Jamaal Anderson (born February 6, 1986) is an American former 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 ...

player who was a

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

in 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 was selected by the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

eighth overall in the

2007 NFL draft The 2007 NFL draft was the 72nd annual meeting of National Football League franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 28 and April 29, 2007. The draf ...

. 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

Arkansas Razorbacks The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Fayetteville. The University of Arkans ...

. Anderson was also a member of the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

, and

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

Early life

Anderson grew up in

Little Rock, Arkansas Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

with parents Glenn and Karen Anderson and a sister, Danielle. His father, Dr. Glenn Anderson, was a professor at the

University of Arkansas at Little Rock The University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UA Little Rock, UALR) is a Public university, public research university in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States. Established as Little Rock Junior College by the Little Rock School District in 1927, the ...

. The senior Anderson was the first deaf African-American to receive a doctoral degree in the United States. Jamaal was a two-sport athlete at

Parkview Arts and Science Magnet High School :'' For other places with this name, see Parkview School (disambiguation).'' Parkview Arts and Science Magnet High School is a magnet school in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States that concentrates heavily on science and the arts. It is Arkans ...

in Little Rock before focusing on football as a

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

his senior season.

football coach

Houston Nutt Houston Dale Nutt Jr. (born October 14, 1957) is an American former college football coach and player. He formerly worked for CBS Sports as a college football studio analyst. Previously, he served as the head football coach at Murray State Univer ...

and brother

Danny Nutt Danny Nutt (born May 7, 1961) is a former college football assistant coach. He served as the Assistant Athletics Director for Player Development at Ole Miss during Houston Nutt's tenure as head coach. His last coaching position was with the Arkans ...

, who had a hearing-impaired father, used

American sign language American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States and most of Anglophone Canadians, Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that i ...

during a recruiting visit; Jamaal committed to Arkansas shortly thereafter on January 15, 2004.

College career

The Razorbacks switched him to defensive end when Anthony Brown was injured during Anderson's

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educatio ...

season. Anderson excelled in his new position. Anderson recorded 17.5

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

sacks in his time at

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

, with those sacks going for minus 128 yards. He also recorded 130 tackles, with 84 solos. He had 32 stops for losses of 167 yards. He had 35 quarterback pressures, 8 pass deflections, 2 forced fumbles and a fumble recovery in 20 starts. For his role on the 2006 Arkansas Razorbacks football team, Anderson recorded first-team

All-Southeastern Conference The All-SEC football team is an annual Southeastern Conference (SEC) honor bestowed on the best players in the conference following every college football season. Seasons

Following is a list of all-conference teams in the history of the SEC: ...

honors and honorable mention

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors. Anderson chose to forgo his senior season at Arkansas, and entered the NFL Draft.

Professional career

Atlanta Falcons

Anderson was drafted in the first round with the eighth overall pick by the

in the

. The pick used to select Anderson was previously acquired from the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

in a trade that sent

Matt Schaub Matthew Rutledge Schaub (; born June 25, 1981) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for 17 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Virginia Cavaliers, and was selecte ...

to Houston. Anderson earned the position of Falcons' starting right defensive end during training camp and started 15 regular season games. He finished the 2007 season with 30 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 3 pass defenses, and 0 quarterback sacks. Anderson recorded his first sack against

Kyle Orton Kyle Raymond Orton (born November 14, 1982) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback. He played college football for Purdue, where he started four straight bowl games. He was selected by the Chicago Bears in the f ...

on October 12, 2008. He finished the 2008 season with 27 tackles, and two sacks. He moved to

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

after a few games in 2009 due to injuries to the Falcons defensive line and his struggles at end. On July 29, 2011, he was released by Atlanta. Anderson played in 60 games over four seasons for Atlanta, with 47 starts.

Indianapolis Colts

On August 1, 2011, Anderson signed with the

. In a game against 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 ...

on September 25, 2011, Anderson recovered a

Ben Roethlisberger Benjamin Todd Roethlisberger Sr. ( ; born March 2, 1982), nicknamed "Big Ben", is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons with the Pittsburgh Ste ...

fumble caused by

Dwight Freeney Dwight Jason Freeney (born February 18, 1980) is an American former professional football player who played as a defensive end and linebacker for 16 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), most notably as a member of the Indianapolis Col ...

and returned it 47 yards for his first and only NFL touchdown.

Cincinnati Bengals

Anderson signed with the

on March 23, 2012, and was released on July 10, 2013.

Chicago Bears

Anderson signed with the

on July 25, 2013 for a one-year deal. He was released on August 17, 2013.

NFL statistics

References

External links

Arkansas Razorbacks bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Jamaal 1986 births Living people American football defensive ends American football defensive tackles Arkansas Razorbacks football players Atlanta Falcons players Chicago Bears players Cincinnati Bengals players Indianapolis Colts players Players of American football from Little Rock, Arkansas