It was in seventh grade, while living in Roanoke, VA, when Chris Carter first was introduced to football, and although he was playing basketball, the contact in football got him hooked. He would eventually add track to his repertoire, because he was fast and liked to run.

Following high school, Carter found himself in Franklin, where he was to play football for Dean College. The incoming freshman's highlight film impressed Coach Luke Bakanowsky, as he could play both sides of the ball and had a versatility to him that would help the Bulldogs.

"A lot of athletes struggle with being able to tackle in space, but Chris' high school highlight film showed that wasn't him," the Dean Coach said. "We had a lot of expectations for him as a freshman."

With the Dean coaching staff expecting to use the Virginia native on both sides of the ball; they had transformed Carter into a hybrid strong safety/linebacker on the defensive side of the ball. The team was devasted when the freshman injured himself early on, and then finding out his season was finished before it even began.

"It was in the second quarter of my first game when I tore my ACL," Carter said. "I had worked so hard to get here and wanted to go through the season, showing that I not only belonged here, but putting up some stats so that I could eventually try to move into a Division 1 program."

Carter noted that, earlier in his football career, that he had broken the tibia on he same leg that he tore his ACL with dean as a junior in high school.

"Breaking my tibia was not as tough as the torn ACL. This time, I had to work a lot harder to get back onto the field," the safety/linebacker said. "It really hurt to move it, and after I had the surgery, I knew that I'd have to work harder than before to get it right."

Having the injury take place in the second quarter of his first collegiate game, Carter really didn't get to experience football on the college level all that much. Following the injury, he was able to walk off the field thinking that he just tweaked his knee and would be back sooner than later. However, after weeks of visiting doctors and MRI's, it was determined that he'd need the surgery, leaving the incoming freshman distraught that his season was over and he wouldn't be playing any more games for the Bulldogs that year.

Although he tore the ACL in September, Carter finally had the surgery the day before Christmas, and soon after the rehabbing, would begin to get back to the team by the next season. In order to reach his ultimate goal of playing Division 1 football, Carter would need to play collegiate football in some capacity first with success. Unfortunately, he just had surgery and was going to have to work extremely hard to get back to his team in Franklin come August of the next year.

"It took me five to six months of extensive rehab to get back onto the field, and once I did, my leg muscle was so weak," Carter recalled. "I began running in June, and it felt crazy with the brace on my leg. It took another two to three weeks for it to feel right, it was so weird."

For the remainder of the summer, Carter continued to rehab and workout by himself. When he was able to return to Franklin and his teammates, he was more than happy to be back. Although he felt satisfied with his progress (he feels he is 95% at this time) he does know that he can improve and get back to 100% and become the amazing player he was meant to be.

The Dean Coach is impressed with the now sophomore's play after the serious injury.

"When he came back, I could tell that he took things seriously while away," the Bulldog Coach said. "He came back in great shape and is ready to show why we brought him in here. Last year, we were using him as a high safety, but this fall, he'll play nickel, one of the most important positions on the defense as he'll have to handle air schemes as well as the run game."

Playing in his first game back after the injury, Carter noted that although the brace still felt very weird to him, he was able to hit and bring contact to the opposition without a problem. Unfortunately, Dean lost that opening game to Fitchburg State and since gone onto four straight losses at the time of this writing.

Coming into this season with Dean, a Division 3 program, Bakanowsky is looking for Carter to be a leader on the field and give the squad the versatile play that they brough him in for.

Since overcoming his injury, Carter has been given a small 'Against All Odds' scholarship given to an athlete that had to deal with a setback. While his goal of playing Division 1 football was interrupted for some time, he is looking to go out and play the best football that he can while giving Dean everything he has, whatever way they need him to do it. Following playing on the Division 1 level, Carter noted that the next goal would be to make it as a professional athlete with an NFL team, and if he continues with his work ethic, that is something he finds very realistic.