Todd Carter (born June 7, 1986) 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 wi ...

placekicker. He was signed by

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2010. He played college football for Grand Valley State University. He was also a member of the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

and

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

Early years

He was born on June 7, 1986, to Ed and Ruth Carter in Flint, Michigan. Growing up, he preferred soccer to football, but in his senior year of high school at

Carman-Ainsworth High School Carman-Ainsworth High School is a high school in Flint Township, Michigan, United States. It is the only high school in the Carman-Ainsworth Community School district. History Carman High School opened in 1967. In 1986, the Ainsworth High Scho ...

, "One of the football coaches was my math teacher. He had asked another soccer player in the class to kick, and the other kid was like, ‘Todd kicks the crap out of the ball,'" Carter said. "It just happened from there." Following his senior season, he was offered the opportunity to walk-on to either the University of Michigan football team or the Michigan State University football team, but instead opted to accept a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholars ...

to Grand Valley State University.

College career

In college, Carter played for the Grand Valley State University football team from 2005 to 2008. As a true freshman in 2004, he was

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

. In 2005, he was mostly a

kickoff specialist A kickoff specialist is a special teams position in gridiron football. They are responsible for kicking the ball in the kickoff. These players tend to have a strong leg, often capable of making touchbacks, and capable of keeping a ball in the bound ...

for the team, before becoming the kicker on both

field goals A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...

and

extra point The conversion, try (American football, also known as a point(s) after touchdown, PAT, or (depending on the number of points) extra point/2-point conversion), or convert (Canadian football) occurs immediately after a touchdown during which the sc ...

s from 2006 to 2008. During his career, he converted 27 of 41 field goal attempts and 173 of 189 extra point attempts.

Brandon Carr Brandon Carey Carr (born May 19, 1986) is a former American football cornerback. He last played for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Grand Valley State and was drafted by the Kansas City Ch ...

and

Dan Skuta Dan Skuta (born April 21, 1986) is a former American football linebacker. He played college football at Grand Valley State and was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted free agent in 2009. Skuta has also played for the San Francisco 4 ...

were both teammates of Carter's at both Grand Valley State and in high school at Carman-Ainsworth in Flint.

Professional career

Carolina Panthers

After going undrafted in the

2009 NFL Draft The 2009 NFL Draft was the seventy-fourth annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. ...

, Carter spent the entire 2009 season out of football before being invited to a workout by the

. He was signed on April 6, 2010, and made the roster as a

. Before being signed, he worked at

Tropical Smoothie Cafe Tropical Smoothie Cafe, also referred to as Tropical Smoothie, or Tropical, is a restaurant franchise in the United States. In addition to smoothies, the cafes offer sandwiches, wraps, salads, flat breads, and introduced bowls to their food line ...

in Flint, Michigan, and tried out for the Panthers, as well as the

, because he was tired of "being a bum." He made his NFL debut on September 13, against the New York Giants, but suffered from back spasms and was forced to leave the game. He was waived/injured the following day. After clearing waivers, he reverted to injured reserve and then received an injury settlement on September 20, making him a free agent.

St. Louis Rams

On August 5, 2011, Carter signed with the

to be a "camp kicker," but he was waived on August 9.

Kansas City Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs, who had previously worked out Carter in March 2010 before he signed with the Panthers, claimed him off of waivers on August 10. However, he was waived on August 30, during the first wave of cuts. He currently resides in Flint, Michigan.

References

External links

Carolina Panthers bioKansas City Chiefs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Todd 1986 births Living people American football placekickers Carolina Panthers players Grand Valley State Lakers football players Players of American football from Flint, Michigan St. Louis Rams players Kansas City Chiefs players