Colorado State University Athletics
A Visit With David Anderson
5/2/2005 12:00:00 AM | General
Colorado State senior David Anderson is one of the most prolific wide receivers in school history. The Ram Report?s Jackie Sheppard had the chance to sit with down Mr. Anderson and discover what makes him tick.
The Ram Report: What?s your favorite part about playing football?
David Anderson: I think it?s a lot of things that drew me to the sport. The physicality, you know, it?s always fun going out there and mixing it up with all the big boys. The fan base and the excitement of playing the game, you know when people cheer you on when you score a touchdown and make a big play. Getting booed when you run out at Boulder field, even that is exciting. It?s part all part of the game and part of the reason why I love it.
TRR: Do you have any memorable road trips? A trip that wasn?t funny at the time but that you look back on and laugh?
DA: I think I?ve learned a lot and one of the things I think is funniest is when I scored my first touchdown my freshman year in Fresno. I caught it and it was like a 75-yard touchdown and I didn?t even know what to do. I was all excited and running around like a chicken with its head cut off. So after the game all my friends called me and I was excited even though we lost, so I was talking on the phone all loud and happy and all the coaches turned around and yelled at me because obviously you?re not supposed to be happy after a loss. That was kinda bad but I look at it now and how its kinda selfish and funny but at the same time it?s a learning experience.
TRR: Do you play any pranks on your fellow teammates?
DA: We got a couple. We got some stuff we can?t say but with the older kids, Joel and Pears, I used to have a couple things I?d do in the locker room with them but as of freshman hazing and stuff like that, we don?t do that around here.
TRR: Good to know. Have you ever hand any strange fan encounters?
DA: I?ve had a couple?I love the twelfth Ram at all the games, the guy with the big beard, he?s my favorite. He?s not strange, he?s awesome. Freshman year when we played at Virginia, my very first game, just some random guy in the stands had a CSU number four jersey, and I think he had it left over from Pete Rebstock before I got her. He wore it and I was like ?wow, I already got a fan,? so it was like my own fan in Virginia and that was kinda exciting but it was kinda strange at the same time. I didn?t know why he was there.
TRR: Do you have any pre-game rituals or superstitions?
DA: Black tape on my wrists, I eat a Snickers bar before every game, go to the bathroom 10 minutes before they call us out on the field, I have to run on the hash (mark) and whenever I run I?m always on a hash, I?ve got all sorts of little things. I?ve got to finish the SIOC (Sports Illustrated on Campus) crossword puzzle every night before we go out on the field on Saturday, Friday or Thursday, whatever day it is. Stuff like that. Just weird little things.
TRR: For any particular reason?
DA: I do it once and then we?ll win or have a good game or just barely lose or something and I get in the habit of doing it and I just can?t stop. I think if I stop a superstition, then it would be worse than actually having a bad one I guess.
TRR: Besides summer training and stuff like that, do you have any summer plans? Get to travel at all?
DA: No, no traveling. I go back home (Westlake Village, Calif.) for a couple days to hopefully train with some people out there, hopefully some pro football players. But I?ll just come back up here and run and hopefully work somewhere, have a little job and get some extra money. Go out to eat every once in awhile.
TRR: What do you think of right before you run out of the tunnel?
DA: Right before I go out the tunnel I?m actually nervous and wonder why I play football cause it?s like I could be in the stands and it would be so much easier. We wouldn?t get booed or you wouldn?t have to worry about all sorts of stuff. Then all of a sudden you get out on the field and make your first play and you?re like that?s why I play cause I get to be cheered and I?m the one that starts the cheers and stuff.
TRR: On that note, I love when you guys hype up the crowd, so how important are fans to your game?
DA: They?re crucial. If you look at any big time place, any big time team, they have big time fans. A lot of it depends on the success of us but some places like Nebraska, where the is absolutely nothing to do but cheer on the football team it?s just an amazing atmosphere to play in. I think with more fans, you get obviously better attendance, more money, better recruits, it all comes off them. They don?t know that but that?s the way it is. When they pack the seats and cheer us on, we win more games and when we win more games more this, more that and it just snowballs into great things.
TRR: Since you?re a senior, do you approach this season any differently?
DA: Much, much different. It?s my last chance for everything. I only have 13 spring ball practices left for the rest of my life, I look at it like that. It?s a scary thought because it seems like I just got here but at the same time I think everyone has their time here at CSU and you got to move on and make things happen elsewhere. I?m glad that we got such a young and talented receiving core. I?m the only senior and behind me there?s a bunch of guys that are going to carry on that tradition of being a CSU Ram very well. Just being a senior, it?s humbling, because it?s like if you do something wrong you have very little time to fix it.
