From earning his first varsity start as a 14-year-old to winning three-straight state championships for Parish Episcopal, Sawyer Anderson has already made his name a part of Texas High School Football lore. But the Anderson name runs much deeper than that.

His grandfather, Donny, was a standout running back for Stinnett in the late 1950s and early 60s. He attended Texas Tech where he was a two-time All-American and was featured on the cover of Dave Campbell’s Texas Football’s 1965 magazine.

Donny went on to have an illustrious nine-year career with the Green Bay Packers, where he won two Super Bowls, and signed the largest rookie contract in NFL history in 1966. He is an inductee in the College Football Hall of Fame, Packer Hall of Fame, Texas High School Football Hall of Fame, and Texas Sports Hall of Fame. 

“Hearing his stories about his past - Vince Lombardi, Bart Starr, and The Ice Bowl really sparked my interest in football,” Sawyer Anderson said. “He tells me stories geared around mental toughness and overcoming adversity, which helped me progress through the high school level.”

Now, the experienced quarterback is a three-star recruit committed to Purdue. He’ll enter his senior season on the verge of making history as he’s the third all-time leading career passer in Dallas-Fort Worth with 9,463.

https://www.texasfootball.com/recruiting/players/sawyer-anderson.5bb7843e?ref=rankings_list

It’s something that he doesn’t want to think about too much, but he only trails SMU’s Preston Stone (13,178) and Graham Harrell (12,532), the offensive coordinator at Purdue, who was the biggest influence on his commitment to the Boilermakers.

“[Coach Harrell] played at Texas Tech where he has the passing record there,” Anderson said. “I’ve felt really connected, and he makes things comfortable and is an easy person to talk to. It’s a genuine relationship between me and him.”

Part of that connection includes the air raid offense that Harrell introduced to Purdue after joining the staff in December 2022. Anderson sees himself fitting right into the offense and knows how attractive the offensive scheme is to quarterbacks.

“I wouldn’t say there was a second or third [school] exactly,” Anderson said. “Purdue just popped out of nowhere to be honest. After my visit I didn’t want to be anywhere else.”

But before Anderson was being pursued by colleges across the nation, he was avoiding pass rushers as a young freshman. 

This was the year that he made his mark. He threw for nearly 3,000 yards, 32 touchdowns, and just three interceptions, leading the Panthers to a state championship. 

“After we won state that year, I got pulled out of class and my head coach told me Missouri just offered me,” Anderson said. “I didn’t know what to think, I was kind of speechless. But that was the moment where I thought this was forreal and I needed to take football more seriously.”

Part of taking football more seriously included working on his craft and learning how to be the best leader he could possibly be.

In spite of the steep learning curve, his experience constructing an offense as a freshman helped him mature quicker. He said having to deal with a big group that young helped the game slow down over the years and has built him into the man he is today. 

“I know that I’m not going to be around forever and the younger guys are going to have to step up,” Anderson said. “Being a role model and leaving them with advice is big for me because they’re going to have to carry the program when I’m gone.”

Those are some big shoes that the younger guys will have to step into. During his sophomore and junior seasons, Anderson eclipsed 3,000 passing yards in both years, and accounted for 85 total touchdowns.

Now, he looks to lead Parish to its sixth-straight state title. Most would believe the pressure to win and being close to breaking a passing record would be stressful. However for Anderson, it’s something that over the years he’s learned to not worry about.

“At the end of the day it’s just a game,” Anderson said. “No one’s going to remember what happened in 10 years. It’s [always] fun to win, but I don’t stress and try to stay in the moment.”