Stephen Anderson

BIOGRAPHY

Stephen Anderson was born on January 30th, 1993, in San Jose, California and currently plays tight end for the Los Angeles Chargers of the NFL.

He attended Piedmont Hills High School; he had a strong 2010 senior season making 83 catches for 1,340 yards receiving and 14 touchdown receptions with a long catch of 95 yards, helping to lead his squad to an 11-2 overall record and a 6-1 mark in the Mount Hamilton League on the way to a co-league title and a Central Coast Section crown. He had 121 tackles, five pass breakups and one forced fumble on defense during his senior campaign, in addition to blocking a field goal attempt as a member of his squad's special teams.

He played college football for the University of California; as a freshman in 2011, he redshirted and did not play. In 2012 he saw the first action of his collegiate career, participating in four games; he led all players with 96 yards receiving on two catches in the spring game with a 21-yard reception in addition to the 75-yard scoring strike.

In 2013 as a sophomore he Recorded 14 receptions and 125 yards receiving over ten games and five starts. As a junior in 2014, he was Third-team All-Pac-12 selection by College Sports Madness and an honorable mention pick of the league's coaches. He played in 10 games with eight starts including each of the last six contests and totaled career highs of 46 receptions, 661 yards receiving and five touchdown catches. He earned Cal's Ken Cotton Award for the team's Most Courageous Player and was Cal's nominee for the Burlsworth Trophy.

He led the team with an average of 66.1 receiving yards per game, while ranking second on the club in receiving yards, fourth in receptions, fourth in yards per reception (14.4) that was the best of any Pac-12 receiver in the top 10 in receptions or receiving yards per game, tied for fourth in touchdown catches, fifth with 661 all-purpose yards (all receiving), sixth with five touchdowns overall and seventh in total points (30).

As a senior in 2015, he played in all 13 games and led all Cal receivers with 12 starts as he contributed 41 receptions for 474 yards receiving with two touchdown catches to earn honorable mention All-Pac-12 honors from the league's coaches. He Earned Cal's Ken Cotton Award for the team's Most Courageous Player for the second consecutive season.

On April 30th, 2016, the Houston Texans signed Anderson as an undrafted free agent to a three-year contract; he made his professional regular-season debut in the Houston Texans' season-opener against the Chicago Bears and caught three passes for 25-yards. He finished his rookie season in 2016 with a total of 11 receptions for 93 receiving yards and one touchdown in 13 games and zero starts.

In 2017 he had his first career start in the Houston Texans' season-opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars and caught two passes for 14-yards; he finished his second professional season with 25 receptions for 342 yards and a touchdown.

On September 6th, 2018, Anderson was signed to the New England Patriots' practice squad and was promoted to the active roster on January 8th, 2019. Anderson won Super Bowl LIII after the Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Rams.

On September 11th, 2019, Anderson was signed to the Los Angeles Chargers practice squad.