This is the Year of the Comeback.
Look at all the rock `n` roll dinosaurs on tour. The Stones. The Who. Jefferson Airplane. Ringo.
In the sports world, there is seniors golf. Arnie`s Army roams forever. There is seniors boxing. George Foreman`s belly. There is a new Senior Baseball League in the works. Somewhere in Florida this winter, Al Hrabosky may be pitching to Boog Powell. And someone will be paying real money to watch it.
You don`t see senior football on the drawing board. Football is a young man`s game. Getting rammed by helmets isn`t the same as sinking a 15-foot putt. In football, losing a few steps of speed to old age may mean losing your kneecaps.
At 31, Ottis Jerome Anderson was considered finished as a football player when he reported to 1989 training camp, fighting to make it to an 11th National Football League season.
Since being traded by the St. Louis Cardinals to the New York Giants in October, 1986, Anderson has averaged only 30 carries and 98 yards rushing per season. He`s rested, and rusted, as a little-used backup to Joe Morris.
The Giants made Anderson an unrestricted free agent last spring. None of the 27 other teams made an offer. The Giants re-signed Anderson, but only after forcing him to take a 50 percent cut from his $550,000 salary.
”I didn`t like the idea of a pay cut,” Anderson said in a phone interview. ”But I really didn`t have a choice.”
It seemed to be a humiliating ending to an outstanding career. Anderson was the Cardinals` No. 1 draft choice in 1979 and became Rookie of the Year with 1,605 yards rushing. He spent seven full seasons with the Cardinals, topped the 1,000-yard barrier five times and finished as the franchise`s career rushing leader.
Anderson seemed to be on a course to the Hall of Fame, but his career soured. Sidetracked by injuries, he rushed for only 481 yards in 1985, then was dispatched to the Giants in `86 after losing his starting job to Stump Mitchell, and complaining about it to coach Gene Stallings.
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New York hasn`t been any more satisfying. Anderson is a proud man who needs the football and the attention that comes with it. But Anderson didn`t seem to understand that everyone slows down, even at a time when all his peers were leaving the NFL: Walter Payton, Tony Dorsett, Wilbert Montgomery, Earl Campbell.
O.J. was considered a long shot to make the Giants this season. But he lost faith in himself.
”It hurt me that people felt that way; it hurt a lot,” Anderson said.
”I felt that I was unjustly being cast aside, for no apparent reason. I never played much, so who knows what I had left or didn`t have left? All I wanted was a chance to prove myself.”
Last off-season, Anderson whipped himself into the best shape of his career.
”I wanted to make it hard for the Giants to make that decision to cut me,” Anderson said. ”Actually, being inactive for the last two or three years helped. It rejuvenated my body. I wasn`t getting hit, so I was fresh.” Anderson had a strong preseason and began pushing the smaller Morris for playing time in the Giants` new offense, which makes liberal use of a one-back formation. Then Morris suffered a broken foot in the final preseason game and was lost for the season.
In the opening game Sept. 11, Anderson-officially the NFL`s oldest running back-started against Washington and looked like the O.J. from his St. Louis days. He rushed 23 times for 93 yards and scored a 14-yard touchdown.
The following Sunday, he carried 25 times for 85 yards and an 11-yard touchdown as the Giants improved to 2-0 with a victory over Detroit. He`s picked up 346 yards in four games and moved into ninth place on the NFL`s career rushing list, with 8,643 yards.
But Anderson, who`ll turn 32 on Nov. 19, hasn`t stopped running.
”When I wasn`t playing,” Anderson said, ”my goal became to make people remember who I am. Now it`s to make people realize that I`m back. But I don`t look past the next game or two. I haven`t thought about next year. For now, I`ve proved something to myself and to others. Who is to say when your time is up? This is a young man`s game, but you can excel if you keep the fire burning and you stay hungry.”