Will Anderson Jr.is one of the top stars in the NFL, but he also had one heck of a collegiate career.
TheHouston Texansstar is the favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year with 4.5 sacks through the first four games of the season. He's on pace to surpass the career-high of 12 sacks while finishing second in DPOY voting behind All-Pro Myles Garrett.
Anderson has already accomplished countless milestones through the first three full seasons of his career, including winning Defensive Rookie of the Year, notching a First-team All-Pro selection and going to two Pro Bowls.
Those accolades led to the former No. 3 overall pick signing the highest-paid deal in NFL history for a non-quarterback: three years, $150 million deal, $134 million of which was
guaranteed.
However, Anderson was also a star in college for the Alabama Crimson Tide, playing for legendary coach Nick Saban. He not only won a national championship, but he was also a two-time SEC Defensive Player of the Year and a two-time Unanimous All-American.
Anderson had high praise for Saban and his time spent with him in Tuscaloosa. He also referred to Saban as the best college coach ever.
"I would say that every year presents a new challenge," Anderson said in a one-on-one interview with Texans Wire. "I asked him, how have you been doing this for so long? And he was like, 'Because I love the challenge. I love that every year is going to be a different year. I love that every year is going to be something that I have to work on to get better.' And when he said that, it put me in the lens of my own self because every year it's not going to look the same. Every stat, every year is not going to be the same stat as it was last year. Every game that you have is not going to be the one you had last year."
The 25-year-old defensive end said that lesson extends beyond football into life itself.
"I think that's the great thing about football is -- it doesn't matter if it's football or not -- I think that's the great thing about life is whatever career that you're in right now, you get to see the fruits of your labor by facing that challenge head on, and it's about how you attack that challenge," Anderson said. "For me, every time I'm presented with a challenge of, 'Hey, I need to get better at this' or 'hey, you could have done this better.' I continue to work on that, and then I see me master or get over that challenge. I think that's the most beautiful thing about life, and I'm pretty sure whatever career that you're in, you can say the same thing.
"We do all this stuff all the time, and we're presented with all these different type of challenges with life. But when you overcome that challenge, it's such a great feeling because you know you put the work in, you spent time sacrificing, not hanging out, not going out, taking care of your body, eating right, however it may look. That's one of the biggest things I probably learned from him. Every time I'm presented with a challenge or anything like that, I just remember him saying those words of like, 'That's what ball is about.' And that's what keeps me going."
Anderson said he hasn't talked to Saban since his rookie year in the NFL, but that he'll always have a good relationship with his former college coach.
"He's doing the whole TV thing. I've seen him make some comments about me in a positive way. But me and Coach Saban are really close," Anderson said. "He had utmost respect for me. And of course, I had the utmost respect for him as well. It's just been cool seeing him continue to talk about ball and continue to see him in his element in a sense."
This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: EXCLUSIVE: Texans' Will Anderson Jr. on his Alabama experience with Nick Saban
