John David Carlson Jr. (born May 12, 1984) 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

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

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 was selected by the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

in the second round of the

2008 NFL draft The 2008 NFL draft was the 73rd NFL draft, annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York (state), New York ...

, and later played for the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

and

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 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

Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 26 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...

Early life

Carlson was born in

St. Cloud, Minnesota St. Cloud or Saint Cloud (; ) is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the largest population center in the state's central region. The population was 68,881 at the 2020 census, making it Minnesota's 12th-largest city. St. Cloud is the c ...

, though his family moved to Litchfield right after his birth. As a

player at Litchfield High School, he was all-state in Minnesota his senior year. He played in the 2003

U.S. Army All-American Bowl The All-American Bowl (currently branded as the Navy All-American Bowl for sponsorship reasons) is a high school football all-star game, held annually at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Typically played in January, the All-American Bowl is p ...

alongside fellow Notre Dame Fighting Irish players

Brady Quinn Brayden Tyler "Brady" Quinn (born October 27, 1984) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, where ...

, Ryan Harris, and

Tom Zbikowski Thomas Michael Zbikowski (born May 22, 1985) is an American college football coach and former Safety (American football position), safety. He is the Head coach for St. Patrick High School (Chicago), Saint Patrick High School In Chicago, Illinois, ...

. As a

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player, Carlson was voted to the preseason

McDonald's All-American McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American multinational fast food chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese chain Mixue Ice Cream & Tea. Brothers ...

list. He led the Litchfield Dragons to three state basketball titles during his freshman, junior and senior years. Carlson was also an all-state

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player. His father, John Sr., is the former basketball and tennis coach for the Litchfield Dragons.

College career

Carlson played

at Notre Dame, where he was a two-year starter at tight end. He was named captain in his junior and senior seasons,

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

and

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

. He recorded 100 receptions, 1,093 receiving yards and 8 total touchdowns in his career. He lived in

St. Edward's Hall St. Edward's Hall (also referred to as St. Ed's or Steds) is one of the University of Notre Dame residence halls, 32 Residence Halls on the campus of the University of Notre Dame and one of sixteen male dormitories. Saint Edward's Hall is located ...

, the oldest residence hall on campus, where his roommate was John Sullivan, current NFL free agent who last played for the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

Professional career

Seattle Seahawks

Carlson was selected by the Seahawks in the second round (38th overall) of the

. On July 26, he signed a $4.52 million contract which included $2.5 million guaranteed. He scored his first NFL touchdown on a pass from

Charlie Frye Charles Thomas Frye (born August 28, 1981) is an American former football quarterback who currently serves as a defensive assistant for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played six seasons in the National Football ...

in week 6 of the 2008 NFL season in a loss to Green Bay. In a season marred by injuries for the Seahawks, particularly at

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

, Carlson proved to be a reliable target throughout the season, and led the team in receptions (55) and receiving yards (627) for the 2008 season, a feat not accomplished in franchise history by a rookie since Hall of Fame WR

Steve Largent Stephen Michael Largent (born September 28, 1954) 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) ...

. Carlson had a notable performance in the Seahawks'

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

, catching two touchdown passes in a win over the defending Super Bowl champion

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 ...

. In the following week's divisional matchup (a loss) against the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

, he received a concussion after jumping and being hit in the air and landing on his helmet after receiving a pass near the sideline in snowy

Soldier Field Soldier Field is a multi-purpose stadium on the Near South Side, Chicago, Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1924 and reconstructed in 2003, the stadium has served as the home of the Chicago Bears from the National ...

Minnesota Vikings

On March 14,

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, Carlson signed a five-year, $25 million contract with the

. In

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 ...

, his contract was restructured, with his base salary reduced from $2.9M to $1.5M, and his workout bonus reduced to $50,000. Paul Allen of KFAN Minnesota once said "the combination of John Carlson and Kyle Rudolph would be the best tight end combination besides Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez."

Arizona Cardinals

On March 7, 2014, Carlson signed a two-year, $4.65 million contract with the

. On May 5, 2015, Carlson announced his retirement from the NFL.

NFL career statistics

References

External links

Minnesota Vikings profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carlson, John 1984 births Living people People from Litchfield, Minnesota Players of American football from St. Cloud, Minnesota American football tight ends Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Seattle Seahawks players Minnesota Vikings players Arizona Cardinals players