ByJon GoldSenior Staff Writer
David Anderson doesn’t feel slighted, he feels motivated. He’s notnecessarily angry, rather he is determined. He doesn’t feel bad hewasn’t recruited more by schools – he feels sorry for those coachesthat missed out on him.
As a starting wideout for the Colorado State football team – whichwill host San Diego State at noon PST. Saturday – he is making all ofthose coaches regret their decisions. In his sophomore season,Anderson has hauled in 54 catches for 1,070 yards and eighttouchdowns, surprising all but himself and a few others.
“We knew he’d be pretty good from the start,” Rams wide receivercoach Matt Lubick said. “He was probably talented enough to startlast year. Personally, I was surprised more schools didn’t go afterhim.”
Added Anderson: “It was hard to deal with, but I’ve kind of lookedpast it. This is happening for a reason. Maybe if I was at a biggerschool, I wouldn’t have been getting the number of balls I’m gettinghere.”
While coaches thought about redshirting him in his freshman yearin 2002, those ideas were quickly abolished after watching him play.His grittiness and toughness allowed him to see action on mostspecial teams plays, and gave him the opportunity to gain someplaying time at wide receiver.
But his progression from last season to this has been nothingshort of miraculous. With talented wide receivers spread throughoutthe country, it was easy to miss him last year. While fellowsophomore wideouts Larry Fitzgerald (6’4″) of Pittsburgh, MikeWilliams (6’5″) of USC were making waves with their ability, it hasbeen Anderson who has made the biggest splash this season.
Standing at 5’10,” Anderson can easily be overlooked, and with 4.5speed, he is not always the burner on the field, however Andersonmakes up for his physical inadequacies (if you can call thoseinadequacies), with an amazing “football sense.” Anderson can break aguy’s ankles with his perfect route-running, or deceptively draw acornerback closer with his jukes.
“He has good speed and good hands,” Lubick said. “But he is agreat route runner. And the two biggest things that make him standout are his toughness and competitiveness. He’s tremendously tough.Heck, he could probably start on defense for us. Very few widereceivers can do that.”
In Anderson, Rams quarterback Bradlee Van Pelt has found ago-to-guy, a player he knows he can count on when the chips arestacked against them. He has the confidence in Anderson to throw aless-than-perfect pass, relying instead on the young wideout’sability to get to seemingly uncatchable balls.
“Iknow that if I get the ball to them (Anderson and Chris Pittman),they’ll make me look like a good QB,” Van Pelt said. “I attribute alot of my success to my receivers.”
Anderson’s path to collegiate stardom didn’t always look like itwould begin on the gridiron. Anderson originally had high hopes onthe basketball court – hopes which led him to forgo a career atfootball powerhouse Westlake High School, and instead led him toenroll at Thousand Oaks High School, a town over. Anderson arrived tothe TOHS freshman football program two weeks late, but anyone who sawhim on the field in his first year in the pads could sense greatness.
Anderson eventually teamed up with several future Division-Icollege football players to propel the Lancers to a Marmonte LeagueChampionship, their first in 13 years. Anderson was the main targetof a receiving crew that featured Corey Mazza (Harvard wide receiver)and Kevin Rex (Cornell safety). Throwing them the rock was Ben Olson,the nation’s No. 1 prep quarterback, and Anderson’s best friend.
Their relationship went farther than the usual quarterback-widereceiver buddy system. They were inseparable, and Anderson looked toVan Pelt last year to build a similar closeness.
“Brad is such a cool guy, and he’s impossible not to get alongwith,” Anderson said with a laugh. “It made it easier playing. It wasan easier step to come from Ben to Brad. When you’re enemies with thequarterback, they don’t necessarily look to throw you the ball.”
Added Lubick: “They’re both real competitors and they have grownreally close. Brad knows that if he puts it halfway close, Andersonwill find it.”
At Colorado State, Anderson has had the good fortune to findanother group of talented players, like he had in his prep career.Last year’s Rams featured a powerful running attack, led by futureNFL-er Cecil Sapp. This squad features future pros in Van Pelt,H-back Joel Dreessen, and Pittman, the Rams other main pass-catchingtarget.
“Playing with those guys gave me respect for the other players onthe field,” Anderson said, of his high school teammates. “I learnedhow to play with other good players around me. It gave me theconfidence to now rely on guys like Pittman and Dreessen. I learnedthat you can get a lot of things done by relying on other people.”
