C.J. Anderson can get revenge on 2 teams that cut him

It’s Revenge Week across the SB Nation NFL blogs. This week you’ll see a bunch of coverage regarding potential revenge games in 2019 or other revenge-related content.

C.J. Anderson has had to prove himself every step of the way. As an undrafted rookie out of California, he forged his own NFL career. Nothing was given to him. Despite an early injury, Anderson not only made the team his rookie year, but even managed to make a few game appearances.

The very next season, Anderson exploded onto the scene, rushing for 849 yards, 4.7 per carry and eight touchdowns. Over the next few years, Anderson would enjoy a complementary role in the Broncos offense until 2016, when he was due to become the team’s starter. Unfortunately, an injury cut his season short after seven games. He quickly bounced back with his first 1,000-yard season the next year. How did the Broncos reward him? By cutting him the following offseason.

Since then, he’s bounced around doing replacement work for the Panthers, Raiders and Rams. He’s had to prove himself at every level, and he’s done a pretty darn good job at it. He’s a career 4.5 yards per carry rusher and has never finished a single season below the 4.0 YPC mark.

But it can’t be easy with the constant threat of the axe hovering over his head at all times. He was cut by his long-time team in the Broncos after the franchise failed to trade him late in the offseason. Last year, he was cut midseason by both the Panthers and Raiders. And although it appears the Rams tried to re-sign him this offseason, he was again forced to switch teams for the fourth time in less than two years.

Anderson hasn’t forgotten those teams:

Now Anderson is in Detroit, and he seems to be very happy with where he landed.

“I just think that meshes well when you start adding Darrell Bevell and what he’s done in the past in Minnesota and Seattle with AP and Marshawn Lynch, Thomas Rawls, you can name back after back,” Anderson told MLive’s Nate Atkins. “It was a perfect fit.”

And whether it’s on his mind or not, Anderson will also get the opportunity for revenge in 2019. On the Lions’ schedule are two teams that have recently cut him: Week 9 at the Oakland Raiders and Week 16 at the Denver Broncos.

For the Broncos, it will be Anderson’s first game against the team that helped blossom his career. But with the way things ended—him being released after a 1,000-yard season and well after free agency—Anderson would be more than justified to still hold some anger two years later.

For the Raiders, it’s an opportunity to prove to Jon Gruden and company that they didn’t even give him a fair shot. Anderson spent just a week on Oakland’s roster before they sent him packing.

But has Anderson really thought about those teams that cut him? Does he really have revenge on his mind? The media sometimes drums up storylines like this, and many players don’t take it personally, accepting the business side of the NFL. Maybe Anderson doesn’t even ca—oh...

The C.J. Anderson Revenge Tour starts on November 3.