Bruce Edward Carter (born February 19, 1988) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

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 line ...

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). 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

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels (also Carolina Tar Heels) are the college sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to ...

and was selected by 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

in the second round of the

2011 NFL draft The 2011 NFL draft was the 76th installment of the annual National Football League draft, NFL draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Rad ...

Early life

Carter attended Havelock High School in

Havelock, North Carolina Havelock is a city in Craven County, North Carolina, Craven County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 20,735 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 census. The city is home to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, the world's lar ...

. He played

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

and

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)#Offense ...

for the

team. As a senior, he rushed for 1,063 yards with 15

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

as a running back and threw for 585 yards and five touchdowns as a quarterback. Considered a three-star recruit by '' Rivals.com'', Carter was listed as the No. 33 safety prospect in the nation.

College career

Freshman year

Carter was converted to

in college. In the Tar Heels' season opener, against James Madison, Carter got his first blocked punt. The football was recovered in the end zone by a fellow Tar Heel for a touchdown. Carter started his first game as a Tar Heel in the game against East Carolina, he garnered four tackles during the game. As a freshman in 2007 Carter started seven of 12 games, recording 25

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position) A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent ...

Sophomore year

As a sophomore in 2008 Carter started all 13 games at outside linebacker. In the game against Rutgers, Carter intercepted a pass and returned it 66 yards for a touchdown, this was the first touchdown of his career. In the Tar Heels' game against Miami, Carter blocked one punt. The blocked punt proved to be crucial, as the Tar Heels drove 56 yards down the field and scored after the punt was blocked. One of Bruce Carter's best games of his sophomore season was the game against Connecticut. The blocking of three punts in one game earned Carter the ACC record for most punts blocked in a single game. In that game he recorded three blocked punts, all of which occurred during the second quarter of the game. In the Tar Heels' loss to the Virginia Cavaliers, Carter blocked a Cavalier field goal attempt. He finished the season with 68 tackles, five sacks, an

interception In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, 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 ...

, which was returned for a

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

, and a nation leading five blocked kicks.

Junior year

Carter started all 13 games as an outside linebacker. Carter tipped a punt in the Tar Heel's game against the Citadel. In the Tar Heels' game against Georgia Southern, Carter intercepted a pass and returned it 48 yards for a touchdown, this was Carter's second career touchdown. As a junior in 2009, Carter has 48 tackles, a sack, and an interception. Carter earned a career-high 13 tackles in the game against

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina sy ...

. Carter was voted to Second-team All-ACC. This was Carter's only season where he did not record a blocked punt.

Senior year

Carter returned an interception 55 yards for a touchdown in the third game of the season against Rutgers. In that game Carter also recorded a blocked punt and seven tackles. Carter's senior season was cut short due to a knee injury, which dropped his draft stock. He sustained the injury during the game against

. He would miss the last two games of the season against

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

and the 2010 Music City Bowl, which was played against

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in Division I of the National Colleg ...

. He was a finalist for the 2010

Butkus Award The Butkus Award, instituted in 1985 by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, is given annually to the top linebackers at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of football. The award, named in honor of College Football Hall of Fame ...

, but lost to

Von Miller Vonnie B'VSean Miller (born March 26, 1989) is an American professional American football, football linebacker. Miller played college football for the Texas A&M Aggies football, Texas A&M Aggies, where he earned consensus College Football All-A ...

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

. He finished his final season as a Tar Heel with 57 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, and one forced fumble. Carter was again voted to Second-team All-ACC.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

2011 season

Carter was considered one of the top linebacker prospects for the

. Carter was projected as a first-round draft pick before sustaining an ACL injury in his left knee during his senior season. The

selected him in the second round (40th overall) of the

. He spent his rookie season recovering from the injury. On October 29, he was activated from the non-football injury list to the Cowboys active roster, taking the spot of the waived

Tashard Choice Tashard J. Choice (born November 20, 1984) is an American football coach and former player who currently serves as the running backs coach for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Georgia ...

. His participation was mostly limited to

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their position. Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

, playing only a total of 41 defensive snaps.

2012 season

Entering the 2012 season the team decided not to resign Keith Brooking and

Bradie James Bradie Gene James (born January 17, 1981) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans. He played college football for the LSU Tigers. ...

, because they considered Carter to be ready to start at

inside 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 ...

next to Sean Lee, after playing

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 ...

for most of his college career. The Cowboys also signed Dan Connor as a free agent to compete with Carter and to protect themselves in case he couldn't earn a starting role. That potential competition never materialized, because Carter would end up having a break out year, even expanding his role after Lee was placed on injured reserve in October. He finished second on the team with 70 tackles, despite being placed on injured reserve for the final five games, after dislocating his left elbow on Thanksgiving Day.

2013 season

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

Monte Kiffin Monte George Kiffin (February 29, 1940 – July 11, 2024) was an American football coach. He is widely considered to have been one of the preeminent defensive coordinators in modern football, as well as one of the greatest defensive coordinators ...

was hired to change the defense to a 4-3 alignment, so he was switched to

weakside 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 line ...

, which was the same role in the Tampa 2 defense made famous by hall of famer

Derrick Brooks Derrick Dewan Brooks (born April 18, 1973) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for his entire 14-year career in the National Football League (NFL) with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Brooks played college footbal ...

. Although he was seen as a natural fit and there were high expectations placed on him, he struggled in preseason, where he started being platooned with Ernie Sims. These difficulties carried on into the regular season and after a poor performance against the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

, he was benched for the first time at any level. After two games he regained his starter role over Sims and finished with 96 tackles (third on the team) and 2 sacks.

2014 season

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, he was moved to strongside linebacker, so he could line behind the three-technique right

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

position and be free to make plays. He suffered a right quadriceps injury against the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

and was lost for three games. Although his playing time was reduced in November, losing his starting role after the game against 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) NFC West, West division. The ...

, he would finish strong while concentrating on the

nickel defense American football, a nickel defense (also known as a 4–2–5 or 3–3–5) is any defensive alignment that uses five defensive backs, of whom the fifth is known as a nickelback. The original and most common form of the nickel defense features ...

and

, finishing with 68 tackles, 5 interceptions (led the team), 8 passes defensed and a blocked punt.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On March 11,

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, he signed a four-year contract with the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

. Although he was projected to start at

middle 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 li ...

, he was moved to sam linebacker, after rookie

Kwon Alexander Kwon Alexander (born August 3, 1994) is an American professional American football, football linebacker. He played college football for the LSU Tigers football, LSU Tigers. He was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the fourth round of the 2 ...

outperformed him in

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events ...

. He was used mostly as a backup (only 3 starts), finishing with 47 tackles, 2 sacks and 2 passes defensed. On March 8,

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, he was waived in a salary cap move.

New York Jets

Carter signed a one-year contract with 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 ...

on April 2, 2016. He appeared in 13 games, registering 13 defensive tackles and 5

tackles. On May 4, 2017, Carter re-signed with the Jets on a one-year contract. He played in 14 games.

Atlanta Falcons

On September 25, 2018, Carter was signed by the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

. On February 11, 2019, Carter signed a one-year contract extension with the Falcons. He was released on August 31, 2019.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

References

External links

North Carolina Tar Heels bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Bruce 1988 births Living people American football linebackers People from Havelock, North Carolina Players of American football from North Carolina North Carolina Tar Heels football players Dallas Cowboys players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players New York Jets players Atlanta Falcons players