About Inductee

Christopher Wayne Anderson was born in the summer of 1971 in Lubbock, Texas, the fourth child of Charles (Pete) Anderson and his wife, Bonnie. His older siblings were Tabatha, Charlotte and Charles Junior. A four-sport letterman at Huntsville High School from 1987-90, Chris played baseball and basketball and won a number of events in track and field, but football was his destiny. As a swift running back for the Panthers, he was All-State as both a junior (1988) and a senior (1989). He won the Alabama State Class 6A track meet at both 100 and 200 meters as a freshman in 1987, the same year he lost his brother, a murder victim. Chris dedicated the rest of his athletic endeavors to Charles Junior. Prior to high school, Chris had already made his mark on Huntsville athletics by participating in various community and middle school sporting events. His first major accomplishment in sports was as the starting centerfielder of Huntsvilles 1984 Babe Ruth All-Star team, which won the national championship. In 1990, he was named All-State as a member of Alabama State Football Super 12, and again won the Class 6A 100 meter dash. From 1987-90, he also contributed heavily to HHSs basketball, baseball and track teams. As a senior, he was honorable mention All-State in baseball. Recruited nationwide by such coaches as Tom Osborne of Nebraska and Johnny Majors of Tennessee, he signed with coach Gene Stallings at the University of Alabama in 1990 and promptly crashed the starting lineup as a true freshman, wearing No. 33 in honor of his idol, Tony Dorsett of the Dallas Cowboys. On his first punt return in college, Anderson raced 57 yards to the end zone but the play was called back by a penalty. His 96-yard touchdown against Temple in 1991 is still the longest run from scrimmage in Crimson Tide history. As a junior, Anderson rushed for 573 yards, caught 14 passes for 147 yards and scored seven touchdowns in Alabamas national championship run of 1992. Against LSU that season, he rushed for 149 yards on 15 carries and was named SEC Player of the Week. Although injuries curtailed his senior year, he was named co-captain of the 1993 Tide. For that honor, his handprints and footprints will be enshrined from now on at Denny Chimes on the Quad of the Alabama campus. Anderson graduated from Alabama in 1996 with a BS in Communications/Broadcasting. He is currently employed by Kellogg Brown & Root out of Houston, Texas as a logistician. As part of his duties, he recently returned to the United States from a 16-month civilian tour of duty in Iraq. Chris, who is single, has an 11-year-old daughter, Jayden, who lives in Peoria, Arizona.