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Anthony Carter was the "Playmaker" for the Panthers
The man nicknamed “AC,” finished in
the Top-10 of Heisman voting three times
in his NCAA career with Michigan. Thus,
it should have come as no surprise that he
played in a total of 14 post-season games in
his pro football career between the Panthers,
Invaders, and Vikings.
Carter played in 140 regular-season
games during his NFL career—catching
486 passes for 7,733 yards and 55 touchdowns.
Carter caught 37 passes for 644
yards in eight playoff games. His best playoff
performance came in a stunning Vikings’
36-24 win over the 49ers in 1988,
when he had 10 receptions for 227 yards.
Before displaying his athletic talents in the
NFL, Carter dazzled USFL defenses with
160 receptions and
27 touchdowns in
his tenure with the
Michigan Panthers
and Oakland Invaders.
Carter went to
two USFL Championships;
winning the
inaugural Championship
Game, 24-22,
over the Philadelphia Stars. It was Carter’s
48-yard TD reception with 3:01 remaining
that put the Panthers up by 10 points to seal
the deal for Michigan.
“I knew it was over after I scored,” Carter
said in an interview after the game. “Even if
they scored again, I knew we would get the
ball back with a lead.”
“We tried to do some different things to
defend Carter,” said Stars coach Jim Mora
following the loss. “But they didn’t work.
On the last touchdown, we went with a
blitz because at that time I felt we had to
gamble.”
“The Stars came on a blitz,” Panthers
QB Bobby Hebert said, who completed
20-of-39 passes for 314 yards and three
touchdowns. “I knew it would be hard to
cover AC one-on-one.”
In 1985, after the Invaders and Panthers
merged, Hebert and Carter brought their
winning ways to Oakland as the Invaders
had a league-best 13-4-1 record. The merger
bolstered a passing attack that even rivaled Jim Kelly’s Run-and-Shoot offense inHouston. Oakland receiver Gordon Banks
teamed with Panther receivers Carter and
Derek Holloway to put up ridiculous numbers:
The trio accounted for 36 touchdowns
and 3,269 yards of offense. The Invaders put
473 points on the board as Oakland had a
75 percent winning record.
In the playoffs, Oakland went on to
crush the Tampa Bay Bandits 48-27 in the
quarterfinals, and battled past the Memphis
Showboats 28-19 in the semifinals.
Hebert and Carter looked to shock
Mora’s Stars for a second time in three
years in the USFL Championship, but a
personal foul penalty on FB Tom Newton,
thwarted the winning drive for Oakland,
as the Stars won 28-24 at a rain-soaked
Giants Stadium.
After the USFL folded, Carter, like
many USFlers, went immediately from
playing 18 games with the Invaders to the
NFL training camps. Carter made a huge
impact with the Vikings in 1985: 43 receptions,
821 yards, eight touchdowns and a
19.1 yards-per-reception average.
Carter continued to prove he wasn’t a
fluke by putting up strong numbers in his
sophomore NFL season, 38 receptions and
seven touchdowns in 12 games in ’86, followed
by a remarkable 24.2 y/r average in
strike-shortened ’87 with 38 receptions for
922 yards.
“You look at him and he’s about 160
pounds soaking-wet, and he sounds like
a bird when he talks,” LB Ray Bentley,
Carter’s teammate in Michigan and
Oakland, said. “But he was the best
football player that I’ve ever played with.
He worked harder than anybody; when
the ball was in the air, he went and got
it. When he got going, everyone caught
that fire.”
By 1987, the Vikings had regained their
winning ways after not appearing in the
post-season since 1982. The Viking had
won only one playoff game since 1977, but
the ’87 post-season turned A.C. into an
NFL superstar.
Carter had 23 catches for 391 yards,
and one TD reception in three post-season
games. The Vikings blew past New Orleans,
44-10, in the wild-card round. Ironically,
Mora became Carter’s victim once
again, this time as coach of the Saints.
Carter’s former Panthers teammate Hebert
also got a taste of what Carter could
do from the opposing sideline.
The Vikings ran up 417 yards of total
offense as Carter stole the show with
six receptions for 79 yards, including a
10-yard TD reception. Carter also set a
post-season record by returning a punt 84
yards for another score. In the USFL and
NFL combined, Carter had 20 receptions
for 328 yards in three post-season games
against Mora’s Stars and Saints.
Next, Minnesota marched into the
Stick, stunning Bill Walsh’s 49ers 36-24,
abruptly putting an end to San Francisco’s
13-2 season. Carter had his best game ever,
with 10 receptions for 227 yards.
With the big dogs like the 49ers and
the Bears out of the way, the NFC Championship
came down to the Redskins and
Vikings. The Vikings and Redskins were
locked in a 10-10 fourth-quarter battle,
when former Oklahoma/Arizona Outlaw
quarterback Doug Williams found former
Jacksonville Bulls wide receiver Gary Clark
for a 7-yard touchdown that turned out to
be the winning score for the Redskins, ending
the Vikings dream of playing in Super
Bowl XXII.
The Vikings had strong teams over
the next two years—winning 11 games in
’88 and 10 in ’89. After a 28-17 win over
Houston. Oakland receiver Gordon Banks
teamed with Panther receivers Carter and
Derek Holloway to put up ridiculous numbers:
The trio accounted for 36 touchdowns
and 3,269 yards of offense. The Invaders put
473 points on the board as Oakland had a
75 percent winning record.
In the playoffs, Oakland went on to
crush the Tampa Bay Bandits 48-27 in the
quarterfinals, and battled past the Memphis
Showboats 28-19 in the semifinals.
Hebert and Carter looked to shock
Mora’s Stars for a second time in three
years in the USFL Championship, but a
personal foul penalty on FB Tom Newton,
thwarted the winning drive for Oakland,
as the Stars won 28-24 at a rain-soaked
Giants Stadium.
After the USFL folded, Carter, like
many USFlers, went immediately from
playing 18 games with the Invaders to the
NFL training camps. Carter made a huge
impact with the Vikings in 1985: 43 receptions,
821 yards, eight touchdowns and a
19.1 yards-per-reception average.
Carter continued to prove he wasn’t a
fluke by putting up strong numbers in his
sophomore NFL season, 38 receptions and
seven touchdowns in 12 games in ’86, followed
by a remarkable 24.2 y/r average in
strike-shortened ’87 with 38 receptions for
922 yards.
“You look at him and he’s about 160
pounds soaking-wet, and he sounds like
a bird when he talks,” LB Ray Bentley,
Carter’s teammate in Michigan and
Oakland, said. “But he was the best
football player that I’ve ever played with.
He worked harder than anybody; when
the ball was in the air, he went and got
it. When he got going, everyone caught
that fire.”
By 1987, the Vikings had regained their
winning ways after not appearing in the
post-season since 1982. The Viking had
won only one playoff game since 1977, but
the ’87 post-season turned A.C. into an
NFL superstar.
Carter had 23 catches for 391 yards,
and one TD reception in three post-season
games. The Vikings blew past New Orleans,
44-10, in the wild-card round. Ironically,
Mora became Carter’s victim once
again, this time as coach of the Saints.
Carter’s former Panthers teammate Hebert
also got a taste of what Carter could
do from the opposing sideline.
The Vikings ran up 417 yards of total
offense as Carter stole the show with
six receptions for 79 yards, including a
10-yard TD reception. Carter also set a
post-season record by returning a punt 84
yards for another score. In the USFL and
NFL combined, Carter had 20 receptions
for 328 yards in three post-season games
against Mora’s Stars and Saints.
Next, Minnesota marched into the
Stick, stunning Bill Walsh’s 49ers 36-24,
abruptly putting an end to San Francisco’s
13-2 season. Carter had his best game ever,
with 10 receptions for 227 yards.
With the big dogs like the 49ers and
the Bears out of the way, the NFC Championship
came down to the Redskins and
Vikings. The Vikings and Redskins were
locked in a 10-10 fourth-quarter battle,
when former Oklahoma/Arizona Outlaw
quarterback Doug Williams found former
Jacksonville Bulls wide receiver Gary Clark
for a 7-yard touchdown that turned out to
be the winning score for the Redskins, ending
the Vikings dream of playing in Super
Bowl XXII.
The Vikings had strong teams over
the next two years—winning 11 games in
’88 and 10 in ’89. After a 28-17 win over
the Rams in the ’88 playoffs, the Vikings
returned to the Stick—but this time the
49ers wouldn’t stand for another upset in
front of their home crowd. San Francisco
made quick work of Minnesota—a 41-13
thumping that sent the Vikings home for
the rest of the winter.
The following year the Vikings thought
they were ready with the “mega” trade that
brought Herschel Walker to Minnesota
from Dallas. Even with Walker, the Vikings
needed a 29-21 win against the Bengals
in Week 16 to make the playoffs over
the Green Bay Packers. The Vikings had
the players in place to make a run at the
Super Bowl: Walker, Carter, Keith Millard,
Chris Doleman, Joey Browner, and
Wade Wilson. But time was running out
on this group as the 49ers eliminated the
Vikings for a second-consecutive year—a
34-9 beating in the divisional playoffs.
Walker never fit in with what coach Jerry
Burns wanted from his offense. Walker
liked running from the I formation, but
Burns used the pro-set attack. Walker
rushed for only 669 yards in 11 games—
hardly the dominant runner he was with
the Generals and the Cowboys.
While much attention focused on Walker
and the team’s failure to advance in the
playoffs, Carter continued to get it done in
big fashion from 1988 through 1990, totaling
207 receptions for 3,299 yards and 19
touchdowns.
The Vikings made the playoffs in ’92
and ’93, but lost to the Redskins and Giants
respectively. Carter’s playoff impact
had diminished with only three receptions
for 62 yards in the two loses.
Carter finished his pro football career
where it began—in the state of Michigan.
He played in seven games for the Lions in
’94 and ’95, catching eight passes for 97
yards and three touchdowns.
“You look at him and he’s about 160 pounds soaking-wet, and he sounds like a
bird when he talked…But he was the best football player that I’ve ever played
with. He worked harder than anybody; when the ball was in the air, he went
and got it. When he got going, everyone caught that fire.”
Carter diving for extra yards
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