Ken Anderson (quarterback)

Ken Anderson
No. 14
PositionQuarterback
Personal information
Born (1949-02-15) February 15, 1949
Batavia, Illinois, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight212 lb (96 kg)
Career information
High schoolBatavia
CollegeAugustana (IL) (1967–1970)
NFL draft1971: 3rd round, 67th overall pick
Career history
Playing
Coaching
Awards and highlights
As a player
As a coach
Career NFL statistics
Passing attempts4,475
Passing completions2,654
Completion percentage59.3%
TDINT197–160
Passing yards32,838
Passer rating81.9
Stats at Pro Football Reference
Coaching profile at Pro Football Reference

Kenneth Allan Anderson (born February 15, 1949) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals. He later returned as a position coach.

After playing college football for the Augustana Vikings and earning National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) All-American honors, Anderson was selected in the third round of the 1971 NFL draft by the Bengals. Over the course of his 16-season NFL career, Anderson led the league in passer rating four times, completion percentage three times and passing yards twice. In 1981, he was awarded NFL Most Valuable Player and NFL Offensive Player of the Year, a season in which he led the Bengals to their first Super Bowl appearance. In 1982, Anderson set an NFL single-season record for completion percentage of 70.6%—which stood for over 25 years until broken by Drew Brees in 2009.

As of the end of the 2024 NFL season, Anderson holds the Bengals franchise passing records in yards.

After his professional playing career, Anderson served as a radio broadcaster for the Cincinnati Bengals from 1987 to 1993. From 1993 to 2002, he served as the Bengals quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator. Anderson later became the quarterbacks coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars (2003–2006) and Pittsburgh Steelers (2007–2009), before retiring in 2010.

Anderson has been a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame three times, and is often regarded as one of the best players not in the Hall of Fame.