Jon Stacy Carter (born March 12, 1965) is a former football defensive lineman 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

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 divi ...

. He also was a member of the Raleigh–Durham Skyhawks and Frankfurt Galaxy in the

World League of American Football NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally ...

(WLAF). He played college football at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

Early years

Carter attended Varnado High School in Varnado, Louisiana, where he twice received All-state honors at

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Lik ...

and

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 formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...

. He also practiced

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

and track. He accepted a football scholarship from the

, where he was initially switched to defensive tackle. He became a four-year starter on

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 numb ...

s that included

Chris Doleman Christopher John Doleman (October 16, 1961 – January 28, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL). He spent the majority of his career with the Minnesota Vikings, and also ...

, Bob Buczkowski, Tony Woods,

Lorenzo Freeman Lorenzo Z. Freeman (May 23, 1964 – October 10, 2016) was a professional American football defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) from Camden, New Jersey. He was the 89th draft pick in the fourth round and drafted by the Gr ...

, Burt Grossman, Marc Spindler,

Tony Siragusa Anthony Siragusa Sr. (May 14, 1967 – June 22, 2022), nicknamed "the Goose", was an American professional football player who was a defensive tackle for 12 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts and the Baltimore Ravens in the National Football L ...

and

Tom Sims Tom Sims (December 6, 1950 – September 12, 2012) was an American athlete, inventor, and entrepreneur. Sims was World Snowboarding Champion (1983), World Champion Skateboarder (1975), and founder of SIMS Snowboards and SIMS Skateboards. He liv ...

. He was moved to

as a junior, registering 42 tackles and 6 sacks. As a senior he was named a team captain, recording 65 tackles (16 for loss), 6 sacks and 2 blocked kicks. He began the season at

, but was forced to play 4 games at defensive tackle due to injuries. During his college career he played every position on the

, finishing with 171 tackles, 41 tackles for loss and 18.5 sacks.

Professional career

New York Giants

Carter was selected by the New York Giants in the fifth round (118th overall) of the

1988 NFL Draft The 1988 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 1988, at the Marriot Ma ...

. On September 5, he was placed on the

injured reserve list The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

after injuring his hamstring, in the final preseason game against the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

. He was waived on August 28,

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

Dallas Cowboys

On August 29,

, he was claimed off waivers by the

. On September 5, he was cut and later signed to the practice squad the next day. That season the Cowboys were constantly bringing players to improve the team's talent level and Carter was promoted to the active roster on September 22. He appeared in 13 games as a backup

and defensive tackle. Against the New York Giants, he had 5 tackles and one pass deflection. Against the Green Bay Packers, he tallied 4 tackles and caused a fumble that was returned by

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

Jack Del Rio Jack Louis Del Rio Jr. (born April 4, 1963) is an American football coach who is the defensive coordinator for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football as a linebacker at the University of South ...

for a 57-yard

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

. He finished the season with 19 tackles, 2 pass deflections and one forced fumble. He was released on August 28,

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

Raleigh–Durham Skyhawks (WLAF)

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

, he was drafted 8th overall by the Raleigh–Durham Skyhawks of the

. He played

in the Skyhawks'

3–4 defense In American football, the 3–4 defense is a common defensive alignment consisting of three down linemen and four linebackers. It is a called a "base defense" because it is the default defensive alignment used on "base downs" (1st and 2nd downs ...

, while posting 45 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 5 quarterback hurries and one forced fumble. The team finished 0-10 in the standings and were disbanded after the season, due to poor attendance.

Frankfurt Galaxy (WLAF)

In 1992, he was placed back in the draft pool, along with the remaining Skyhawks players. He was selected in the second round by the Frankfurt Galaxy and was named the starter at

in the team's

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Jon 1965 births Living people People from Washington Parish, Louisiana Players of American football from Louisiana American football defensive ends American football defensive tackles Pittsburgh Panthers football players New York Giants players Dallas Cowboys players Raleigh–Durham Skyhawks players Frankfurt Galaxy players