Wake Forest Athletics News
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Gold Rush: 100% Cotten
Oct. 6, 2002
by Stan Cotten It's been more than 30 years now since we lost Brian Piccolo. It's hard to believe it's been that long, but his story of courage and determination are as fresh as ever. And so is the enthusiasm and play of Wake Forest redshirt freshman Dominic Anderson who, despite being a defensive back on the rise at Wake Forest, is walking where Piccolo once did. Piccolo's steps are easily traced. After leading the nation in both rushing (1,044 yards) and scoring (111 points) in 1964, Piccolo earned All-America status. He also became the second Demon Deacon to be named ACC Player of the Year. After leading Wake Forest in rushing for three consecutive seasons, Piccolo moved on to the NFL where, for four years, he played for the Chicago Bears. After being diagnosed with cancer, Brian Piccolo died in 1970. No Deacon will ever wear No. 31 again. Piccolo's number has been retired. He was inducted into the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame in 1971. The stadium at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Hollywood, Fla., bears Piccolo's name. Piccolo starred for the Raiders before heading to Wake Forest and the ACC. And so did Dominic Anderson. Surely Anderson reminded some of the old timers in South Florida of Piccolo. As a junior, Anderson rushed for 179 yards in the state championship game as St. Thomas Aquinas won the state title. He totaled 1,350 yards that season and was named first team All-Florida. Anderson missed almost half of his senior season with an ankle injury but he still amassed 871 rushing yards and scored 15 touchdowns. Anderson obviously knew about Brian Piccolo. But somewhere along the line he missed one key fact. "Piccolo was - is - a legend in my part of Florida," Anderson says. "But I had no idea he went to college at Wake Forest. The first idea I had that he did was when I moved into Piccolo Hall when I got to campus. Knowing that Piccolo played at Wake Forest makes home seem a little closer." After a redshirt season in 2001, Anderson was moved from running back to safety. It'll be awfully hard to follow in Brian Piccolo's footsteps playing defensive back, but Anderson is still holding out hope that he still may get the chance. "It's not permanent," says Anderson of the switch to the secondary. "I'm just doing what the coaches have asked me to do and trying to get on the field. But it's not permanent." Maybe it wasn't meant to be a switch that would stick, but Anderson's play on the field may dictate that Anderson is now, and forever will be, a safety. "He made three huge tackles in the fourth quarter at Purdue with the game on the line," Coach Jim Grobe admits. "He certainly helped us win that game. He had to make those very difficult one-on-one tackles in the open field, and two of them kept the Boilermakers from getting first downs that could have easily led to field goals that would have tied or even beaten us." "Oh my goodness were his tackles big." Sound like a coach that is going put Anderson back on offense any time soon to you? Me either. Dominic Anderson will likely never be the most famous running back to hail from St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Hollywood, Fla., who went on to play at Wake Forest. But if he continues to help the Deacs win big games by making "huge" tackles in the fourth quarter with the game on the line, he just might be the most famous defensive back to follow Brian Piccolo's famous footsteps from Hollywood to Winston-Salem. Stan Cotton is the "Voice of the Deacons." |