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View Full Version : Carter: an original 3-4 defensive specialist



Lonestar
09-23-2009, 02:18 PM
By Irv Moss
The Denver Post
Posted: 09/22/2009 01:00:00 AM MDT
Updated: 09/22/2009 03:23:02 PM MDT


It didn't take Rubin Carter long to take the conversation back to when he played for the Broncos.

I caught up with him last week in the football offices at the University of New Mexico, where he's an assistant football coach. Carter was busy helping the Lobos prepare to play Air Force, but he shifted his attention to Denver and the Broncos when told he had been selected by fan voting to the franchise's half-century team.

"I remember going to the Colorado Mine Company to watch 'Monday Night Football,' " Carter said, referring to one of Denver's hot spots of the time. "Our team did a lot of things as a group. That era was a special time I'll never forget. I came into a situation where a team hadn't had much success and all of a sudden everything came together."

Denver's sports scene was much different in 1975, when Carter joined the Broncos as a draft choice out of the University of Miami.

Larry Brown was the coach of the Nuggets, and the franchise was in the midst of moving from the ABA to the NBA. The minor-league Denver Bears provided the baseball, and Lamar Johnson led the American Association with 163 hits. The Colorado Rockies would begin play a year later — in hockey, not baseball.

But the Broncos were big, and Carter arrived as they were aiming for their first Super Bowl, a date with the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XII, Jan. 15, 1978, in the Louisiana Superdome. The Broncos lost 27-10, but the franchise had arrived.

"Playing for a world championship the first time always is the best time," Carter said. "I had never experienced anything like that before as a player; neither had the organization nor the whole state."

The news that he had been singled out by the fans as one of the top players in the first 50 years of the Broncos caught Carter by surprise.

"I never saw myself in that light," he said. "I was an unselfish player who wanted to compete and get better. I always wanted to make sure

Rubin Carter, former Denver Broncos defensive tackle (DPO)I was doing my part. The one team we all wanted to beat was the Oakland Raiders. The Raiders were the bad boys of the NFL, and we wanted to show them we could compete on their level."

Carter's part was playing the most selfless spot on the field, nose tackle, where you're double-teamed, sometimes triple-teamed. But he had some memorable help on the defensive line playing alongside Lyle Alzado, Paul Smith, Rulon Jones and Barney Chavous.

Maybe his best claim to national fame was being on the cover of Sports Illustrated on Oct. 17, 1977. His mug shot on the cover was the lead to a story about the 3-4 defense, and at 6-feet, 256 pounds he was described as the prototype nose tackle.

"When I was drafted by Denver, I didn't know what to expect," Carter said. "I had been a Florida guy for so many years, and I didn't know exactly where Denver was. But I found that the people in the organization were great, and Denver has the greatest fans in the country."

Carter played for the Broncos from 1975-86 but missed Super Bowl XXI because of injuries.

Carter maintained ties to the Broncos after leaving the game and joining the coaching ranks. His first coaching job was with the Broncos under Dan Reeves. In 1989-93 he was at Howard University with former Broncos Steve Wilson and Charlie West. He joined former Broncos coach John Ralston at San Jose State in 1995-96 and then had stops at Maryland, the Washington Redskins, New York Jets, Temple, Florida A&M as head coach and now New Mexico.

"I like working with young people," Carter said. "It's about tolerating, but motivating at the same time. Players aren't the same. Coaches have to find the right button to push."



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Rubin Carter bio

Born: Dec. 12, 1952, in Pompano Beach, Fla.

High school: Stranahan High School, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

College: Miami.

Family: Wife Karen; daughter Diandra; sons Andre (plays for the Washington Redskins), Alvin and Joshua.

Hobby: Chess.

Outlook: Played professional football for 12 years. Has had the opportunity to work with young men teaching a sport he loves.

http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_13389966