Anderson in August 2007
|
|||||||||
No. 32 | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Position: | Running back | ||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||
Date of birth: | September 30, 1972 | ||||||||
Place of birth: | Newark, New Jersey | ||||||||
Height: | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||||||||
Weight: | 237 lb (108 kg) | ||||||||
Career information | |||||||||
High school: | Woodland Hills (CA) El Camino Real | ||||||||
College: | Utah | ||||||||
NFL Draft: | 1994 / Round: 7 / Pick: 201 | ||||||||
Career history | |||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
|
|||||||||
Player stats at PFR |
Rushing yards: | 5,336 |
---|---|
Average: | 4.0 |
Touchdowns: | 34 |
Player stats at NFL.com |
Jamal Sharif Anderson (born September 30, 1972) is a former American football running back of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the seventh round of the 1994 NFL Draft. He played high school football at El Camino Real High School, where he was named to the CIF Los Angeles City Section 4-A All-City first team in 1989. He went on to play college football at Moorpark College for the Moorpark College Raiders before playing at Utah.
Anderson earned a Pro Bowl selection in 1998, leading the NFC in rushing and helping the Falcons to an appearance in Super Bowl XXXIII. He suffered a career-ending knee injury in 2001 while finishing his eight-year career with 41 touchdowns and nearly 7,000 yards of offense.
Anderson played eight seasons with the Falcons, amassing 5,336 rushing yards, 156 receptions for 1,645 yards, and 41 touchdowns before he suffered what became a career-ending tear of his ACL in 2001.
He was well known for his "Dirty Bird" touchdown celebration, in which he flapped his arms as if they were wings and rhythmically bouncing side-to-side in the crowd's direction. The dance has been widely copied; in a press conference Anderson stated: “people break out and do the Dirty Bird in the strangest places.”
Rushing Stats
Receiving Stats
He appeared as an analyst on ESPN/ABC, often promoting his alma mater the University of Utah, and the Mountain West Conference. He is a big proponent of the non-BCS schools gaining more access to the same opportunities as BCS schools.