Senior Recognition: Stephen Anderson, Linebacker
There is no player that epitomizes what this 2010 season has been all about, what the seniors have endured and the foundation/legacy that they will leave behind after the final whistle blows on December 30th.
Two-year captain or "Fitty or Hollywood" as he is called from time to time, Stephen Anderson worked hard during rehab and pushed himself after sustaining injuries to his ACL (full tear) and a MCL tear with partial meniscus during the closing of last season's game against Air Force. Overall, Anderson has looked like the Anderson of old, where he has lead the team in tackles with 82.
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Like most of his senior classmates, the 5-foot-10, 225 pound linebacker from Ijamsville, Md. has seen worse and now the better of Army football.
Someone once asked Helen Keller if blindness was the worse handicap and she responded accordingly. "No, it's a man who has sight, but no vision."
Well, lead by Anderson and the rest of the senior class … they had vision of better days when many of them were developing their gridiron craft down at the USMAPS. While, their fellow seniors who came in direct, were just the final piece to that year's recruiting class ... it is a group that will take an Army team into their first bowl game since 1996. Not to mention their head-to-head clash this Saturday against Navy at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA.
GoBlackKnights.com close out our Senior Recognition Series with a brief Q&A with Anderson, we would also like to thank the entire senior class (25) for their contribution to the Army football program and wish each our very best as they are only months away from being commissioned as 2nd Lieutenants.
Seniors playing in their final Army-Navy game
• Mark Allen
• Stephen Anderson
• Jacob Bohn
• Chip Bowden
• L.B. Brown
• Jonathan Bulls
• Matt Campbell
• Donnie Dixon
• Kingsley Ehie
• Emerson Follet
• Mike Gann
• Thomas Hagan
• Marcus Hilton
• Carson Homme
• Jason Johnson
• Josh McNary
• Patrick Mealy
• Anees Merzi
• Todd Miller
• Zach Peterson
• Seth Reed
• Donovan Travis
• Jordan Trimble
• Mike Weich
• Sean Westphal
GBK: What are your general thoughts about the team's season and your own performance?
Anderson: This team has shown they can play and win against any opponent they face. I could not be more proud to be a part of the 2010 Black Knights and look forward to our final contest this season. This has definitely been a season anyone would like to end on.
GBK: Reflections on your years at West Point; what it's meant, how different
you are from being 18 years old?
Anderson: I will never forget what I have gone through, learned, experienced, and how I have changed through the years of West Point. I have been and will always be affected by this great academy. This place can make anyone a better person, inside and out. I look at the world, my friends, my family, and my future in a total different perspective that allows me to keep reaching my potential as a person and a leader.
GBK: Where do they see yourself this time next year and how do you feel about that/those possibilities?
Anderson: I will be coaching this time next year helping the Black Knights to their second consecutive bowl game. Because I went on Medical Leave last semester, I will be here helping out. I feel like it is a good chance for me to see if coaching is a passion of mine.
GBK: So why the heck is this Navy game such a big deal every year, and is this
finally the year for Army to be victorious and why so?
Anderson: It is a big deal because everyone wants it to be a big deal. Because it is like playing your brother and you never want to lose to your brother. This is the year because it is like when the younger brother finally gets bigger than the older brother and he takes out all those years of pain and torment and channels it all towards the big brother. THIS IS THE YEAR