Daniel Anderson, only a sophomore at Bishop’s High School, has an awareness of and caring about other people\u2019s feelings that you wouldn\u2019t expect in a person so young. “Even in school,” says the friendly young man in a big man’s body, “if someone is having a bad day, you can go and cheer them up, let them know that there\u2019s someone there for them.”
\nAnderson has had this sensitivity since he was a young boy. Undoubtedly, the influence of his mother Samantha, who works for Child Protective Services when she\u2019s not rooting hard at Daniel\u2019s football games, has had its impact. “She\u2019s caring,” the defensive lineman states with the kind of respect in his voice that makes you believe him. “She’s a very kind person. She comes home from work exhausted” after a day of attending to other children\u2019s well-being. Her son\u2019s sports are an outlet, not just for him but for mom as well, as she played softball in her school days.
\nOn the other side, the enormous and still-growing 16-year-old gains a lot from dad Erwin, who, according to his son, has an “insane” ability to strike up a conversation with people he has never met, and an uncle, J. J., who provides Daniel the truth-telling that made him a better player.
\n“(My dad) is laid back, relaxed,” the Bishop\u2019s starter said. “I heard he was a great football player at Marian Catholic (now Mater Dei in the South Bay). He\u2019s kind of like me. He likes to joke around a lot. He knows a lot of people (and chats it up with them).”
\nJ. J., Anderson\u2019s godfather, “doesn\u2019t sugarcoat it. He tells it the way it is. When we went to youth games, he would tell me how I did. I think it helped me in the long run. He gives me a lot of guidance on life and football. He hasn\u2019t let me down, or lied. He tells the truth.”
\nDaniel, presently weighing in at 295 pounds on a 6-foot frame, was probably at 275 or 280 pounds last April, standing about 5-feet-10 when a reporter met him and took photos of him shotputting at a Knights track meet at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista. “He\u2019s a growing boy” isn\u2019t just a saying in the Anderson household. It\u2019s being lived out at every meal of high caloric content and weightlifting sessions on the La Jolla private school\u2019s campus.
\nAnderson, who embodies the kind, gentle giant, thrives on the “physicality” of his favorite sport. He played offense and defense on the Bishop\u2019s football team that won the CIF Division IV title in the fall under Coach Joel Allen.
\nBut his true football identity is at defensive tackle. Asked what he attributes his effectiveness at the position, he says, “My overall strength, both lower body and upper body.” The areas he has grown in are his technique, his play recognition, and “playing for the team. “I was selfish,” he says. “I used to try to make the big play. I played for myself. Now, I try to play for the team” and what it needs.
\nHeaded to a junior varsity basketball game at Coronado after the interview, he mentions a lower body asset: a 25-inch vertical leap, especially sizable for a person of his near-300-pound (and increasing) girth. It would be quite a sight for an opponent seeing this man-mammoth come off the bench and propel himself under the boards to bang a body and snag a rebound.
\nThe family has a unique Thanksgiving tradition, celebrated this year around the time of the taking of the CIF title by Daniel and his team: Younger brother Isaac, who has a birthday in December, Abigail, a younger cousin whose birthday falls on Nov. 22, and Daniel, a Nov. 23 baby, all celebrate their birthdays at the family turkey gathering. At the time of the interview, Anderson was holding on to his birthday gift cards, plotting what goodies at Footlocker and elsewhere he might buy combined with the additional booty he anticipated at Christmas.
\nUnderscoring the young man\u2019s care and sensitivity to others is a faith in God. “It helps me,” he offers. “It\u2019s another factor that helps me show compassion to people.”
\nBut he\u2019s not a morose navel-gazer or goodie-goodie. He and teammate Reggie Davis, who plays running back and safety, rib each other. “I mess with my buddy,” the Escondidan admits with a grin. “If he\u2019s wearing something weird, or he trips or I trip, (we give it to each other).”
\nInterestingly, Daniel, who would like to work in a profession dealing with people, enjoyed the often-hard-to-wade-through Old English story of Beowulf in English class. “Beowulf came in from another country and helped the people” by ridding them of the monstrous villain Grendel. “I like to help people if I see them struggling.”
\nAnderson appreciates the support he receives at Bishop\u2019s. It\u2019s a long day, waking at 5 a.m., mom driving him to the Bishop\u2019s pick-up point at Carmel Mountain in North County. During third and fourth periods, he receives study help from Jane Mattox. This enables him to troubleshoot questions he has in math and English.
\nSelf-described as “goofy,” Daniel tells the anecdote of when he was about 5 and the family Rottweiler-German Shepherd mix bumped him into the backyard cactus garden. “My mom heard me screaming,” Anderson remembers with a laugh. “She came out and got me.”<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Daniel Anderson, only a sophomore at Bishop’s High School, has an awareness of and caring about other people\u2019s feelings that you wouldn\u2019t expect in a person so young. “Even in school,” says the friendly young man in a big man’s body, “if someone is having a bad day, you can go and cheer them up, […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":275126,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11560","_seopress_titles_title":"Daniel Anderson has a head on some very big shoulders","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11560,11553],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-275125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-la-jolla-village-news","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275125\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}