Damien Anderson
Encyclopedia
Damien Ramone Anderson is a professional American football
and Canadian football
running back
who retired in 2008. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Arizona Cardinals
in 2002. He played college football
at Northwestern Wildcats
.
, finishing second in the nation in total rushing yards in 2000 behind LaDainian Tomlinson
while also finishing 5th for the Heisman Trophy
.
Concluding his illustrious career as Northwestern's all-time leading rusher, Damien Anderson capped a record-setting season in 2000 by becoming just the fourth player in Big Ten history to run for 2,000 or more yards in a single season. He closed his four-year career with 4,485 rushing yards (the eighth-best figure in Big Ten history), 38 rushing touchdowns and 5,261 all-purpose yards—all school records.
In 2000, when he posted the 20th-best single-season rushing average in NCAA history (174.0 ypg for 11 regular-season games), Anderson finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting and he was tabbed a Doak Walker Award (nation's top running back) finalist. He was named to All-America teams by the Football Writers Association of America, Walter Camp, Football News, CNN/SI.com and Sporting News. Anderson also rushed for 1,549 yards in eight Big Ten games in 2000, which remains a conference single-season record. His running exploits in 2000 helped the Wildcats capture a share of the Big Ten title, their third conference crown in a six-year period.
In addition to his major career school marks for rushing, all-purpose yardage, rushing TD's and 200-yard rushing games (four), Anderson still holds five major single-season marks, all set in 2000: rushing yards (2,063), yards per game (171.9), all-purpose yards (2,195), rushing touchdowns (23) and points (138). He also scored at least one touchdown in 11 consecutive games, an NU record. Anderson, who played in 43 career games, started 32 consecutive times during his career and 40 overall.
IN 2004 he made an amazing recovery from injuries sustained in a car accident. Anderson spent 14 days in an intensive care unit
and nearly three weeks in the hospital after undergoing surgery to remove his spleen
and repair a fractured eye socket. He also suffered liver
damage, broken ribs, and a collapsed lung
in the rollover accident. Anderson was fully recovered in time for the Cardinals' June minicamp.
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...
and Canadian football
Canadian football
Canadian football is a form of gridiron football played exclusively in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed prolate spheroid ball into the opposing team's scoring area...
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...
who retired in 2008. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Arizona Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
in 2002. He 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...
at Northwestern Wildcats
Northwestern Wildcats
The Northwestern Wildcats are the athletic teams that represent Northwestern University, a founding member of the Big Ten Conference and the only private university in the conference. Northwestern has eight men's and eleven women's Division I sports teams. The mascot is Willie the Wildcat...
.
College career
Anderson was a standout at Northwestern UniversityNorthwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
, finishing second in the nation in total rushing yards in 2000 behind LaDainian Tomlinson
LaDainian Tomlinson
LaDainian Tramayne Tomlinson is an American football running back for the New York Jets of the National Football League. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers fifth overall in the 2001 NFL Draft. He played college football at Texas Christian.Tomlinson, often referred to by his initials, L...
while also finishing 5th for the Heisman Trophy
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...
.
Concluding his illustrious career as Northwestern's all-time leading rusher, Damien Anderson capped a record-setting season in 2000 by becoming just the fourth player in Big Ten history to run for 2,000 or more yards in a single season. He closed his four-year career with 4,485 rushing yards (the eighth-best figure in Big Ten history), 38 rushing touchdowns and 5,261 all-purpose yards—all school records.
In 2000, when he posted the 20th-best single-season rushing average in NCAA history (174.0 ypg for 11 regular-season games), Anderson finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting and he was tabbed a Doak Walker Award (nation's top running back) finalist. He was named to All-America teams by the Football Writers Association of America, Walter Camp, Football News, CNN/SI.com and Sporting News. Anderson also rushed for 1,549 yards in eight Big Ten games in 2000, which remains a conference single-season record. His running exploits in 2000 helped the Wildcats capture a share of the Big Ten title, their third conference crown in a six-year period.
In addition to his major career school marks for rushing, all-purpose yardage, rushing TD's and 200-yard rushing games (four), Anderson still holds five major single-season marks, all set in 2000: rushing yards (2,063), yards per game (171.9), all-purpose yards (2,195), rushing touchdowns (23) and points (138). He also scored at least one touchdown in 11 consecutive games, an NU record. Anderson, who played in 43 career games, started 32 consecutive times during his career and 40 overall.
Professional career
Anderson played four years with the NFL's Arizona Cardinals as well as two years with the CFL's Edmonton Eskimos.IN 2004 he made an amazing recovery from injuries sustained in a car accident. Anderson spent 14 days in an intensive care unit
Intensive Care Unit
thumb|220px|ICU roomAn intensive-care unit , critical-care unit , intensive-therapy unit/intensive-treatment unit is a specialized department in a hospital that provides intensive-care medicine...
and nearly three weeks in the hospital after undergoing surgery to remove his spleen
Spleen
The spleen is an organ found in virtually all vertebrate animals with important roles in regard to red blood cells and the immune system. In humans, it is located in the left upper quadrant of the abdomen. It removes old red blood cells and holds a reserve of blood in case of hemorrhagic shock...
and repair a fractured eye socket. He also suffered liver
Liver
The liver is a vital organ present in vertebrates and some other animals. It has a wide range of functions, including detoxification, protein synthesis, and production of biochemicals necessary for digestion...
damage, broken ribs, and a collapsed lung
Pneumothorax
Pneumothorax is a collection of air or gas in the pleural cavity of the chest between the lung and the chest wall. It may occur spontaneously in people without chronic lung conditions as well as in those with lung disease , and many pneumothoraces occur after physical trauma to the chest, blast...
in the rollover accident. Anderson was fully recovered in time for the Cardinals' June minicamp.