Jamaal Anderson (born February 6, 1986) is a former American football defensive end. He was drafted 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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

eighth overall in the 2007 NFL Draft. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at Arkansas. Anderson also played for 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 club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

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 club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

, 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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

Early life

Anderson grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas 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) is a public research university in Little Rock, Arkansas. Established as Little Rock Junior College by the Little Rock School District in 1927, the institution became a private four-year ...

. 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 in Little Rock before focusing on football as a wide receiver his senior season. Arkansas Razorbacks football coach Houston Nutt and brother Danny Nutt, 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 of America and most of Anglophone Canadians, Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual lang ...

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

College career

The

Razorbacks The feral pig is a domestic pig which has gone feral, meaning it lives in the wild. They are found mostly in the Americas and Australia. Razorback and wild hog are Americanisms applied to feral pigs or boar-pig hybrids. Definition A feral pi ...

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 educational institutions. In ...

season. Anderson excelled in his new position. Anderson recorded 17.5 quarterback sacks in his time at Arkansas, 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 The 2006 Arkansas Razorbacks football team completed the season with a 10–4 record. The Razorbacks had a regular season SEC record of 7–1. Schedule Rankings Roster Game summaries USC USC and Arkansas both came into the game wi ...

, Anderson recorded first-team All- Southeastern Conference honors and honorable mention All-America honors. Anderson chose to forgo his senior season at Arkansas, and entered the NFL Draft.

Professional career

Atlanta Falcons

Anderson was drafted with the 8th overall pick by the

in the 2007 NFL Draft. 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 (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

in a trade that sent Matt Schaub 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

quarterback

Kyle Orton Kyle Raymond Orton (born November 14, 1982) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football for Purdue, where he started four straight bowl games. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the fourth round of the 2005 NFL Dra ...

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 will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

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 club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

on September 25, 2011, Anderson recovered a Ben Roethlisberger fumble caused by Dwight Freeney and returned it 47 yards for his first 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 Arkansas Sportspeople from Little Rock, Arkansas