Rider Revival?: Confident Carter sets tone for retooled Green & White

“As of right now, I’m just treating it as a regular game… But, I can tell you that, you know, when I do get on the field, that there’s a whole ‘nother different Duron, so you’d have to sort of ask him… I think he’s got a grudge against Montreal.”

Duron Carter can be so unpredictable, even he doesn’t know what might happen when he steps on the field to face his old team when the CFL season kicks off Thursday.

The standout receiver and lightning rod of controversy, who takes turns dazzling with spectacular catches and then infuriating with histrionics, is going back to Montreal on Thursday night, facing, for the first time, the club that cut him loose late last season.

As a member of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, it is in Carter’s job description to make the Als pay. It is also in his DNA to make a point, even if he is initially cautious about addressing any bitter feelings that might be left over from his Montreal exit.

“As of right now, I’m just treating it as a regular game,” said Carter when we spoke late last week, just after Roughriders training camp wound down. “I’m always excited to get out there for the first regular season game.” Then, he concedes, that a part of his psyche might well be harbouring some ill will. “But, I can tell you that, you know, when I do get on the field, that there’s a whole ‘nother different Duron, so you’d have to sort of ask him.”

“I think he’s got a grudge against Montreal,” Carter said, a little impishly.

After three seasons in Montreal, one of the CFL's premiere receivers found himself without a team last autumn (Liam Richards/Electric Umbrella via Riderville.com)

The Montreal Alouettes play host to the Saskatchewan Roughriders to usher in the 2017 season and, of course, the main storyline of that clash is that quarterback Darian Durant, the Saskatchewan great, will be meeting his old club, wearing something other than green and white for the first time in a regular season game.

Lurking not far behind, though, is Carter’s return to a city he says he loves, taking on the team for which he hauled in 185 passes for 2,877 yards over the course of three seasons before being dumped last October, in the midst of team turmoil.

Carter’s tenure in Montreal was punctuated with controversy, such as his being suspended for a game last season after losing his composure following a touchdown catch, bellowing as he marched past the Ottawa REDBLACKS’ bench and bumping into their head coach, Rick Campbell.

That was in July. By September, the Alouettes were sinking in the East, the playoffs fading fast and frisky tempers flaring. Carter and quarterback Rakeem Cato got into it at a Montreal practice and a month later, Carter was gone, along with another receiver, Kenny Stafford.

Carter’s time with the Alouettes, interrupted in 2015 as he tried to stick with the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts, had come to an end, his spectacular talents finally eclipsed – for the Als at least – by the emotional fireworks that came with them.

That’s history, though. No big deal. Except that it actually kind of is.

“I don’t particularly hold a grudge against anybody,” said Carter, asked again about his feelings towards the Alouettes. It seems clear, however, that he does carry at least a bit of a bad taste in his mouth over how things unfolded in Montreal. Called selfish and immature by detractors – proponents would instead call him passionate and misunderstood – Carter feels his emotional displays, especially when it came to those that happened in private settings, should have garnered him more of a wholesale backing from his Alouette teammates. He felt he was fighting for something.

“I just felt like I needed a little bit more support from my team because behind closed doors I sort of was the voice between the players and the coaches, whether the coaches needed something said to the players or the players needed something said to the coaches. I was, basically, the only one speaking at the time.

“I understood the whole move,” Carter said, again downplaying the possibility of lingering animosity. “We weren’t going to make the playoffs and everything. We were about to go through a coaching roster change. It was just sort of bad timing on my end and good timing for Montreal and what they were trying to do. It sort of got the pressure off of them. You just move on.”

The addition of Duron Carter gives the Riders one of the CFL's top one-two punches at receiver (Photo: Riderville.com)

That’s how the off-field Carter feels. The on-field Carter will very likely feel differently on Thursday night and just might diverge from the cool, water-under-the-bridge version of Carter you get in interviews. Carter is patient and thoughtful throughout our conversation and not the least bit defensive when the topic of his baggage comes up, which it does, a number of times.

“I’m very, very chill, happy-go-lucky off the field,” he said and whether that is truly the case or merely his perception of himself, Duron Carter believes he has an alter ego that changes him when he is suited up. “On the field… man. I just like to compete. I don’t like to be beat at all.”

An open book, Carter is always outwardly confident and he admits he likes it when his ego is fed. “I like the limelight. That’s sorta what you play for. Make big plays. Make ‘em for the fans.”

He likes to be himself, too. Not fond of having his personality edited, Carter said his off-season phone call with Roughriders’ GM and head coach Chris Jones was exactly what the doctor ordered for him. “That was the main thing when he called me during free agency,” said Carter. “He just wanted me to be myself. Come into the team and be a leader as the best should, as a leading receiver should.”

So far, so good in Sasky. Carter has gotten the attention of fans, and not just because he tweeted out a request for information on the best place to rent a truck in Regina. He made a dandy catch on a bomb against the Lions last Friday night and became the first player to score a touchdown at brand new Mosaic Stadium the week before, although he did raise the ire of some fans by taking a roughing penalty in that game.

“I love it,” said Carter of Saskatchewan. “I love it a lot. I love being here. The people are great. You get treated with so much respect, being a Roughrider.”

That doesn’t mean a reporter can’t try, one last time, to see if Carter might still have his old team on his mind, with maybe a revenge laden message to be delivered. That’s good pre-game hype, after all.

“Oh, man, a message to Montreal? I love the city,” he replied. “I can’t wait to be back in the city and walkin’ around and goin’ to my favourite restaurants. I love the people in Montreal and the culture there.”

Then, a glimpse of Duron Carter’s game time alter ego surfaces again.

“But everybody on the football team . . . I’m gonna be seeing red. I don’t even think I can say ‘hi’ to anybody when I get there.

“I am glad I get to play against some of these guys,” he said. “I really can’t wait to hurt their feelings.”

With that, you’re left with the feeling that it may all still be a bit personal for Carter and if that is the case, it could be a very interesting night at McGill.

Duron Carter is pictured during his time with the Montreal Alouettes in 2016 (Photo: Dominick Gravel/MontrealAlouettes.com)

MIC’D UP: DURON CARTER GETS WIRED FOR MONTREAL

Duron Carter’s unpredictable nature certainly adds some hot sauce to the stew of what would already be considered a fascinating game. Adding to that intrigue is a little tidbit Carter dropped during our discussion; he will be mic’d up by TSN for the encounter.

Carter admits he’ll be aware of the microphone at first, but believes that the heat of battle will win out over self-consciousness and that could mean some very real, raw and perhaps bitter moments being captured.

“I try to keep it PG-13 but as the game goes on you start to forget and definitely, like, once halftime passes you forget that you even have it on,” said Carter. “So you really get some good sound.”

An opponent’s chippiness – and chirpiness – can set Carter off, so if the Als attempt to get under his skin, there could be some interesting audio coursing through the production truck, if not all the way to air.

“I don’t like people saying anything bad about me because then I can say a whole bunch of bad stuff out there,” Carter admitted.