Ahmad Raheem Carroll (born August 4, 1983) 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 ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

. 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 ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

and was drafted by the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

in the first round of the 2004 NFL Draft. Carroll was also a member of 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 ...

Orlando Predators The Orlando Predators were a professional arena football team based in Orlando, Florida and member of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was most recently owned by Orlando Predators LLC, a company owned by David A. Siegel, and played its ...

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 ...

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-old ...

Hartford Colonials The Hartford Colonials, originally the New York Sentinels, were a professional American football team that played in the United Football League in its 2009 and 2010 seasons. A charter member of the UFL, the Sentinels began play in 2009 nominally ...

Virginia Destroyers The Virginia Destroyers were a professional American football team based in Virginia Beach, Virginia. They began play in the United Football League (UFL) in the 2011 season. They played their home games at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex. The tea ...

, Arizona Rattlers and

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

Early years

Ahmad Carroll was born August 4, 1983, to Artie and Carrolyn Carroll in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, Georgia. In his earlier years, Ahmad ran track for the D.C. Motion Track Club and also played Pop Warner football. During his years playing Pop Warner football, he earned the nickname "Pinkus" after repeatedly jumping over an offensive lineman. He later attended Frederick Douglass High School in Atlanta where he was an All-Area cornerback, as well as tailback. Tom Lemming's Prep Football Report rated Ahmad as the nation's No. 26 overall player, while Super Prep rated him as the second-best among all the nation's defensive backs. He was rated the best defensive back in the nation by Prep Star, while Rivals100.com called him the second-best cornerback in the nation. Blue Chip Illustrated rated Ahmad the second-best cornerback in the nation and the fourth-best overall player in Georgia. He was an ESPN/Reebok All-American selection as he recorded 70 tackles as a senior. He chose to accept a scholarship to the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

College career

Carroll excelled in two sports at the

as both a sprinter for the

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

team and a cornerback for the football team. He finished his college football career with the following statistics: *140 tackles (7 for losses) *25

passes defensed In American football, a pass deflected, also known as a pass deflection, a pass defended, a pass , a pass knockdown, or a pass breakup, is an incomplete pass that is caused by a defensive player. This is done by slapping or blocking the ball with ...

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

s *2

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful ...

recoveries *2 forced fumbles *12

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

hurries

Track

High school

While in high school, Carroll ran

track & field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

for the D.C. Motion Track Club. He set a state record in the 100m dash (10.41 seconds) and finished second in the 200-meter dash (21.24 seconds). He was also the national AAU champion in the 100m dash (10.38 seconds) and was selected to Georgia's Magnificent Seven list.

College

As an

collegiate, he competed on the Razorbacks' track team for two seasons. He earned a pair of All-American honors in the 100m and 200 meters at the 2003 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

2002

In 2002, during the indoor season, Carroll competed in the

60-meter dash 60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor venues it is a rare distance, at least for senior at ...

and set a new UA record with a provisional qualifying time of 6.69 seconds to win the event at the OU Sooner Invitational. He finished 11th (6.77s) at the SEC Indoor Championships. He also competed in the

100-meter dash The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contest ...

during the outdoor season. He earned a provisional qualifying time of 10.34 seconds at the SEC Quad and finished third. At the SEC Outdoor Championships, Carroll ran a time of 10.50 seconds in the prelims and just missed advancing to the finals.

2003

In 2003, Carroll competed in the

during the indoor season. At the Tyson Invitational, he broke his own school record with a time of 6.67 seconds. He finished eighth in the event at the SEC Championships. At the NCAA Championships, he ran a time of 6.73 in the prelims, but was unable to advance to the finals. He ran in the 100 and 200-meter dashes during the outdoor season. He came in fourth (10.34s) in the 100 and third (20.94s) in the 200-meter dash at the SEC Championships. At the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships he registered a career-best time of 10.28 seconds in the prelims of the 100m and in the finals he crossed the line in seventh (10.33s). He went on to finish third (20.89s) in the 200-meter dash to earn an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships. He competed in a total of six races in four days at the NCAA Championships and became the first football letterman since

Clyde Scott Clyde Luther Scott (August 29, 1924 – January 30, 2018) was an American athlete who competed professionally in the National Football League and earned an Olympic medal in the 110 meter hurdles. He was born in Dixie, Louisiana. Biography ...

in 1948 to score points in an NCAA outdoor meet. He posted a seventh-place finish (10.46s) in the 100m and was the first Razorback athlete to score points in the 100-meter dash and only the second Razorback athlete to earn All-America honors in the event. He earned his second All-America honor for the weekend when he finished eighth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.48 seconds. He was the first Arkansas athlete to earn the honor in both the 100m and 200-meter dashes and was the only sprinter for the week to score points in both events.

Professional career

Green Bay Packers

Carroll was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the first round (25th overall) of the 2004 NFL Draft. He was the target by many quarterbacks due to his tendency toward illegal contact penalties. Penalties finally got the best of him when in Week 4 of the 2006 season against the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

, Carroll was burned for two costly touchdowns by Greg Lewis and had three penalties. He was cut soon after.

Jacksonville Jaguars

In October 2006, Carroll was signed by the

. He was waived by the Jaguars on May 7, 2007, following an arrest.

Orlando Predators

Carroll played for the

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

in 2008.

New York Jets

Following the 2008 AFL season, Carroll was signed by the

. He tried out for the team in 2007 but did not sign a contract. He was re-signed by the team on March 16, 2009. Carroll was waived by the New York Jets on November 16, 2009.

Toronto Argonauts

On May 10, 2012, Carroll was signed by the

. On June 30, 2012, Carroll played in his first CFL game against the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...

. Midway through the third quarter, Carroll was flagged for defensive pass interference on a deep attempt by Eskimo quarterback

Steven Jyles Steven Jyles (born September 25, 1982) is a former professional Canadian football quarterback. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League in 2006. He played college football for Louisiana–M ...

to receiver Fred Stamps. The penalty led to an Edmonton field goal, and Toronto went on to lose the game 19-15. Carroll announced his retirement after winning the Grey Cup in 2012.

References

External links

Green Bay Packers bioJacksonville Jaguars bioNew York Jets bioOrlando Predators bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carroll, Ahmad 1983 births African-American players of American football African-American players of Canadian football American football cornerbacks Arizona Rattlers players Arkansas Razorbacks men's track and field athletes Arkansas Razorbacks football players Canadian football defensive backs Green Bay Packers players Hartford Colonials players Jacksonville Jaguars players Living people New York Jets players Orlando Predators players Players of American football from Atlanta Toronto Argonauts players Virginia Destroyers players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people