Interview with Pittsburgh Steelers 5th Round Pick: Chris Carter

Heading into the draft we had the pleasure of working on some articles with Perry Biggerstaff of www.Steelersuniverse.com and because of the relationship we built, Steelersuniverse.com is going to allow us to publish this interview they had with the Steelers 5th round pick Chris Carter. We also had access to the Steelers 7th round pick Baron Batch here.

SU: This is Perry Biggerstaff with SteelersUniverse.com and we are talking with Chris Carter, defensive end from Fresno State and Steelers 5th round pick. Chris, How are you doing today?
Chris: I’m doing great, How about yourself?

SU: I ‘m doing real good. On behalf of www.SteelersUniverse.com  I want to thank you so much for the opportunity to talk with you and for you coming online with us.
Chris: Thanks for having me.

SU: Chris, lets get to some of the questions that our membership may be interested in getting answers to.  IN regards to the draft. Go through the moment you were drafted by the Steelers.  What were the emotions?
Chris: Oh…I was extremely excited. As far as the emotions, it was most definitely the proudest moment of my life. Its one of the greatest achievements that I have been able to accomplish so far in my life, as far as making my dreams come true and make it into the NFL or at least get my foot into the door. I do recognize that I have a lot of work to do in order to be great and be at the level that I want to be at, you know, to be the type of player that I want to be.  But I am so excited about it. I couldn’t be happier. Not to mention that my brother got drafted about 10 minutes after I did, so that just made the moment even sweeter.

SU: Were you together at that moment?
Chris: Yea, we were.

SU: Did you have any idea just prior to that moment that the Steelers were thinking about drafting you?
Chris: Honestly…no I didn’t. I didn’t really meet with the team.  I did meet with the position coach at the combine. It was just a short meeting, and I had way bigger meetings and visits with other teams and had workouts so I was assuming that it would be one of those teams that would be the one that would select me. But the Steelers selected me and honestly, I couldn’t be in a better situation. I have great veterans to learn from and pick their brain, and a wonderful coach with an incredible resume to learn from.  That’s something that makes me eager to get in there. I’m excited about the opportunity.

SU: Who was the one that actually called you? Who was on the phone?
Chris: Coach Butler was the first one on the phone, and then it was Coach LeBeau.

SU: Oh, excellent! So you had the chance to talk to both of them?

Chris: Yea.

SU: I have to tell you Chris.  I love your combination of speed and strength, but what do you think is your best attribute?
Chris: Most definitely my speed; The fact that I am able to beat a lot of people off the line. I have moves to go with it.  It’s just, a lot of times, if you have enough speed you don’t necessarily have to come with a lot of moves.  I have been doing a lot of drops and working out with Willie McGinnis at the Athletes Performance Institute, which is a great place and its definitely been getting me prepared in the transition that I am going to have to make.  When I talked to the Steelers coaches, they said they are going to want me rushing the passer with my hand down and standing up,  and they are going to want be dropping into coverage so I have been working on my versatility in all those areas.

SU: Chris, you bring up a great point. You didn’t really operate out of a two point stance in college; tell us what is involved in the transition from defensive end to outside linebacker in the 3-4.
Chris: Well actually I did play outside linebacker my sophomore year, but then I had to go back to defensive end because we lost a defensive end to graduation.  As far as the transition, I surrounded myself with outside linebackers and everything I do in training is about linebacker technique. You have to loosen your hips up a lot more and you have to play with loose hips at that level.  You want to play with good technique and be in the right position. On this level, technique is everything. If you want to be successful you have to have technique, speed, and passion. Your combination of those three can make or break a career. So that’s one of the things that I have been really training on…my technique. Just being really smooth and fluid in my movements.

SU:  Well, you are going to have a wonderful opportunity. You will be learning under Dick Lebeau but you will also be learning behind players like Harrison and Woodley. Have either of them reached out to you yet?
Chris:  No, I haven’t had the opportunity to talk with them yet. I know that a lot of the players are involved in their own businesses and their own stuff right now, but the first chance I get to talk with them I most definitely will.

SU: What does it mean to you to be able to play behind that caliber of players?
Chris:  Oh man. It’s amazing.  Just to be on the same team as those two guys and Troy Polamalu who is the guy that I picked my number from starting in high school. Its crazy that I get to play on the same team as the player that I idolized.

SU: The lockout has been a burden for everyone involved.  Do you feel the lockout situation will hurt your chances to make the team?
Chris:  Not at all. I mean, with the type of person that I am…I am a hard worker…a very hard worker.  I see this as just an opportunity for me to get better so that Pittsburgh will be getting more than they bargained for. It gives me an opportunity to be 100% prepared by the time I get there.

SU:   Tell us something about Chris Carter that the Steelers nation doesn’t know yet.
Chris:  Well, like I was saying, I am very close to my brother. I am not sure if everyone knows that he got drafted as well.

SU: Go ahead and give him a plug.  Tell us who your brother is.
Chris: My brother is David Carter from UCLA.

SU: Who did he get drafted by?
Chris:  By the Arizona Cardinals.  I mean, my life is pretty much about me and him. We hang out and we work out just about everyday. I also do some coaching on the side for high school kids. Just show them stuff and they come out and work out with us. I’m more than willing to show them some techniques and anything else that I have learned throughout the years that have helped me succeed.  That’s  pretty much the big thing that we are involved in.

SU:  I can tell by the way that you talk about your brother that you have a lot of respect for him. Who would you say in the biggest influence in your life?
Chris: My parents were major influences to my brother and I. My brother…that’s my best friend…my best friend ever. My parents definitely did a great job raising us to be like minded and we are very hard workers. It all started with the discipline and the structure that they set up. We even went to boot camp while we where in high school. Not because we were bad but rather to reinforce the discipline and structure they had set up. I have been able to carry that into a lot of areas of my life and into football, work, school, everything.  Its definitely something that I am appreciative of and very grateful for.

SU: Chris, What role on the team do you foresee for yourself the first year? Are you willing to play special teams?
Chris:  I’m willing to do anything that is required of me as far as special teams. Obviously they have some dominating players on defense and I am coming in to play behind them.  I never come into an organization not thinking that I have to work for a starting spot. I’m not planning on starting right away but I plan on coming in work like I want to be a starter. I mean, you never know what could happen. Someone could go down and I need to be prepared. So I know that if I train like a starter I will be prepared but at the same time I respect those above me on the roster. I just have to go out there and do my thing during practice so that for special teams, defense, whatever they require of me I can go out there and give them 100%.

SU: Chris that is a great attitude.  I have one more question for you.  I know you love those QB sacks; What NFL QB are you looking forward to crushing?
Chris:   Oooooooo! Man! Brett Favre is probably gone now….

SU:   Maybe.
Chris: (laughing) yea maybe. We’ll see. We go through this every year.  Yea, I don’t know. It would be pretty exciting to sack Michael Vick. I would definitely have to get a picture of that if I did it.

SU:  Well Chris, we do appreciate you taking the time to be with us. We are so please to have such an intelligent and hard working young man represent the Steelers nation. So I do appreciate you coming on with Steelers Universe.

Chris:  Thanks you sir.  I appreciate it and thank you for your time.

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