Arizona Cardinals all-time Mount Rushmore

3. Ottis “O.J.” Anderson

In the second act of his career Anderson was NFL Comeback Player of the Year in 1989 and the MVP of Super Bowl XXV the following season, as the New York Giants controlled the clock and kept a prolific Buffalo Bills’ offense off the field behind his 21 carries for 102 yards. But he was drafted eighth overall by the Cardinals in 1979 and won Rookie of the Year that year with 1,605 yards (third in the league) and eight touchdowns.

In five of his first six NFL seasons, of the eight he spent as a St. Louis Cardinal, Anderson cleared 1,100 yards on the ground with at least 286 carries (over 300 each of his first three seasons). He’s not a Hall of Famer, but with career rushing yardage (10,273) currently still top-30 all-time and career rushing touchdowns in the top-20 ever (81; 19th) Anderson is firmly in the “Hall of Very Good.”

Anderson is the all-time leading rusher in Cardinals’ history, with 7,999 yards, and he is also the franchise leader in rushing scores with 46. Among the NFL’s best running backs of the early to mid-80’s he is starkly overlooked, surely due to how bad the Cardinals were. But his face is firmly carved on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore.