THE CANADIAN PRESS
Try as I might, I could not get receiver Duron Carter to give up the goods on the new adidas uniforms the Montreal Alouettes will be sporting this coming CFL season. It was about the only thing he could contain during a conversation about his return to the Als. His enthusiasm was free-ranging, perhaps pumped up in part by having just completed a photo shoot in Toronto; a shoot that featured trying on some new threads.
“Amazing,” was the word Carter used to describe the Alouettes’ new unis. He stopped there other than to declare, with good humour: “Still gotta win. Doesn’t feel good losing even when you look good, I’ll tell you that.”
Carter is talking up a storm when it comes to the topics of loyalty, regrets and of promise. He’s spinning like a top about being back in Montreal on both the football and civic levels, looking forward to living in Old Montreal and to having Nik Lewis as a teammate. Looking forward, as well, to once again playing for Alouettes head coach and general manager Jim Popp. The 2014 CFL All-Star is buzzing with anticipation as training camp pops up on the horizon and he is not giving regret a place to stay in his psyche.
“Montreal gave me my first opportunity to play professional football and I will always remember that,” he says. “You can’t forget your roots.”
“I love the city for real. It’s really progressive and forward and fresh. I love the food, I love the art galleries, the music festival… it’s just a really happening city.”
“Montreal gave me my first opportunity to play professional football and I will always remember that. You can’t forget your roots.”
Duron Carter
Carter then extends the compliment to a more national scale. “Everybody’s nice,” he says. “Canadian people. Every city I go to.”
After a year spent in the NFL, the 25-year-old receiver from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. is looking to reboot his CFL career in a fashion that resembles what it was in 2014. That’s when his tour of the friendly nation of Canada was in its second season, with Carter gathering in 75 passes for 1,030 yards and seven touchdowns. It was a breakout year for him and it was a performance that drew plenty of interest south of the border. He eventually signed a contract with the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts.
After a season on the Colts’ practice roster and being released in January, Carter quickly signed a deal with Montreal as opposed to taking a wait and see attitude over the remainder of the winter. The city’s lure was a part of it. So, too, was the memory of Popp and the opportunity provided by the organization in 2013, when Carter was added to the Alouettes’ practice roster and allowed to rise on the depth chart.
“Jim Popp trusted in me when nobody would when he put me on the practice squad,” Carter says. “So, for me to come back and help the Alouettes and help Popp, it was a no-brainer.”
“For me, it’s always about being comfortable and having people around that I can trust when they tell me something and that’s what’s gonna happen. I’ve always been able to trust Jim Popp.”
If you perceive there might be a little shot at the Colts and the way business is done in the NFL with that last line, it’s an inference you’ll have to make without confirmation from Carter. Far from feeling bitter, he insists, his practice roster time down south only served to make him a better receiver as he gets set to pull on one of those new Montreal jerseys on a regular basis.
“I learned a lot,” he says. “How to be a professional and how to work a system in the NFL. There’s a whole lotta behind the scenes stuff that goes on in the NFL that you have to live and learn as a young player and I appreciate everything that Indianapolis did for me.”
Carter’s season in Indy included daily tutorials on matching up with elite defensive backs as he forged a friendship with the Colts’ two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Vontae Davis.
“I went up against him everyday, all day,” says Carter. “He lives close to me down in Florida and we work out together now. He taught me a whole lot about playing the game, being a receiver and how to beat DB’s.”
Bad news there for opposing defensive backs. An improved Duron Carter in a receiving corps that includes S.J. Green and Kenny Stafford, among others? Carter looks forward to trying to ignite Montreal’s passing attack, one that ranked last in the CFL in 2014. He’s bullish on Anthony Calvillo as offensive coordinator – “Everybody knows his resumé,” Carter says – and is very much looking forward to having veterans like receiver Nik Lewis and quarterback Kevin Glenn on his side.
“Man, I can’t wait to play with Nik Lewis,” Carter gushes. “I can’t wait to get the ball and have Nik Lewis in front of me, man. Can’t wait to see him do all the stuff that he does. He’s a bull out there. I used to watch his highlights when I first got to the CFL. I’m like ‘man, I can’t believe this dude does this stuff!’ I can’t wait.”
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Having a pivot of Glenn’s capabilities is not lost on Carter, who racked up his big 2014 numbers on the receiving end of passes from Jonathan Crompton, Tanner Marsh and Alex Brink.
“Anytime you get a chance to play with a quarterback who knows the game and can get you the ball, that’s a quality that is so underrated,” Carter explains, singing the praises of Glenn’s in-the-pocket savvy. “People like the big arm and the physical things but being able to get the ball to somebody, consistently, is a skill in itself and Kevin’s got that down. Very smart, very cool guy.”
Duron Carter has come back to Montreal and if that is surprising to some, it should be only mildly so because his football journey has been a serpentine one, winding through a mountain pass with the occasional rock slide and detour.
Had he not been declared academically ineligible when he was with Ohio State in 2009, he may have stayed there his entire college career and been drafted as opposed to bouncing around before originally signing with the Alouettes three years ago. He might have never considered heading north in the first place. Might never have been exposed to the city he loves and the general manager he trusts.
“I don’t know… I wish I had something different for breakfast this morning,” Carter replies when asked about any regrets he may have. There was more philosophy than smart-ass in his tone as he considered all the steps and missteps of his youth.
“No telling where I’d be if I changed one thing,” he continues. “If I did the right thing one place where I was supposed to do the wrong thing, I wouldn’t be here.
“It’s weird,” he adds with a chuckle. “Nah, I wouldn’t change a thing.
“All of that stuff has brought me to this point where I’m super happy with myself. I’ve got a great girlfriend and a great job in a great city. I can’t complain.”
What seems to matter most to Carter is that he is in a good place both literally and figuratively. He can thank Montreal and the Alouettes for that on a number of levels.
They’ll thank him if he picks up just where he left off.
