Stephen Anderson is an American football tight end for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at California and signed with the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent in 2016. He has also played for the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Chargers.
Anderson was one of 15 tight ends to receive an invitation to attend the NFL combine. Although he primarily played wide receiver at Cal, he chose to transition to tight end. He was limited to performing the bench press, vertical jump, and broad jump due to a hamstring injury. Anderson was the lightest tight end and tied UCLA’s Thomas Duarte as the shortest of the tight ends at 6’2″. Among his position group at the combine, he finished first in the vertical jump (38″), fourth in the broad jump (9’11”), and tenth in the bench press (16).
On September 6, 2018, Anderson was signed to the New England Patriots’ practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on January 8, 2019. Anderson won Super Bowl LIII after the Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Rams 13–3. He was waived during final roster cuts on August 31, 2019. He was signed to the practice squad a day later. On September 9, 2019, he was released from the practice squad.
On September 11, 2019, Anderson was signed to the Los Angeles Chargers practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on October 1, 2019. He was waived on October 12 and re-signed to the practice squad. He signed a futures contract with the Chargers on December 30, 2019.
Anderson re-signed with the Chargers to a one-year contract on March 22, 2021. On April 4, 2022, Anderson signed with the Arizona Cardinals on a one-year contract.