Where are They Now? Harry Carson
Former Giants All Pro linebacker never too far from Giants Stadium.
By Michael Eisen, Giants.com
Related links - Read more about former Giants players!
November 4, 2003
East Rutherford, N.J. - Sometimes, the best moves in life are the ones you don't make. Sometimes, you're better off if a wish doesn't come true. Sometimes, the grass is greener right where you're standing.
Just ask Harry Carson. In the days and weeks before the 1976 NFL draft, Carson, who had established himself as a pro prospect playing defensive end at South Carolina State, was uncertain where he would play. He only knew where he didn't want to go.
Harry Carson was selected to the Pro Bowl 9 times during his days as a linebacker with the Giants.
"I just wanted to go someplace other than New York," Carson said recently.
He didn't get his wish. The Giants selected him on the fourth round and converted him to linebacker. Back then, the Giants were not very good. In Carson's first five seasons, they were a combined 24-54. Soon after George Young became general manager in 1979, Carson began badgering him to find an escape route.
"I went to George Young on a number of occasions and said, 'trade me, trade me,'" Carson said. "He said no. I said, 'then cut me.' He said no. So what are you going to do? He wouldn't do anything. He'd say, `you just don't understand - you just don't see the big picture.' So I said, 'then pay me.' He said, `well, I can't do that either.'"
So Carson stayed put, and it turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to him. He became one of the greatest and most popular Giants, a nine-time Pro Bowler who earned a Super Bowl ring as captain of the 1986 champions. In addition to professional success, Carson found personal happiness. After he retired following the 1988 season, Carson remained in New Jersey and still lives there today.
The man who never wanted to come here, and tried to escape after his arrival, has never been able to leave.
"When I first came here I looked at it as this is just going for a ride," Carson said. "My attitude was, okay; let's see just how far this ride takes me. And when it's over, it's over. I played 13 seasons and I was very fortunate in that I was able to control my own destiny and I left when I wanted to leave. I opted to stay in this area. And you know, it's been good."
Today, Carson looks back on his career with great pride and satisfaction. He treasures his Super Bowl ring, the Pro Bowl trips, the comaraderie and friendships he developed with teammates like George Martin, Lawrence Taylor and Brad Van Pelt, and the many triumphs and highlights.
"Coming to play with the Giants is probably the best thing that could have ever happened to me because the Giants were not just a regular team - they were a team that was rich in football tradition. Coming here and learning about Frank Gifford, Y A Tittle, Sam Huff and all those other guys who were Hall of Fame players. It was great to be a part of that legacy."
- Harry Carson
"My life has been great," Carson said. "I have made some mistakes along the way, but those mistakes are what have made me the person that I am. I have learned from my mistakes, but I have absolutely no regrets about anything. Coming to play with the Giants is probably the best thing that could have ever happened to me because the Giants were not just a regular team - they were a team that was rich in football tradition. Coming here and learning about Frank Gifford, Y A Tittle, Sam Huff and all those other guys who were Hall of Fame players. It was great to be a part of that legacy. My point was that in playing, I wanted to try and be just like those guys who preceded me."
Carson did that and more. Although he is not in the Hall of Fame, his nine Pro Bowls are more than any linebacker enshrined in the Hall except for Mike Singletary and Taylor, who were each voted to 10. Carson was selected for the first time in 1978, a season in which the Giants finished 6-10. He was selected again in 1979, then every season from 1981-87.
Many times, Carson couldn't fully enjoy the individual honor because the team fared so poorly. In 1985, after the Giants lost to Chicago in a divisional playoff game, Carson purposely flew to Hawaii during the conference championship games, so he wouldn't again have to watch other teams winning a trip to the Super Bowl. The Giants' triumph in Super Bowl XXI made the following week's trip to the Pro Bowl that much sweeter.
"Those Pro Bowl appearances were very special, because back in the '70s and '80s, the Giants weren't very good," Carson said. "And it was frustrating to me because I came from a winning tradition at South Carolina State. I mean, they instilled a lot of pride in me. So coming here was very frustrating, because there were players I played with who had the ability, but who didn't necessarily have the heart. And there were some who had the heart, but not the ability. As long as I did my job, as long as I took care of my responsibility, it was out of my hands. So even when the team wasn't playing well, I was playing pretty good. As long as I could walk off the field and I knew I left it out there, I went home and slept well.
"I think one of the best compliments I got was one year when I was in Hawaii for the Pro Bowl. Everybody knew I wasn't happy playing with the Giants. (Hall of Fame defensive tackle) Randy White bought me a pitcher of beer, but I don't even drink he said, 'I would be honored to play in front of you anytime.' That meant a lot coming from Randy White."
His closest friend among his former teammates is George Martin, who arrived a year before Carson and also retired after the 1988 season. Together, they endured many rough years before winning that precious ring in `86. Carson was also close with Van Pelt and Brian Kelley, with whom he formed an outstanding trio of linebackers. "George and I call each other `old reliable,' Carson said. "We went through a lot together, as defensive player, as older guys. I went through a lot with Brian and Brad Van Pelt and then with Carl (Banks) and LT."
This doesn't exactly qualify as a shocker, but Carson said the best player he ever had as a teammate was Taylor.
"When Lawrence came to camp, we thought, `we don't need Lawrence Taylor,'" Carson said. "We've got a pretty good group of linebackers - there was me, Brian and Brad. We were already good. But Lawrence was available. They used the second pick in the draft to select Lawrence, and it didn't take long to see that he was something special. The speed, the agility, the aggressiveness - he was good."
Carson had a good relationship with Bill Parcells, who named him captain and gave him much responsibility for policing the locker room. But Carson said the coach who had the most impact in his career was Marty Schottenheimer, now the head coach of the San Diego Chargers, but then the Giants' linebackers coach, and the man most responsible for Carson joining the franchise.
"Marty took a chance on me and I am thankful for that," Carson said. "The story, as Marty told me, was the Giants had a first-round pick and two fourth-round picks in '76. The first round pick was (defensive lineman) Troy Archer. They didn't have a second, didn't have a third, and they had two fourths. The third pick they used on Gordon Bell, a running back out of University of Michigan. The next pick (head coach) Bill (Arnsparger) gave to Marty, who wrestled between me and Carl Hairston and maybe one or two other players. And Marty chose me, knowing that I had never played linebacker. If I failed, it would have been on Marty's head.
"Marty had me come to camp early - him and me. I watched linebackers (on film), then Marty and I would spend time on the field. Everything he wanted me to do, I did it backwards. By doing it my way I got the same or better results. And Marty just sort of threw up his hands and said as long as you get the job done, he allowed me to play the game. So my success was really attributed to Marty. When Bill got here we went from the 4-3 defense, which I felt pretty comfortable playing, to the 3-4 defense, which was a little more difficult, with a lot more discipline. Bill sort of helped me along the way. I am thankful for Bill, but had it not been for Marty, I wouldn't have even made it."
Many people believe Carson should make it all the way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He has been a finalist each of the last four years, but has failed to receive enough votes to enter the Hall (Carson was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2002). After so many close calls, Carson refuses to be consumed by disappointment.
"I feel bad for everybody who thinks I should be in there," Carson said. "You deal with things you have control over. I have absolutely no control over it so I don't really deal with it very much. My thinking is if I make it, then some people are going to say, `it took him so long to get in there' and that would be sort of a tarnishment of the honor. I try not to even think about it. Some people think I belong, some people think I don't belong.
"The thing that really means the most to me is that most of the players I played against think I belong. And the fans who I played in front of generally think I belong. So it doesn't really mater what the writers from other areas of the country - who haven't spent any time in this area, who haven't focused on the Giants - what they think."
Carson's current career in broadcasting keeps him close to Giants Stadium.
Carson is too content with the rest of his life to be hung up on the Hall of Fame. Still living in New Jersey, Carson has his hands in a several different ventures. He's a sideline reporter for the television broadcasts of Giants preseason games, and is a weekly contributor to Giants Gameplan, a show produced by the team. What else does he do?
"I enjoy living my life - that's my occupation," Carson said. "I am very fortunate in that I can pick and choose whatever I want to do. I am a sports consultant. I do a lot of different stuff. I speak with various groups around the country on different issues. It might be about leadership, teamwork, winning, being the best. Or I might speak to groups on traumatic head injuries, talking about concussions and so forth. You know, I have done a number of things on television - on Court TV, for example. I get up in the morning, go to the gym, work out and try to keep myself in good physical condition and just live my life."
Carson, who is divorced, has three children: Aja, 24, Donald, 20, and Kip, 14. They lived in South Carolina. Whenever they ask Carson what his playing career was like, he is ready.
"I had film made up a long time ago so that they could see what I did," he said. "I can share with them the lessons I learned from sports. I think they have sort of helped them - about not giving up and hanging in there and giving their best. I didn't ask them to make all 'A's. I just want them to do their best and that's the way I tried to be as a player. I tried to do my best. I didn't always get an 'A'. As long as I did my best, that is all you can ask for."
Before, during and after his career, Harry Carson has always given his best. All these years after the Giants brought him to the area, he is very content.
"I enjoy being Harry Carson, I enjoy my life," he said. "Life if good. I'm very happy."
