WATS-ON MY MIND: Drafted by different teams, defensive tackle David Carter and his brother remain an inseparable team
Former defensive tackle David Carter was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the sixth round of this year’s NFL draft. Carter played four years for the Bruins but only started in his redshirt senior season. Carter’s brother, Chris, was also selected in the draft after playing his college ball at Fresno State.
By Brantley Watson
May 9, 2011 11:56 p.m.
I believe I was around 6 years old when I was first asked the question.
“Kids, write down on your paper what you want to be when you grow up,” said my teacher whose name I know but can’t remember how to spell.
“Prefeshinal baskitball player.”
I wasn’t the speller that I am now when I was 6.
More often than not, young boys have the vision of being a superstar athlete when they grow up, mixed in with being an astronaut and cowboy, of course.
But as we all know, the chances of actually becoming a professional athlete are slim, as the top American sports leagues, the NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL, are among the most competitive professional organizations in our nation.
So when someone does make his or her dream of becoming a professional athlete come true, that is a moment to celebrate that person’s accomplishments.
But in the case of David Carter, his family had a much larger celebration than ever expected on April 30.
“Going to the NFL alone is like hitting the lottery,” Carter said, a four-year defensive tackle for UCLA. “For both of my parents’ sons to go into the NFL, on the same day, within 10 minutes of each other, it was crazy. We were all freaking out. My mom almost passed out. Someone had to catch her. My girlfriend did pass out.”
In the fifth round of the 2011 NFL draft, Carter’s younger brother, Chris Carter, an outside linebacker for Fresno State, was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers with the 162nd pick, and David heard his name called 22 picks later, in the sixth round at 184th overall by the Arizona Cardinals.
“Prefeshinal footbal player.”
I don’t know how well the Carters could spell, but what they wrote on the paper came to fruition.
Those who follow the NBA, NFL and other pro sports leagues know the anxiety that comes along with a player waiting for his name to be called in the draft. We hear stories all the time of guys being told they would be picked in the top 10 and they end up dropping lower than Beyonce in the “Single Ladies” video.
But when it came to David and his brother, something unusual happened in that it wasn’t his own anxiety that David was dealing with.
“Waiting for Chris’ name to be called was harder than waiting for my name to be called because I knew I was going to be called between the fifth and seventh round,” David explained. “Chris was supposed to be called between the second and fifth rounds. So we were just waiting the whole second day, then the whole third day, just on pins and needles.”
That statement goes a long way in describing the relationship that the Carter brothers had growing up, which, with the way David explained it, sounds more like the “Carter Besties.”
Watching the way my nephews operate around each other, being roughly a year and a half apart, just like David and Chris, I’m conditioned to believe that close siblings can’t help but avoid the curse of the sibling rivalry. They constantly bicker as if they are guest starring on “Maury” 24 hours a day, and I don’t see it ending anytime soon.
It’s not the same with David and Chris.
“I never go against my brother in any way,” David said. “I want his team to do good, but I want him to do great. I want him to do the best. I want him to make 100 tackles a game, and I don’t want anybody else to make any. I’ll never have a sibling rivalry with my brother, ever.
“We’ve always been best friends and partners in crime.”
Hopefully, one day, Lord willing, my nephews will harness the love and respect that David and Chris have for each other.
Oh, excuse me, sentimental moment.
Moving on.
“There was a time in junior high school where some guys tried to jump Chris, and I had to come in and help him out,” reminisced David. “And then sometimes when I would get into fights, Chris would come in and help me out. So nobody wanted to mess with us because if you mess with one of us, you mess with both of us.”
The Carters as a tandem may have worked in the past, but now both David and his brother are set to travel distinctly different paths.
But according to David, going to different colleges helped to mature him and Chris in terms of operating apart from one another, and the Carters are looking to still affect the football world as a duo, even on different teams.
“We want to be historical in the NFL,” David said. “When they mention the NFL and the best players, we want them to mention the Carter brothers.”
In David’s case, much of the onus during the Carter brothers’ college careers has gone to Chris, but that has not affected the older of the two in the least bit.
His plan isn’t to prove that he is as valuable as Chris, but that every team that passed on selecting him will know exactly what they missed out on come the end of his career.
“I’m going to go up (to Arizona) and bust my ass,” David said. “I’m going to put in work and make everybody wish they had drafted me earlier.
“I don’t really care about where Arizona drafted me, but I want to just let them know they got a steal.”
