Ricky "Tank" Carder Jr. (born January 18, 1989) 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). Carder played

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for the

TCU Horned Frogs The TCU Horned Frogs are the athletic teams that represent Texas Christian University. The 18 varsity teams participate in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA Division I and in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for football, competi ...

. He was a 2010 All-American selection by the

American Football Coaches Association The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) is an association of over 11,000 American football coaches and staff on all levels. According to its constitution, some of the main goals of the American Football Coaches Association are to "mainta ...

Early life

When he was 10 years old, Carder was a BMX World Champion. Battled back from a life-threatening injury at age 13, when he sustained a broken back, broken ribs, a punctured diaphragm and punctured lung after being thrown from a vehicle, which then rolled over him. Carder attended Sweeny High School in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, where he accounted for 1,200 yards of offense and 116 tackles on defense in his senior year. He was regarded as a two-star recruit by Rivals.com.

College career

Four-year letterman at Texas Christian University, where he was named a two-time Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year (2010, 2011). In the 2011 Rose Bowl, Carder was named Defensive MVP of the Game. He batted down a two-point conversion pass late in the fourth quarter that would have tied the game to go into overtime but secured the win for TCU with a final score of 21–19.

Professional career

Buffalo Bills

Carder was selected in the fifth round, 147th overall, in the

2012 NFL draft The 2012 NFL draft was the 77th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players for their rosters. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held ...

by the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

. On August 31, 2012, the Bills released Carder for final roster cuts.

Cleveland Browns

Carder was claimed off waivers by the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

on September 4, 2012. He has played in 30 career games, with two starts at linebacker, and is a primary contributor on special teams. The Browns re-signed Carder on March 7, 2016. In the second preseason game of 2017, Carder suffered a torn ACL and was ruled out for the season. On March 26, 2018, Carder re-signed with the Browns. He was released by the Browns on June 5, 2018.

Twitter Controversy

On November 21, 2012, Carder sent a tweet calling another Twitter user a “faggot,” leading to calls that he be fined and suspended. The tweet was in response to a tweet about ''

Call of Duty ''Call of Duty'' is a first-person shooter military video game series and media franchise published by Activision, starting in 2003. The games were first developed by Infinity Ward, then by Treyarch and Sledgehammer Games. Several spin-of ...

'' made by a satirical comedy account. Carder stood by his statements, tweeting “I don’t agree with being gay or lesbian at all, but saying faggot doesn’t make me a homophobe, it’s just a word.” Carder has since deleted the tweets and apologized, claiming his tweets did not reflect his character. The NFL did not impose any suspensions or fines.

References

External links

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Cleveland Browns bio

NFL Combine bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carder, Tank 1989 births Living people Players of American football from Brazoria County, Texas American football linebackers TCU Horned Frogs football players Buffalo Bills players Cleveland Browns players