Neal Anderson
Encyclopedia
Charles Neal Anderson is a former American college and professional football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 player who was a running back
Running back
A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...

 in the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

 (NFL) for eight seasons in the 1980s and 1990s. Anderson played college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 for the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...

, and thereafter, he played professionally for the Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

 of the NFL.

Early years

Anderson was born in Graceville, Florida
Graceville, Florida
Graceville is a city in Jackson County, Florida, United States. The population was 2,402 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S...

 in 1964. He attended Graceville High School, and played for the Graceville Tigers high school football
High school football
High school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....

 team.

College career

Anderson received an athletic scholarship
Athletic scholarship
An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport...

 to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...

, where he played for Charley Pell
Charley Pell
Charles Byron "Charley" Pell was an American college football player and coach. Pell was an Alabama native and an alumnus of the University of Alabama, where he played college football. He is most notably remembered as the head coach of the Clemson University and the University of Florida...

 and Galen Hall
Galen Hall
Galen Samuel Hall is an American college and professional football coach and former player. He is a native of Pennsylvania, and an alumnus of Penn State University, where he played college football...

's Florida Gators football
Florida Gators football
The Florida Gators football team represents the University of Florida in the sport of American football. The Florida Gators compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletics Association and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference...

 teams from 1982 to 1985, and shared the Gators' backfield with fullback
Fullback (American football)
A fullback is a position in the offensive backfield in American and Canadian football, and is one of the two running back positions along with the halfback...

 John L. Williams
John L. Williams
John L. Williams is a former American college and professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League for ten seasons during the 1980s and 1990s...

 for four years. Memorably, Anderson ran for a 197 yards versus the Kentucky Wildcats
Kentucky Wildcats football
The Kentucky Wildcats football team is a college football program that competes in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and the East Division of the Southeastern Conference.-History:Paul "Bear" Bryant Era...

 as a freshman
Freshman
A freshman or fresher is a first-year student in secondary school, high school, or college. The term first year can also be used as a noun, to describe the students themselves A freshman (US) or fresher (UK, India) (or sometimes fish, freshie, fresher; slang plural frosh or freshmeat) is a...

 in 1982, a seventy-six-yard touchdown
Touchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...

 against the LSU Tigers
LSU Tigers football
The LSU Tigers football team, also known as the Fighting Tigers or Bayou Bengals, represents Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States in NCAA Division I FBS college football. Current head coach Les Miles has led the team since 2005. Since 1999 when Nick Saban took over as...

 in 1983, and 178 yards and an eighty-yard touchdown against the Tennessee Volunteers
Tennessee Volunteers football
The Tennessee Volunteers football team are an American college football team at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville . The NCAA Division I team is also a member of the Southeastern Conference ....

 in 1984. He was a team captain in 1985, a first-team All-Southeastern Conference
Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...

 (SEC) selection in 1985, an Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...

 honorable mention All-American in 1984 and 1985, and the recipient of the Gators' Fergie Ferguson Award 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 (American football)
In American football, a reception is part of a play in which a forward pass from behind the line of scrimmage is received by a player in bounds, who, after the catch, proceeds to either score a touchdown or be downed. Yards gained from the receiving play are credited to the player as receiving...

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 Rhett
Errict Undra Rhett is a former American college and professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League for seven seasons in the 1990s and early 2000s...

 and Emmitt Smith
Emmitt Smith
Emmitt James Smith, III is a retired American football player who was a running back in the National Football League for fifteen seasons during the 1990s and 2000s. Smith played college football for the University of Florida, where he was an All-American; thereafter, he played professionally for...

.

Behind the rushing of Anderson, the rushing and receiving of John L. Williams, the receiving of wide receiver
Wide receiver
A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...

 Ricky Nattiel
Ricky Nattiel
Richard Rennard "Ricky" Nattiel is a former American college and professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League for six seasons during the 1980s and 1990s...

 and the passing of quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...

 Kerwin Bell
Kerwin Bell
Kerwin Douglas Bell is an American college and professional football coach and former player who was a quarterback in the National Football League , World League of American Football and the Canadian Football League for fourteen seasons in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s...

, 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
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...

 in public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....

 in 1986, and was later inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 1995.

Professional career

The Chicago Bears selected Anderson in the first round (twenty-seventh pick overall) of the 1986 NFL Draft
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...

, and he played for the Bears for eight seasons from to . 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 Payton
Walter Jerry Payton was an American football running back who played for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League for thirteen seasons. Walter Payton was known around the NFL as "Sweetness". He is remembered as one of the most prolific running backs in the history of 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
Starting lineup
A starting lineup in sports is an official list of the set of players who will actively participate in the event when the game begins. The players in the starting lineup are commonly referred to as starters, whereas the others are substitutes or bench players.The starters are commonly the best...

 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 fifteen touchdowns. He was invited to the Pro Bowl
Pro Bowl
In professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...

 in , 1989, and .

Over his eight-year career, Anderson amassed 6,166 rushing yards and scored fifty-one touchdowns rushing and twenty receiving for a career total of seventy-one touchdowns. Anderson's career was shortened by injuries and the Bears' fall-out during the early 1990s. He is currently the Bears' second all-time franchise rusher, immediately behind his predecessor, Walter Payton (16,726 yards), and immediately ahead of Rick Casares
Rick Casares
Richard Jose "Rick" Casares is a former American college and professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League and the American Football League for twelve seasons in the 1950s and 1960s...

 (5,657 yards) and Gayle Sayers (4,956 yards).

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 2000 acres (809.4 ha) peanut farm. Anderson also mentors teenagers and helps coach youth football in the community.

See also

  • Florida Gators
    Florida Gators
    The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. The "Lady Gators" is an alternative nickname sometimes used by the Gators women's teams...

  • Florida Gators football, 1980–1989
  • History of the Chicago Bears
    History of the Chicago Bears
    This article details the history of the Chicago Bears American Football Club. The franchise is a charter-member of the National Football League and have played in all of the league's eighty-seven seasons. Throughout that span they have created a legacy in professional American football comparable...

  • List of Chicago Bears first-round draft picks
  • List of Chicago Bears players
  • List of Florida Gators football players
  • List of University of Florida alumni
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