After high school, the options that David Anaya had to continue his football career weren’t great.
Anaya had offers from a few Division II schools and junior colleges, but he didn’t want to go to a small university. His goal was to go Division I and play among the country’s best athletes.
That goal didn’t look promising, until UNM head coach Bob Davie decided to sit down and watch a tape of Anaya. Davie liked what he saw and contacted Anaya about coming to the University of New Mexico.
The offer to play at UNM intrigued Anaya, and he decided that his best option was to walk-on to the program in 2012.
“I wanted to go D-I first of all, and UNM had always been in my mind,” he said. “All of my brothers have gone to New Mexico State, so I wanted to create this sibling rivalry by going here.”
After having one of the best high school careers in New Mexico history at Goddard High in Roswell, Anaya came to UNM with no guarantees of playing time.
However, with a limited number of players at Davie’s disposal because of a high attrition rate, Anaya played in all 13 games as a freshman and even earned two starts at running back when UNM started with a two-back set.
Anaya eventually worked his way toward earning a full scholarship after the 2013 season.
“It was a humbling experience, walking on and having to earn everything that I’ve gotten,” he said. “It’s also that kind of thing that I play with these guys and really play anybody in the country. That confidence has really carried me to do this.”
Anaya’s drive to succeed came from an entirely different sport. At first, he wanted to play basketball in high school, but he quickly realized it wasn’t his game.
He then chose to wrestle after talking to his middle school coach Mike Guerrero, who told him that it would improve his strength for football.
However, it was Goddard wrestling coach Jaime Martinez that would help Anaya become one of the better wrestlers in the state. Anaya became the first wrestler in Goddard history to place every year at State, and he eventually became a state champion at 185 pounds in 2011.
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“Martinez (was) the one that instilled (in) me ... that nothing comes easy,” Anaya said. “He put that dog mentality and that winning mentality in my mind. That’s what really pushed me over the edge in wrestling.”
His mentality helped him accept his role at UNM. The running back never had more than 30 carries in a season, but played an integral role on special teams throughout his career.
In the Lobos’ 14-13 win over Utah State this year, Anaya forced a fumble on a punt return that led to a touchdown and recovered Carlos Wiggins’ fumble in the fourth quarter, preventing the Aggies from starting at good field position.
“Winning is kind of my mentality,” Anaya said. “All I want to do is win, whether it’s getting the ball on special teams or getting the ball on offense.”
Davie said he’s grateful for everything that Anaya has done for the Lobos.
“It’s going to be hard to replace David Anaya,” Davie said. “I was jogging yesterday and thinking about how David Anaya won’t be here next year. You think about all the things he’s done for us. He’s an incredible kid and an incredible player.”
Thomas Romero-Salas is the culture editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @ThomasRomeroS.
