Carter shrugs off the hate

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This article was published 08/09/2017 (2953 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Duron Carter, the man Winnipeg football fans love to loathe, is a likable, friendly guy. Honest. 

“I feel like I play my best in hostile environments, you know, coming into a very good Winnipeg team and a very loud stadium, I can’t wait,” said the star Saskatchewan Roughriders wide receiver during a brief media session Friday afternoon at Investors Group Field.

Carter, a lightning rod for controversy during his four-year CFL career, is an engaging personality. He also has been making life miserable for opposing defences in 2017 with his unique combination of speed, leaping ability and reality-defying catching skills. On Sunday, Carter caught 10 passes for 101 yards to help the Roughriders whip the Blue Bombers 38-24 at Mosaic Stadium.

There was also controversy. After a first-half touchdown catch, Carter was targeted by a Blue Bombers fan who spit on him from his perch in the south end stands. Carter alerted security and the offending fan was ejected from the stadium.

“No, I have not been spit on before,” Carter said with a grin.

“It was quick spit. It was more like I saw it get on me and everything. It was crazy. People do things all the time, they make mistakes. I don’t have any ill malice towards the guy. He just can’t come to any Rider games anymore.” 

What about today, when Saskatchewan takes on Winnipeg at IGF in the annual Banjo Bowl at 2 p.m.? Well, Carter was still smiling when he responded to that question.

“Last time I had to knock a beer out of a guy’s hand for saying some bad stuff… Canadians are great in general,” Carter said. “Part of me being up here, I love being in Canada. I love seeing the different cities. And people, for the most part, are a lot nicer than the people in Miami (his hometown).”

He will take care in the end zone, however.

“I might have to stay away from out of there,” Carter said. “There might be some beer cans or some more spit. If I score, I might have to do a little dance.”

Winnipeg cornerback Brandon Alexander, who faced Carter on “between 10 and 15 plays” on Sunday, said aside from athletic ability, Carter’s freakishly big hands are a huge problem for defenders. 

“He definitely has big hands,” Alexander said. “He has long, big hands where you can grip the ball with one hand and be able to run with the ball like a quarterback. Hands do matter, along with the gloves, which is extra-plus on it. He should be able to catch anything…

“The difference is how big, how wide, how long and how strong your fingertips are. Duron has all those assets.”

One-handed catches are a Carter specialty.

“When I look at ‘em, they don’t look that big,” Carter said, looking down at his huge mitts.

“But I saw a Burger King commercial one time and I learned about Whopper hands, so I think I think I can hold a Whopper, you know. I do use it to my advantage. I can sorta engulf the ball and that’s why I can catch it with one hand.”

Another secret to his success may be something he learned from his dad, Pro-Football-Hall-of-Fame receiver Cris Carter.

“His hands are stronger than mine,” Carter said.

“So we have a ball game that we do — he grabs one end and I grab the other. I have yet to beat him but I can beat everybody else and we just pull, pull, pull and try to get the ball out of each other’s hands. And that’s how we worked on our hand strength. It hasn’t failed me yet.”  

Alexander will be on special alert today. 

“You just gotta make sure you’re in tune with yourself and you’ve gotta play through his hands,” Alexander said. “If you try to play the ball against Duron Carter, most times you’re not going to come away with it because one, he’s 6-4, 6-5, and two, how strong his hands are… What you have to do is when you see his hands go up, you have to go through his hands and be able make those plays, because nine times out of 10, he will come down with that ball.”

Carter’s skill set extends to defence and special teams. Roughriders head coach Chris Jones loves to use him in multiple roles.

“He had a pile of targets last game,” Winnipeg head coach Mike O’Shea said. “There are instances where you see him on defence playing corner, you see him as a returner, you see him on the field goal block team. So, they’re just taking, as every team would I believe, taking an athlete that has certain skill sets physical attributes and using him where they see he can be a benefit.”

STORM WARNING

Carter’s family, which is based in the Miami area, has remained at home despite evacuation orders in the wake of Hurricane Irma.

“Yeah, very nervous,” Carter said, when asked about the hurricane. “I’ve never seen people leave South Florida like this before. Everybody usually just hunkers down, bags of sand and all that. And we just deal with it. This is turning out to be the perfect storm, in a sense.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14