Jim Harbaugh: Former Michigan physician accused of sexual assault was our family doctor - Detroit Free Press

Orion Sang Detroit Free Press

Published 3:25 PM EDT Jul 8, 2020

Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh says he never "saw anything inappropriate" or heard anything inappropriate about former doctor Robert Anderson, who worked at the university from 1968 to 2003 and has been accused by dozens of sexual abuse.

Anderson, who died in 2008, was a team doctor who worked for the program under former coaches Bo Schembechler and Lloyd Carr. Harbaugh played at Michigan under Schembechler from 1983 to 1986, and his father, Jack Harbaugh, was an assistant coach under Schembechler from 1973 to 1979.

"Dr. Anderson was our family doctor for us as kids, I was 9 or 10 years old, Dr. Anderson, Dr. Graves was the other family doctor," Jim Harbaugh said Wednesday during a Zoom call with reporters. "Those two doctors. And then also when I played here at Michigan, Dr. Anderson was the team doctor. Took a physical for every youth sport that I played and also when I was here in college for football, yearly physical.

"Never saw anything inappropriate, nor did I ever hear anything that was inappropriate about Dr. Anderson. Never experienced anything inappropriate, never heard any time where there was anything inappropriate by Dr. Anderson."

Read: Ex-medical student's assault story may reveal how U-M doctor fooled patients

More: Former University of Michigan gymnast says doctor assaulted him in 1969

Anderson, who also was former director of the University Health Service, allegedly abused students and athletes during medical exams. The university previously said it was notified of the issue when a former student athlete wrote to athletic director Warde Manuel (who also played under Schembechler at Michigan) about Anderson's abuse that took place during the early 1970s. 

On May 1, the university admitted assaults occurred and was willing to pay accusers, but insisted lawsuits must be tossed out.

More: Warde Manuel mishandled Dr. Robert Anderson complaint by sending it to lawyers

Chuck Christian, who played on the football team from 1977 to 1980, became the first football player to tell the public Anderson had abused him. Christian told reporters he wasn't aware anyone on the team had ever issued a complaint to Schembechler or then-athletic director Donald Canham. 

“I loved my years there,” Christian told the Free Press. “They were some of the greatest years of my life. It’s just unfortunate that Dr. Anderson has left this stain on my memory of this school. But it was him. It wasn’t the overall program. It was one bad apple.”

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Anderson is currently being investigated by the university. More than 100 people have called a hotline seeking information on him, while a federal lawsuit has also been filed against Anderson in the U.S. District Court in Detroit. 

Contact Orion Sang at osang@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @orion_sang. Read more on the Michigan Wolverines and sign up for our Wolverines newsletter.

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