What Drives Trevor Anderson? Inside the Journey of a Young Man, a Single Mother and their Faith that Lead them to MSU!

When you watch MSU DE Trevor Anderson on the field you see a young man who lives to give relentless pursuit of the QB. He loves to give the big hit and play

When you watch MSU DE Trevor Anderson on the field you see a young man who lives to give relentless pursuit of the QB. He loves to give the big hit and play the game that he so dearly loves.

Trevor Sacks Future #1 NFL Pick Matthew Stafford at the Capital One Bowl. Photo Courtesy of Bill Marklevits

It was, however, the love of his life, his mother Dionne Anderson that instilled that love in him. I talked with her about that. She told me, “Trevor didn’t want to play football at first. He was afraid to get hurt and didn’t want to be away from me. I made him play. I forced him to try it. He needed to get around men and get some contact. Pretty soon, he was playing out in the yard and putting up trashcans and chairs as defenders. I knew he was hooked when he would take pennies and draw up plays. So many parents kill their kid’s dreams and I wanted to do all I could to make his come alive.”

Trevor has a little bit different thought process. “Looking back I know that my Mom didn’t understand it all. She spent every part of her life dedicated to me. Coach Dantonio talks about what is important gets your time, and I got my mom’s. She is without a doubt my sweetheart.”

Trevor’s term of endearment about being a sweetheart is exactly how he feels. I asked him to expound on what he meant the first time he called her that to me. “My Mom taught me what real love is all about. She taught me by her actions. She is (selfless) and (he paused and said the didn’t want to cry) my whole world. I just don’t know if I could ever get married, what woman could me as much to me as my Mom?”

Trevor’s words brought tears to Dionne who said, “We’re close and it was just me and him. I determined that he wouldn’t be a statistic. Uncouth, no manners, and poorly uneducated are not things that will ever be spoke about my son. I would get on him to speak good English and to be a man. I made sure that he knew that football wasn’t the way out of what our life was, the Lord was. The Lord gave him football, but it isn’t football. Favor comes from God not man. When God puts you somewhere, bloom.  I wanted him to know that if he lived as a Godly man, favor would come at anything he chose to do. He loved football, but success can come to anyone who lives a Godly life and God will honor them.”

Dionne may not have raised Trevor in Beverly Hills or even Birmingham, Michigan, but she did teach her son to dream. “He says things and means them. I remember in elementary school that he was watching the money channels. He knew about the bear and bull markets, he wanted to be successful and told his teachers that he didn’t waste time on cartoons, he wanted to learn about stuff so one day when he had success he was prepared.” 

A story that Trevor laughs and says, “Did she have to say that? It’s true, it’s true, but I want more out of life and you can’t ask God to honor your hard work and then not prepare for it.”

Trevor is humbled when he hears the words his mother speaks about him. The reverence he shows her is truly remarkable. His trademark smile beams from ear to ear when he speaks of her, but it also turns to keen awareness when he hears the words she speaks about him. “My Mother has never been one to sugarcoat or make things easy. She loves me enough to see more for me and push me.”

“I wanted Trevor to understand that the Lord had to be number one. He could say that he was, he had to live that he was. I told his coaches that football is not a profession for him. He will be in church on Sunday and practice on Wednesday needed to end on time because he WOULD be in church,” was Dionne’s recollection of those early years.

How Trevor came to MSU from Detroit via Cincinnati Bearcats is a great story in and of itself and one Dionne loves to tell. It all started when Mark Dantonio recruited Trevor to be Bearcat. “Mark Dantonio is an honorable man. He first came to my son and never talked about football. He wanted to know about Trevor’s relationship with the Lord. Not if he went to church, he wanted to know if Trevor KNEW the Lord. When he recruits it isn’t about him. When he shared his faith with me, he had me. His face lit up and when he told me about his relationship with the Lord, I knew that he was a Godly man. You can’t fake what he said. He loves my son. I have no doubts that Mark Dantonio loves my son as his own. It is a deep and caring love. That is why he wanted to come to MSU. He loves my son and my son loves him. Coach Dantonio told Trevor not to come to MSU (after Coach was hired at MSU and left the Bearcats). He told Trevor that he couldn’t follow a man. MSU came to Coach Dantonio and he didn’t search them out. He knew that this was God’s plan for his life and he did all he could do to discourage him.”

Little did Mark Dantonio know that as he told the Andersons that God had led him to MSU, God had also laid some things months before on Trevor’s heart. “Trevor told me before the season started that he thought Coach Dantonio was leaving. He said that he felt God will elevate him and take him somewhere for being faithful. So when Coach Dantonio tried to discourage Trevor, he knew it in his heart like Coach Dantonio did. Coach Dantonio knew if he could discourage Trevor from coming to MSU, that God hadn’t called him there. He couldn’t and Trevor followed.”

Dionne’s appreciation for the MSU coaching staff goes a lot deeper and farther than just the common faith they share. “These coaches aren’t about staying eligible. They are about degrees. They know they have to win, but degrees are precious and treated like it. Some kids will play and some won’t, but that degree means it all. This staff reinforces that it is important to love the Lord, love your family, and to give your best and get that degree. I thought I was hard on doing well in school until Trevor made it clear that they are harder on him now than even I was.”

Sadly sometimes, you hear of coaching staffs that see kids simply as meat. Who put football as such a high priority that nothing else matters? Sadly, that leaves once prized recruits sitting on the sidelines after their career with unfulfilled dreams. That is why Dionne Anderson is so proud of the men who lead Spartan football.

“It helps that this staff lives values and not just talks about them. They aren’t afraid to pull the reins and keep the players in line. You see them all talking about school, you see their families around the football team as these young men learn how to be fathers. You see them hug each other and show tough love. Now, don’t you go sending your kids to play for Coach Dantonio if you aren’t serious about them getting a degree and becoming better men. No way. When you son plays for them, he becomes their son. I have talked to a couple of parents of new players and I always say it is the best place for a young man to go. If they want to be lazy and not work, if they just want to play sports and not go to school, go somewhere else. Playing for Coach Dantonio and this staff isn’t about parties and girls, and it certainly isn’t about just football. They make men, they make students, and then football players. Don’t call them to tell them how to coach, they can do it, and will do it. This isn’t about messing around; this is about real life. It isn’t for everybody, if your kid isn’t here for businesses go somewhere else. If you want your son to be a man, have a degree, and get the most out of his football talent then you’d be crazy to go somewhere else.” 

As Trevor approaches the end of his career at MSU, Dionne looks forward to him holding a degree in his hand. “That will mean so much. I don’t know how long I will cry, but it will be a blessed day. More blessed than anything he has done on the football field.”

Trevor sees it the same way, but with a little bit different perspective. “When I get my degree I will be so proud of my mom. I will take it and hand it to her. It will benefit me my whole life, but that is because of her.”

What memories of a football career being over will stick out for Dionne? “When Coach Dantonio came to our house for his first visit, he had him ready to jump over the couch. Before he left we had laughed, cried, and were ready to play football just because of who that man was. Coach Dantonio told me that he loved my son’s soft and gentle heart. Coach Dantonio saw Trevor for what he would become and not for what he could see.”

Dionne Anderson is truly the sweetheart of Trevor. Sadly, we don’t honor parents who do an extraordinary job raising fine young men in extraordinary tough circumstances. She may not ever be on the cover of Sports Illustrated, but ask Trevor and he will tell you that Dionne Anderson is the All American Mom.

 This article was reprinted from Spartan Nation Magazine. If you have not signed up for a FREE subscription, you can email us now: SpartanNationMail@yahoo.com and get signed up today.