David H. Carter Jr. (born December 10, 1987) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) for the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

and

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

. He was drafted by the

in the sixth round of the

2011 NFL Draft The 2011 NFL Draft was the 76th installment of the annual NFL Draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York C ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

Early years

Carter attended Henry J. Kaiser High School in

Fontana, California Fontana is a city in San Bernardino County, California. Founded by Azariel Blanchard Miller in 1913, it remained essentially rural until World War II, when entrepreneur Henry J. Kaiser built a large steel mill in the area. It is now a regional h ...

. In his senior season, he registered 69 tackles, 7 sacks and 9 pass deflections in 13 games. He was later named for the first-team All-

San Bernardino County San Bernardino County (), officially the County of San Bernardino, is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 2,181, ...

by the Riverside Press-Enterprise. He was also an All-League selection as a

, and as team captain, lead them to a 10-3 record as a senior. Carter also lettered in Track And Field and was a member of the schools debate team.

College career

Carter played just three games over his first two years at

, before appearing in all 12 games in the 2008 season. Carter was a co-defensive winner of UCLA's Captain Don Brown Memorial Award for Most Improved Player in 2009 for the Bruins. In his senior season, he recorded 41 Total Tackles while collecting 3.5 sacks for the Bruins which propelled him to win the UCLA Kenneth S. Washington Award for Outstanding Senior.

Professional career

Carter was selected by the

in the sixth round of the

. He spent two seasons with the Cardinals, starting just four games and totaling one sack and 17 total tackles. On September 16, 2013, Carter signed with the

, to provide depth because of multiple injuries on the

defensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

. He was declared inactive in the third game of the season and played in the next three games. He was released on October 14. Carter was signed by the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

on August 2, 2014. The Jaguars released Carter on August 24, 2014. The

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

signed Carter to a one-year contract on July 28, 2015. On September 5, 2015, he was released by the Bears. He finished his professional career with 35 games (4 starts), 30 tackles (4 for loss), one sack, one forced fumble and three pass breakups.

Advocacy

Carter is a vegan activist. He became vegan in 2014 after watching the documentary ''

Forks Over Knives ''Forks Over Knives'' is a 2011 American advocacy film and documentary that advocates a low-fat, whole-food, plant-based diet (that excludes all animal products and processed foods) as a way to avoid or reverse several chronic diseases. The film ...

''. He advocates for veganism – mainly from a health point of view, but also for animal rights – at speaking engagements and on his website. He and his wife Paige Carter are on the staff of

Vegan Outreach Vegan Outreach is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1993. Originally known as Animal Liberation Action (ALA), the group was founded by Matt Ball and Jack Norris in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1993. History As members of the animal rights c ...

References

External links