Football

Georgia fans organize 'pink out' for Arkansas State head coach Blake Anderson's late wife Wendy

By Joshua Doering Sep 13, 2019
Wendy Anderson, wife of Arkansas State head coach Blake Anderson (left) in 2017. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

When Arkansas State travels to face Georgia on Saturday afternoon in Athens, Ga., Sanford Stadium will be full of pink in honor of Wendy Anderson, the late wife of Arkansas State head coach Blake Anderson.

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A Georgia-based charity called Bulldogs Battling Breast Cancer helped organize a “pink out” in memory of Wendy, who passed away after a two-year battle with breast cancer on Aug. 19.

“It’s a completely genuine, classy gesture from people that don’t know you. Very surprising and obviously very much appreciated,” Anderson told reporters. “Just caught me off guard, to be honest with you. Teared me up. I wasn’t expecting it, and extremely flattered and thankful for those folks and so many others that have stepped up in so many different ways.”

Last month, Blake joined the Sports Spectrum Podcast and talked about how important his and Wendy’s faith in Christ had been during her battle with cancer.

“There’s a lot of times I really don’t know what to ask for or what to say, and I just kind of cling to Romans 8:26-27,” Anderson said on the podcast. “I know the Holy Spirit will intercede.”

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.” — Romans 8:26-27

Despite the circumstances, Anderson and his family continued to place their trust in God.

“It’s just where God’s got us at this point,” he said. “It’s easy to lead young men and other families and couples that we can walk in Christ [with] when things are going great. But when adversity strikes, how are you going to manage it? We’re just trying to walk as faithfully and as strongly as we possibly can.”

Anderson took a leave of absence, starting the day Wendy passed, to be with her and the couple’s three kids — Coleton, Cason and Callie. He returned to the team last Saturday, leading the Red Wolves to a 43-17 win over UNLV.

Saturday’s game kicks off at 12 p.m. ET and will be televised on ESPN2.

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