BEREA, Ohio — Browns wide receiver DeAndre Carter was just happy he would finally get to wear the number he wore his entire football life until he reached the NFL.
“I wore No. 2 all of high school, all of college,” Carter said. “I actually got the No. 2 tattooed on my leg.”
That’s the life of a player who has had to fight his whole career, starting as an undrafted free agent from Sacramento State in Baltimore — they were the first team to cut him from any sport. He has had stops with 11 different teams since he came in the league in 2015.
The number you want isn’t always available.
According to his Pro Football Reference page, Carter wore No. 16 in Philadelphia; 14 in Houston; 19 during his first stint in Chicago; 1 in Washington and with the Chargers; (He also wore 82 with the Chargers.) 3 with the Raiders; and 11 with the Bears.
Never No. 2. Until he got to Cleveland.
“I was excited because this is the first time I’ve gotten to an organization and No. 2 was open. So it was the first time I was actually able to pick No. 2 in my NFL career.”
Then, a little over a month after he signed with the Browns and weeks after he picked the number, the Browns traded two sixth-round picks to move up and select Shedeur Sanders at No. 144 overall.
About a week after that, the Browns sent out a social media graphic with rookie jersey numbers and suddenly Carter found himself in the crosshairs when it was revealed that Sanders would wear No. 12 because his familiar No. 2 was already taken.
“I’m not a big social media guy at all, by any means, but people started sending me, like, different things from social media,” Carter said, “so I went on to my social media and looked and I had a bunch of comments and all these things coming from fans.”
The Browns’ release of veteran jersey numbers at the same time contributed to people immediately jumping to the wrong conclusion that he took the number from Sanders, maybe to cash in on the young rookie’s fame.
“I picked my number before we even drafted Shedeur, before I even knew Shedeur was going to be here,” Carter said. “I don’t know, whatever the narrative is that I’m trying to take his number or whatever it was, it definitely wasn’t the case. But, I mean, I’ve been a fan of Shedeur since he started playing at Jackson State, so I want to do everything I can to possibly help him be the best player that he could possibly be.”
In fact, the whole thing has only helped the 32-year-old Carter connect with one of the quarterbacks throwing him the ball this spring.
“To his credit, I think a lot of people give him a bad rap, he’s focused on football,” Carter said. “I approached him because it blew up on social media, and I was like, you know, just man to man, there wasn’t no hate or nothing like that. He was like, ‘Bro, I’m not even worried about that.’ I gained a lot of respect for him with the way he handled and approached that situation.”
During rookie minicamp, Sanders was asked if he might try to buy No. 2 from Carter, but he shot that idea down.
“No, I’m not trying to buy anything. My signing bonus ain’t that high right now,” he said.
Carter hopes his wealth of NFL experience, having been in so many organizations and offenses, can help Sanders reach his goals.
“He’s a great kid, man. He’s a sponge, trying to learn everything that he can,” Carter said. “I think he’s going to have a really, really great, successful career in this league when he gets the opportunity.”
It sounds like Carter doesn’t mind Sanders reaching out to him with any questions as he navigates the start of his NFL career. He’s got his number.
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