Exclusive: Duke’s Michael Carter II shares his NFL draft diary
An impact player upon his arrival at Duke in 2017, Michael Carter II is working toward doing the same at the professional level later this year.
Carter started the final two games of his freshman season with the Blue Devils, helping them to a win that made them bowl eligible and a Quick Lane Bowl win over Northern Illinois.
From there, while starting games at safety and cornerback, he won the team’s Willis Aldridge Award as Duke’s top defensive back as a sophomore and junior in 2018 and 2019.
While the Blue Devils struggled to a 2-9 record last season, Carter was a third-team, all-ACC selection.
After earning his public policy degree in December, Carter set about his journey toward a professional football career by heading to South Florida to begin training for the NFL draft.
Although Carter is projected as a late-round selection or perhaps a sought-after undrafted free agent, Duke coach David Cutcliffe is confident Carter will make it.
“He’s smart. He’s athletic,” Cutcliffe said. “I would say maybe my favorite word for Michael Carter is he’s reliable. He’s going to do what you expect him to do. I think he can make a tremendous pro football player.”
Carter agreed to share thoughts on his Duke career and details of his draft preparation experiences with The News & Observer. Here is the first installment of his draft diary, with another installment planned for next week after Duke’s pro day on Monday.
Q&A
N&O: Did you enter the 2020 season knowing you were going to turn pro or did you consider another year at Duke? What made now the right time to give pro football a try?
Carter: “I came into the year looking forward to having a successful year, not knowing or thinking this was my last year. That’s how I wanted to play and then whatever decision I would make at the end was how I would decide. But I kind of played with the mentality this is my last time ever putting on this uniform and coming down on Saturdays playing for Duke. That was my mentality the whole season. And then at the end, looking back on everything and what I accomplished and what I believe I can do, talking to my family and my circle and things like that, ultimately, I got my degree, so I just, I felt like it was the best decision for me.”
N&O: How important was it to get your degree finished before you started a pro football career?
Carter: “Obviously, I love football. And that’s what I want to do, play professionally. Before sports, in my house growing up, it was always school first. Getting a degree was always stressed upon me and my siblings. So it meant a lot for me to get that degree, not only for myself, but for my mom and dad. I finished college and whenever football is done, for me, I have that degree to fall back on to keep doing great things.”
N&O: What was your meeting with David Cutcliffe like when you were deciding?
Carter: “I came to him and I told him after talking with my family and people who I trust that I felt like this is the best decision for me. And he was nothing but supportive of that decision. He was just encouraging me and saying, ‘You’re more than capable of playing in the league for a long time. You have the ability and the smarts. Keep your head up, and keep your head on. You’re gonna do great things.’ So it was all love in that conversation. And even with all the other coaches, everybody was more than happy for me in my decision and supportive of helping me in the future.”
N&O: You went to bowl games your first two seasons but last season went poorly on the field for the team. What did you learn from that experience during the pandemic?
Carter: “It definitely impacted me because I strive to be a great teammate. So I want to give my all for the team. Obviously, I’m playing to be good as an individual, but also playing hard for the team and hopefully those results will show up at the end of the game on Saturdays and we come out with the win for all the effort. Working hard and playing as hard as you can for 60 minutes, and we still don’t get the result, you know it definitely is a mental game. But adversity makes people stronger. There were definitely a lot of adverse situations throughout the year, just knowing that we’re capable of so much more. But being able to stay intact as a team and staying bought into what we’re trying to do, even if we’re not getting the results we want, just continue to buy in and play as hard as you can and then whatever happens, happens. You make your adjustments and you get better from it.”
This story was originally published March 25, 2021 at 8:00 AM with the headline "Exclusive: Duke’s Michael Carter II shares his NFL draft diary."