Uncle Wendell Would Be Proud

Coaches, principals and a whole bunch of Andersons gathered in the school's library to watch Anthony Anderson officially become a University of Tennessee football player by signing his name to a national letter of intent.

They celebrated with an orange and white sheet cake with Anderson's photo on it. Nearly everything was orange: banners, coasters, plush footballs, T-shirts, sweatshirts, caps. A few people even wore leis.

Anderson's mom and dad, his twin sister Jenae (a sprinter who signed a scholarship in November to run for Georgia Tech), aunts, uncles, cousins, coaches and teammates all gathered to celebrate.

It's a proud day for everyone.

"It's an honor and very special to me," Anthony says. "I always wanted to be part of the football team, and just Tennessee itself."

The ink is dry on the paper, and Anderson has signed all the right places. Everything appears to be in order, yet something is missing in the orange-and-white celebration.

Someone, actually, whose absence stands out worse than a Florida shirt or an Alabama jersey would.

If Wendell Anderson were here, he'd be decked out in orange. He'd be right in the middle of everything, smiling in the pictures as if Anthony is his son.

Wendell Anderson wasn't just a UT fan. He was a fan.

Fans go to games. Fans go to scrimmages. Fans cheer. Fans obsess. Fans don't miss games on TV. Fans don't miss the replays on cable in July.

"Fan is short for fanatic," says Anthony's father, former Austin-East coach Sam Anderson, of Wendell. "Wendell was a fanatic. He went to every spring scrimmage, every fall scrimmage. Picture day. Anything they had, he went."

Wendell, a UT football letterman in 1980 and past president of the letterman's "T" club, let his passion extend to anything Austin-East and anything the Andersons were doing.

When he wasn't busy with the janitorial company he owned, he'd be at track meets, football games, basketball games watching his own children and his niece and nephew. He'd be at practices, too.

"He knew my stats, he knew my yards, he knew when I was getting the ball," Anthony says of his uncle. "He was my No. 1 fan besides my parents. He was always there."

Until he wasn't.

Last December, Wendell died of a heart attack, just hours after Sam Anderson was released from the hospital after suffering his own heart attack.

"It was a tough time," says Sam Anderson. "But there's a reason for everything. Mine was a wake-up call. He didn't get that chance."

His uncle's death and his father's heart troubles hit Anthony, too.

"It just made me think real hard," Anthony says. "You cannot take life for granted. Period. Work hard, do what you're supposed to do."

Sam Anderson, who serves as the city's director of community and neighborhood services, has heeded that wake-up call.

At 53, he's already lived longer than his father, who died of a heart attack in his early 40's.

He's lost weight, he's eating better and working a little less. A few months ago, he had the stent removed from that blocked artery.

And he's looking forward to the next four years of watching both Jenae and Anthony compete.

"The thought of being able to go see them compete at that level," he said. "They're giving me a lot to live for. They're motivating me."

Wendell was Anthony's motivation to attend Tennessee.

His father bought the tickets and took him to his first UT game when Anthony was still in elementary school.

"He got UT in his heart then, and it's been there ever since," Sam says.

Wendell Anderson made sure it stayed there.

The two would watch games and talk about the Vols. They'd go to games, too, and sit in Wendell's seats.

"That's a big connection," Anthony says.

One that hasn't left, either.

Wendell's picture is the background on Anthony's cell phone. Anthony keeps copies of the program from Wendell's funeral in his car, his locker at school and in his bedroom.

And Wendell is the reason why Anderson spent far less time as a recruit than he did as a commitment.

Shortly after Wendell died, Anthony got word that Tennessee planned to offer him a scholarship. He and his father met with UT coach Phillip Fulmer shortly after signing day last year.

Walking out of the football offices, Anthony told his father he didn't need to visit anywhere to know where he wanted to play.

He turned around, went back in and told Fulmer he'd be a Volunteer, becoming UT's first commitment in the class of 2007.

As the two walked to the car, Wendell was the first person they thought of.

In his 47 years, Wendell missed Anthony's first serious letter from UT by only a few days.

"This would have been, for him, the ultimate," Sam Anderson says, his voice trailing off. "God has his reasons, but this would have been the ultimate."