Michael Carter (athlete)

Michael Carter
No. 95
Position: Nose Tackle
Personal information
Date of birth: (1960-10-29) October 29, 1960
Place of birth: Dallas, Texas
Height: 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight: 285 lb (129 kg)
Career information
College: SMU
NFL draft: 1984 / Round: 5 / Pick: 121
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Sacks: 22.5
Interceptions: 1
Olympic medal record
Representing  United States
Men's athletics
1984 Los Angeles Shot put

Michael D'Andrea Carter (born October 29, 1960 in Dallas, Texas), is a former U.S. Olympian track and field athlete and professional American football player.

High school years

Carter is best known in track and field for setting the American national high school record of 81 feet 3½ inches in the 12 pound shot put, adding more than nine feet to the previous record. He set this mark at the 1979 Golden West Invitational track and field meet while competing for Jefferson High School of Dallas, Texas.[1] No high school athlete has come within four feet of this record since. In 2004 this record was selected by USA Track & Field as the 16th greatest moment in American track and field over the previous quarter century, the only high school mark to make the top 25 greatest moments. He was Track and Field News "High School Athlete of the Year" in 1979.[2]

College years

Carter attended Southern Methodist University on a football scholarship. He was a member of both the 1981 (10-1) and 1982 undefeated (11-0-1) team, as the immovable object in the center of the defensive line.[3] In track and field, he won four indoor and three outdoor NCAA shot put championships. He was part of the SMU 1983 NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship team. His lifetime best with the 16 pound shot came in his only defeat at an NCAA Championship meet, when in his senior year he launched a throw of 21.76 m (71-4 3/4 feet) to finish 2nd to John Brenner's collegiate record of 21.92m (71–11 feet) at the 1984 NCAA Championships. After graduating, he won the silver medal in the shot put at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Professional career

A 6'2", 285-lb. nose tackle, Carter was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the fifth round of the 1984 NFL Draft. As a professional American football player, he played his entire National Football League career with the 49ers from 1984-1992. He was a three-time Pro Bowl selection and a three-time Super Bowl winner.

Carter is considered the only athlete to win an Olympic medal and a Super Bowl ring in the same year. (NFL 1984 season ended with Super Bowl played January 20, 1985)

Family and Personal Life

Carter is married and has three children. One of those three children being Olympic shot putter Michelle who won the 2006 NCAA outdoor shot put championship, the 2008 United States Olympic Team Trials in addition to the 2009 and 2011 National Championships.[4] Like her father, Michelle Carter is an Olympic athlete, finishing 15th in the shot put at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Michelle also holds the female national high school record in the Shot Put. In 2013, she also added the American record.

References

  1. ↑ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1095120/1/index.htm
  2. ↑ http://trackandfieldnews.com/index.php/component/content/article/35-stats/2114-t-fn-boys-hs-aoy
  3. ↑ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1125867/index.htm
  4. ↑ http://www.usatf.org/statistics/champions/USAOutdoorTF/women/wSP.asp
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