TEXANS TIGHT END RETURNS TO ALMA MATER
Piedmont Hills alum Stephen Anderson creates Elevate Our Youth Foundation, writes $10,000 check
SAN JOSE >> A decade ago, Stephen Anderson stepped foot on the football field at Piedmont Hills High School as a 5-foot-9, 165-pound freshman.
The 25-year-old returned to his alma mater last month as a 6-2, 230-pound tight end for the Houston Texans to host the inaugural football camp for his Elevate Our Youth Foundation.
“Me being able to come back and just be face-toface with these kids, running around with these kids, I think this was very important to show the kids that it is possible,” said Anderson, who donated $10,000 to the school.
Stephen Anderson Sr. said he raised his son “to give back and since he’s in the NFL and he has a platform. It’s not about making a lot of money and worrying
about himself.”
“It’s about doing what you can for your team and the community in which he plays and especially back home where the people who supported him since he was just a little boy.
Matt Kiesle, the football head coach at Piedmont Hills for the past 20 years, said he saw Anderson in action when he flew to Houston in December to watch the Texans play the 49ers.
“To see a kid that you saw grow right in front of you and just to see him have this kind of success, it’s really neat,” he said. “We’re just proud that he wants to continue to associate with our program and he feels the need to give back to his community, which just shows the type of character that Stephen has.”
Bumps along the road could have easily derailed his journey.
Piedmont Hills claimed the Central Coast Section Division I football title in 2010, with Anderson accounting for 83 catches, 1,340 yards and 14 touchdowns as a wide receiver — not to mention 121 tackles at linebacker.
He was a scholar-athlete, who displayed a strong work ethic and leadership.
But Anderson drew minimal attention from college recruits as a senior.
“It was a very frustrating process with his recruiting because he didn’t have the best measurables,” Kiesle said. “Coaches look at how fast you are and things like that and they don’t look at things, how big your heart is and how smart you are and how hard you work. We shopped him all over the place and nothing really came.”
He opted to walk on at Cal, his parents’ and sister’s alma mater.
Anderson turned into a reliable target for quarterback
Jared Goff, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams. He earned honorable mention All-Pac-12 recognition in 2014 and 2015, both times tabbed for Cal’s Ken Cotton Award as the team’s Most Courageous Player. It was enough to reward him
an invitation to the NFL combine.
But he wasn’t drafted. “I feel like I still have a lot to prove and that’s what really keeps me going,” said Anderson, who finished with 25 catches for 342 yards and a touchdown during his second year as a
pro. “So I’m glad it actually worked out that way.”
Anderson Sr. said his son: “is not blessed with the fastest speed, the most height, the best strength, but what he does is there’s no way he’s going to quit. He has a can-do attitude and he’s going to go until there’s no more go.”
Keisle said Anderson “has that walk-on mentality, so he’s always had to work for everything he’s got — and that shows.”
The Elevate Our Youth Foundation attracted 121 kids ages 7 to 13 at its inaugural camp.
It’s a work in progress. Anderson hopes to inspire the younger generation and provide assistance to put them on the right career path.
“Everyone has stories, whether it’s at home or school, struggling with things,” he said. “So just kind of being there to comfort them and tell them that it’s all right, helping them to navigate through these things from people who have been through that process before.”
The camp is a beginning. On a recent Saturday, the kids rotated through eight stations split in half between offense and defense.
Andres Sepulveda, an incoming sixth-grader at Piedmont Hills Middle School, practiced defensive line drills.
“It was really cool him teaching us how to play football, following actually the rules and see what you have to focus on,” the 10-year-old said. “It was my first year playing football, so it could really improve me.”
That doesn’t necessarily mean that Anderson can expect a boost in jersey sales.
“I’m a Raiders fan,” Andres said. “But my grandpa and grandma are Texans fans.”
Word spread about the football camp to middle schools that feed into Piedmont Hills, where the high school football players were among the camp volunteers.
Anderson, who graduated from Cal with a bachelor’s degree in public health, took selfies and tried to sign every autograph.
Once a 13-year-old tight end in Pop Warner for the Coyote Creek Wildcats, he stayed true to his roots.
“It was a real community effort for the kids,” Anderson said.