Ottis Jerome Anderson (born January 19, 1957) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Giants. He played college football at Miami, where he set the school record for rushing yards, and was selected eighth overall in the 1979 NFL Draft by the Cardinals. In his first season, Anderson was named Offensive Rookie of the Year and received Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro honors when he set the Cardinals all-time record for rushing yards. He also received a second Pro Bowl selection the following year. Traded to the Giants in 1986 amid a production decline, Anderson won two Super Bowl titles in Super Bowl XXI and Super Bowl XXV. Anderson was named MVP of the latter after playing a central part in the Giants' ball-control offense that allowed them to set the Super Bowl record for time of possession. Early life Ottis Jerome Anderson was born and raised in West Palm Beach, Florida. He was a football and track star at Forest Hill High School in West Palm Beach, graduating in 1975. College career Anderson attended the University of Miami on a full athletic scholarship and earned a degree in Physical Education. During his college career, Anderson broke Chuck Foreman's career rushing records at the University of Miami, becoming the first player to rush for more than 1,000 yards in the school's history his senior year with 1,266 yards. He was named The Sporting News and the American Football Coaches First Team All-American and received All-American honorable mentions by both AP and UPI and graduated in 1979 as the team's all-time leading rusher with 3,331 yards. Anderson was inducted into the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame in 1990. Statistics Professional career Anderson was selected in the first round of the 1979 NFL Draft, the 8th overall pick, by the St. Louis Cardinals. He had one of the greatest debut games in NFL history, rushing for 193 yards, which was just 1 yard shy of Alan Ameche's all-time record for an NFL debut (Ameche rushed for 194 yards for the Baltimore Colts in 1955). His single season 1,605 rushing yard performance was one of the few bright spots in the Cardinals' 1979 season, when they finished 5-11. He earned the first of back-to-back Pro Bowl selections that year.