rush TD
Rec
Yds
Avg
Long
Rec TD
Chicago Bears
14
35
146
4.2
23
0
4
80
20.0
58
1
Chicago Bears
11
129
586
4.5
38
3
47
467
9.9
59
3
Chicago Bears
16
249
1,106
4.4
80
12
39
371
9.5
36
0
Chicago Bears
16
274
1,275
4.7
73
11
50
434
8.7
49
4
Chicago Bears
15
260
1,078
4.1
52
10
42
484
11.5
50
3
Chicago Bears
13
210
747
3.6
42
6
47
368
7.8
26
3
Chicago Bears
16
156
582
3.7
49
5
42
399
9.5
30
6
Chicago Bears
15
202
646
3.2
45
4
31
160
5.2
35
0
Career Totals
116
1,515
6,166
4.1
80
51
302
2,763
9.1
59
20
-
Stats that are highlighted show career high
Life after football
Anderson now lives with his wife and their three children in the Gainesville area, where he helped found a bank and owns a peanut farm. He is active in the community.
