Steelers OT Opens Up About Life-Threatening Disease

PITTSBURGH — Calvin Anderson is set to occupy the swing tackle position for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2025. The 29-year-old offensive linemen is entering his second season with the organization and recently signed a new two-year contract to keep him here through 2026. Anderson has established himself as a respected veteran for his ability to step into multiple roles and positions when needed, but his story off the field has earned him even more respect and commendations from the NFL community.

The Steelers signed Anderson before the 2024 campaign and gave him a second chance at an NFL career. A year before, he was unsure if he would ever play professional football again. On a humanitarian trip to Nigeria with his wife before the 2023 campaign, Anderson contracted malaria. According to the World Health Organization, there are nearly 263 million cases of the deadly disease every year with just under 600,000 deaths.

Andersen took several months to recover from the effects, putting his career in jeopardy. He recently spoke with Nick Farabaugh of PennLive about the entire situation and the new lease on life it gave him.

“I kind of thought everything was falling apart, to be honest with you,” he said. “I felt like my career was obviously up in the air. You don’t have any guarantees in terms of your future if you can’t produce.”

Thankfully, Anderson was able to return for the 2023 regular season and start two games for the New England Patriots. That performance led him to the Steelers. Simultaneously, Andersen was setting his sights on something bigger: helping the greater Pittsburgh community. He and his wife, Sherree, began visualizing and planning the Lanihun-Anderson Foundation. The non-profit received its official launch in June of 2025 after several years of work.

The mission of the organization is to help fight poverty and bridge wealth gaps in underserved communities. The foundation identified four neighborhoods in the Pittsburgh area: Wilkinsburg, Hazelwood, Homewood and the Hill District as their starting points. They are focused on obtaining and helping those in need find shelter and working with the school districts on educational programs that can help achieve this goal.

“I feel like if you talk about trying to break the cycles of poverty the first thing you have to do is you have to try to understand,” he said. “You have to know what it is that I know or don’t know, and I think from that knowledge, you can start using your understanding of finance as a tool to break out of that cycle.”