Former U-M football player calls late sports Dr. Robert Anderson the ultimate sexual predator; says Bo knew
FOX 2 - In a tearful interview, former University of Michigan football player Chuck Christian touched on the lasting impact of the sexual abuse he and his teammates suffered at the hands of the late school physician Robert Anderson.
"It's not something that happened when we were 18 and that was it," he said. "This thing is affecting us now because of what he did to us affected the men that we became.
"Three of my friends were telling me that Anderson that they felt Anderson took their manhood and they tried to sleep with multiple women to try to recapture their manhood and that's what they tried to do, but they couldn't do it. And now these guys are on their second and third and fourth marriages."
Christian says he and some of his teammates developed a strong distrust for medical professionals and their health suffered because of it. He says some died.
Christian is living with stage four prostate cancer which could have been prevented with a rectal exam, something Christian could not stomach because of what Anderson did to him in college.
"This is the kind of stuff that people don’t know about," he said. "They don’t realize that we went through this kind of stuff and it’s still affecting us years and years and years and decades down the road."
![Chuck Christian played for U-M from 1977 to 1981.](https://images.foxtv.com/static.fox2detroit.com/www.fox2detroit.com/content/uploads/2021/06/932/524/chuck-christian2.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Chuck Christian played for U-M from 1977 to 1981.
Christian played for U-M from 1977 to 1981, helping the Wolverines win the Rose Bowl that year. He recently shared a no holds barred account of his four years of sexual abuse by Anderson.
Roughly a thousand students reported Anderson sexually abused them during visits, check-ups and physicals.
"He always concluded it with inserting his finger into our rectums," he said.
Christian says players who refused to see Anderson for treatment, were not allowed to practice.
He adds that coaches and trainers were well aware of what Anderson was doing to their players and often joked about it.
RELATED: Investigation: University of Michigan failed to address reports about doctor who assaulted hundreds
He’s convinced renowned football coach Bo Schembechler knew as well.
"If a player flunked a class, Bo knew, if a player got a speeding ticket, Bo knew," he said. "He would brag and laugh that he knew everything. So we knew Bo knew what we were going through. Bo knew. Yet, he didn’t stop it."