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Colt anderson

The Butte Missile

On the surface, Colt Anderson’s story is one of an underdog triumphing over long odds over and over again.

But when one dives into a person’s makeup, it quickly becomes apparent that the man who earned the nickname “the Butte Missile” was perhaps destined to become one of the most successful Montanans to live a football life.

Anderson, who hails from the Mining City, has defied the odds ever since he emerged from a winless high school football team his senior year as walk-on at the University of Montana. Yet he and those around him always knew he would achieve great successes.

Despite walking on, Anderson wasted little time affirming himself as one of the greatest players in Griz football history, earning first-team All-Big Sky Conference honors three times while establishing a reputation as one of the hardest hitting safeties ever at UM or in the Big Sky.

Once into the NFL, he had to start all over, working his way from practice squad to kick team units to, eventually, starting for several of the most storied franchises in professional football. And that life of football continues today as Anderson continues his work in the NFL as an assistant coach on Zac Taylor’s staff for the high-flying Cincinnati Bengals.

Read full bio on pages 55-59 in our 2023 Hall of Fame Ceremony Book (PDF).