Ken Anderson (quarterback)

Kenneth Allan Anderson (born February 15, 1949) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL), spending his entire career with the Cincinnati Bengals.

He later returned as a position coach.

Von Hoff was the second round pick of the New York Mets in the 1966

Amateur Baseball draft and pitched successfully in the minor leagues before an injury ended his career.

Another friend and teammate at Batavia was future NBA announcer Craig Sager.

After playing college football for Augustana College, Anderson was selected in the third round of the 1971 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals.

Over the course of his 16-season NFL career, Anderson led the league in passer rating four times, completion percentage three times and passing yards twice.

After playing for and graduating from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, Anderson was selected 67th overall in the 1971 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals, where he would soon become noted for his short-range passes and running.

Anderson made four starts in the 1971 season while playing in seven other games (Virgil Carter was the primary quarterback) in a year where the Bengals fell off from a productive previous season.

He rushed for 125 yards on 22 total carries for one touchdown while being sacked 23 times.

However, Anderson was given more rein in 1972, going 7–6 as a starter with 1,918 yards for seven touchdowns and interceptions while having a 56.8 completion percentage.

With 22 carries, he also ran for 94 yards and three touchdowns while fumbling it five times and being sacked eighteen times.

The Bengals started 5–2, but they only won three of their next seven to miss the playoffs.

The 1973 season proved better, as Anderson went 10–4 as a starter and threw for 2,428 yards while having eighteen touchdowns to twelve interceptions and had a 54.4 completion percentage, with Anderson helping to lead them to the AFC Central Division title with a six-game winning streak.

In the playoffs that year, they were tasked to play the defending champion Miami Dolphins in the Orange Bowl.

Special teams helped negate a bad start on offense that meant the Bengals only trailed 21–16 at halftime.

However, the Dolphins pressed the Bengals for thirteen unanswered points to win 34–16, aided by a running attack that ran for over 200 yards on Cincinnati's defense.

Anderson went 14-of-27 for 113 yards and one interception.

In 1974 Anderson threw for a league high in completions, completion percentage (64.9), yards (2,667) and passer rating (95.7) while going for eighteen touchdowns to ten interceptions, but the Bengals went 7–6 in his thirteen starts.

In 1975, Anderson threw for a league high 3,169 yards while throwing for 21 touchdowns to eleven interceptions for a 60.5 completion percentage.

He had league highs in yards gained per pass attempt, yards per game and passer rating while being named to his first Pro Bowl and leading the Bengals to a 10–3 record (John Reaves started and won a game without Anderson).

One of the finest performances of his early career was in a Monday Night Football game against the Buffalo Bills in November 1975; Anderson passed for a franchise record 447 yards while the Bengals racked up a franchise record 553 offensive yards in a 33–24 win.

It was the Bengals' first ever win in a Monday night game.

With Bill Walsh as his quarterbacks coach, Anderson was one of the first quarterbacks to run what would become known as the "West Coast Offense".

The Bengals won the AFC Central for the second time in three seasons, but they were tasked to play against the Oakland Raiders away from their stadium (as per the NFL's policy of rotating playoff hosts by year).

In 1981, he was awarded AP NFL Most Valuable Player and AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year, a season in which he led the Bengals to their first Super Bowl appearance.

In 1982, Anderson set an NFL record for completion percentage of 70.6%—which stood for over 25 years until broken by Drew Brees in 2009.

As of the end of the 2022 NFL season, Anderson holds the Cincinnati Bengals' franchise passing records in attempts, yards, and interceptions.

After his professional playing career, Anderson served as a radio broadcaster for the Cincinnati Bengals from 1987 to 1993.

From 1993–2002 he served as the Bengals' quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator.

Anderson would later become the quarterbacks coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars (2003–2006) and Pittsburgh Steelers (2007–2009), before retiring from football in 2010.

Anderson has been a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame three times, and is often regarded as one of the best players not in the Hall of Fame.

Anderson was born in Batavia, Illinois.

Growing up in Batavia, Anderson's backyard adjoined his friend, Dan Issel’s back yard.

Anderson's father was a janitor at Batavia High School, and the Issel property on Harrison Street backed onto that of the Andersons' on Republic Road.

Growing up together, Issel and Anderson rode in Issel's red Ford convertible and frequented the Twin Elms restaurant.

Later, Anderson and Issel would co-own a 782-acre farm in Kentucky.

Another neighbor and teammate, Byron Von Hoff, played basketball and other sports at Batavia with Anderson and Issel.

Issel became a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

basketball player with the Kentucky Colonels and Denver Nuggets.