The last time Denver Bronco's running back Mike Anderson marched into the Louisiana Superdome he was beating a drum in his high school band. On Sunday, the former University of Utah standout flat-out beat the New Orleans Saints by rushing for 251 yards and scoring four touchdowns.
In doing so, Anderson set four records: the new NFL rookie rushing record in a single game; a single game rushing record for the Denver Broncos, breaking Terrell Davis' 215-yard mark; the first Bronco to score four touchdowns in a single game; and, to top it off, Anderson was among four NFL running backs who rushed for more than 200 yards on the same day for the first time in league history. Not bad for a day's work. And not bad for someone Utahns can legitimately claim as their own.
What makes this "rookie's" success even sweeter is that Anderson didn't play high school football. As the story goes, he quit his high school football team during preseason drills his freshman year after a coach tried to convert him into an offensive lineman. Instead, he played and marched in the band in Fairfield, S.C.
Upon high school graduation, Anderson joined the Marines, where he took up football again. He then went to Mount San Jacinto (Calif.) Junior College and the U., where he was drafted by the Broncos as a sixth-round pick.
What the Broncos and NFL fans alike have discovered this year is that Anderson's rookie status is a matter of mere semantics. As Denver quarterback Gus Frerotte put it, "He's showing he's a big-time back." Indeed.
But unlike the many rookies who have been flashes in the pan because they weren't mature enough to handle the money and prestige that comes with success in the NFL, Anderson has been remarkably well grounded. He is seemingly grateful for his success and quick to credit the Broncos' offensive line for its prowess.
Perhaps that is because Anderson appreciates his time in the limelight more because his life has taken such different paths than those of most of his teammates. He didn't play high school football. He didn't have money for college so he joined the military. He went to a junior college before making the team with Division I Utah.
Although Anderson was in Utah for only a couple of years, this community still thinks of him as one of its own. He's has made the University of Utah and Salt Lake City proud and given young men who fancy playing professional football cause to believe in their own dreams.