Auston Anderson has a garrulous personality, as his Head Coach Pat Fitzgerald put it. The loquacious and witty Northwestern running back would stand out an entertaining dude if he hung out with you and your buddies on an average Saturday night.
So when you place Anderson and his gregarious nature within the sanitized press conference culture…well, he really does seem like…”he is….the most interesting man in the world.”
Auston Anderson would stand out as funny even in a comedy club, so when juxtapose him against an environment of “we got to stay focused,” “it comes down to who makes plays,” “he’s a high motor guy,” “we just didn’t execute,” “we’re focused on ourselves right now,” “fought through adversity,” “trying to improve everyday,” “try to go 1-0 every week,” “he can make all the throws,” “don’t get too high after the wins, too low after the losses,” etc. etc. etc. it’s truly a breath of fresh air.
Even his Twitter handle (@noweenies23) is clever. Calling him garrulous doesn’t really give him enough credit; I would describe Auston Anderson as urbane.
Oh, he’s really good at football too.
Fitz described him as one of the two fastest guys on the team, and before committing to NU, Anderson drew offers from Texas, Nebraska, UCLA and Georgia Tech among others. He does hail from the Lone Star State so “clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose!”
Hip surgery kept him from making his college football debut last season, but as he told reporters last Saturday, it’s just a “minor setback for a major comeback.”
The Wildcats should be as ground-oriented, if not more so, in 2015. Especially when you consider how Justin Jackson, who ran for 1,100+ yards last year, will now be a seasoned sophomore, and the passing attack will be breaking in a new triggerman. Austin Anderson will compete with Solomon Vault and Warren Long for the carries after Jackson. As Jackson recovers from surgery this spring, Anderson got more of the meaningful practice reps this spring:
“It’s definitely showing dividends, I’d say, taking all the reps I can get to get back in the swing of things, get back to playing football again. Much appreciated. Shout out to Justin,” Anderson said.
Getting back to the Texas theme, Auston (I mean, c’mon his name is only the capital city of Texas!…one letter off) has the NFL’s all-time leading rusher as his role model.
“I’m a Cowboys fan, die-hard, so I’d have to say Emmitt Smith. I met him a couple times. He may not remember me, but I remember him,” he said.
It’s really just best to listen to the whole Auston Anderson interview session. Podcast of the audio is below, and that way you can kind of experience Anderson’s sense of humor more fully:
Just another example of how engaging he is, when asked his height, Anderson said: “You want my program height (5-foot-9) or my real height? My real height, walking around, I’m like 5-8.”
Today at Northwestern Media Day Fitzgerald mentioned how the media fell in love with Anderson during the spring, due to his charming and entertaining personality when the cameras are on.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is part of the FOX Sports Engage Network.Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. He also appears regularly on numerous talk radio stations all across the country. Catch him Tuesdays on KOZN 1620 The Zone.
Follow him on Twitter and Instagram