Gary Anderson was one of the greatest kickers of all time. Anderson played in the NFL from 1982 to 2004, accumulating 2434 points and 538 successful field goals. Now, it seems, his son is trying to follow in his footsteps.
Austin Anderson is a young, 23 years old, the same age Gary Anderson was when he entered the league 30 years ago. Austin Anderson is currently with the Indianapolis Colts, but with Adam Vinatieri still with Indianapolis, it’s highly unlikely that the Colts will keep him into the regular season. That’s not stopping Anderson from taking advantage of his current situation.
“I’m really excited to be given the opportunity. If it goes well and they like what they see, hopefully I can be invited back for training camp.”
Anderson likely understands that he won’t be on the Colts’ final roster, but anything he can do to shine could pay off in a big way somewhere down the line. NFL teams tend to have very short leashes with kickers that aren’t well established. It’s completely possible that another starting kicker somewhere around the league could be cut before the start of the regular season, and that’s where a guy like Austin Anderson can step in a take the job. Being with the Colts is essentially nothing short of being an extended tryout for Anderson.
I know there are a lot of people that say kickers aren’t real football players, but the fact of the matter is that these guys help their teams in a big way. If you don’t think Austin Anderson can help the Colts, or any other team for that matter, just look at what his father did. Gary Anderson accounted for 2434 points. That’s an average of just over 105 points per season for 23 years. It doesn’t take a football expert to realize that kickers can make a big difference, and Austin Anderson certainly has a good pedigree for doing just that.
