Duron Carter is like so many American football players before him, and like so many that will follow him. After a failed attempt to make the NFL, Carter arrived north of the border; the CFL offering him a chance to hone his game, put some plays on tape, and make his way back onto the NFL’s radar.
But Carter insists he wasn’t just using the CFL as a means to an end; a quick stop on his journey towards the ultimate goal. It just happened to work out that way.
“I just wanted to play. I was happy for real in Canada,” Carter told TSN.ca, recalling his initial thoughts when he landed in Montreal in 2013.
“I didn’t play that much in college so I was happy to be out there playing in the games, having the fans out there, and scoring touchdowns. The NFL was always a thought of mine but I was just so happy to be playing that it didn’t really occur until the end of this past season.”
Carter's CFL Statistics
| Year | Receptions | Yards | Average | Long | Touchdowns |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 49 | 909 | 18.6 | 71 | 5 |
| 2014 | 75 | 1,030 | 13.7 | 64 | 7 |
Carter signed a two-year deal with the Montreal Alouettes in 2013, standard issue for players new to the league. Then just 22-years-old, he started on the team’s practice roster before making his regular season debut in Week 9. He went on to finish his rookie season with 49 catches for 909 yards and five touchdowns before eclipsing the 1,000-yard mark in his first full season in 2014, finishing with 75 catches for 1,030 yards and seven scores.
"I've thrown to a lot of receivers, but I have never thrown to a guy as tall as he is and as rangy as he is that can do the small things as well as he can. He adds a different portion to the game that definitely needs to be seen on Sundays." – Troy Smith to cleveland.com
Praise from teammates during Carter’s two-year tenure with the Alouettes was effusive. Former Als QB Troy Smith, who has 20 career NFL games to his name, said Carter’s play “needs to be seen on Sundays” while teammate and outspoken former NFL Pro Bowler Chad Johnson called him “easily a No. 1 NFL receiver.”
Pretty strong comments from @ochocinco . He says free agent WR Duron Carter, his CFL teammate, is "easily, a No. 1 NFL receiver right now."
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) January 7, 2015
While Carter said he wasn’t thinking about the NFL until the end of this past year, there was someone who always was.
“Jim Popp all the way. He never even approached me about a second contract or anything. His goal was always to get me into the NFL. He was always talking to teams, talking me up.”
“I really appreciated that from him. It was really unselfish on his part, him being the GM and everything. I owe a lot of my success to him, and where I’m at right now to him.”
Carter signed a three year, $1.575 million deal, $25,000 guaranteed, with the Indianapolis Colts in early February this year after reported interest from as many as 15 teams and private workouts with seven. The pass catcher said he chose the Colts for an opportunity to work with Andrew Luck and what he called a great receiving corps.
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As the son of Hall of Fame receiver Cris Carter and with (albeit modest) experience at two of the biggest collegiate football programs in the United States – Ohio State and Alabama – Carter’s deal with the Colts was a dream come true.
For someone who grew up thinking NFL or bust, Carter admittedly had little knowledge of Canadian football just a couple years ago.
“When I got cut from the Vikings,” Carter said was the first time he’d even heard of the league. “I had never seen a CFL play before I got up to Montreal.”
After going undrafted out of college in 2013, he worked out for Dad’s Minnesota Vikings but was not offered a contract. It was at that time another famous football GM got his path to the CFL started.
“It was Bill Parcells. He called my dad because he knew somebody in Edmonton actually. He called them up and they tried to get my rights.”
“But when I was suspended from Alabama, coach Popp and the Alouettes had attained my rights. So when the Eskimos called, Popp said, ‘no, I’m not trading him.’ Edmonton tried to trade for me and everything but he wouldn’t give up my rights.”
The Alouettes GM was clearly intrigued with Carter’s potential and the young receiver soon became one of Popp’s favourites.
“He really just saw my talent and mentored me into being a better professional, a better person, and a better football player; just always giving me the little hints.”
“All the receivers always called me Popp’s baby; I was his project,” Carter laughed.
Due to eligibility issues, Carter bounced around a lot during his collegiate career. One of the top ranked high school receivers of his year, Carter went to father Cris’ alma mater Ohio State. He logged one promising season with the Buckeyes before academic issues forced him to a junior college. Carter also spent time with Alabama and Florida Atlantic but never played a regular season game with either.
Carter's Collegiate Statistics
| Year | Team | Receptions | Yards | Average | Touchdowns |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Ohio State | 13 | 176 | 13.5 | 1 |
Carter left college with very little game tape and a reputation for being immature. He was never pegged as a bad guy, just someone that had to grow up a little. His time with Popp and the Alouettes helped him do so.
“In the CFL, anybody can come in and take your spot, the roster is always changing. It was a lot more serious in keeping a job.”
“Just the urgency of being a professional athlete, coming in and doing your job with no mistakes. You could be fired at any time. You come in the locker room and a dude you kicked it with and talked to and all of a sudden he’s gone. It’s a real eye opener in the sense that you have to stay humble, stay grounded, and keep on working every day.”
The changes in mentality of course weren’t the only ones Carter faced north of the border. While he’d been playing football his entire life, heading to the CFL meant one less down and one more player on each side of the ball.
“Down south it’s more a receiver’s league where they call pass interference all the time.”
“The defensive backs (in the CFL) used to be more physical,” Carter said, acknowledging the new rules being implemented this upcoming season.
“Really, my first year was a hard adjustment; adjusting to the physical play, the rules and everything, and just figuring out what I could and couldn’t do.”
But once accustomed to the rules, Carter said Canadian football is comparable to the American game
“I wouldn’t say that there’s a huge difference between the talent; maybe in the top players or top one player at a position.”
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Carter was one of 10 former CFL players to sign a deal with an NFL club this off-season. Those 10 join 15 active players with CFL experience currently on NFL rosters throughout the league with a handful more still looking for work as free agents.
Rivalries are bound to develop between opponents in as small a league as the CFL, but Carter said there’s a fraternity amongst the league’s alum trying to make it in the NFL.
“Of course. Any time you’ve played against somebody, you have that chemistry or that a rivalry. And it’s us paving the way for more players to come up.”
One thing all 10 hopefuls this season have in common, they know the success stories.
“When somebody brings up the CFL to me, those are the first people that they know,” Carter said, referring to Pro Bowlers like Cam Wake and Brandon Browner. “It’s great; they sort of paved the way for me. I would definitely want to take after Cam Wake.”
Wake totaled 39 sacks and two Most Outstanding Defensive Player awards in two years with the BC Lions
before carrying that success into the NFL, piling up 63 sacks and four Pro Bowls in six seasons with the Miami Dolphins. Browner likewise has All-Star nods both north and south of the border while others like punter Jon Ryan, who won a Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks in 2014, and Jerrell Freeman, who has led Carter’s Colts in tackles over the past three seasons, have carved out notable careers for themselves in the NFL.
If Carter is to become the next Wake or Browner – the next CFL success story in the NFL – he said he’d love for his story to inspire the next guy looking for a chance; the next Duron Carter.
“Hopefully some players see my decision straight out of college; if they don’t get drafted they go to the CFL and try to do that route.”
And if Carter happens to find that next potential star, just looking for a chance?
“I have Coach Popp right on speed dial,” Carter laughed.
Carter began off-season workouts with the Colts late last month. He’s part of a talented Colts receiving corps that includes Pro Bowlers TY Hilton and Andre Johnson, promising sophomore Donte Moncrief, and this year’s first round pick Phillip Dorsett, a high school teammate of Carter’s.
