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

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.”