The story of Andre Carter II is one of adversity, perseverance, but above all, calm, collected stoicism.
Out of high school, Carter only had five offers, and only one from the FBS, but that one FBS offer was all that mattered.
Despite being offered by some great academic programs such as Howard and Cornell, Carter committed to Army on Jan. 17, 2019
Throughout his career, he bounced around positions a lot, being both a wide receiver and a tight end, but ended up as a linebacker at Army. Carter believes this was very important to his development.
“I just think the more positions you play, the more football you play, the better you become. Just more experience you get is always a good thing.”
While he was relatively quiet in 2019 and 2020, he absolutely broke onto the scene in 2021, tying with Alabama’s Will Anderson for the nation’s sack leader at 15.5.
After that year, he caught the eyes of many NFL teams and went from having almost no looks in high school to a potential first round draft pick, but Carter kept his focus and did not let it go to his head.
“It does not impact me, it’s just the same mindset, keep working and trying to get better each and every day,” Carter said.
While he had a bit of a down year in 2022, only recording 3 sacks and 37 tackles, he was still looked at as a potential first rounder, but he hit a potential hurdle right before the rivalry game against Navy.
A piece of legislation that was passed during his time at Army made it so that he could not defer his mandatory service until after his time in the pros, but instead would have to go immediately after his graduation. This was not in place when Carter joined the team and was discovered right before the game.
But in Carter’s stoic fashion, he did not let it affect him much.
“I did not change anything, the mindset’s still the same, I just trust God, hard work, and just let it take care of itself.”