Northwestern University Athletics
The Skip Report: The Tale of Austin Carr
9/28/2016 2:20:00 PM | Football
By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
THE TALE,
TOLD QUICKLY
He was a high school star in the San Francisco Bay Area, but received no major scholarship offers. So, after getting accepted by Northwestern, he called Northwestern director of player personnel Chris Bowers and told him he would like to walk onto the football team. Bowers watched some film on the kid, and the kid's high school coach attested to his character in a phone call, and soon enough Austin Carr was invited to join the team at its 2012 training camp.
"We had a roster spot. It's really that simple. We had space available," Pat Fitzgerald says when asked why that invite was proffered. "He had sent us some video. He could definitely go out and compete from the standpoint of being healthy and safe. Outside of that, could we predict that he would be the type of player he is now? No way."
Now Carr is not only the Wildcats' leading receiver as they prepare for a Saturday visit to Iowa, he is also the leading receiver in the Big Ten whose name has just been added to the watch list for the Fred Biletnikoff Award that goes annually to the nation's top receiver. He has caught touchdown passes in three straight games, the first 'Cat to do that since Jeremy Ebert in 2011, and has back-to-back 100-yard receiving games, encoring another Ebert feat of 2011.
"The biggest similarity would probably be just the love of the game," says sophomore wideout Flynn Nagel.
Last year, after committing to the 'Cats, he had trained with and been tutored by Ebert, and here Nagel is asked to compare him and Carr.
"Jeremy loved football and I know Austin loves football," he now continues. "And the work ethic of the two guys. Jeremy was a work horse, always wanted to get extra work in, and I see the same thing in AC. AC's always doing extras, always putting in work off the field, always doing everything he can to make his craft better. Jeremy was the same way from what I've heard from the guys who knew him."
Can he believe Carr's tale?
"It's crazy how it worked out," Nagel agrees. "But he's an unbelievable person, and it doesn't really surprise me because of his work ethic. From what I've heard, the way he was (on the field) when he got here to what he is now is night and day."
A FEW GOOD MINUTES
WITH AUSTIN CARR
The month he has put up, did he see it coming?
"I've always wanted to be a productive wide receiver, and I think that I could see leading up to this season that there would be opportunities for me to prove that," he says. "At the end of the day, it just comes down to making plays and I'm glad that I've made most of them. There's more to be made."
But did he see himself leading the Big Ten?
"No, I didn't see that," he admits with a smile. "There are some very good wide receivers in this conference, so it's an honor. But I could not see this coming? No."
When he asked to walk on, what gave him the belief that he could do this, that he could succeed?
"Coming in the goal was not to become the best receiver in the Big Ten," he says. "It was just to become better. It was to take those small baby steps. Because when you first get here, you're a small fish in a big pond. It was about— some of the best advice I've ever received is when I met Bubba Paris, who was the left tackle of the 49ers back when (Joe) Montana was there. I met him, it was very random, and I asked him what's the biggest advice you have for someone like me. I was (in the seventh grade and) playing youth football at the time. He said strive to be the best in your tightest circle. Then once you achieve that, go to the next widest circle and try to be the best there. And then go to the next widest and try to be the best there. So, coming in, that was the mentality I adopted. Let me try to be the best wide receiver on the team. That was a four-year process and I would by no means say I am, hands down in all areas, the best guy, the best wide receiver on this team. We've got a ton of talent. But I have worked myself up to have the trust to be a starter, which is an honor. The best in the Big Ten? There is still at least eight more games to play, and we're going to be coming up against some pretty good competition. So I'm not going to make any huge, bombastic statements."
I have down in my notes to ask about the belief system, the philosophy, that drives him. Is that it, or is there more?
"The biggest motivator for me is my Christian faith, to be completely honest," he says. "The pressure that I felt to perform is taken away when, in my heart and in my mind, I'm playing for an audience of one, which is God. That's what I'd say enables me to perform on third-and-eight in a hostile environment and make big catches. In my mind I'm blocking out the crowd, I'm blocking out even the expectations of my coaches. I'm just trying to give 100 percent effort for the Lord."
So he feels no stress at all, no nerves at all?
He chuckles and says, "No. By no means. I would say that there are times when I find myself not centered, when I find myself— maybe I made a bad play and then it's a battle. It's a battle."
Now that he has mentioned his faith, he is told quarterback Clayton Thorson recently said Carr had become a mentor to him spiritually and that he thought that helped their synergy on field.
How did that happen and how does it help on the field?
"When he was a recruit he came on campus, and I got a chance to meet him, and I heard he was a man of faith as well, and we connected on that," he recalls. "His whole freshman year we would meet once a week and just talk about team, talk about how he was doing. That I would say was the foundation of our relationship. This bond over our faith, that spreads out into socially. We like to hang out. We like to hang out, and it's not always just talking football to each other. It's talking more than that. That adds to the chemistry between us, and I think it strengthens the offense in general because we like to bring other guys into that strong community. Whether they're men of faith or not, we like to bring people in and we like to be uniting forces on the team, which I've seen happen this past year."
And Andrew Scanlan mentioned recently that all you wideouts come in three, four times a week and watch film with Clayton.
"Yep. Yeah."
And you make calls off film together so you know what he's seeing and he knows what you're seeing?
"Exactly. That's not particular to us here. That's what great wide receiver-quarterback combinations do. They get on the same page and you get to the point where you're out there and it's non-verbal communication. You're out there and you know what I'm doing and I know what you're doing."
You have that with him now, I would presume.
"Ah, I wouldn't say it's where we want it to be. At my last press conference I said we have to get on the same page even more. As good as the wide receivers have been, there's still more yards, more production to be had out there."
I mentioned this to Clayton last week. Defenses are playing eight, nine, 10 in the box and basically saying to him and to you and to your room, "Beat us."
"Uh-uh. Are you talking Nebraska?"
No. You've been seeing eight in the box all season.
"Yeah. Yeah."
And you'll probably see eight in the box Saturday at Iowa.
"We're licking our chops for that."
So you like the challenge?
"I love that. I love that."
Do you find it insulting that they think you're not that good?
"Well."
Do you take it personal?
"I don't take that personally. I think the wide receivers have been productive and I think what we're setting out to prove this year is that's a foolish scheme against us."
Oh. And does he know who Jeremy Ebert was?
"I know he was a stud here," he says. "Maybe his name will be on the stadium someday. I know he was an amazing receiver."
Does he know he's the first receiver since Ebert to have a touchdown pass in three consecutive games?
"Oh, wow. No. I didn't know that. That's pretty cool."
Pretty cool indeed.
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