Kicker: A special talent

MARY REICHARD, HOST: New York Jets rookie offensive lineman Calvin Anderson has a special talent other than football. 

He can solve a Rubik’s cube in about 30 seconds! 

But that’s not all. He can solve it behind his back or blindfolded! 

The Associated Press tweeted a video of Anderson doing exactly that. He studied the cube for a moment, then held it behind his back. He solved it in 33 seconds! 

Anderson says it’s all about math.

ANDERSON: If you see the colors and you transfer them to numbers — which I’ve always been good with numbers. I’m not like a big picture guy, but I can remember numbers. Numbers are easy for me — then when you fold the cube back together, everytime you mix it up, the numbers are always correlated the same way.

Anderson’s grandfather loved sudoku puzzles. He saw similarities between those and Rubik’s Cubes.

ANDERSON: So it’s literally, I just see numbers in my head while I’m doing it. It’s a little different, but it’s interesting. I don’t know, it’s interesting to me! It helps me with the way I learn and stuff.

Anderson’s a smart guy. Degrees in mathematical economics and religion. Football came later.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

(AP Photo/Dennis Waszak) In this image taken from video, New York Jets rookie offensive lineman Calvin Anderson works on a Rubik’s Cube behind his back at the NFL football team’s practice facility in Florham Park, N.J., Sunday, July 28, 2019. 

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