Duron Carter is comfortable in his own skin

It’s hardly Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but Duron Carter is adamant that he has a split personality.

In fact, the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ receiver believes that it’s part of life for a CFL player.

“There’s your regular-life, in-the-real-world Duron Carter and then there’s gladiator, battle-ready, on-the-field Duron Carter,” the regular-life one said with a grin after Tuesday’s practice at Mosaic Stadium.

“I feel like football is the modern-day Colosseum and we’re going out there to battle for people’s entertainment. You have to have a different mindset.”

For Carter, the two personalities are easy to separate. For others, the dividing line is more blurred.

“If you perceive me one way, you’re always going to perceive me that way regardless of what I do,” said Carter, a 26-year-old product of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. “I could take a picture with 100 puppies right now, but would people think I’m a good guy?

“For me, it’s all about going through life and trying to do people right in person.”

The in-the-real-world Carter always seems to have a smile on his face and always seems to be having fun. On Tuesday, he noted that football is the only thing he ever wanted to do in life.

But the on-the-field Carter is viewed by many CFL observers as a wild child who can’t be controlled.

The latter Carter is the one who was suspended for one game in 2016.

During a June 30 contest between his team at the time, the Montreal Alouettes, and the Ottawa Redblacks, Carter caught a touchdown pass — and then, on his way to the Als’ bench, bumped into Ottawa head coach Rick Campbell.

In October, Carter was released by the Als, seemingly after wearing out his welcome.

The Roughriders signed the 6-foot-5, 205-pound receiver in January, hopeful of tapping into the potential of one of the CFL’s most dangerous receivers.

“Duron has done nothing but do good things around us,” Saskatchewan head coach-GM Chris Jones said. “He has not been perfect. There are a couple of conversations that have had to happen. But he’s like everybody else: He has good days and bad days.

“Duron’s a good person and he’s an excellent football player. We ask him to just be Duron; we’re not asking him to be somebody that he’s not. But he’s got to adhere to the rules of our team just like everybody else.”

Carter grinned when the topic of those conversations with Jones was raised. He claimed the chats simply involved Jones asking Carter to be a leader and to not take any days off.

So they weren’t verbal smackdowns?

“Nah; that’s just that southern accent talking,” Carter said with another grin. “It’s got that twang, so it just feels like he’s getting on me.”

Carter’s father is Cris Carter, a former NFLer who has been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The two men speak daily, with the elder Carter regularly telling his son just to be himself.

“That’s all I have at the end of the day; all I have is Duron Carter,” the younger Carter said. “I have my name and the actions that I’ve done throughout my life. (Cris says to) always be myself and I just have to keep living and keep going forward.”

In doing so, he has to deal with the way people view him.

Carter admitted he’s occasionally bothered by the fact that his image constantly is raised by the media or by his detractors. If he’s in a good mood — which he claimed to be in most of the time — he can tolerate the criticism.

That said, he also knows he can’t do anything about it.

“I can’t change people’s perception of me,” Carter said. “They can think how they want to think.

“Everyone that I’m around in person, they love me and I’m a great guy. If you hate me from your TV or on your couch, what does that say about you?”

There’s no arguing with Carter’s on-field talent. He has played 40 regular-season games in the CFL and has caught 185 passes for 2,877 yards and 17 touchdowns.

On Tuesday, Jones compared Carter’s talents to those possessed by the likes of Adarius Bowman, Derel Walker, Ben Cahoon, Nik Lewis and Jeremaine Copeland — all proven, productive CFL receivers.

On Thursday, Carter will get his first regular-season start as a member of the Roughriders. They just happen to be visiting the Alouettes.

He’s eager to return to Montreal, in part so he can visit his favourite restaurant and in part because he gets to face his former teammates. It’s the first time in his career that he’s to play against a team that used to employ him.

Carter claimed that what happened between him and Als last year isn’t factoring into his motivation for Thursday’s game, saying “it’s just football.” Whether the on-the-field Duron Carter agrees with that remains to be seen.

“I don’t have to prove them wrong about anything,” Carter said. “Even right now, they’re sitting there shaking in their boots about me. It’s just really about them having to be able to stop me instead of me scoring for them.”