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Homer: Andre Carter on Albert Hayneworth: "When is enough enough?"

themurf

By themurf
in The Stadium

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themurf

themurf

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carter120910.jpg

(photo by Brian Murphy)

Look, it’s no secret that I’m a fan of Washington Redskins defensive lineman Andre Carter. He’s a proven NFL veteran who can get double digit sacks on the field and is also an ideal locker room leader who has shown throughout his career a willingness to make sacrifices for the good of his teams.

Two players immediately came to mind when head coach Mike Shanahan brought in Jim Haslett as his defensive coordinator with the intent of switching the Redskins defense from a 4-3 to 3-4 scheme – Carter and defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth. Both were established NFL commodities who had thrived in 4-3 defenses and neither player seemed best suited for the new defense being installed at Redskins Park.

Whatever issues Carter had with being asked to re-invent himself at 31, the 10-year pro has kept them to himself. The same obviously cannot be said about Haynesworth, who made headlines earlier this week when the team announced he would be suspended for Washington’s final four games of the 2010 season.

With that in mind, I reached out to Carter to get his take on the situation. I figured he, probably more than anyone else in that locker room, understands the situation and was interested to get his take on it all. We also had a chance to talk about Carter’s relationship with a former Redskins great and whether or not he’s willing to chalk this year up to being a lost season. Enjoy.

When the new regime and the new coaching staff came on board with the new defensive scheme, you and Haynesworth – who are both established NFL veterans I might add – were both asked to play out of your comfort zone. What was your mindset when all of this first started?

“It was never my first choice because, as you know, I did play the 3-4 in my fifth year in San Francisco,” he said. “History kind of repeated itself, but it is what it is. Playing in this league, you have to be a professional. You have to be accountable for the player that you are and your actions. I did the best I could to learn the position.

“Fortunately they saw that I am not a linebacker, and that I’m better suited as a defensive lineman,” Carter continued. “So, as you can see, I am in situational downs, which is always a tough pill to swallow because I still feel like I’m in my prime. I still feel like I can contribute more. However, this is the situation they put me in, so I just go out there and try to make plays the best way I know how.”

You and I talked earlier this season and you were telling me about your relationship with former Redskins great Charles Mann. Can you talk a little bit about that?

“I just think I wanted to get his perspective because we have such a good relationship,” Carter said. “We always talk about football, but we also talk about life. One thing he always says that I admire is, ‘You are what you are.’ This is your God-given ability. You’ve always excelled at placing your hand in the dirt. This is what you were destined to do. You’re going to try and learn more about the game and make yourself better, but at the end of the day, you know who you are.”

He’s been a visible presence around the Redskins this season – even traveling on the road with the team. What feedback has he given you throughout the season about your game?

“I think, with the position the Redskins put me in being a situational guy and everything, we just talk about pass rush,” he said. “He talks about my speed and says, ‘Man, you’re looking fast out there.’ He let me know he didn’t think I had lost a step. It’s good to hear that. I am 31 and guys my age do tend to slow down, but I think I’m doing everything like eating right, training well and taking care of my body so I can continue to be effective.”

While you’ve handled yourself throughout all of this as a true professional, the same unfortunately cannot be said about Albert Haynesworth. The entire situation has gotten ridiculous and as someone in that locker room who was asked to make the same sacrifices, I’m interested in hearing your take on his situation.

“I understand that the scheme doesn’t necessarily fit Haynesworth,” Carter said. “But, if I recall, he said the same thing last year when we were in the 4-3. He didn’t think the scheme fit him. It comes to a point when you ask, ‘When is enough enough?’ The coaches have tried to talk to him and ask what he would like, but they can only meet you so far. At some point the situation is going to change and they’re going to have to say, ‘This is what we need you to do. Are you going to do it or not?’

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Tweedr01

Tweedr01

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If you scramble all the letters in "Andre Carter", you get "Another Hater"

Coincicence???? Exactly...

Can't tell if this is serious or not...

No you dont.

But Andre Carter is an anagram for Radar Center.

when you have birds fans calling you out for not spelling correctly, hell may have frozen over

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LD0506

LD0506

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Thanks for yet another fine piece murf. AC is definitely one of the quality guys that we are all glad to have on the roster, I would just like to see more from him. Players like Carter or Daniels need to assert themselves, to let the younger guys know that there is such a thing as character and that it matters.

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SWFLSkins

SWFLSkins

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Another great write up Brian, as usual common sense writing and sound reasoning.

I found this part truly interesting and this is all too telling, too bad Vinny did not know better....

“In Albert’s case, I told him, as men, we’re all strong minded,” he continued. “You just need to make a choice of how you want to be remembered and what you want to do with your life. Do you want to be a professional or do you want to take the low road? All of this has had a domino effect, and it’s trickled down from the top.

“For Albert, I wish him the best,” Carter continued. “I tell everybody, I’ve never seen a defensive tackle with so much athletic ability. He’s strong as an ox. He can moves opposing players around. If he wants to, he could do that every play. But you’ve got to go out and do that every play. You’ve got to be motivated. Do I question his motivation? Sometimes, I do. I think fans do, some of the players do and some of the coaches do, but from what I’ve heard this isn’t any big secret. That’s been going on since his time in Tennessee and even perhaps as far back as college, so it’s just been an ongoing thing with him.”

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Burgold

Burgold

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Good angle on the story. Fine writing. Looking at this from Carter's perspective who was asked to make an even bigger change... a change that prompted him to leave his first team was a smart idea. Even moreso, given the year Andre had last year.

Just shows you the difference between pro and diva.

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authentic

authentic

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Murf what took you so long? I thought you were going to be the first guy to jump all over this...:ols: But as always great interview. This was the only part i disagreed with; regarding what AC said:

The Washington Redskins have always had talented players since I’ve been here. Probably more talent than most, but it’s about the desire, the will and the ‘want to.’

At no point during Carter's tenure here have we possessed more talent than most.

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themurf

themurf

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Hell, you should get business cards with that quote on 'em

Either way it's better than Phillip Daniels calling me Waldo.

Good angle on the story. Fine writing. Looking at this from Carter's perspective who was asked to make an even bigger change... a change that prompted him to leave his first team was a smart idea. Even moreso, given the year Andre had last year.

Just shows you the difference between pro and diva.

I make no secret about being a fan of Carter. He's such a down-to-earth guy and he rarely lets anything get too him. I've often thought about how I would deal with it if someone showed up at my office tomorrow and announced they were radically re-designing my section and that I'd now be asked to do a completely foreign job. I'd like to think I'd be more like Carter than Haynesworth, but I guess you never really know until you're in those shoes.

Murf what took you so long? I thought you were going to be the first guy to jump all over this...:ols: But as always great interview. This was the only part i disagreed with; regarding what AC said:

At no point during Carter's tenure here have we possessed more talent than most.

When you see next week's issue of Hail! magazine you'll understand where I've been since the Fat Albert stuff finally came to a head. Been a busy few days, but I think it'll result in our best issue yet. As far as Carter's assertion that the talent level is above average compared to the rest of the league - that's something we've heard from everyone in that locker room. Seriously, go back and listen to the my audio in the game coverage from Cooley and Orakpo after the Giants loss. They both said the same thing. I guess they have to believe it. They don't want to look around and start pointing the finger at weak links or anything, so they spout cliches' about having more talent and needing to be more consistent across the board. I can't hate on Carter or anyone else from trying to believe that.

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Chachie

Chachie

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Is this a lost season for the Washington Redskins?

“You know what, it’s tough to say,” Carter said. “The games that we’ve played this season that we quote unquote ‘Should have won,’ we didn’t win. But then again, we won some games against some teams that people didn’t think we could win. And we’ve had some rough games where we got our butts whipped. It’s been disappointing.

Hey Andre- you just described every season for the last 10+ years. :)

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Mr. Sinister

Mr. Sinister

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Anre Carter is the perfect example of what it means to be a proffessional. The sole reason that he came here was because he wanted to put his hand back in the dirt and rush the passer from the 4-3 End position. Instead of ****ing and moaning and telling everyone what he wasn't going to do, he went out and did what was asked of him, to the best of his ability. Sure he didn't like it, and he'll probably end up somewhere else in the offseason, but he was a good soldier, and went out there and busted his ass.

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Bang

Bang

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Carter's a pro. Plain and simple.

He and Haynesworth were in the exact same boat when it came to switching to the 3-4,, both feel as if it's not their forte.

The difference is Andre showed up to every practice, every OTA, every minicamp and did his level best in a situation he knew was not his ideal.

Tip your hat to the man. That's a professional. That's a leader.

Albert could have learned a lot from him if he chose to do so.

I'd love to see him be able to stay, but at the same time if he's not going to work out in the defense we've moved to, I have no problem letting him go to another team where he can get back to what he does best. I'd hope like hell he wouldn't take a job in NY or Philly, but other than that, I wish him all the best and great success.

~Bang

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authentic

authentic

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As far as Carter's assertion that the talent level is above average compared to the rest of the league - that's something we've heard from everyone in that locker room. Seriously, go back and listen to the my audio in the game coverage from Cooley and Orakpo after the Giants loss. They both said the same thing. I guess they have to believe it. They don't want to look around and start pointing the finger at weak links or anything, so they spout cliches' about having more talent and needing to be more consistent across the board. I can't hate on Carter or anyone else from trying to believe that.

I understand the reason why they would say it, so I can't hate on them. But i think it becomes a problem with the fans take these player assertions at face value. The reality of the situation is obvious.

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gortiz

gortiz

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Andre is great ... he makes no qualms about being a fish out of water in the 3-4 but he keeps a good attitude about it, he appears to realize that its a privelege to play football, and he seems to put team and teamates first.

anyone stop to think that the real men/leaders of this team are on D?

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themurf

themurf

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Great article. I do find it interesting in regards to all the players comments now coming to light in regards to Haynesworth self motivation (or lack of).

I've got to believe that players like Carter are doing everything they can to make the best of the already-tense situation while it's going on, but once the team stepped in and suspended Haynesworth you get to find out what these guys have really thought about the subject all along.

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Dick Edds

Dick Edds

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I can only wonder what Andre's trade value will be now approaching 32... He is a rare physical specimen with a ridiculous work ethic... and I think given the right scheme, Dre could post double digit sacks for the next 3-4 years.

What are the chances we get more in return for trading Andre than we do for Albert???

I've been wondering that as well ... seems like we could have gotten more value for him last year coming off of 11 sacks ... but that being said, he is the example that should be followed for NFL players looking to maintain/increase their own value when not in an ideal situation. because of his work ethic, attitude and leadership and dedication to this team ... one would think he still has considerable value for a 43 defense out there.

But i also agree, let him go back to the west coast somewhere ... definitely not in the NFC east. Andre, thank you for reperesenting the B&G with nothing but class while you were hear! You will always be a part of the Redskin family, no matter where you end up. HAIL.

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Boss_Hogg

Boss_Hogg

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“I understand that the scheme doesn’t necessarily fit Haynesworth,” Carter said. “But, if I recall, he said the same thing last year when we were in the 4-3. He didn’t think the scheme fit him. It comes to a point when you ask, ‘When is enough enough?’ The coaches have tried to talk to him and ask what he would like, but they can only meet you so far. At some point the situation is going to change and they’re going to have to say, ‘This is what we need you to do. Are you going to do it or not?’

This was my argument during the whole AH drama, he complained ad nauseum about our 4-3 scheme last year. There was just no pleasing this guy.

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