On the football field, Ohio State fourth-year junior defensive tackle Tim Anderson’s goals are to tear down, beat up and crush his opponent.
But when it comes to kids, his goals are quite different — to lift up, motivate and inspire.
Since the beginning of Anderson’s football career at OSU, he has been using his notoriety to make a difference in the lives of children by speaking to students throughout Ohio.
Tracey Gates, a third-grade teacher at Violet Elementary in Pickerington, said Anderson has been coming to speak to her students for several years.
“Tim has been a great role model for the students,” Gates said. “He even stresses the importance of academics and makes sure the students realize that schoolwork always needs to come first.”
According to Gates, Anderson is unique because he usually initiates the visits and asks if he can come and speak to the students.
Along with telling his life story, Anderson brings a message of hope and tries to inspire students like Jade Buchanan, a sixth-grader at Harmon Middle School in Pickerington.
“He’s really cool,” Buchanan said. “My dream is to be a teacher, and Tim told me to follow my dreams. I want to be able to get a scholarship like Tim did and go to college.”
Like Buchanan, Jeremy Burke is a student at Harmon Middle School and has heard Anderson speak to his class for several years.
“It’s really neat to see him playing football on TV,” Burke said. “I feel like I know him and that he’s a friend.”
When Anderson walks into a classroom, the students are initially intimidated by the sheer size of the 6-foot-4, 289-pound player. However, the kids are soon set at easy by Anderson’s kind, gentle demeanor. In a recent visit to a central Ohio middle school, a teacher touched the national championship logo on his polo shirt, and a student shouted out, “Making sure he’s real, Mrs. Montgomery?”
But Anderson, who is majoring in history, could not be more real and approachable.
“I enjoy speaking to the kids because when I was little, I would have loved for an Ohio State football player to speak to my class,” Anderson said. “Now that I’m in the position to do that, I feel like it’s my duty to give back.”
While many students consider Anderson a role model, he said he is not sure why he has that status.
“I look up to people for all different reasons,” he said. “There are people that I look up to for their athletic ability, but I also look up to the friends I have who are doing amazing things. I have one friend who has already written a book; another friend completely turns his life around after high school. I look up to my parents because they’ve been married for over 30 years and are happy. These are the important things.”
Anderson does not speak to students to receive any sort of credit, said Sandy Anderson, Tim’s mother.
“I didn’t even know he was doing all of these amazing things until I ran into the wife of the Ohio State wrestling coach, and she gave me a whole envelope of pictures of Tim speaking to students and doing charity events,” Sandy Anderson said.
According to his mother, Anderson is constantly giving back to his home community of Clyde, Ohio, but he doesn’t understand why he means so much to the community.
“On Super Bowl Sunday, our town had a Tim Anderson Appreciation Day,” Sandy Anderson said. “He thought there would be no more than 100 people there, but over 450 people came. It was the first time I ever saw Tim have to wipe his eyes. He just doesn’t see why he’s a big deal.”
Todd Helms, the superintendent of the Clyde-Green Springs school district, said Anderson always has time for the community and never forgets where he came from.
“Simply said, Tim is a class act in every aspect,” Helms said. “Whether it’s the way he handles his athletic career, the way he approaches his academics or the way he treats people, he always performs with class.”
Many Buckeye football fans saw a glimpse of that class in a photo that ran in Sports Illustrated. The picture showed Anderson trying to console Miami quarterback Ken Dorsey in the midst of the celebration at the conclusion of the Fiesta Bowl.
“That picture said it all,” Sandy Anderson said. “Out of everything he’s done, that’s the best thing a mother could have seen.”
As for future goals, Anderson wants to eventually be a high school history teacher so he can have the chance to reach kids on a daily basis.
“Whatever Tim decides to do is fine with me,” Sandy Anderson said. “But I have a picture of my other three sons receiving diplomas, and there’s got to be a fourth. After that, it’s up to him.”
Anderson said despite the rigorous schedule of athletes, he’s not the only member of the football team who does community outreach.
“You just have to get your priorities in order,” Anderson said. “It may not seem like a priority, but it’s important. These kids look up to us, so we have to make time for it. Most of the guys have that mentality.
“I’ve received books, drawings and T-shirts, and even an occasional apple pie from a teacher, but the letters from kids are the most meaningful. I put them in a drawer — nothing gets thrown away.”
Anderson believes people need to hold on to their dreams and aspirations. He learned this when people told him he was wasting his time by chasing his dream of playing football at a level most people never reach.
“A lot of people along the way told me I couldn’t do it,” Anderson said. “But I’m here, and I’m doing it. I want these students to know that anything is possible.”
