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Jamal Anderson

Anderson in in August 2007
Position(s) Running back Jersey #(s) 32
Born	September 30, 1972 (1972-09-30) (age 37) Woodland Hills, California
Career information
Year(s)	1994–2001
NFL Draft	1994 / Round: 7 / Pick: 201
College	Utah
Professional teams
Atlanta Falcons (1994-2001)
Career stats
Rushing yards	5,336
Average	4.0
Touchdowns	41
Stats at NFL.com
Career highlights and awards
Pro Bowl selection (1998)

Jamal Sharif Anderson (born September 30, 1972 in Woodland Hills, California) 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 college football 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.

[edit] Professional career

[edit] Atlanta Falcons

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.

His best season came in 1998 when he carried the ball an NFL single-season record 410 times (surpassed by Larry Johnson in 2006) for 1,846 yards and 14 touchdowns. He was the second best running back in 1998 but lost the rushing championship to NFL MVP Terrell Davis. All of his efforts helped lift the 14-2 Falcons to the Super Bowl before losing to the Denver Broncos, who were led by John Elway and league MVP Terrell Davis. He rushed for 113 yards and two touchdowns in the Falcons playoff win against the San Francisco 49ers, and 96 yards in the Super Bowl.

He was well-known for his Dirty Bird touchdown celebration, in which he flapped his arms like wings and gyrated in the crowd's direction. The dance has been widely copied; in a press conference Anderson stated that “people break out and do the Dirty Bird in the strangest places.”^[1]

[edit] Sports broadcasting career

He appears as an analyst on ESPN, 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.

From mid-August to late-October 2009, Jamal appeared as a regular phone-in guest on "Morency" on Hardcore Sports Radio (HSR) to recap/discuss the week that was and the week that was coming up in the NFL with Gabriel Morency and Cam Stewart. After two week period from late-October to early-November, 2009, where HSR dropped "Morency" (the person and the show) from their programming line-up, Jamal returned as a regular weekly guest again on HSR's replacement show "Red Heat" hosted by Cam Stewart.

[edit] Personal life

Anderson was arrested in February of 2009 on suspicion of cocaine possession. Atlanta police said that Jamal and another man were snorting cocaine in the restroom of the Peachtree Tavern nightclub.^[2]

[edit] References

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