Michael Carter (born May 7, 1999) is an

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 ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

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 ...

of 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). 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 ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

Early life and high school

Carter was born in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and grew up in

Navarre, Florida Navarre is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Santa Rosa County in the northwest Florida Panhandle. It is a major bedroom community for mostly U.S. military personnel, federal civil servants, local population, retirees ...

, attending

Navarre High School Navarre High School is one of six public high schools in the Santa Rosa County School District located in Navarre, Florida. It was established in 1996 and currently enrolls 2,309 students. Campus Navarre High School has a suburban-style campus. ...

. He rushed for 526 yards and nine touchdowns before suffering a season-ending injury during the third game of his junior year. As a senior, Carter rushed for 2,536 yards and accumulated 3,345 all-purpose yards and 45 total touchdowns and was named the Florida Offensive Player of the Year by ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

''. Carter committed to play college football at North Carolina over offers from Florida, Louisville, Mississippi State and Tennessee.

College career

Carter rushed for 559 yards on 97 carries and eight touchdowns in his true freshman season. As a sophomore, Carter rushed 84 times for 597 yards and two touchdowns and caught 25 passes for 135 yards and a touchdown. During his junior season, he rushed for 1,003 yards and three touchdowns and had 21 receptions for 154 yards and two touchdowns and was named third-team All-

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

(ACC). Carter was named to the

Doak Walker Award Since 1990 the Doak Walker Award honors the top running back in college football in the United States. It is named in honor of Doak Walker, a former running back who played for the SMU Mustangs from 1945 to 1949 and in the National Football League ...

and

Paul Hornung Award The Paul Hornung Award is a college football award that was created in January 2010 by the Louisville Sports Commission (LSC) with the support of Paul Hornung, a native and resident of Louisville, Kentucky and member of the College Football Hall o ...

watchlists going into his senior season. Carter was named the ACC Running Back of the week after rushing for 214 yards and two touchdowns against

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

on October 10, 2020. Against

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, Michael Carter and fellow North Carolina running back

Javonte Williams Javonte Williams (born April 25, 2000) is an American football running back for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at North Carolina Tar Heels football, North Carolina and was drafted by the Bron ...

ran for a combined 544 rushing yards, the most by two running backs in college football history. Carter led the team in rushing in that game with 308 yards, along with two touchdowns. On December 21, 2020, Carter announced he would opt out of the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in th ...

matchup with Texas A&M, in order to prepare for the

2021 NFL Draft The 2021 NFL Draft was the 86th National Football League Draft, the annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2021 NFL season. The draft was held in Cleveland from April 29 to May 1, 2021 ...

, finishing his 2020 season with 1,245 rushing yards and 9 rushing touchdowns to go along with 267 receiving yards and two more scores. His 1,245 rushing yards are eighth-most in a single season for a Tar Heel running back. That same day, he and teammate Javonte Williams were named

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first-team All-American for the running back position. Carter's 3,403 total rushing yards over his collegiate career are fourth best all-time for the school. He was also named a finalist for the 2020

Professional career

New York Jets

On May 1, 2021, Carter was selected by the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

with 107th overall pick in the fourth round of the

. Later that day, the Jets selected

Michael Carter II Michael Carter II (born March 8, 1999) is an American football cornerback for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Duke and was drafted by the Jets in the fifth round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Co ...

with the 154th overall pick in the 5th round of the 2021 NFL draft from rival school

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

. He signed his four-year rookie contract with the Jets on June 4, 2021. Carter made his first career start in Week 3 of his rookie season in 2021. He scored his first career touchdown in Week 4 in a 27–24 win over the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

. He suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 11 and was placed on injured reserve on November 27, 2021. He was activated on December 18. He finished his rookie season with 147 carries for 639 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns to go along with 36 receptions for 325 receiving yards. He finished fourth among rookies in rushing yards in 2021. In Week 5 of the 2022 season, Carter had two rushing touchdowns against the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

in the 40–17 victory. He finished the 2022 season with 114 carries for 402 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns to go along with 41 receptions for 288 receiving yards in 16 games and ten starts. On November 14, 2023, Carter was released by the Jets.

Arizona Cardinals

On November 15, 2023, Carter was claimed off waivers by the

References

External links

New York Jets bioNorth Carolina Tar Heels bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Michael 1999 births Living people American football running backs North Carolina Tar Heels football players Players of American football from Florida People from Santa Rosa County, Florida New York Jets players Arizona Cardinals players