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Man of steel
This Ram wears an 'S' on his chest
Posted: Friday January 28, 2000 11:07 AM
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Kevin Carter has had at least ten sacks in three of his past four seasons with the Rams. Andy Lyons/Allsport |
By Josie Karp, CNNSI.com
ST. LOUIS (CNNSI.com) -- Sitting in a chair at home, coaxing music from his saxophone, Kevin Carter looks gentle. Not being tough enough is a reputation Carter's had to live down since college. You can call him soft at home, because on the field you no longer can.
"I want to clear up something," Carter says. "People say, 'Kevin, are you meaner this year? Do you have more fire?' And I think, someone saying that I'm 'meaner this year' is an insult to me. It's an insult to my intelligence. It's an insult to how hard I've worked."
The Rams emerged from obscurity this season as Carter, a 6-5, 280 pound fifth-year defensive end from Florida went from underachieving to overpowering. His league-leading 17 sacks put Carter in position to establish a reputation and pass the burden of comparison on to someone else.
"Right now, if you're talking about complete defensive ends or sacks or whatever category you want to run into, team status, your standard for comparison is me. Not me compared to someone else."
Carter's very real belief that he cannot be stopped is inspired by his insistence that he is actually someone else.
His personal collection of posters, toys, comic books and the like provides an answer to the clue.
"Everything I had from my bed sheets to my posters on the wall, were all of the man of steel. And every memory I've ever had of any kind of superhero, always was Superman.
"His whole identity, as far as Clark Kent versus Superman, I think really personifies me. I've never been a real 'rah-rah' type of guy to get really overly excited and you know, beat my head against a locker or anything like that. But my focus is clear and it's focused and it's like a burning fire that never stops. "
The gentle, music-playing, dog-loving Carter turns himself into a quarterback-crazed lineman on Sundays the same way Clark Kent morphs into the man of steel.
"When I walk in with my suit on, I take it off, hang it up," he said. "When I put on my pads, my jersey, and my cleats, those are my cape and tights and boots. So it's just as easy as doing that. The transformation is made."
After a Rams blowout, Kevin Carter usually would chill out at home by blowing on his sax. CNNSI.com |
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What do his teammates think of all this?
"He thinks he is Superman," say defensive tackle and D'Marco Farr. "If you tell him he's not, he gets upset. He gets really upset. He'll chase you from one end of the building to another to explain to you that he is Superman."
Carter takes his Superman devotion so far, he even has his own version of Lois Lane, his wife Shima.
"Like Lois Lane, she's very capable. I mean, my wife can do anything that she wants to do," Carter said looking at his wife who was sitting beside him. "Anything."
"There are two very clear-cut, definite sides of him," says Shima. "But the factor that's the same regardless of whether he's Clark, Kevin or Superman man of steel is his passion."
"That about says it right," he said smiling at his wife. "That about says it right."
Come Sunday, Carter already knows what his game plan will be.
"Superman goes and you know leaps over tall building and stops locomotives on a daily basis. So that's what he always does. And that's what I would go out and do on Super Bowl Sunday. Just be consistent. Be who I am all the time."
A super performance in the Super Bowl would not be out of the question.
Or out of character.
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