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FHSU's Carr does his talking on the field
10/2/2009
By CONOR NICHOLL
cnicholl@dailynews.net
Defensive end Charlie Carr is Fort Hays State University's lone five-year senior and a four-year starter. Carr has started in 33 consecutive games and has started 36 contests in his career, second-most on the Tiger roster to senior All-American cornerback C.J. Lovett's 37. Yet Carr is not a captain, which suits the quiet senior.
"I am one of those guys, accolades and stuff like that don't mean a whole lot to me, awards and stuff," Carr said. "People know who I am on the team, what I am and what I'm about, and I don't need to be a captain to relay that message across to anybody. If I say something, usually most people listen.
"I don't say much. I am usually not a very talkative person in a leadership way. I say stuff, but I am not really a vocal leader," he added.
Carr just prefers to play football on Saturdays. It's helped the Tiger defense deliver a strong performance in last week's 40-20 victory against Emporia State University. Carr had four big defensive plays, including two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble that led to a fumble recovery for a TD by junior defensive lineman Garrett Nikkel. In addition, Carr put pressure on Hornet senior quarterback Andre Sloan El, who threw an illegal forward pass that resulted in a safety. Overall, Carr, who Tiger coach Kevin Verdugo calls "the heart and soul" of the defensive line, has 20 tackles, most among Tiger defensive linemen, 3.5 tackles for loss and a conference-leading three fumble recoveries. His play has helped Fort Hays to a 4-1 start, 2-1 in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. Fort Hays plays at No. 17 Washburn University (4-1, 2-1) on Saturday. Kickoff is 1 p.m. in Topeka.
"He leads by example," Verdugo said. "He leads by how hard he plays and how effective he plays. Charlie is a kid that doesn't want to be thrust in the spotlight and be the guy who speaks in front of a group. When we break it down on Charlie at the end of practice, it's kind of a running joke. I do it just to irritate him. He just doesn't want that kind of attention, and that's not a bad thing. It means he just wants to play football and that's it."
Carr calls it "weird" that he is the lone fifth-year player, the only Tiger to play his whole career entirely in Verdugo's five-year tenure. He simply falls in with the current corps of seniors.
"Treat them like the people I came in with," he said.
After he redshirted as a true freshman, Carr started 10 of 11 games in 2006. He has started every game since as Fort Hays struggled to a 9-34 record, including a 2-9 mark last fall. Carr, though, never thought about leaving the program.
"These coaches brought me here, and they thought I could help them and help the team," he said. "I was not going to give up on the coaches by no means. I was going to stick it out."
Throughout the fall, Verdugo often has discussed how much a player changes in four or five years with Fort Hays. He brings up Carr as a prime example of a Tiger turning from an 18-year-old boy to a 23-year-old man. Carr believes he has changed as well.
"Definitely more of a positive manner," Carr said. "I seem to talk a lot and don't listen too much sometimes, get in a mood where I think I am the right one all the time and I am not. Kind of try not to be like that, anymore."
Carr, though, has retained his quiet demeanor. Before the season started, the Tiger coaches picked the four captains and selected Lovett and junior defensive back Michael Walker as the defensive captains. When Carr heard about the captains, Verdugo recalled Carr telling the coaches, "You know me pretty well." He just simply wants to play football.
"In practices, I feel a captain should be a vocal leader (more) than anything," Carr said. "They're definitely great captains in the talkative aspects of it."
| Scoreboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Score |
| SB | 03/08 | Fort Lewis | W 5-4 |
| BB | 03/07 | No. 9 Emporia State | L 13-7 |
| BB | 03/06 | No. 9 Emporia State | L 16-4 |
| BB | 03/06 | No. 9 Emporia State | W 3-0 |
| MB | 03/05 | Emporia State | L 65-61 |
| BB | 03/05 | No. 9 Emporia State | L 10-3 |
| WB | 03/04 | No. 15 Emporia | L 72-66 |
| WB | 02/28 | No. 12 Emporia State | L 87-80 |
| MB | 02/28 | Emporia State | W 94-47 |
| SB | 02/28 | Quincy | L 6-0 |
| SB | 02/27 | Mo Southern | W 9-3 |
| SB | 02/27 | Missouri S&T | L 8-3 |
| SB | 02/27 | Drury | W 17-10 |
| BB | 02/27 | Mo. Western | W 17-0 |
| BB | 02/27 | Mo. Western | W 3-2 (10 inn.) |
| BB | 02/26 | Mo. Western | W 12-8 |
| BB | 02/26 | Missouri Western | W 11-10 |
| MB | 02/24 | Pittsburg State | W 69-60 |
| WB | 02/24 | Pittsburg State | L 78-74 |
| MB | 02/21 | Mo. Southern | L 76-57 |