Walter H. Anderson
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Sport:
Multiple |
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Year
Graduated: 1950
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Year
Inducted: 1961 |
The former Hingham High football coach ranks high on the
list of Boston University's three-sport athletes. The grid
mentor was a versatile high school and college competitor,
partaking in football, baseball, and hockey. His career at
Boston University (1946-50) included three seasons as a varsity
starter in football and baseball, and an All-American hockey
nomination in 1950.
His high school prowess earned him All-State selection in
football and hockey in 1943, his senior year at Waltham High.
Following his high school graduation, 17-year-old Walt Anderson
enlisted in the Navy and saw action in the Pacific Theatre
during World War II.
In 1946, he enrolled at B.U. For three years running (1947-49),
he was a starting defensive end. The fact that he was only
5-11 and weighed 172 never bothered Walt. His coach, Buff
Donelli, tried each fall to replace Walt with a bigger man,
but he could never do it. Steve Sinko was Donelli's line coach
at the time. Sinko simply says, "Walt was the best defensive
end I've ever had."
Anderson's best sport in college was hockey. In 1950 when
the Terriers went to the NCAA championships and lost in the
final four to Colorado College, he was good enough to make
first team All-America. In 1948 the BU NEWS honored him as
their "Athlete of the Year."
Following his 1950 graduation from BU, Anderson spent three
years at Ayer High School as Athletic Director and then moved
on to the University of Maine. At Maine, he was a member of
the football and baseball coaching staffs for two years. He
returned to BU in 1956 and served on the coaching staff for
two seasons before taking the head job at Hingham High.
