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For Pat Carter, college stardom and the NFL beckon.
By CHRIS ZUPPA
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 9, 2003
Sometimes, dreams are imagined before they are understood.
Pat Carter remembers when the seed for his dream was planted. He was 5, watching NFL games with his father and three older brothers after Sunday-morning church. Pat was too young to understand professional football or even like it that much. To him, it was too organized. There wasn't much action, so it was difficult to pay attention. At the same time, he thought: "I want to play in the NFL."
When Carter was a little older and playing for organized teams, he and his brother Tim would practice in the street. The brothers emulated their heroes while they tossed the football. Pat would pretend that his passes had Joe Montana's accuracy, and Tim would pretend that he had Jerry Rice's sure hands.
"Hey, Joe, throw me the ball," Tim would say to Pat.
"Hey, Rice, go deep," Pat would say to Tim.
Years later, Carter, 18, is inside Bobby Dodd Stadium at Georgia Tech. He is walking through a maze of tunnels -- nearly 90 years of athletic tradition -- with a group high school recruits, many from the Tampa Bay area. Pictures and names of legends adorn the walls of the stadium. The name Bobby Dodd alone implies greatness in football.
Carter's name may one day make those walls. As a 6-foot-3, 185-pound quarterback for Lakewood High School, Carter led Pinellas County in passing last season with 1,888 yards and 15 touchdowns. He also rushed for 248 yards and seven touchdowns while leading the Spartans to a district title and a 9-3 record.
Now, Georgia Tech is courting him.
Carter pauses briefly to read some of the names. His expression is serious; he imagines what could be.
The recruits enter a locker room where jerseys hang, neatly pressed in a long row. One shirt hangs near the center of the row, the letters C-A-R-T-E-R printed on it. Carter's seriousness fades into a smile as he runs his fingers up and down it, feeling the fabric, reassuring himself that it is real. He says over and over, in a soft but confident voice, "Man, this is so tight. This is so tight."
Pat Carter laughs at a joke as he watches game tape in September in preparation for a game against Largo High. But he's already thinking about playing quarterback for a major university. Despite feeling some pressure during recruiting (he has a dozen shoe boxes stuffed with letters from colleges), Pat knew what to expect because his older brother Tim, 23, was recruited by Auburn. "I was in the eighth grade when Tim was being recruited his senior year," Pat said. "It was just amazing . . . how someone who just plays football and just goes to school can get that much attention from grownups," said Carter, catching his breath, below, after some running drills last fall.
Carter sits in front of a row of Georgia Tech jerseys while touring Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta during his visit to the school in mid December. A "Carter" jersey was made for him by the school as an enticement (though his number will be 4, not 7). "It just struck me deep," Carter said. "I felt like I had been at Georgia Tech years before, and it felt like home. That moment influenced my decision greatly. Other schools showed me my jersey, but it was at a different setting. It didn't feel the same." On Dec. 15, a Sunday, two days after seeing the jersey, he committed to Georgia Tech. He formally signed on Wednesday. Carter wasn't promised he would start as a quarterback, but he has faith he'll get playing time. He will receive a full scholarship, plus room and board and a personal computer.
Carter stands on the sideline of the Georgia Dome in Atlanta in December while talking on his cell phone with his older brother Tim, a wide receiver for the New York Giants. "At the dome, I could just picture the fans cheering and me scoring, winning games in front of my family," Carter said. "It just left me speechless. That's how I felt the whole trip. Prior to taking the trip, I was going to wait it out and value out all my options. I was going to go to Michigan and to Pittsburgh. But when I went to Georgia Tech, the coaches met me at the airport, and we had a good talk. They were good personally, not just as coaches. They had a family setting. It all sort of just came together."
Carter watches the Giants play the San Francisco 49ers with his parents, John and Laura Carter, at their St. Petersburg home Jan. 5. The Carters didn't start cheering for the Giants until Tim started playing as a wide receiver. Even though Tim is on the injured reserve list because of an Achilles' tendon injury, the Carters try to watch all the games. "You could say it's becoming a tradition watching my brother play on Sunday, but I don't want it to become a tradition because that means I have to stay here and watch," Pat said. "In a few more years, I want it to be a tradition for my parents to watch both of us play on Sunday, either on the same team or against each other."
Carter talks last November with his mother, Laura, about a possible visit to the University of Connecticut. "I don't want to visit UConn," Pat said after his mother set up a visit. Even though Carter wanted to keep his options open, he hoped to play in the Southeastern Conference or the Atlantic Coast Conference. He also wants to play quarterback, though most colleges are interested in him as a wide receiver. Carter says his parents have been instrumental in his success. "My parents have helped me a lot through the years. They taught me discipline and to never quit because that is like failing, and we never accept failing in this family. They also helped keep me on track in the classroom because anything less than As and Bs was unacceptable."
Carter prays after the Spartans lost their second-round playoff game against Jefferson High 31-25 on Nov. 22. "I just realized that I'm a senior and I'm never going to play high school football again. I knelt down and thanked God for the season he brought me through injury-free, the things he had taught me, the things that I learned -- mentally, physically -- and the things he will do for me in the future."
Carter reacts to a joke that his friend, Victoria Hopkins, 17, makes during lunch at Lakewood in October. Carter and Hopkins dated for a little while, but they decided to take a break shortly before the story was published until she decides where to go to college. "We still will remain friends," Carter said.
Carter shows off his tuxedo at Lakewood's homecoming court in October while his escort, Zanshe Thompson, 18, walks the stage. "Memories from homecoming court were great," Carter said. "My escort made things fun, from picking out the tux to showing off our apparel. I got to experience being in the spotlight at school instead of being in the spotlight on the football field."
Carter awaits a pregame prayer in the Lakewood locker room in September with Richardo Jones, 18, bottom left, and Roger Hendricks, 17, top left. He had to wait until his junior year to make the varsity. "My sophomore season I was deemed too frail to play varsity, so they kept me on JV another season. That made me work even harder because I knew I was physically able; I just wasn't big enough. I was probably 160, if that, soaking wet. Right now I'm 6-3, 185. My sophomore year, I was probably 5-11."
Carter cheers during a pep rally before a powder-puff flag football game in October. Also pictured at right is Richardo Jones, 18. Carter was the coach for the senior girls' team, which defeated the juniors. "When there is not competition involved, I'm very relaxed and easy-going," he said. "There is always competition in my head, though, because even when I do school work, I'm trying to get those As and Bs." At one point while being recruited, Pat commented about the stress. "All the attention used to be on Tim, and that was fine by me. Now the attention is on me, and everyone wants to say where they think I should go, even though people mean well," he said. "The pep rally was just a time to relax. I just really calmed down and let everything just flow that whole night."