Will Anderson's serious admission about final season with Alabama football

Will Anderson Jr. explains his faith and overcoming grief experienced at Alabama.

More than a year removed from his time spent with Alabama football, Houston Texans DE Will Anderson Jr. took ownership of his bouts of feeling lost, depression, and struggling in college. The 2023 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year was already making headlines for an impressive offseason this summer. Yet, in a profile by Tyler Dunne of Go Long, Anderson went further in-depth on his personal life, beyond playing Alabama football, talking about being bullied, his doubts, and his growth since leaving college.

“My faith was very low — questioning God. Depressed. All those things,” Anderson said. “Now that I look back on it now, I wish I could do so many things differently.

“My last year at Alabama, I was just lost. I was lost.”

After a dominant 2021 season with the Crimson Tide, Anderson lost his way when his on-field production didn't match his expectations. An adjustment to where he lined up on the field took him out of his comfort zone speed-rushing the edge, where the sacks and big plays came easier the year before. Anderson didn't go into much detail, but he clashed with then-Alabama football outside linebackers coach Coleman Hutzler.

“We didn’t see eye to eye on a lot of things.”

The relationship with his parents also wore thin. Despite continued success in his 2022 season, Anderson felt trapped.

“I wasn’t standing firm on who I was,” Anderson says. “I wasn’t standing firm on the foundation that my parents had already built for me. I was letting that stuff feed into me. All that negativity. And it was just wearing me down, wearing me down, wearing me down. I had to really suck it up and ‘Let’s just get through the season. Let’s just do what you need to do and get out of there.’”

Texans standout Will Anderson Jr. is overcoming depression, feeling lost to find himself again

Will Anderson found the strength to ask for help. It wasn't football, it wasn't Alabama, it was in him. He sustained an ankle sprain in Week 14 against the New York Jets and experienced an awakening.

“That’s when everything changed for me,” Anderson says. “It’s OK to say, ‘God, I need your help. God, can you take this off of me?’ I think once I started realizing that part, my life became easier. I stopped trying to live for people and live for God because people are going to love you one day and hate you the next day. The only approval I need is from God. Once that mindset kicked in, my life has been so much easier.”

Expectations remain sky-high for the Houston Texans and Anderson Jr. The second-year standout has dark horse odds among the top 10 to be the 2024 Defensive Player of the Year. He's missed some time due to a minor injury this preseason, but they expect Anderson to be healthy by Week 1.