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Reidel Anthony
No. 85     
Wide receiver
Personal information
Date of birth: (1976-10-20) October 20, 1976 (age 47)
Place of birth: Pahokee, Florida
High School: Belle Glade (FL) Glades Central
Height: 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) Weight: 178 lb (81 kg)
Career information
College: Florida
NFL Draft: 1997 / Round: 1 / Pick: 16
Debuted in 1997 for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Last played in 2001 for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Career history
 As player:
* Tampa Bay Buccaneers ( 1997 2001)
 As coach:
* Trinity Catholic High School (Asst.) (2010– )
Career highlights and awards
* Consensus All-American (1996)
Games played     73
Games started     37
Receptions     144
Receiving yards     1,846
Touchdowns     16
Kick return yards     2,232
Stats at NFL.com
Stats at pro-football-reference.com
Stats at DatabaseFootball.com

Reidel Clarence Anthony (born October 20, 1976) is a former American 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 received 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]

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.[11]

See also[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players, Reidel Anthony. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
  2. 2.0 2.1 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. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 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 September 15, 2012.
  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. 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 National Football League, Historical Players, Reidel Anthony. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
  11. "Scot and Reidel ready for the snap," GatorCountry.com (July 19, 2010). Retrieved September 15, 2012.

Bibliography[]

  • Carlson, Norm, University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators, Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). ISBN 0-7948-2298-3.
  • Golenbock, Peter, Go Gators! An Oral History of Florida's Pursuit of Gridiron Glory, Legends Publishing, LLC, St. Petersburg, Florida (2002). ISBN 0-9650782-1-3.
  • Hairston, Jack, Tales from the Gator Swamp: A Collection of the Greatest Gator Stories Ever Told, Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois (2002). ISBN 1-58261-514-4.
  • McCarthy, Kevin M., Fightin' Gators: A History of University of Florida Football, Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (2000). ISBN 978-0-7385-0559-6.
  • Nash, Noel, ed., The Gainesville Sun Presents The Greatest Moments in Florida Gators Football, Sports Publishing, Inc., Champaign, Illinois (1998). ISBN 1-57167-196-X.

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