Charles Neal Anderson (born August 14, 1964) 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
running back
A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...
for eight seasons with the
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 ...
of 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) during the 1980s and 1990s. Anderson 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
Florida Gators
The Florida Gators are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville, Florida, Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni an ...
. He was a first-round pick in the
1986 NFL draft
The 1986 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 29–30, 1986, at the Marriott M ...
. He was a four-time
Pro Bowl
The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players.
The format has changed ...
selection with the Bears.
Early life
Anderson was born in
Graceville, Florida
Graceville is a city in Jackson County, Florida, United States. It is near the Alabama state line. The population was 2,153 at the 2020 census.
Geography
The approximate coordinates for the City of Graceville is located at (30.959044, −85. ...
in 1964.
[Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players]
Neal Anderson
Retrieved July 2, 2010. He attended Graceville High School,
[databaseFootball.com, Players, . Retrieved June 1, 2010.] and played for the Graceville Tigers high school football team.
College career
Anderson accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the
University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...
in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for
Charley Pell and
Galen Hall's
Florida Gators football
The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida (UF) in American football, American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the ...
teams from
1982
Events
January
* January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00).
* January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...
to
1985
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...
,
2012 Florida Football Media Guide
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 76, 87, 90, 94, 95, 97, 98, 101, 104, 116, 121, 141–142, 146–148, 151, 152, 154, 156, 176 (2012). Retrieved September 14, 2012. and shared the Gators' backfield with
fullback John L. Williams for four years. Memorably, Anderson ran for 197 yards versus the
Kentucky Wildcats
The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30, ...
as a freshman in 1982, a seventy-six-yard
touchdown
A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...
against the
LSU Tigers in
1983
1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...
, and 178 yards and an eighty-yard touchdown against the
Tennessee Volunteers
The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in Division I of the National Colleg ...
in
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
.
[ He was a team captain in 1985, a 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:
...
(SEC) selection in 1985, an Associated Press honorable mention All-American
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 ...
in 1984 and 1985, and the recipient of the Gators' Fergie Ferguson Award
The Forest K. Ferguson Award, commonly known as the "Fergie Ferguson Award," is presented annually to a senior member of the Florida Gators football team in memory of one of the University of Florida's greatest athletes.
Namesake
The award ta ...
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 ]reception
Reception is a noun form of ''receiving'', or ''to receive'' something, such as art, experience, information, people, products, or vehicles. It may refer to:
Astrology
* Reception (astrology), when a planet is located in a sign ruled by another p ...
s 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
Errict Undra Rhett (born December 11, 1970) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons during the 1990s and early 2000s. Rhett played college football for the ...
and Emmitt Smith
Emmitt James Smith III (born May 15, 1969) is an American former professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, 13 as a member of the Dallas Cowboys and 2 seasons with the Arizona Cardinals ...
.[
Behind the rushing of Anderson, the rushing and receiving of John L. Williams, the receiving of ]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 ...
Ricky Nattiel and the passing of 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 ...
Kerwin 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 degree in 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 (27th pick overall) of the 1986 NFL draft
The 1986 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 29–30, 1986, at the Marriott M ...
. He played for the Bears for eight seasons from to .[National Football League, Historical Players]
Neal Anderson
Retrieved May 13, 2011. 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
Walter Jerry Payton (July 25, 1953Although most sources at the time of his death gave Payton's birth year as 1954, reliable sources subsequently state he was born in 1953. – November 1, 1999) was an American professional American football, ...
, 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
The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players.
The format has changed ...
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.
Anderson says his favorite memory from his NFL career was December 2, 1990, when he scored a 50-yard game-winning touchdown on a pass from ]Jim Harbaugh
James Joseph Harbaugh ( ; born December 23, 1963) is an American professional football coach and former quarterback who is the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the head coach at ...
against the Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...
, which eliminated them from the playoffs and secured an appearance by the Bears. "I caught a touchdown pass against Detroit at the end of the game. And that put us in the playoffs. One of the few things I remember was being under the pile and everybody jumping on top of me. All of the guys in the locker room called me 'The Cuz.' And I could just hear people saying: 'The Cuz! The Cuz!'"
NFL career statistics
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.[Pat Forde,]
Pressure, pigeons and playoff
" ESPN.com (November 2, 2010). Retrieved November 3, 2010. He is active in the community. He is a big fan of professional wrestling and attended Wrestlemania XI.
In 1998, Anderson helped found, and is now on the board of directors of, Community Bank and Trust of Florida, a bank with 11 locations in and near Gainesville.
See also
* Florida Gators football, 1980–89
The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida (UF) in American football, American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the ...
* History of the Chicago Bears
* List of Chicago Bears first-round draft picks
* List of Chicago Bears players
* List of Florida Gators in the NFL draft
* List of University of Florida alumni
This list of University of Florida alumni includes current students, former students, and graduates of the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. Honorary degree recipients can be found on the List of University of Florida honorary degree ...
* List of University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame members
A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...
References
Bibliography
* Carlson, Norm, ''University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators'', Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). .
* Golenbock, Peter, ''Go Gators! An Oral History of Florida's Pursuit of Gridiron Glory'', Legends Publishing, LLC, St. Petersburg, Florida (2002). .
* Hairston, Jack, ''Tales from the Gator Swamp: A Collection of the Greatest Gator Stories Ever Told'', Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois (2002). .
* McCarthy, Kevin M.,
Fightin' Gators: A History of University of Florida Football
', Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (2000). .
* Nash, Noel, ed., ''The Gainesville Sun Presents The Greatest Moments in Florida Gators Football'', Sports Publishing, Inc., Champaign, Illinois (1998). .
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Neal
1964 births
Living people
American football running backs
Chicago Bears players
Florida Gators football players
National Conference Pro Bowl players
Sportspeople from Jackson County, Florida
Brian Piccolo Award winners