Rubin Andre Carter (born May 12, 1979) is an

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

coach and former player in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) A

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 ...

, he played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

California Golden Bears The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as ''California'' or ''Cal'', the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club te ...

, and was a

unanimous All-American The College Football All-America Team is an honorific college football all-star team compiled after each NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) season to recognize that season's most outstanding performers at their respective positions. ...

. The

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

selected him with the seventh overall pick in the

2001 NFL draft The 2001 NFL draft was the 66th draft annual of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft, which is officially referred to as the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at the Th ...

, and he also played for the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

and

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

. Carter currently is retired.

Early life

Carter was born in

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

. He attended Oak Grove High School in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

. As a senior, he was a ''USA Today'' All-America high school selection, and the Gatorade California Player of the Year. He was also rated as the top defensive lineman and a high school All-America selection by ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually some variety ...

'' magazine.

College career

Carter attended the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, and played for the

from 1997 to 2000. During his junior and senior years he was a first-team All-Pac-10 selection. As a senior in 2000, he won the Morris Trophy, awarded to the Pac-10's top defensive lineman, and was recognized as a

. In addition to being selected as the Golden Bears' most valuable player, Carter was also a finalist for the

Bronko Nagurski Trophy The Bronko Nagurski Trophy has been awarded annually since 1993 to the collegiate American football defensive player adjudged by the membership of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) to be the best in the National Collegiate Athle ...

, given to the nation's top defensive player.

Professional career

San Francisco 49ers

Carter was selected by the

in the first round of the

. In the 2005 NFL season, because the 49ers implemented a 3-4 defense under Head Coach Mike Nolan, Carter was moved to

outside linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the lin ...

. While playing for the 49ers, he made 154 solo tackles, 32 sacks, and 12 pass deflections in 69 games.

Washington Redskins

Carter signed a six-year, $30 million contract with the

as an unrestricted free agent on March 14, 2006. The Redskins moved Carter back to

, his natural position. In his first year with the Redskins, he had 56 total tackles and six sacks. He showed much improvement in 2007, with 55 tackles, 10.5 sacks, and four forced fumbles. He also had a safety in a 34–3 win over the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

. Carter's best season as a Redskin came in 2009 when he totalled 11 sacks. However, in 2010 the Redskins hired a new coach,

Mike Shanahan Michael Edward Shanahan ( ; born August 24, 1952) is an American football coach, best known as the head coach of the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL) from 1995 to 2008. During his fourteen seasons with the Broncos, he led th ...

, who changed their 4-3 defense to a 3-4 defense which required Carter to play outside linebacker. Carter was never fully comfortable with the move. By mid-season, and at Carter's request, the coaching staff had him playing from a three-point stance on passing downs. The Redskins released Carter on March 1, 2011.

New England Patriots

Carter announced on his

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

page on August 7, 2011, that he would be playing for the

in the 2011 NFL season. This was later confirmed by Ian Rapoport of the

Boston Herald The ''Boston Herald'' is an American conservative daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarde ...

and Michael Lombardi of the

NFL Network NFL Network (occasionally abbreviated on-air as NFLN) is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Football League NTP and is part of NFL Media, which also includes NFL.com, NFL Films, NFL Mobile, NFL Now and N ...

. According to Rapoport, Carter signed a one-year deal with a base salary of $1.75m. He also received a $500k signing bonus and the chance to earn another $500k in incentives, making the contract worth up to $2.75 million. On November 13, 2011, Carter had a career game against 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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

, recording 4 sacks and tying the Patriots single game sack record. On Sunday, December 18, 2011, while playing against the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

, Carter tore his left quadriceps tendon and missed the remainder of the 2011 regular season as well as the playoffs, as he underwent surgery. Despite being injured, Carter was one of eight Patriots honored by a selection to the 2012 Pro Bowl.

Patriots franchise record

* Most sacks in a single game: 4 (2011) (vs

) (tied)

Oakland Raiders

On September 26, 2012, the

announced they had signed Carter. On April 9, 2013, Carter re-signed with the Raiders on a one-year deal. On August 31, 2013, he was released.

New England Patriots

Carter re-signed with the Patriots on October 22, 2013, to add a veteran presence to a Patriots defense that lost

Vince Wilfork Vincent Lamar Wilfork (born November 4, 1981) is an American former professional football player who was a nose tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the New England Patriots. He played college football fo ...

and

Jerod Mayo Jerod Andrew Mayo Sr. (born February 23, 1986) is an American professional football coach and former linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons with the New England Patriots. He also served as the head coach ...

to season-ending injuries earlier in the season.

Career statistics

Coaching career

In August 2015, Carter returned to California as an undergraduate assistant. On February 10, 2017, Carter was hired by the Miami Dolphins as an assistant defensive line coach. When Adam Gase was fired by Miami and subsequently hired by the

, Carter moved with Gase to New York and became the Jets' defensive line coach. In 2021 Carter became the defensive line coach at Louisiana State University (LSU). On February 2, 2024, Carter was hired as a pass rush specialist under new Raiders head coach

Antonio Pierce Antonio Durran Pierce (born October 26, 1978) is an American professional football coach and former linebacker. He served as the head coach for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL) in 2023 and 2024. Pierce played nine seas ...

and general manager

Tom Telesco Thomas Francis Telesco (born December 12, 1972) is an American professional football executive who most recently served as the general manager of the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL) in 2024. He previously served as the ge ...

Personal life

Carter is the son of former

defensive tackle

Rubin Carter Rubin "Hurricane" Carter (May 6, 1937 – April 20, 2014) was a Black American middleweight boxer who was wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for Murder (United States law), murder, until released following a petition of Habeas corpus in the ...

. He has a wife, Bethany, and two children: stepdaughter, Aysha, born in 1993, and a son, Quincy, born in 2007. His middle name was given to him by his father who named him after his close friend and teammate Andre Townsend.

References

External links

California Golden Bears bio

New York Jets bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Andre 1979 births Living people African-American coaches of American football All-American college football players American Conference Pro Bowl players American football defensive ends American football linebackers California Golden Bears football players Miami Dolphins coaches New England Patriots players New York Jets coaches Oakland Raiders players Players of American football from Denver Players of American football from San Jose, California San Francisco 49ers players Washington Redskins players 21st-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen Oak Grove High School (San Jose, California) alumni Coaches of American football from Colorado