Oct. 26, 2017
By Jared Dillard
AuburnTigers.com
AUBURN, Ala. - An Auburn man, through and through.
For Tyler Carter, a senior psychology major, football was not his thing growing up. That is, until he moved to Decatur, Alabama, and gave the sport a try.
"Man, I just want to play something," Carter told himself, deciding to try out for the Decatur High School football team.
"What's ironic is that my first day at practice at Decatur High, it was the hottest day, like 109. I passed out from the heat," Carter said.
That sizzling first day started a journey that eventually led Carter to Auburn. "My mom came onto the field. She was standing over me and everything," he said. "She was saying, 'He needs some orange juice!'
From then on, Carter nickname on the football team was O.J. Looking back with a laugh, Carter says that nickname motivated him to become the biggest, strongest and fastest on the team. When he went home, he started doing pushups, anything that could give him an edge.
Carter played three years at Decatur High. Despite playing well, college football scholarship offers were lacking. That's when he decided to attend a camp at Auburn.
"I came to Auburn and fell in love with it," Carter said.
Auburn was the only school to which Carter applied. Admitted to Auburn in 2014, the hard part was yet to come.
In the spring of 2015, Carter made the decision to walk on to the Auburn football team. "Walking on is hard," Carter laughed. "I didn't know what I was getting myself into. But I'm here now and just have to weather the storm."
Austin Dupper, a senior defensive back from Carter's high school, also tried out for the football team and gave Carter some pointers to make it through the spring tryouts. "Keep your head up. Always look at the coaches when they are talking to you," Dupper told Carter. Dupper was trying for the second time to walk on at Auburn.
Both made it.
"I had faith. I'm here. I got to get on," Carter said. From there, the grueling days of practice and workouts commenced, but they were nothing he couldn't handle. Carter was no stranger to work. He knew it had to pay off eventually. During preseason camp in 2016, it finally did. Carter received a scholarship from Auburn. "That was a big turning point. It was only a year, but it helped me out a lot. I'm grateful."
Carter reached another milestone when he saw his first action later that season. Against ULM, Carter took the field as an Auburn Tiger for the first time. "For me, you always have those butterflies," Carter explained as he tried to recall the game. His favorite memory stems occurred when fellow defensive lineman Gary Walker recorded a sack in the fourth quarter. Carter smiled, "He jumped like 10 feet in the air."
Carter recorded his first tackle last season against Alabama A&M. "I don't know how to describe it," he said. "You don't really think too much about it. I've been doing this."
For many, taking the field at Jordan-Hare would be a mind-numbing experience. For Carter, it's just another day at the office. A place where, one day, he wants to bring his kids and tell them he played on this field and was part of the Auburn family.
Carter knows that his time on Auburn's football team is nearing an end. "I'm just trying to get a list of things I want to do and attack them," he said.
Playing football at Auburn? Check. Makes one wonder what those kids who called Carter "O.J." would say now.
Jared Dillard is a student assistant in Auburn athletics communications