Bears wide receiver DeAndre Carter is dedicated to his health, the memory of his brother
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Bears return man DeAndre Carter is coming off a rough game when he had a missed punt in the loss to the Minnesota Vikings a week ago Sunday—but he bounced back from that miscue to run a punt back 55 yards.
Carter is used to dealing with adversity—and not just on the football field. He is dedicating his career to his late brother while also managing his own health.
Carter understands how hard it is to play at the highest level. The seven-year veteran has played on six different teams—including two stints with the Bears.
But being a receiver and return specialist in Chicago does feel different.
"It comes with a lot of, I don't like to call it pressure, but, you know, the mystique of a returner in Chicago," said Carter. "With D-Hess [Devin Hester] going into the Hall of Fame this year, it definitely adds a little motivation to it."
Motivation is something Carter has never lacked—even after a scary moment for him on the field that happened when he was young, which led to learning he had type 1 diabetes.
"I kind of like passed out at football practice, stuff like that. Coach sent me home, and I was throwing up all night and stuff, and then my dad took me to the emergency room. To go to the hospital and the doctor tell you that your blood sugar at 800 or something, 'If you didn't come in today, you might not have made it,' you know, that's tough—as a parent, I can imagine, to hear that," Carter said. "I'm 14 at the time. I'm like, yeah, OK, can I play on Friday?"
Preparing for games has looked different ever since. Carter sticks to a low-carb diet, and checks his blood sugar constantly throughout busy days as a professional athlete.
"Definitely before practice, during practice, and after practice, and then same thing during the games—before the game, halftime and after the game," he said. "It is definitely an added responsibility I have on myself to make sure my health is OK going into the games—or, you know, day to day. But as long as you stay on top of it and manage it, it won't stop you from doing anything you want to do."
Carter uses his platform to spread awareness for type 1 diabetes, but his professional career was dedicated to a bigger purpose before it began—because of a disease that took his younger brother's life at 17 years old.
"Kaylan Carter passed away from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. It's kind of like an enlarged heart. Passed out at football practice, and went into a coma and never woke up, you know. And so, on his death bed, when we kind of got to the point where we knew he wasn't, you know, going to make it through his situation, I made him a promise that I was going to make it into the league for both of us," said Carter. "It wakes me up every day. It gets me out of bed every day."
This has not changed nearly a decade later. Despite having to move to different cities on multiple occasions after being cut, quitting was never an option for Carter.
"The route that I've gone on, you've got to be wired a little bit different, and you know, I appreciate and thank my parents for instilling that," Carter said. "I was raised, you know, to never quit, never fold, never give in. If it's something that you want or that you believe in, you go out there and you fight for it."
This "wiring" may have something to do with Carter plays special teams.
"To sit up there and look dead in the sky with people 50 yards away from the ball, and people running at you, definitely got to be wired a little different. Some people might say I have a couple little screws loose," Carter said. "But it's fun man. It's all in fun. And I just try to go out there and make an impact on the game as much as I can."
Before every game, after checking his blood sugar and putting on cleats with his brothers initials on them, Carter goes to the endzone to pray.
He is player who has never taken a moment on the field for granted.
"Just reminding my brother that I'm out here and I'm doing it for him," Carter said. "Asking him to be with me throughout the game throughout—the course of the game—let's go out there and try to make plays and do something special."