Precision passing. I mean, the most accurate I’ve ever seen. He could put it in the tightest spots, the tightest spots every. Beautiful mechanics. Just extremely intelligent. Attention to detail, an accounting-type personality, a computer-like mind. Dave Lapham
Ken Anderson was a four-time Pro Bowler who played 192 games in a career highlighted by leading the Bengals to their first Super Bowl while winning the NFL MVP and passing title in 1981. Anderson is one of five players in NFL history to win at least four league passing titles, and the only one to win consecutive passing titles in two different decades — 1974-75 and 1981-82. His 16 seasons are the most by a Bengals player.
Anderson became one of the game's top quarterbacks avoiding throwing interceptions. He's one of only five men to win at least four NFL passing titles.
His third one in 1981 not only gave him the league MVP, but also NFL Comeback Player of the Year. After getting benched in the opener, Anderson showed the resourcefulness of his franchise-longest 16 seasons when he bounced back the next week to lead them to a 31-30 victory over the Jets at Shea Stadium. The press box phones conked out and Anderson had to decipher the hand signals before he helped carry the team to Super Bowl XVI.
"It didn't start very well for me," Anderson said of that season. "I think we had five games in November all against playoff contenders and not one of them was a close game. All of a sudden it was, 'We are for real.'"
When new head coach Forrest Gregg plucked a little known former NFL assistant to coach his quarterbacks and receivers, Tulane offensive coordinator Lindy Infante, Anderson had 111 NFL starts under his belt and a .532 winning percentage (59-52) with an 0-2 record in the playoffs heading into his tenth season. He was a two-time NFL passing champion, but he was also coming off his first two losing seasons as the starter.
After the Bengals went 6-10 in 1980, Anderson the next two years would win two passing titles while leading the team to a 19-6 and one Super Bowl. That solidified Anderson's Pro Football Hall of Fame argument. The only man to win consecutive passing titles in consecutive decades in two different eras.
"We did a lot of option routes where the receivers had a lot of different things," Anderson said. "In '80, at the end of the year we were getting better and, of course it, all clicked in '81. We were kind of one of the first ones to do the quarterback bootlegs. The out-of-pockets. The nakeds. Whatever you want to call them. We had a lot of success with it. Lindy was an innovator."
Mike Brown, who thought Anderson was the real thing when he scouted him at Division III Augustana College, has often said if Munoz is the best player in Bengals history then Anderson is the most important.
"He played the most important position and he played it well," Brown said. "We were competitive with anybody when he was going at his peak. I remember the Super Bowl game with him at quarterback up in Detroit. To this day I think we were the better team. We just didn't win. He played well."
A look at the Bengals legend Ken Anderson, Ring of Honor Nominee, through the years.
Cincinatti Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson (14) fades to pass during Super Bowl XVI in Pontiac on January 24, 1982. San Francisco won, 26-21. (AP Photo / Al Messerschmidt)
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson (14) smiles as he congratulates Cleveland Browns' quarterback Brian Sipe (17) on his teams 17-7 victory over the Bengals in a game played in Cleveland on Sept. 15, 1983. (AP Photo)
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson releases a pass during a practice session at the Bengals' Spinney Field training facility in Cincinnati on Dec. 29, 1981, where the team is preparing for a playoff game Sunday against the Buffalo Bills. (AP Photo/Ed Reinke)
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson listens to a reporter's question with his six-year-old son, Matt, in the Bengals locker room after AFC playoff win over the Buffalo Bills in Cincinnati on Jan. 3, 1982. Anderson connected with Bengals wide receiver Cris Collinsworth for a touchdown in the late minutes of the fourth quarter to give the Bengals a 28-21 win. (AP Photo)
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson, left, and USC running back Marcus Allen holds their Bert Bell Awards they received from the Maxwell Club, Feb. 11, 1982, in Philadelphia. The Maxwell Club named Anderson the top pro football player and Allen the top player in college. (AP Photo/Rusty Kennedy)
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson, left, reacts as San Diego Chargers quarterback Dan Fouts, right, looks dejected after the Bengals defeated the Chargers in the AFC championship in Cincinnati on Jan. 10, 1982. Fouts was intercepted twice in the game, and Anderson passed for two touchdowns and no interceptions. (AP Photo)
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson releases a pass during Super Bowl XVI, on January 24, 1982, at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan. (AP Photo / Al Messerschmidt)
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson gets ready to throw the ball down the field during a game.
San Francisco 49ers defensive end Jim Stuckey rushes Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson during Super Bowl XVI, a 26 - 21 49ers victory on January 24, 1982, at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan. (AP Photo / Al Messerschmidt)
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson (14) runs upfield from San Francisco 49ers defensive end Dwaine Board (76) and defensive tackle John Harty (75) during Super Bowl XVI NFL game against the San Francisco 49ers, Sunday, Jan. 24, 1982, in Pontiac, Mich. The 49ers defeated the Bengals 26-21. (Vernon J. Biever via AP)
In this Jan. 10, 1982 file photo, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson, left, prepares to throw during the AFC championship game against the San Diego Chargers in Cincinnati. Cincinnati Bengals coach Forrest Gregg called the Freezer Bowl -- a 27-7 win over the San Diego Chargers on Jan. 2, 1982 -- worse than the Ice Bowl on Dec. 31, 1967, when he was an offensive lineman for Vince Lombardi's Packers in the most famous cold-weather game in NFL history. (AP Photo/File)
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson (14) meets with Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw after the Steelers won 26-20 overtime game in Pittsburgh on Sept. 19, 1982. After Anderson tossed interception, Bradshaw connected on game-winning pass on next play. (AP Photo/Gene Puskar)
San Diego Chargers' quarterback Dan Fouts (14), left, receives congratulations from Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson after the Chargers defeated the Bengals, 50-34, in San Diego, Dec. 21, 1982. The teams set an NFL record by combining for 851 yards in total passing. (AP Photo)
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback, Ken Anderson, and coach Forrest Gregg wait for television interview to start on photo day in Pontiac, Mich, Jan. 19, 1982. Gregg and the Bengals will meet the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XVI. (AP Photo)
Cincinnati Begals quarterback Ken Anderson turns to make a handoff during the AFC championship game against the San Diego Chargers in Cincinnati on Jan. 10, 1982. (AP Photo)
