Reidel Anthony

Reidel Anthony
No. 85
Position: Wide receiver
Personal information
Date of birth: (1976-10-20) October 20, 1976
Place of birth: Pahokee, Florida
Height: 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight: 178 lb (81 kg)
Career information
College: Florida
NFL Draft: 1997 / Round: 1 / Pick: 16
Career history
As player:
As coach:
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Games played: 73
Games started: 37
Receptions: 144
Receiving yards: 1,846
Touchdowns: 16
Kick return yards: 2,232
Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR

Reidel Clarence Anthony (born October 20, 1976) is an American former college and professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for five seasons during the 1990s and early 2000s. Anthony played college football for the University of Florida, and received consensus All-American honors. He was a first-round pick in the 1997 NFL Draft, and played professionally for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL.

Early years

Anthony was born in Pahokee, Florida, in 1976.[1] He attended Glades Central High School in Belle Glade, Florida,[2] and he was a stand-out high school football player for the Glades Central Raiders. He is the son of former South Bay, Florida mayor Clarence E. Anthony.[3]

College career

Anthony accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he was a wide receiver and a key target in head coach Steve Spurrier's Florida Gators football team from 1994 to 1996.[4] Anthony showed his stuff as a freshman in Spurrier's "fun 'n' gun" offense in 1994, when he caught an 87-yard touchdown pass from Gators quarterback Eric Kresser against the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles.[4] As a junior in 1996, he played an instrumental role in the Gators' 12–1 national championship season, catching seventy-two passes to lead the Southeastern Conference (SEC) with 1,293 yards (an average of 18.0 yards per reception), and setting the SEC regular season record with eighteen touchdown catches.[4] Both Anthony and his fellow Gator wideout, Ike Hilliard, were first-team All-SEC selections and earned consensus first-team All-American honors.[4][5] During his three college seasons, the Gators won three consecutive SEC Championship Games in 1994, 1995 and 1996.[4]

In the aftermath of his All-American junior season and the Gators' Bowl Alliance national championship victory over the Florida State Seminoles in the Sugar Bowl, Anthony decided to forgo his final season of NCAA eligibility and enter the NFL Draft. He finished his college career with 126 receptions for 2,274 yards and twenty-six touchdowns (a career average of 18.0 yards per reception).[4] His eighteen receiving touchdowns in 1996 remains the SEC and Gators' team record.[4]

In a 2006 series written for The Gainesville Sun, Anthony was recognized as No. 17 among the 100 all-time greatest Gators of the first 100 years of Florida football.[6] He was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 2009.[7][8]

Professional career

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers chose Anthony in the first round (sixteenth pick overall) of the 1997 NFL Draft,[9] and he played for the Buccaneers for five seasons from 1997 to 2001.[10]

In 1997, Anthony recorded thirty-five receptions for 448 yards and four touchdowns.[1] In his first game, Anthony became (and still remains) the youngest NFL player ever to record a touchdown reception (20 years, 315 days). In 1998, he set career highs with fifty-one receptions for 708 yards and seven touchdowns.[10] In perhaps his finest game as a Buccaneer, Anthony recorded 126 receiving yards with two touchdowns against the Jacksonville Jaguars on November 15, 1998.[1] During the year, he also finished eighth in the NFL in all-purpose yards, totaling 1,869 yards.[10] In 1999, Anthony had thirty receptions for 296 yards, and scored one touchdown.[1] In 2000, Anthony had fifteen receptions for 232 yards and four touchdowns.[10] In his final NFL season in 2001, he recorded thirteen receptions for 162 yards.[1]

Anthony finished his five-year NFL career with 144 receptions for 1,846 yards and sixteen touchdowns.[2]

NFL stats

Receiving Stats[11]

Year Team Games Receptions Yards Yards per Reception Longest Reception Touchdowns First Downs Fumbles Fumbles Lost
1997 TB 16 35 448 12.8 38 4 23 0 0
1998 TB 15 51 708 13.9 79 7 35 0 0
1999 TB 13 30 296 9.9 30 1 18 1 0
2000 TB 16 15 232 15.5 46 4 13 0 0
2001 TB 13 13 162 12.5 35 0 8 0 0
Career 73 144 1,846 12.8 79 16 97 1 0

Kickoff Return Stats[11]

Year Team Games Attempts Yards Touchdowns Fair Catches Longest Return
1997 TB 16 25 592 0 0 51
1998 TB 15 46 1,118 0 0 60
1999 TB 13 21 434 0 0 39
2000 TB 16 3 88 0 0 45
2001 TB 13 0 0 0 0 0
Career 73 95 2,232 0 0 60

Life after the NFL

Anthony currently is the offensive coordinator at his alma mater, Glades Central High School in Belle Glade, Florida. He was formerly the receivers coach for the Celtics football team of Trinity Catholic High School in Ocala, Florida. He is also a contributing writer to the ESPN-affiliated fan site GatorCountry.com as its official offensive analyst.[12]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players, Reidel Anthony. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
  2. 1 2 databaseFootball.com, Players, Reidel Anthony. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
  3. ↑ Mike Clary, "Small-Town Mayor Tackles Big Task," Los Angeles Times (January 27, 1999). Retrieved September 11, 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 2012 Florida Football Media Guide, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 69–71, 77, 84, 88, 90, 92, 95, 98–100, 104, 121, 142–143, 150–154, 156, 157, 160, 165, 176, 189 (2012). Retrieved September 15, 2012.
  5. ↑ 2012 NCAA Football Records Book, Award Winners, National Collegiate Athletic Association, Indianapolis, Indiana, pp. 10 & 14 (2012). Retrieved September 15, 2012.
  6. ↑ Robbie Andreu & Pat Dooley, "No. 17 Reidel Anthony," The Gainesville Sun (August 17, 2006). Retrieved March 31, 2013.
  7. ↑ F Club, Hall of Fame, Gator Greats. Retrieved December 13, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Eight 2009 Honorees Inducted Into UF Athletic Hall of Fame," GatorZone.com (April 17, 2009). Retrieved September 15, 2012.
  9. ↑ Pro Football Hall of Fame, Draft History, 1997 National Football League Draft. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
  10. 1 2 3 4 National Football League, Historical Players, Reidel Anthony. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
  11. 1 2 "Reidel Anthony Stats". ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  12. ↑ "Scot and Reidel ready for the snap," GatorCountry.com (July 19, 2010). Retrieved September 15, 2012.

Bibliography

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