One Frame At A Time: Anthony Carter
I wasn't fortunate enough to be alive when Anthony Carter donned a Michigan uniform. In fact, my existence wasn't even a thought — his collegiate career ended in 1982, five years before I was born. I spent my formative years watching Toomer and Hayes, Terrell and Walker, Avant and Breaston and Edwards, remarkable talents all. The last among those, Braylon, had me convinced that no Wolverine before him could possibly have played the receiver position with more skill, impact, and style. In my youthful ignorance, Carter was simply one half of Wangler-to-Carter, playing a supporting role for Bob Ufer's ebullience.
Then came 2009, the midst of a dark age for both the program and its tradition of NFL-caliber receivers. The esteemed WolverineHistorian uploaded ten minutes of AC highlights — a reel even more impressive when considering that, before 1984, college football teams were limited to no more than six televised games in a given three-year span. Many of the clips below are from non-televised footage taken from the press box; I assume some of Carter's greatest exploits weren't captured on video at all:
Watching that video, I felt the same anticipative stirring of the Michigan Stadium crowd — or, on the road, the same petrified silence — when AC touched the ball that I've only experienced at Michigan with Denard Robinson; there's greatness, and then there's pure electricity, and each had them in abundance. That feeling alone captures more than numbers are capable, but the numbers still speak volumes:
- In Carter's final three seasons, Michigan completed 366 passes as a team for 5,383 yards. Carter caught 124 of them, covering 2,219 yards. Of the Wolverines's 51 passing touchdowns in that span, Carter hauled in 26, more than half of the team's total. He was an All-American in each of those seasons.
- Despite playing in a remarkably different era from those around him in the Michigan record book, Carter still ranks fourth in school history in receptions and second in both receiving yards and touchdowns. Of the top five players on each of those lists, only one played any part of his career before the 1990s: Desmond Howard, a freshman in 1989.
- He also ranks as Michigan's second-most prolific kickoff and punt returner, trailing only Steve Breaston in both categories.
- Carter recorded 14 100-yard receiving games in his career, a mark surpassed only by Braylon Edwards. Jack Clancy, the previous record-holder, set the mark in 1966 — at four.
- AC still — still — holds the NCAA career record for average all-purpose yards gained per play: 17.4, with 5,197 career yards on 298 touches.
I could go on. Needless to say, my opinion on Michigan's greatest receiver has changed. From a pure football perspective, there's so much about his game to love, from his ability to reverse field in an instant... [click the still to open the GIF]
...to his fearlessness over the middle...
...to his Braylon-esque (or should I reverse that?) jump ball skills...
...to the way his speed took the top off even the best defenses...
...to his remarkable hand-eye coordination...
...and, of course, the fact that he could run a 15-yard post route in a tie game, with time expiring, and dance his way into the end zone.
Football exploits aside, even as someone who never experienced watching him live, it's easy to see why AC was — and is — so beloved; his effortless cool oozes from every pore, whether he's crossing the goal line with his signature high-kneed half step or casually flipping the ball to an official. I couldn't help but put together a supercut GIF of Carter's various, sometimes understated, occasionally exuberant, and forever imitable touchdown celebrations:
The next Michigan receiver to do the Carter high-step into the end zone will forever have a fan in me, even (especially?) if he draws a flag in doing so. Long live the definitive #1.
to include that last clip... Madden & Summerall.
"when you have a guy like Carter, you can throw into double coverage"
Well, apparently, I'm old. Born in '68 and '91 UM Grad apparently makes you that these days...sigh... I do, however, have the privilege of having the experience of walking around the stadium tailgates those wonderful fall days and seeing every man, woman and child wearing the AC #1 jersey. That, and every child between the cars running routes, catching passes, and doing the AC high-step trot into the endzone. I hope I never forget those days.
However, my Top 10 Football Wolverines of all time would be IMHO (and I had the pleasure of seeing all but two play in person)...
1. Tom Harmon
2. Charles Woodson
3. Anthony Carter
4. Rick Leach
5. Denard Robinson
6. Mark Messner
7. Desmond Howard
8. Dan Dierdorf
9. Ty Law
10. John "Jumbo" Elliott
Oh, I agree. Desmond was a dominant player, no doubt. The extremely difficult part is that they all were dominant players. The rest really comes down to personal iterpretation...
I'm going to show some love for #6, though. Tyrone Wheatley did all that and baby-sat for Fred Jackson.
Football Highlights:
Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year (1992)
Big Ten rushing champion (1992)
Big Ten scoring champion (1992 & 1993)
Rose Bowl Player of the Game (1993)
All-Big Ten football (1992–94)
Big Ten team champions (1991, 1992)
MHSAA state champion (1990)
Michigan High School Player of the Year (1990)
Track & Field Highlights:
Big Ten 110 metre hurdles champion (1994)
All-Big Ten track & field (1994)
Big Ten team indoor champions (1994)
8-time MHSAA state champion (1990–91)
All-American (college outdoor) (1995)
All-American (high school)
Michigan High School Runner of the Year (1991)
Records:
Michigan single-season yards per carry (min 75 carries, 1992–)
Michigan single-game yards per carry (min 15 carries, 1992–)
for this.
Best ten minutes of my day.
My football memory begins with Carter's touchdown against Indiana.
I feel old. I was born in '70. Anthony Carter WAS Michigan football in my formative years. No matter who else may be wearing it, the #1 jersey will always be AC.
That's the problem with making #1 a Legends Jersey. Because we all know, that the guy wearing #1 must be DA BOMB RECEIVER. He must be the shit! It can't be given out like other legends jerseys for someone to wear. #1 must be the Primo Guy. #1 is the goto guy. The guy to win the game. Like AC was. Everyone knows this, and I know Hoke knows this. So we continue to wait for the next guy to wear #1!!!!
95% of the posts in this thread!
You other 5%? Watch some more AC highlights, OK?
Yep!
a game changer! I only got to see him in '81 with Smith as QB. I was in junior in High School when he made the "catch" against IN. I was listening to Ufer at the time, since the game was not televised! But it was exciting even on the radio.
It would be great to find another WR like Carter! He was not that big but had speed and quickness, could out jump almost every DB and was fearless for his thin build up the middle. One of my top 3 Michigan players ever!
AC is #1. He defined the position at UM. During a time when it wasn't pass first. The guy was awesome. And went on to be awesome for the Michigan Panthers too!
Without AC there would not be the other guys, including Braylon. PERIOD. No Breaston, no Howard, no Toomer, no Braylon. Probably not even DR.
For us older guys, everytime we hear of a new UM receiver we hope they will be the second coming of AC. Braylon did it. But we wanted Avant to be him. And Breston to be him, etc. AC is the receiver to be like. Braylon will tell you that. That is why Braylon wanted #1. I want someone great to wear #1
Braylon is awesome too, but even he (and Stan Edw) will tell you that AC was the first 1.
Look at the speed, the legs, the catches, the hands. No one like him. Not even DR. Look at the legs again... who runs like that? Looks t the mini steps in the end zone. We always remember that. And no one else does it that way then to now! Who?
Who is next to fill the shoes/jersey of #1? Not easy to do. God, I wish Devin Gardner had AC to pass to!!! And, I wish A Darboroh would watch some of these tapes and be AC this season! Maybe Gallon can channel some AC. Someone channel AC!!!!
As kids on the field we ALWAYS were AC. He was the ONLY RECEIVER!
#1
Was a teenager when AC played and had endzone seats for the Indiana game, therefore witnessed "The Catch." I agree he forced Bo to reconsider the passing game, and everytime he had the ball, he had the chance to score. The Bob Ufer calls when AC had the ball were classic, I have a cousin a few years older than me, named his daughter Alicia Christine(AC) in his honor. Never to discount the acheivements of all those great receivers that came after, but AC was the first player of his kind that I can remember at Michigan, pure electric.
It's nice to see one of the truly elite players in Michigan history get some run around here. It's staggering to recall how good Carter was able to be in an offense that wasn't really designed to utilize a player of his caliber. He really was that kind of player where everytime he touched the ball, you expected something amazing to happen. If you look back on this numbers, Carter never had more than 51 receptions in a season and never had more than 1000 yards receiving and he still was a 3-time All-American and finished in the top 10 of Heisman voting the last 3 years of his college career. It's scary to imagine the kind of numbers and accolades he could've earned had the offense been less run-oriented as it was back then.
As one of the older guys around here who bristles a little when Braylon Edwards sometimes gets put in the same category as Anthony Carter, it's good to be reminded that there's a reason the Number 1 jersey is so revered at Michigan. It's not McMurtry, Alexander, Terrell, or Edwards who gave that it's cache, it's Anthony Carter.
Carter-esque is an adjective that doesn't get used around here near enough.
A guy I know who coaches basketball at a local Catholic school who was also a tight end on the field at the time of "The Catch." He told me that he vividly remembers he and a couple other players hurting their necks because when the fans rushed the field, that were snatching the chin guards off players' helmets. I thought that was an interestig tidbit from history.
Sitting in Section 20 during the Carter years gave us a good look at the numerous occasions on which Anthony Carter scored TDs in the south end zone . He always appeared a little smaller than most of the other players on the field --- maybe because he was. Although about the same height as Desmond, he seems more slightly built. My late wife always worried that some beefy linebacker would snap his spindly-legged body in two. Anthony was injured on occasion, but seemed surprisingly durable. And, as others have mentioned, absolutely fearless when going over the middle.
October 27, 1979 --- Indiana the Homecoming opponent. IU, coached by Lee Corso, played tough football the entire afternoon. They were up by a point with time running out . One last chance to pull victory from the jaws . . . well, you know. John Wangler drops back and fires a strike to Carter, who eludes two IU defenders and high-steps into the south end zone. Final M 27 IU 21. The lasting impression of that game --- besides of course Carter's magic --- was Lee Corso on his knees pounding the ground in frustration as Carter scored the TD.
I was at that game too. My recollection was that IU had just kicked the PAT to tie the game. I can still see AC highstepping into the endzone. I couldn't stop laughing.
I looked to see if this was already posted and did not see it. Apologies if I missed it. Also others can probably tell it better.
Before AC, Michigan never attracted big recruits from the South, especially those excelling in the passing game. An assistant coach went to Bo and told him he should look at this skinny kid from Florida. Bo tried to shrug him off, saying they'd never pull him to Ann Arbor. The assistant informed him that the kid was a lifelong Wolverine fan and dreamed of playing in Ann Arbor. Bo, they say, was on the next plane to Florida.
It was great that you took the time to create this thread so that Micigan Fans who did not have the opportunity to see AC play get a taste of just how exciting he was to watch. You could feel the anticipation in the crowd in passing situations or whenever a team was follish enough to try and single cover him.
There have been few if any crowd reactions in the 35 years I have had season tickets to compare with AC's Senior Day. The announcer waited until last to call out Carters's Number 1 and I do not believe anyone ever heard his name actually spoken. The cheering and applause immediate and thunderous.
I think that the only time my wife enjoyed attending games was during the Carter years. If I asked her to name one Michigan Football player AC might be the only one she would think of.
February 17th, 2015 at 2:12 PM ^
I was young, but already in love with Michigan football when Carter showed up.
Just seeing Bo throw the ball period was shocking, but when you saw what he did with it, it was amazing. EVERYONE in Michigan knew who Anthony Carter was.
And it was different back then. There was MUCH less coverage. You couldn't watch every game, etc..
It still bothers me when people associate number 1 with Braylon Edwards primarily. AC is the greatest receiver that has ever played at Michigan while I have been alive. If he played in the modern era, he would have broken 2000 yards in a season. He was just that much better than everyone else in the game.
Desmond Howard is the only one whose actual on the field exploits can compare in any way (of players I've actually seen alive). If Carter is number 1, Howard is a close second. Yes,, I know he won the Heisman, but if Carter had played when Michigan actually threw the ball sort of frequently, etc, etc.....
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