Ohio State hall of famer and former captain Billy Ray Anders recalls colorful career

Billy Ray Anders, 77, may be remembered as much for how he joined the Ohio State football team in 1965 as he is remembered for his hall of fame career.

"I actually think I'm more famous for the way I joined the team," he said.

OK. Fair enough.

But that's what happens when you stroll into Woody Hayes' office, never having played a down of football in your life and tell the famous coach you'd like to try out.

"His response was, 'You look like Andy Gump, and your neck's too long, but if you want to give it a try, go ahead. You can do that,' " Anders said.

During his first practice, Anders struggled with everything, including his uniform.

He put on his pants and then noticed a teammate with thigh pads. So he took his pants off and put on thigh pads. He saw a Buckeye donning knee pads. So he took his pants back off and grabbed some knee pads. About this time, another player was readjusting his hip pads. Anders had to take his pants off a third time for that.

"The guy in the locker next to me looked at me and asked, 'Have you ever played this game before?' " Anders recalled. "And I said, 'No, I haven't.' And he said, 'Well, you better turn your thigh pads around, or it will be your last day of football too.' "

The warning was necessary because, back in those days, if you put your thigh pads on backward, they would hit you in a bad spot, and "you became a tenor real quick" as Anders put it.

His helmet came down over his eyes. He failed to lace, tie or buckle up anything, so his pads were flopping everywhere. Still, he gave it his all so he could play like the great Andy Gump.

"Then I went home and asked dad who did Andy Gump play for? What team was he on? And dad laughed and said, 'You silly idiot. Andy Gump was a cartoon character.' " After a beat, Anders added, "I made Andy Gump look like the smartest thing in the world.

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It is doubtful that Gump would have had the success Anders did. Anders started for three years. He set the school record with 108 career receptions and 1,318 yards while playing for the pass-averse Hayes. Anders was named a captain for the 1967 season.

And he did most of this without ever taping his ankles because he thought that, rather than being a precaution taken by every player, only guys with bad ankles got taped.

"It never occurred to me everybody on the team had bad ankles," Anders said.

When Hayes noticed midway through Anders' junior season, he sent the receiver to the training room to rectify the situation, but having never been there before, Anders' sudden presence caused confusion.

"They thought I was an impostor trying to sneak in on the team," he said. "They called the security guards to come and get me out of there."

The bottom line?

"Years afterward, people asked me, 'How long was it before you were fully and properly dressed to go on the field to play football for the first time?' " said Anders. "And the answer is 3 1/2 years."

Today, such a colorful, remarkable career would result in endorsement deals and an avid social media following.

In 1967, you got used to being anonymous.

Anders tried out for the Bengals and Falcons, but he lacked NFL speed. Given his success in college, that might have been overlooked, except that Anders also had battled lichens planus, a skin disease.

"It was bad enough ... that it just nearly killed me," Anders said. "I went to sleep and woke up three days later. The doctor was waking me up with smelling salts, and the skin disease was gone."

How he developed a condition mostly then suffered by soldiers who had been overseas, nobody knew. How it went away so quickly was likewise a mystery. However, with the possibility he could relapse, NFL teams refused to sign him.

So Anders moved on to a career in sales.

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"I loved it because everybody has a story," Anders said. "I love talking to people."

He retired. Twice. The first time didn't quite catch. The second time, he ended up the defacto maintenance man for his church.

"One of the guys that cut the grass for the church would play softball," Anders said. "He got hurt playing and he asked if I would cut the grass while he healed up, and I said, 'Oh, yeah. Sure I'll do that.'

"I didn't realize how much grass the church had. That was 10 years ago. I haven't seen him since."

This fall, Anders was inducted into Ohio State's hall of fame. He'll return to campus this weekend when OSU plays Rutgers for the captain's dinner.

Buckeyes coach Ryan Day may want to lock his office door.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Where OSU football legend, hall of famer Billy Ray Anders now?