in both business and character. “I try to learn something from everyone.”
Anderson and a student at his 3rd Annual Sphero Robotics workshop,
presented to over 60 children in Vallejo, CA. Sphero Robotics is a partner of his Dreams Never Die Foundation.
tide of peer pressure, against the allure of the easy road. Anderson looks back at the people who stood by him, who poured into him, who kept him on the right path, and he knows what he wants to do with this life, the kind of legacy he wants to leave. Hint: It’s not winning football games.
The Path to the Super Bowl Granted, Anderson was blessed with some talent that most
other kids around him didn’t have: athletic prowess. From a young age, it was apparent this kid had something. He was fast, he was strong, he was nimble. At Jesse M. Bethel High School, he ran track – blazing through the 100-meter dash in just over 12 seconds. Blink and he was across the line. He was a football standout, leading his team to four consecu- tive playoff appearances. In 2007, he was named the Vallejo Times-Herald Athlete of the Year. It’s easy to look at achievements like that and think Ander- son would be immune to the lure of the street life. From an outside perspective, it’s pretty clear someone with that kind of talent could get picked up by a good college, earn a degree, maybe go on to play in the NFL, certainly go on to leverage the degree into a good job. All he’d need to do is stay the course: a simple choice to an adult looking in from the outside; not so simple to a restless teenage boy surrounded by trouble. Anderson knows now what a fine line he walked, how easy it would have been to fall onto the wrong side of that line – and he is grateful every day for those who held on tight and refused to let him fall. “Guidance and mentorship are everything,” says Ander- son, who to this day surrounds himself with people who challenge him, who are honest with him and help him grow
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This attitude, along with the efforts of all his early men- tors, paid off in 2011 when Anderson was picked up by the University of California, Berkeley. He did well enough as a running back for the Golden Bears to catch the attention of the NFL. Since 2013, he has played for the Denver Broncos, Carolina Panthers, Oakland Raiders and, most recently, the Los Angeles Rams. During his six years as a professional football player, Anderson has played in three Super Bowls, including Super Bowl 50, where he made a two-yard touch- down run with just over three minutes left in the game, solidifying the Broncos’ victory and earning the right to put the words “Super Bowl champion” in front of his name. The Rams released him in February this year, but he signed with the Detroit Lions in April. In between, he was essentially in limbo, facing an unclear future. It was a situa- tion that was not unfamiliar – and not of serious concern to a gritty survivor like Anderson, who has lived through times far tougher than an uncertain football contract. “I grew up rough, with drugs and police and the things you see in the movies. But I pushed through that and pursued my dream,” he says. “I’m a grinder. If everything is taken from me, I know I can rise back up. I know I can grind it out.” While he ground out the wait, he stayed focused on
preparation. “Being released from any team doesn’t stop me from working out and preparing. I want to be ready when the opportunity comes along. I live by the five P’s: proper preparation prevents poor performance.” It’s a lot like sales, he muses. You work and work and suddenly a big opportunity presents itself. If you’re ready for it – if you’ve laid the foundation and done the prepa- ration – it will go well.
Redefining Success By any measure, Anderson is a success. Few reach the
heights he attained that day in 2016 at Levi’s Stadium, when he ran the pigskin across the line and secured a Super Bowl victory for the Broncos. That’s the kind of high that is dizzying – the stuff of stories that will be told and re- told down through generations of Andersons. Yet... …something was missing. Nagging at him. There was a debt to settle – deeds that needed to be paid back or paid forward, however you wanted to look at it. The model for repaying that debt came by way of Mar- shawn Lynch, a running back with the Oakland Raiders who is known for giving back to his community. In 2006, Lynch formed the Fam1st Family Foundation, which he runs with fellow NFL players Joshua Johnson and Marcus Peters. Fam1st aims to “impact the lives of Oakland’s disenfran- chised youth,” “strengthen Oakland’s fractured commu- nity,” and provide “critical aid to residents in need.” It’s about empowerment and education – building self-esteem and academic skills in underprivileged youth. Lynch pours his success back into his community, and Anderson wanted to do the same. “I remember going to his football camps when I was young and seeing the impact he had on kids like me in the city of Oakland,” says Anderson.
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