RB Anderson pops off the page

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This article was published 10/06/2015 (3755 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO — Carlos Anderson was done with the game and, it seemed, vice versa.

The phone hadn’t rung for a couple of years, and the job opportunities in football were both slim and none.

And so, when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers came calling this winter, it must have rekindled the competitive embers stoking in his belly, the evidence of which was on full display Tuesday night at the University of Toronto.

Anderson — the 5-8, 175-pound tailback and former all-star sprinter — was one of many Bombers who popped off the page in a 34-27 win over the Argos that will make the coaching staff’s roster decisions that much more difficult in the days ahead.

Interestingly, the Bombers had worked out Anderson a couple of years ago after his career at Northern Iowa had finished — the Kansas City Chiefs also gave him a look — but passed on bringing him to Winnipeg. That changed after he impressed in Florida at the free-agent camp in April.

“I just thank the Lord that Winnipeg gave me a shot,” said Anderson. “I had started my own business, speed and agility training for kids, and so I was somewhat in shape. But then they gave me a shot. I said, ‘I’m 24, I might as well go ahead and pursue it.’

“I had hung my cleats up. I talked to the Lord about it. But once coach gave me that call, I had to come.”

Anderson finished with two carries for 22 yards, but it was a sensational 93-yard punt-return that may have showcased all of his skills in one quick burst.

“I’m just trying to go out there and make plays and focus on making the team,” said Anderson.

“The more you can do, the better off you are. Special teams… I gotta take every carry I can get and try to make a play.

“We called a certain return, and I broke the one way and just tried to get back vertical up the middle. I saw it open, and I’m sure if you look at the film my eyes got super wide. I hit it, tried to hit the gas and take it to the crib.”

Anderson knows better than to take anything for granted — especially given the long wait he had to endure to get his shot. But he’s also beginning to understand how the three-down game might be perfect for his skill set.

“To be completely honest with you, I would say, yeah,” said Anderson when asked just that. “I’ve gone home and looked at film from practice and how wide that field is… for a shorter guy, a somewhat speedy guy like myself, it’s tailor-made. With all that room, even with the extra players, I’ve got to take advantage of that.”

Anderson’s return skills could help soothe the loss of Troy Stoudermire, who injured his hand in training camp. But he also remains very much in the discussion for the starting tailback job.

“Good on him,” said Bomber head coach Mike O’Shea. “We talked about bringing in quite a bit of competition into camp, and (he) seems to have raised his level. I bet if you asked him, that’s his level. We like what we see, and we’ll just keep on plugging away and make the decisions as we move on.”

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @WFPEdTait