There are lots of reasons Robby Anderson ended up in Carolina.

Some of them are easier to see than others – his connections to his former college head coach and quarterback that helped him excel at Temple. The ability to be the over-the-top threat in an explosive Joe Brady-led offense. The chance to reunite with another quarterback he learned a lot from during his young career. 

But sometimes, it just comes down the black and blue.

“I always liked Carolina’s colors,” grinned Anderson, who was introduced to Charlotte media from his home in Florida on Friday afternoon already sporting a Panthers hat and Christian McCaffrey jersey. “The [NFC South], too – I feel like is going to be the best [division] in the NFL and has some of the best receivers in the NFL – that’s what I want to compete against.”

OK, so the color scheme had something to with it – but Matt Rhule probably didn’t hurt.

Photo Credit: Joseph V. Labolito/Temple

As the new head coach of the Carolina Panthers, Rhule has brought in a lot of familiar faces since his hiring earlier this year – between much of the coaching staff and almost half of the free agent haul thus far having ties to Rhule’s college days, it’s not a leap to assume that wide receiver Robby Anderson is another train on the tracks that has run between Carolina, Temple and Baylor for the past three months. 

But the connection goes deeper than that – the 6-3, 190 pound 25-year old might not have even had the chance to be a premier free agent this offseason – or even a chance to play in the NFL – without his Temple coach. Anderson owes a huge debt to Rhule; after Anderson was academically suspended for a year in 2014 after his junior season, Rhule – a notorious ‘players coach’ – fought hard to not only get his player back on the field, but back in the classroom.

And after a summer of hard work to raise his GPA, the cornerback-turned-wide receiver was able to break out in 2015 with 939 receiving yards and seven scores.

“I can honestly say that if it wasn’t for him making things happen, I probably wouldn’t be in the position I’m in,” said Anderson. “The way the rules were set up was that I wasn’t supposed to come back to school for, like, five years or a ridiculous amount of time due to the suspension and my GPA, but coach Rhule fought hard for literally like a whole year – over and over and over and over.”

Anderson led the Owls in receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns in 2015, was invited to play in the East/West Shrine Game and after signing with the Jets as an undrafted free agent, he became New York’s #1 wide receiver in only his second season, finishing with with 63 receptions for 941 receiving yards and seven receiving touchdowns – last year, Anderson became the fifth NFL player since 1970 to reach 3,000 receiving yards in his first four seasons after entering the league as a UDFA.

None of that would have been possible without Rhule.

Photo Credit: Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

So, yes, Anderson owes a huge debt of gratitude to Rhule – but make no mistake, there are plenty of football reasons why Anderson is wearing those colors he likes so much. The addition of Anderson as a deep threat to the skillsets already on the roster in DJ Moore, Curtis Samuel and Christian McCaffrey will help to open up the offense of new coordinator Joe Brady, who preys on stretching the field both horizontally and vertically to get players open.

A safety having to account for a streaking Anderson, who ran a 4.34 40-yard dash at his Temple Pro Day, had the most touchdowns on deep passes of any receiver in the NFL in 2017 and whose targets averaged over 15 yards in the air last season will open a lot of room everywhere else for other pass-catchers.

Rhule and Brady will get a chance to begin installing their new schemes on Monday as the Panthers will begin remotely meeting – the NFL has closed all team facilities and North Carolina remains under a stay-at-home order until April 29th due to the COVID-19 pandemic – but the real test of whether or not Rhule, Bridgewater or anyone else can succeed will not come via Zoom or Skype – it’ll happen on the field. 

“There’s not a lot he can’t do on the football field,” Rhule said last year about Anderson. “I really believe in who Robby is athletically and most importantly competitively. He’s as dynamic a competitor as I’ve ever been around.”

That belief is one of the reasons – in addition to the renewed focus on offense the Panthers have had this offseason – the Panthers made one of their biggest free agent wide receiver signings in franchise history. Previously splashy signings like Keyshawn Johnson at the end of his career haven’t worked out for the Panthers in the past, but they’re hoping that a young wideout entering his prime with an inventive playcaller can live up to the $20m contract – but even with Anderson’s deal, the Panthers are still spending less than league-average on their wide receiver group with both DJ Moore and Curtis Samuel still on their rookie deals.

Anderson says he’ll fit in just fine with Moore, who he considers one of the better receivers in the league, Samuel, who he’s been watching since he came out of Ohio State, and McCaffrey, who he says is one of the best running backs in the league.

“With my speed and my over-the-top capabilities, I think we’re going to complement each other very well,” said Anderson. “With Teddy, who has that veteran presence and knows how to spread the wealth, I think we are going to complement each other in a great way.”

And then there’s Bridgewater, who the Panthers signed last month as free agency opened to a three-year, $63m contract and is another reason why Anderson wanted to come to Carolina. The wideout and his new QB go way back – the two were supposed to be play on the same team during a high school 7-on-7 tournament in South Florida before a change had them facing off against each other. Anderson attended high school in Plantation, about 30 minutes north of Miami Northwestern Senior High where Bridgewater was a highly-recruited dual-threat quarterback. 

Anderson has matured since two arrests in the span of eight months early in his career that bookended his breakout 2017 season. While all charges were eventually dropped aside from a no contest plea to a misdemeanor reckless driving charge, Anderson says he’s a different man, changing both his mentality and mindset since then. 

“Sometimes I look back at those things like those things happened for a reason to show me what life could have been,” said Anderson. 

Shortly after his second arrest in January of 2018, the Jets signed Bridgewater – Anderson and Bridgewater had a strong, albeit brief, connection during the 2018 offseason before the quarterback was traded to New Orleans just days before the season started. 

“Teddy helped me grow as a man,” Anderson said about the quarterback. “There were things that I was going through at the time as I was adjusting to the NFL – there were things that I wasn’t immune to. He kind of helped me see things from an older perspective, even though we’re the same age. It’s easy for me to talk to him because we come from the same culture and similar backgrounds; it’s easy for me to talk football with him.”

“He understands the game, he understands how to get a receiver [into a] rhythm – we have a natural friendship and a natural chemistry on the field.”

This connection was one of the big reasons why Anderson signed a two-year deal with the Panthers – after thinking that he would like to play under Rhule again as rumors swirled that the former Temple and Baylor coach would make the jump to the NFL, it was not the head coach, but the quarterback that ultimately tipped the scales in Carolina’s favor.

“And then I saw that Teddy signed there, it was just the icing on the cake,” said Anderson. “It really attracted me to want to be a Panther.”

That – and the colors.

(Top Photo Via Adam Hunger)

Josh Klein on Twitter
Josh Klein
Editor-In-Chief at The Riot Report
Josh Klein is Editor-In-Chief of The Riot Report. His favorite Panther of all time is Chad Cota and he once AIM chatted with Kevin Greene. Follow Josh on Twitter @joshkleinrules.