Ken Anderson (quarterback)
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| Position: | Quarterback | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Date of birth: | February 15, 1949 | ||||||||||||
| Place of birth: | Batavia, Illinois | ||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight: | 212 lb (96 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| College: | Augustana | ||||||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 1971 / Round: 3 / Pick: 67 | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
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| As coach: | |||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||
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| TD–INT: | 197–160 |
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| Yards: | 32,838 |
| Passer rating: | 81.9 |
| Pass completions: | 2,654 |
| Pass attempts: | 4,475 |
| Player stats at NFL.com | |
Kenneth Allan Anderson (born February 15, 1949) is a former American football quarterback who spent his entire professional career playing for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL) and later returned as a position coach.
Anderson was born in Batavia, Illinois. After playing for and graduating from Augustana College (Illinois), he was drafted 67th overall in the 1971 NFL Draft by the Bengals and earned the starting quarterback job in 1972. He would become one of the most accurate short-range passers in the league, and was extremely effective at rushing the ball for a quarterback.
Because Bill Walsh was his quarterbacks coach, Anderson is considered to be one of the first quarterbacks to run what would become known as the "West Coast Offense." One of the finest performances of his early career was in a 1975 Monday Night Football game against the Buffalo Bills. In the game, Anderson passed for a franchise record 447 yards while the Bengals racked up a franchise record 553 offensive yards on their way to a 33-24 win. It was the Bengals' first ever win in a Monday night game.
Anderson's best season was in 1981, although it started out very badly for him. In the Bengals opening game against the Seattle Seahawks, Anderson was intercepted twice in the first half and the Seahawks built up a 21-10 halftime lead. In the second half, Cincinnati coach Forrest Gregg benched Anderson and brought in third string quarterback Turk Schonert (second string quarterback Jack Thompson was injured at the time). With Schonert in command of the offense, the Bengals stormed back and won the game 27-21. Gregg considered starting Schonert or Thompson for the next game against the New York Jets, but decided to stick with Anderson after an impassioned discussion the two had during the week leading up to the game. Anderson took advantage of his second chance by throwing for 246 yards and two touchdowns, and the Bengals won the game 31-30.
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