Practice didn’t make perfect for Duron Carter.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ wide receiver doesn’t work on one-handed catches during the CFL team’s practices. And yet somehow, Carter made a spectacular, one-handed, backhanded touchdown catch Saturday against the Toronto Argonauts that had football fans across North America buzzing.
“I know a lot of people do (work on one-handers),” Carter said Tuesday at Mosaic Stadium. “I used to when I was younger, probably in high school. As I started growing up, I stopped.
“A lot of times, if you can get one (hand) there, you probably could have got two. I try to get two and make it a clear catch. But it’s always nice when you have one in a game and everybody’s like, ‘Oh, how did he do that?’ ’’
That certainly was the reaction after Carter’s circus catch during Saskatchewan’s 38-27 victory over the Argos.
On a second-and-10 play from the Toronto 18-yard line late in the second quarter, Roughriders quarterback Kevin Glenn lofted the ball toward Carter down the left sideline.
Argos cornerback Akwasi Owusu-Ansah had good coverage, but Carter cut inside the defensive back, jumped into the air, put up his right hand backwards and stopped the ball’s momentum. He then caught the ball against his right leg as he landed, never once using his left hand.
“I guess I was just in the moment,” said Carter, who on Tuesday was named one of the CFL’s top performers of the week. “The only way I can describe it is like I was in (the video game) NBA Jam and I was on fire. Every step I took, I was on fire. Every time I touched (the ball), I caught it.”
Roughriders defensive back Ed Gainey said DBs who give up touchdowns despite having perfect coverage have to forget the plays quickly and realize there’s still time in the game for them to get a measure of revenge.
If a receiver makes a play like Carter made, he might get some respect from the DB — but not right then.
“At that moment, you don’t really want to give him his credit,” Gainey said. “But when you go back and watch it on film, you’re thinking in your head, ‘Yeah, that was a good play, a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing.’
“I’d be frustrated and really hard on myself. But you’ve just got to man up and take it for what it is.”
Carter occasionally snags passes behind his back in practice — he started that habit after seeing his dad, former NFL receiver Cris Carter, do it during training camps — but those don’t measure up to Saturday’s catch.
Now, if he was to pull that off during a game …
“That’s on my bucket list, to catch one behind my back in a game,” Carter said. “I’m too scared to do it right now, so maybe if I get a few more years under my belt, I might do it.”
“Let’s just catch the balls that are thrown our way and if they happen to be great catches, then that’s great,” Roughriders head coach-GM Chris Jones noted when told of Carter’s comments. “I don’t ever think you say, ‘I’m going to do this or do that.’ The ball leads you to that. Let’s just make the routine play.”
Carter’s one-hander Saturday was replayed innumerable times on Canadian sports channels, but it also went viral. The video appeared on numerous websites and social media platforms and led to comparisons to the one-handed catch made by New York Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr., during the 2014 NFL season.
Carter’s phone blew up after his nine-catch, 131-yard, two-touchdown performance — he said Cris’ first word to him was “Finally!” — so he wasn’t necessarily surprised by the reaction to his great grab.
“When I’m involved, it tends to do stuff like that; I don’t know why,” said Carter, whose career includes some well-documented incidents. “I’m happy it’s getting a lot of attention (and) a lot of attention for the league. Hopefully a lot of people will be watching next game.”
And what exactly can Carter do to follow up Saturday’s snag?
“Catch (the ball) with the left hand, right?” he replied.
The catch Saturday also elicited a response because of what Carter did after making it.
He ran to the stands behind the north end zone and handed the ball to Paige Hansen, fulfilling a promise that he had made earlier in the day.
Hansen, a 12-year-old who lives in Sturgis, attended the game with her mom and aunt. The group had a sign paying tribute to The Presidents, a nickname given to the Roughriders’ receiving corps (which features a Carter, a Roosevelt and a Grant).
Carter saw the sign before the game and promised to deliver a football if he scored a touchdown. Little did he know that Hansen is a cancer survivor; she was diagnosed with leukemia when she was 18 months old.
“It was surprising to me,” Carter said. “For me, I was giving the ball to some friends I promised the ball to and then the whole backstory (came to light). It’s crazy. She’s an amazing little girl.”
Hansen has been in the spotlight since, doing interviews with media outlets across Saskatchewan. The story also has made the rounds across Canada.
“I expected a couple of people to get excited about it, but I didn’t expect it to get this crazy,” Hansen said. “My Instagram followers probably went up by 100 people and my phone has been going crazy for the last couple of days. It’s insane.”
Hansen’s mom tweeted a picture of Paige sleeping with the football the night after the game, an image that prompted “a really good laugh” from Carter.
Hansen said Carter’s actions were “pretty special,” even if he didn’t know about her battle with cancer. She’s not going to give away the ball — and she’s going to remain loyal to a player about whom some fans still have questions.
“He’s definitely one of my favourites,” Hansen said. “I’ve had a lot over the years, but he’ll definitely be up there close to the top.”
