Age: 24
2nd
season in pro football & with Steelers
College: Syracuse
Height: 5’11” Weight: 156
Prelude:
Born in South
Africa, Anderson’s family moved to the US when he was a teenager. Having played
rugby while growing up, he quickly showed that he could kick an American
football and received a scholarship to Syracuse University. In college, he
played two seasons of soccer and, in football, he set school season records for
field goals (18) and field goal percentage (94.7) in 1981. Anderson was chosen
in the seventh round of the 1982 NFL draft by the Buffalo Bills, who cut him
prior to the season. Picked up by the Steelers, he was successful on 10 of 12
field goal attempts as well as all 22 tries for extra points during the
strike-shortened ’82 season.
1983 Season Summary
Appeared in
all 16 games
[Bracketed
numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]
Kicking
Field goals –
27 [4]
Most field
goals, game – 4 at Houston 9/18, vs. San Diego 11/6
Field goal
attempts – 31 [6]
Most field
goal attempts, game – 4 at Houston 9/18, vs. San Diego 11/6
Field goal
percentage – 87.1 [2]
PATs – 38
[13, tied with Ed Murray & Matt Bahr]
PAT attempts
– 39 [14]
Longest field
goal – 49 yards at Houston 9/18, vs. San Diego 11/6
Scoring
Field Goals –
27
PATs – 38
Points – 119
[7, 1st in AFC]
Postseason: 1
G (AFC Divisional playoff at LA Raiders)
Field goals –
1
Field goal
attempts – 1
PATs – 1
PAT attempts
– 1
Longest field
goal – 17 yards
Awards & Honors:
2nd
team All-NFL: AP
1st
team All-AFC: UPI, Pro Football Weekly
Pro Bowl
Steelers went
10-6 to finish first in the AFC Central. Lost AFC Divisional playoff to Los
Angeles Raiders (38-10).
Aftermath:
Wearing his
characteristic single-bar facemask, Anderson went on to kick for 13 seasons
with the Steelers. His topping the AFC in scoring in 1983 was the first of
three consecutive seasons in which he did so, and he led the AFC in field goals
in ’84 (24) and the entire NFL with 33 in 1985 (his high with Pittsburgh).
Anderson received at least some All-NFL recognition in 1985 and ’93 and was
named to the Pro Bowl three times as a Steeler. He left Pittsburgh following
the 1994 season as the franchise leader in field goals (309) and scoring (1343
points) and spent two years with Philadelphia and one with the 49ers in ’97. Moving
on to Minnesota in 1998, Anderson connected on all 35 of his field goal
attempts, scored 164 points, and was a consensus first-team All-NFL as well as
Pro Bowl selection. However, some luster was lost when he finally missed a
field goal attempt in the NFC Championship game, allowing Atlanta to tie the
score and win in overtime. He followed up with a career-low 63.3 field goal
percentage in 1999 but bounced back to connect on 95.7 percent in 2000 (22 of
23) and lasted with the Vikings through 2002. Anderson finished his career with
two seasons in Tennessee in 2003 and ’04, by which time he was 45 years old. Overall,
over the course of 23 seasons, Anderson kicked 538 field goals in 672 attempts,
both career NFL records at the time, for an 80.1 percentage and 2434 points,
also the league career high (his contemporary, Morten Andersen, ultimately
surpassed him in all three NFL-record categories). He also kicked 820 extra
points, which were second-highest in league history at the time. Anderson added
another 32 field goals, in 40 attempts (80.0 %) and 57 extra points in 22
postseason games, with a high of four field goals against the Oilers in 1989.
--
Highlighted Years features players who were consensus
first-team All-League* selections or league* or conference** leaders in the
following statistical categories:
Rushing:
Yards, TDs (min. 10)
Passing:
Yards, Completion Pct., Yards per Attempt, TDs, Rating
Receiving:
Catches, Yards, TDs (min. 10)
Scoring: TDs,
Points, Field Goals (min. 5)
All-Purpose:
Total Yards
Defense:
Interceptions, Sacks
Kickoff
Returns: Average
Punt Returns:
Average
Punting:
Average
*Leagues
include NFL (1920 to date), AFL (1926), AFL (1936-37), AAFC (1946-49), AFL
(1960-69), WFL (1974-75), USFL (1983-85)
**NFC/AFC
since 1970
