Despite consensus first-team All-America honors and a handful of rushing records, Damien Anderson stiff-armed the NFL Friday, saying he has “unfinished business” at Northwestern and will return for his final season.
“After much deliberation, talking to my family, my teammates, and with the advice of coach (Randy) Walker, I will be returning to Northwestern for my senior season,” Anderson said. “It really wasn’t a hard decision — I just had to find where my heart was at.”
Anderson made the decision Tuesday, but waited to meet with Walker — who was out of town — before publicly announcing his intentions.
Flanked by Walker at Friday’s news conference, Anderson said he had been leaning toward a return to school, but had wanted to study draft projections and consult with his family, coaches and teammates before finalizing the decision. He said he was told he would be a first- to fourth-round selection in the NFL draft.
Still, Anderson chose to return.
“This is a journey he’s on, and there’s a final chapter to be written,” said Anderson’s father, Boysen. “If Coach Walker and I told him to go, we would have had to push him out the door.”
Anderson said much of his desire to return stemmed from the Wildcats’ 66-17 loss to Nebraska in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 30.
“The Nebraska game kind of set the tone for my whole mental attitude for coming back,” he said. “It wasn’t us out there, and people remember how you last performed. As a unit I feel we need to go out there and show people what Northwestern football is all about.”
Another major point in NU’s favor was its offense, which returns 10 of 11 starters. This season Anderson was the nation’s second-leading rusher at 174 yards per game and set single-season school records for rushing yards (2,063), 200-yard games (four) and touchdowns (23).
With standout underclassmen such as Michael Vick and David Terrell departing for the draft, Anderson likely will be next year’s Heisman Trophy frontrunner. Yet Anderson downplayed the Heisman possibilities and said he needed to improve his pass catching and blocking to become “a complete back” before the 2002 NFL draft.
“You always raise your goals one step higher,” Anderson said. “We did positive things (this season), but are we the best? Am I the best? Definitely not.”
Boysen Anderson said the family’s financial position played no part in the decision. But with a pro career in the cards, Anderson said he will most likely take out an insurance policy, a common practice among top NFL prospects.
“That’s definitely in the plans for the future, and I will definitely be considering that with my family,” Anderson said. “I’ve been playing the game ever since I was 6 years old — physical football — so I never thought about getting hurt. That’s just an aspect of the game.”
Throughout NU’s winter workouts, Anderson said he spoke with his coaches and teammates, especially quarterback Zak Kustok and his offensive linemen, who told him to “follow his heart.”
Unlike most players, who need five years to finish school, Anderson is expected to graduate in June. His academic situation factored into his decision and also affected how Walker advised him.
“I can’t sit here as a coach as say, ‘Come back for your education,'” Walker said. “He’s got it — he got what he came here for — he’s got that in his pocket. Now it’s just a matter of, is it the right time for him, his family and more importantly, what’s in his heart?
“You need to really want to be here to stay here because the lure of the NFL is really strong.”
Walker said he tried to be as objective as possible with Anderson, stressing that he could not go wrong with the decision. Boysen Anderson also did not wish to sway his son and said NU’s favorable outlook and the opportunity to play with his teammates for another season solidified Anderson’s decision to stay.
“Damien is a very loyal young man — that is why he is still here,” Boysen Anderson said.
