Gary Anderson was one of the all-time great NFL kickers, second in league history with 2,434 points and 538 field goals. Now his son is trying to get his foot in the door in the family business: Austin Anderson, a 23-year-old who kicked at McGill University in Montreal, is with the Colts for their rookie minicamp.
“I’m really excited to be given the opportunity,” Austin Anderson said after the first practice on Friday. “If it goes well and they like what they see, hopefully I can be invited back for training camp.”
Realistically, Anderson doesn’t have much of a chance of actually playing for the Colts this season, and if he’s even on the training camp roster it would be more about lightening Adam Vinatieri’s load than about having a real opportunity to make the 53-man roster. But Colts coach Chuck Pagano said he’s happy to have another Anderson on board.
“I told him this morning and I enjoyed watching his dad kick for all of those years,” Pagano said on Friday. “That was a pleasure.”
Austin Anderson probably won’t have the pleasure of kicking for the Colts in a regular-season game, but this weekend is his first opportunity to show he belongs in the league his dad played in for 23 seasons.