MIDDLETOWN — Daniel Anderson, an All-North Coast Section and All-Lake County guard on the Mustangs” 11-2 football team this past season and a 4.0 student, will go from Middletown to midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy this summer.
His appointment to Annapolis is only the second in the history of Middletown High School. He will report to the academy on July 1. The honor is consistent with Anderson”s possessive legacy at Middletown as an overachiever both in the classroom and on the athletic field. Varsity football coach Bill Foltmer praised Anderson for a season in which he constantly prevailed over players who outsized him by 50 to 100 pounds.
“Pound-for-pound, he was one of the toughest kids on the team ? not just physically, but mentally as well,” said the Middletown coach. “Playing guard at 165 pounds and 5-foot-11, he was always set against someone bigger. But that”s what separates Daniel from a lot of other players. He never quit.”
“Going against someone 50 or more pounds bigger, some kids would tend to shy away and may not want to play football anymore. All of a sudden it”s not fun on Friday night. Daniel never quit and his will was never broken. He played as hard in the fourth quarter as he did in the first quarter.
“I”m awfully proud of him for that,” Foltmer added.
“I”m proud of him, the school”s proud of him, the community”s proud of him.”
Anderson”s size would suggest that running back or wideout would be his position. As to why he became a lineman, he said, “My dad was really a big guy, 6-6, 260. They thought I was going to get big.”
He has no special technique for neutralizing the larger players other than a powerful work ethic and, of course, intelligence. Foltmer called him “one of the smartest kids we ever had.”
Said Anderson, “I try to work harder than everybody else. I just had to believe I could do it.”
Daniel is one of four heirs (two brothers and a sister) born to Eileen and Steve Anderson. His paternal grandfather (deceased) was a Navy enlisted man.
He said he had not thought much about becoming a Naval officer until his senior year.
“Not really,” he said. “Last year when I started thinking of what I wanted to do in life, a couple of my friends said maybe I was smart enough for a military academy. I checked them all out and found I liked the Navy best.”
In fact, when he visited Annapolis earlier this winter, he said, “I loved it. I wanted to stay there; I didn”t want to come back.”
The only other Mustang student-athlete who entered the Naval Academy (and has since graduated) was Thomas Schmitz in 2002, according to Foltmer. Anderson, he said, was a leader on quite possibly his smartest team.
“Our football team had the highest GPA in Division IV NCS,” Foltmer said.
Anderson wanted to ensure that each of the individuals who played a role in his appointment received his personal thanks. They include his parents, First District Congressman Mike Thompson, who recommended him for the academy, Middletown principal Bill Roderick and vice principal Kevin McInerney for their assistance in the screening process, and all of his teachers and Middletown”s administrative staff for their “education, support and friendship.”
“Daniel”s been a quiet leader who leads by example and is a great role model for younger student-athletes,” Foltmer said.
