FOXBORO, Mass. -- If the Patriots ever decide to put their players through a talent show, nobody is beating Calvin Anderson.
The veteran offensive tackle met with reporters Thursday for the first time since signing with New England in March. He gave some great answers, including offering his thoughts on O-line coach Adrian Klemm and opening up about his brief stint with the Patriots in 2020 after signing as an undrafted free agent. But he saved the best for last.
Just before leaving the podium, Anderson revealed he can solve a Rubik's Cube behind his back. A mathematical Economics Analysis major at Rice University, Anderson signed a brand ambassadorship with Rubik's after developing a new method of solving the cube blindfolded. He can solve the cube in around 20 seconds or less, either behind his back or the normal way.
Anderson explained his methodology, melting the brains of math-allergic Patriots reporters in the process. You can view the full transcript below.
Anderson: "Also, this might be cool for you. I don't know if you guys know this, I still have to show the guys ... but I can solve a Rubik's Cube behind my back. I don't know if any of you guys know that. One of these times I'll bring it in."
Question: How do you do that?
Anderson: "It's a long, complicated explanation. ... My rookie year, I actually signed a brand ambassadorship with Rubik's -- first pro athlete ever. And it's because I came up with a different way to solve it blindfolded. This is gonna sound so nerdy, but, there's a subsect of guys who solve the Rubik's Cube, people who solve the Rubik's cube, that do it without looking. And there's a couple different ways to do it. I came up with a new way."
Question: Can you feel anything? If you can't see colors, how do you…
Anderson: "Not feeling. It's more about memorization and a little bit of probability and some math involved. So, do you guys remember matrices from back in the day? So, you try to store the numbers ... you number the cube off as if you were numbering a phone. And then if you think about sudoku, sudoku has nine boxes, each box has nine smaller boxes. You're trying to get one through nine in the box while getting one through nine across three boxes -- and, preferably, down three boxes. So, if you think about the cube, each individual box you can think about as a sudoku box. So, instead of the colors, you can think of them as numbers, then you wrap the sudoku boxes around in that cube form. And then you can remember the numbers because they're always correlated to another side with numbers. So, for example, a corner piece would be three on one side, a nine on one side and then a one on one side. So, it's three, nine, one -- no matter where it's mixed up when you mix up the cube. So, then you remember the numbers in two sets of matrices. One of them is a three-by-two, and one of them is a two-by-two for the middle-stripe pieces. And then you know, there's a whole bunch of explanation left, it involves some probability, but that's the general basis of how you do it."
Question: Do you remember your fastest times behind the back or in front?
Anderson: "My fastest time regular, without the behind the back, is 13 seconds -- 13-point-something. And then blindfolded, probably in the 20s. But there's guys in the world who can do it in four seconds, so I'm not up there."
In case you don't believe him, here's video proof of Anderson solving a Rubik's Cube behind his back:
No big deal!
Whether Anderson proves to be an effective offensive tackle for the Patriots remains to be seen. But he already might be the most interesting player on the roster.
