When a wide receiver with speed is in front of NFL scouts, it's their job to see what he's got. It's even better to see it twice.
Troy State's Jonathan Carter more than obliged during his pro day in 2001.
"At the Combine, I ran a 4.31 (40-yard dash)," Carter said. "And when they came to my pro day, we had natural grass and it rained that morning. So they said, 'You got some spikes?' I said, 'Yeah, I can borrow some.'
"So they put me on the track, and I ran a 4.15 twice. (The university's strength & conditioning) Coach (Richard) Shaughnessy said, 'That's not true.' So I ran my 4.15, jogged back, and ran it again. They said, 'Oh, you ain't gotta do nothing else.'"
Besides running 40 yards in the time it takes to hear a sneeze and say gesundheit, Carter also helped his cause by scoring on a 75-yard reception in the Blue-Gray Game. He was drafted in the fifth round by the Giants in 2001, and played in a handful of games over two seasons before being released in October 2002 and claimed by the Jets a day later.
"I was super excited because I got another opportunity, and I was going right across the bridge," Carter said. "The first guy that introduced himself to me was Santana Moss, and we're still best friends to this day. Him and Wayne Chrebet welcomed me in with open arms. Man, it really meant so much to me. It was amazing.
"I'd just heard stories about Wayne, the guy who'd catch with no gloves. And Santana got drafted the same year, so I already knew who he was. But, yeah, it was amazing how they tried to get me up to par with the playbook. It was a great opportunity."
In the 2003 Week 11 game in Indianapolis, New York's head coach Herm Edwards gave Carter an opportunity to step in at wideout and kick returner after Chrebet and Michael Bates were sidelined with injuries, and use his and Moss' speed in the gameplan.
On the Jets' first drive of the game, Carter lined up across from veteran cornerback Walt Harris, and that plan came to fruition.
"We had a cheetah package with Santana and me on the field at the same time," Carter said. "So I was like, 'Oh, man, Chad (Pennington) could throw it to me or Santana. You know what, I'm just going to try to beat Walt on the go route. I'm going to get on top of him and just run full speed.'
"I had said, 'Chad, make sure you throw it far as you can.' And he did. He didn't even look me off. He threw it as far as he could and I just ran up under it. I said to myself, 'It's my time, baby. I can't drop this. I'm not going to drop this ball.' And it was a touchdown. I was super excited. It was good play."
The 62-yard touchdown was good play, and it was also Carter's first career reception.
Moss, he knew it was coming.
"Santana had a dream that night before the game," Carter said. "He told me, 'Hey, Bro, you're going to catch a donkey today.' That's what he called it. I said, 'For real?' And he said, 'Yeah. Just go out there with the mindset that they can't match the speed.'"
The Colts couldn't match it on the Jets' opening drive and they couldn't match it in the third quarter when Carter got some help from his teammates and returned a kickoff 90 yards for another touchdown.
"I had some key blocks. LaMont Jordan, James Reed, Chris Baker and Jonathan Goodwin, they were all in the wedge, and they all had good blocking," Carter said. "I just seen the alleyway and turned it on. I almost was about to break a kickoff return the whole game and finally got one. I got a kickoff return that night, and my first catch was a touchdown. It was amazing."
An amazing performance which earned Carter the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week Award. But there was a downside. The Colts won the game, 38-31.
"Coach Herm gave me the game ball, but we lost. We should have won," Carter said. "We were playing against Peyton Manning, and he was out there with his 'Omaha' and changing plays the last minute. It was a good game, though. We were going back and forth with each other."
Finishing the year on I.R. after tearing his meniscus during the Week 14 game in Buffalo, Carter would redeem an early turnover and find his way to the end zone again during the 2004 season-opening victory over Cincinnati, which began a five-game winning streak.
"What was so crazy, on the opening kickoff, I fumbled the ball. I remember that I was so anxious, just super excited about the season, but nobody touched me. The ball just came out of my hand and they recovered it. It was bad. I was just too pumped," Carter said.
"(Special teams) Coach (Mike) Westhoff brought me over and he was so mad at me. He said, 'You've got to make it up somehow!' And so when we got the ball back after they scored, I caught a pass from Chad on the on the right side of the field (and scored on a 46-yard reception to help the Jets come out on top, 31-24)."
Signed by Tampa Bay in 2006 and assigned to NFL Europe, an injury during its training camp prevented Carter from playing overseas or for the Buccaneers.
While his days on the field are behind him, the game isn't. For the past two years Carter has been a volunteer receivers coach at Holy Cross High School in San Antonio, TX.
"It makes my day, it really does, because I was on that depressing stage, just not being able to play again," Carter said. "Playing football was cut short from me. I think I could have played a little bit more. But this is bringing me back, making me feel like I'm still on the field, and giving my knowledge and my wisdom about the game.
"It makes me feel good about myself getting up every day and just being around a group of guys in the afternoon, just seeing what they can do. Just try to make them better, try to get them a scholarship to play in college, and maybe move on after that, go to the NFL."
Carter, who splits time between Texas and his native Alabama, is the father of three children. Jace, 21, who is a college student; Jaylee, 16, who is in high school, where she's a standout athlete in wrestling, volleyball and track; and Javiana, 6, who plays soccer and does jujitsu.
