Ottis Jerome Anderson (born January 19, 1957) is an American former football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Giants. He played college football at Miami and was selected eighth overall in the 1979 NFL Draft by the Cardinals, where he spent his first eight seasons. In his first season, Anderson was named Offensive Rookie of the Year and received Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro honors when he set the Cardinals all-time record for rushing yards with 1605. He also received a second Pro Bowl selection the following year. Traded to the Giants in 1986 amid a production decline, Anderson won two Super Bowl titles in Super Bowl XXI and Super Bowl XXV. Anderson was named MVP of the latter after playing a central part in the Giants' ball-control offense that allowed them to set the Super Bowl record for time of possession.
No reasonable person is going to confuse Ottis Anderson for being one of the top-five running backs in the history of the NFL, but he is nevertheless grossly underrated by far too many who follow the NFL. Anderson is a member of the 10,000 rushing yards club. He won the Rookie of the Year and the Comeback Player of the Year awards as a professional, and Anderson was named the Most Valuable Player for Super Bowl XXV. While you may not put him in your top-tier of all-time great running backs, Anderson deserves more than a mention for a spot in the next tier of that imaginary list.
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