Mick Hunt: Tell us a little bit about baseball, what that meant for you, and what it was like, man, just to get drafted professional sports out of high school.

Quincy Carter: Yeah. That was, pretty cool experience. You know, first, it all started with me at Gresham Park and, playing, you know, alongside the likes of the Travis Strouds of the world and, some other great players, you know, that I played along with. And so that’s where my, you know, competitive baseball started at.

Mick Hunt: In your mind, what was the first thing you were buying?

Quincy Carter: Well, the first thing I was buying was a Mercedes. But then Sherry Carter Embry, was buying something else.

Mick Hunt: What is 18, 17 year old Quincy the first time you report to the Cubs, man. Like like, walk us through when you realize, oh, this is what grown people do.

Quincy Carter: Yeah. Well, it was, probably my first morning at practice, and it’s it’s rookie ball.

Mick Hunt: Before baseball, you give a rubber to Georgia Tech. And then baseball is over and you don’t go to Georgia Tech. How did that come through?

Quincy Carter: Georgia was getting ready to be on probation. I was already on probation, and I just didn’t feel comfortable in the possibly going to college and not being able to play in bowl games.

Podcast Intro: Welcome to Mick Unplugged, where we ignite potential and fuel purpose. Get ready for raw insights, bold moves, and game changing conversations. Buckle up. Here’s Mick. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of Mick Unplugged where legends don’t just share their stories, they have legacies.

Mick Hunt: And today, we’re honored to sit down with the University of Georgia football icon, former Dallas cowboys starting quarterback, and a true warrior of resilience. From the glory days of the game to life’s toughest challenges, He’s transformed every obstacle into a lesson and he now shares those hard learned earned wisdom with the next generation. He’s a dynamic speaker. He’s an inspiration to the world and a force of unwavering grit. Help me welcome my friend, my dog, mister GQ himself, Quincy Carter.

Quincy, what’s up, brother?

Quincy Carter: What’s up, man? Good lord, man. You talking about making somebody feel special, man. I appreciate that introduction, man. Thank you.

Mick Hunt: That that’s all you. That’s all love. You know, you’re my main man, 50 grand, man. So just just honored to share some time on the podcast with you, brother.

Quincy Carter: Hey, man. I’m honored to be spending some time with you too, man. Thanks for the introduction. Oh, good lord, man. Thank

Mick Hunt: you. It’s all you, man. Quincy, this is one, I’m honored. You know, I told you when we met face to face, like, how much I’ve always looked up to you, how much like, you know, like, even my family. Right?

Like, we’re a Georgia football family and had a uncle, Tron Jackson, who played at Georgia. So we bleed red and black, bro. And I’m gonna say this, you know, I always tell David Pollock he’s my my favorite Georgia bulldog defensive player of all times. And it’s you and Garrison Hurst, my top 2 on offense, man. Like like, you are the guy.

You’re the goat when it comes to Georgia football, bro.

Quincy Carter: Wow, man. I appreciate that, man. I do.

Mick Hunt: Yes, sir. So I wanna start by not today, but, you know, you and I talked about your recruiting process, right, and and how you went from junior high to high school and and the legend of Quincy Carter started for me, not just on the football field, but you can swing that bat too, brother. So I I’d love to talk about just your journey of young Quincy, right, getting into high school because that’s the story that most people don’t know. So I’d love for you to share that moment, brother.

Quincy Carter: Yeah. You know, Mick, man, born in Chicago, for a lot of people that don’t know. Well, I was born in Bloomington and went to Chicago right out of the hospital. And then me and my mom moved down here to, Atlanta, Decatur area about, you know, when I was about 3 or 4 years old. But, yeah, Mick, man.

Life was to me, it was humbling, you know, coming down here from, from Chicago. As a kid, I thought I had everything I wanted. You know what I mean? We didn’t grow up in the nicest of neighborhoods. My mom don’t like to tell me exactly what neighborhood.

So I don’t mind on that. But it was humbling. Grew up at the recreation park. Nick, I was a kid that got dropped off at Gresham Park. Did all my homework there.

And that’s where my competitive nature started, you know, and that’s where sports started for me. It was table tennis and bumper pool that moved to basketball, baseball, and football, and I wanted to play all 3. You know, also, you know, coming up, you know, closer to high school, I wanted to play at the best high school for football. And we, you know, actually had a good baseball and basketball team, but that that football team was Southwest Dekalb High School. You know, coach Buck Godfrey, established yourself in the late eighties, mid to late eighties.

In the nineties, we’re we’re starting. And, and I want to keep that tradition going. We had just went to a a state championship in 1990. I think I was in the 7th grade then. And, coming into the 8th grade well, coming into high school, which was 8th grade for us, you know, because we didn’t go to middle school.

I wanted to be the QB, that got us back there. We took a tough loss to Val Allister in the championship game in 1990. And, I wanted to be the QB besides Eric Johnson, to lead us back to premises. So, so I started on that journey in the 8th grade, man, and we put our head down and went to work as a team.

Mick Hunt: And you did it. Yes, sir. You did it. Right? Like, you can brag a little bit.

Let’s talk about those accolades, man. Like, Southwest DeKalb, Quincy doing his thing, leading the school to multiple championships, breaking records, doing things that that quarterbacks have looked like you hadn’t done in the state of Georgia or in the United States, to be honest with you, man. So talk about those accolades, Quincy. Well, you know what? It was

Quincy Carter: a big accomplishment. And one, having pride in being, you know, the only black school, all black school to win at its highest classification. You know, the Clark Centrals of the world’s rule, the Valdosta’s shoot, camping counties, you know, Parkview was coming up at that time. And so, so we’re very proud of that. You know, I what you just mentioned, what happened for black quarterbacks either, you know, as far as going to d one schools, and, you know, but having a idol like Charley Ward, you know, right down the street in Thomasville and seeing him go on to Florida State, you know, to win a national championship and to win a Heisman was everything to me.

You gotta think that was my freshman, sophomore. Yeah. Senior in high school, you know, and I was watching him. And then Damian Craig, you know, started to make some noise at Auburn. And ironically, you know, those were the first 2 or 3 schools I started looking at was all over, and it was Florida State.

And then I, you know, end up settling with Georgia Tech. Not settling. I’m sorry. No disrespect because they had a really good program at the time, which you wanna get into that anyway.

Mick Hunt: You know I do. We we talked a lot about that when we were in person. Absolutely.

Quincy Carter: Yes. But yeah. You know, those are the guys I looked up to. Those are the guys that were running, throwing the ball, being in multiple facet formations, and and really, you know, been able to show every aspect of their game.

Mick Hunt: Yeah. So before we get into the Georgia Tech story though, I wanna get into that curve ball because, you know, I’m I’m a Tar Heel. I’m I’m a Georgia guy, but I’m a Tar Heel grad. And and, you know, MJ went and played baseball for a little bit, but he couldn’t hit that curve ball. Yeah.

Winston Carter could. Quincy could hit it. So so tell us a little bit about baseball, what that meant for you, and what it was like, man, just to to get drafted professional sports out of high school.

Quincy Carter: Yeah. That was, pretty cool experience. You know, first, it it all started with me at Gresham Park and, playing, you know, alongside the likes of, the Travis Strouds of the world and, some other great players, you know, that I played along with. And some that’s where my, you know, competitive baseball, started at. You know, I end up getting selected to play for the East Cobb Astros, at the age of 13.

And, we took the opportunity, you know, at the time. East Cobb, which is, you know, well, really pretty, nationally well known. We only have one, you know, team out the whole state for each age group. So we took advantage of that opportunity. So from 13 to 17, you know, I played a lot of travel ball.

Played about, shoot, 80 to a 100 games this summer. Had a really, really good coach at Southwest DeKalb too, coach Pruitt, who helped start, you know, the, Redeem program before coach Goodwin, later took it along. And then really winning region championships and the whole nine over there in the state, championship at Reading. But yeah. So, so with with me getting so much experience during the summertime and my game really taken off, you know, a lot of scouts start, you know, buzzing around Southwest DeKalb, you know, during the spring of my senior season.

And, my my hometown team do I say about my my second hometown team? I can’t disrespect Atlanta and Decatur, good lord. Yeah. Get me because, boy, my people here really fed my spirit. But, yeah, my original hometown team, let’s say it like that Chicago Cubs drafted me in the 2nd round.

And, it was a dream come true, Mick. I think I told you this, but I tell everybody, man, that getting that phone call at, graduation practice was pretty cool, you know. Because I didn’t know what time it was gonna happen. You know, the baseball draft could go on for, you know, what, I think, 30, 45 minutes a pick or something like that if I’m not mistaken. I think it it’s changed now.

But to get that that call of graduation, man, that was really cool. Heck, yeah.

Mick Hunt: Walk walk us through that call and that emotion, man. So you got young Quincy graduating high school. Yes. Getting a call of 2nd round pick by the Chicago Cubs. Right?

The team that, you know, us growing up Quincy, you always saw the Cubs because the the the WGN station. Right? Like the Cubs, you saw the Cubs more than the Braves for the most part. I’m from the south too.

Quincy Carter: Absolutely. What

Mick Hunt: what is that like?

Quincy Carter: My granddad. Well, shoot. May not be cut y’all. Sorry about that. But me and my granddad, you know, I went to Chicago right after my, short kind of baseball season growing up at Gresham Park.

I went to Chicago the rest of the summer. So me and my granddad sat there and watched well, first we had to watch the Bozo Show because grandma won’t play in games. Then it was general I think General Hospital, one life to live one of them, you know. Then we can watch the game. Yeah.

But yeah, man. Shoot. We watched, you know, Chicago baseball, man, all summer. Growing up and seeing Andre Dawson and I mean, Sean Dawson, Andre Dawson. I’m sorry.

Sean Dunston. Let me get my guys right. Yeah. Mark Grace,

Mick Hunt: Ron Sandberg.

Quincy Carter: Yeah. Ron Sandberg. Yes, sir. And then walking in the the locker room, actually seeing him after I got drafted was just so, you know, surreal. But, man, that was, it was surreal, you know, to really get that phone call.

I think my mom called me first on a three way with yeah. Yes. But That’s wow.

Mick Hunt: That’s wild. So that means that young Quincy had a cell phone too. We we’ll talk about that later. Because I know I ain’t get a cell phone till way into college. Way into college, so I have one.

So Yeah. But yeah, man. So you get the call from the Cubs, go into your hometown team, the team that’s always on TV. You got Harry Carey. Like, most people don’t know, the Cubs never played night games until, like, 10 years ago.

Like, they didn’t have lights at the ballpark, which is

Quincy Carter: Exactly. Wow. Cool. Exactly. It was.

Mick Hunt: Yeah. So so so you got the call. What’s the first thing in your mind that you bought? Because because you gotta think through. Right?

Like, man, I’m with the Cubs. Like, I’m 17, 18. Like, I’m about to buy something. In your mind, what was the first thing you were buying?

Quincy Carter: Well, the first thing I was buying was a Mercedes. But then Sherry Carter Embry, was buying something else. Not that she was taking my money, but I wasn’t about to spend all this money on a Mercedes. So I think we settled, what did I get? Eddie Bauer.

Yeah. I never forget. I got the Eddie Bauer edition. You know, Eddie Bauer start making clothes, I think. Also, so I had the jacket.

What was that? A Ford, I think? Heck yeah.

Mick Hunt: The Explorer.

Quincy Carter: Yeah. Explorer. There it is. Yeah. The Explorer.

And, and I got the Eddie Bauer edition. Yeah. Heck yeah. So but in my mind, like you were, I thought I was getting ready to get a Mercedes, but that wasn’t happening. And my mom wanted me, wanted me to be smart.

And that Okay. Fought for her for discipline.

Mick Hunt: Okay. Alright. So so now you’re a professional. Young age. You’re a professional.

Which means you go from high school practices with people your age and younger and you’re kind of the leader to, as I always tell people, and you’re out there with grown folks. What is what is 18, 17 year old Quincy the first time you report to the Cubs, man. Like like, walk us through when you realize, oh, this is what grown people do.

Quincy Carter: Yeah. Well, it was, probably my first morning at practice, and it’s it’s rookie ball. So rookie ball is, you know, you think you’re getting ready to come to the park and, have a little batting practice and then play a game. But what rookie ball work started at 7:30, you know, to about 11. And so that’s fielding, that’s outfield drills, that’s base running.

Shoot. You name it. I mean, well, fielding situations as far as having men on base, you know, hitting the ball in the gap where you’re throwing the ball batting practice for an hour, you’re hitting live pitching in the cage and then you go have lunch probably about 10:30 maybe, 10:30, 11. And then you’re out on the field, you know, playing the game at 12 o’clock. So it became grown man business right away, you know, that first day.

But, hey, that’s what I dreamed of, and that’s what I wanted to do. So I embraced it, man. I embraced it and loved it.

Mick Hunt: Yeah. And so now we get to talk about Georgia Tech. So you you find out you like baseball, but maybe you don’t love everything about the professional side of it. Right? Absolutely.

Because she’s still 18. Right? You still like, hey. I I still this Mercedes, I still want. Right?

So high school you recruited and give a verbal commitment to Georgia Tech. Quincy, we gotta talk about this one. We all know in the state of Georgia, my bulldogs reign supreme. Absolutely. So I’m gonna ask the question that, you know, I’ve been waiting to ask you forever.

How much money did Georgia Tech give you to give you that verbal commitment? Because I know you no. I’m joking. I’m joking. I’m joking.

I’m joking. But so before baseball, you give a rubber to Georgia Tech, and then baseball is over and you don’t go to Georgia Tech. You you made the wise decision to go to UGA, but how did that come through? I want the listeners and viewers to to hear this story.

Quincy Carter: Okay. Alright. Now make now I gotta tell the whole story. Tell them. And that whole story was

Mick Hunt: is that You got a bag.

Quincy Carter: Well, no. No. I’m still not gonna tell on nobody. But the whole story is they’ll make Georgia was getting ready to be on probation. I was already on probation, and I just didn’t feel comfortable in the possibly going to college and not being able to play in ball games.

Now I’ve gotta add my real spin to it and that’s that, you know, Georgia Tech was pretty decent at the time, you know. Yep. The, the offense they were running, Ralph Free

Mick Hunt: Pro style offense.

Quincy Carter: Pro style offense, good mentor of mine, Steve Davenport, you know, was from Georgia Tech. And then I had about 4 or 5 baseball buddies who was joining me on the baseball team too. So, so it was a tough decision, you know. I’ve always been a Georgia boy. I want to stay home.

So it was a tough decision to, you know, sign with Georgia Tech. And it’s even tougher talking about it now because I didn’t play the red and black. But, Mick, I owe you this one. There you go. That’s my answer.

But it was a it was a business decision too. It was.

Mick Hunt: Uh-huh. And we’ll just leave it at that so nobody else gets the trouble. It was a business decision for the record. So now let’s talk about my dogs, man. You go to Georgia and let’s just be honest.

60, seventies, eighties, I’m gonna say until Eric Zier got there. Georgia’s offense was we’re gonna have the best running backs in the country. Mhmm. 1st and second down, we’re running the ball. And if it’s 3rd and 5 or less, we’re still gonna run the ball 3rd.

Quincy Carter: Absolutely.

Mick Hunt: You get there and you become a prolific passer of the football. Something that honestly was new to Georgia fans. Right? Like, first down, wait, we’re we’re dropping back. We’re gonna throw the ball.

We’re gonna line up in the shotgun on second down. Like, what? But you totally changed because these are the words of Mick and Mick only. Unlike other African American quarterbacks up till that date, you were not a run first quarterback, you were not an option, you were like, let me show off this gun that I got and I’m gonna sling this ball down the field and you set records moment 1 as a freshman quarterback at Georgia.

Quincy Carter: Yeah. It was a dream come true too, man. And shout out to coach Donnie, you know, who believed in me. Shout out to him, you know, saying the words to get me down there, but then actually delivering as far as giving me a chance to compete, you know, against 5 other 5 other quarterbacks. And, you know, being an African being the only African American in that role, and Georgia really not having a history of having a black quarterback there since, well, I think James Jackson.

Mick Hunt: James Jackson?

Quincy Carter: Yeah. So the opportunity, you know, to be a quarterback at the University of Georgia was a dream come true. And, and you just you said it best, man. For us to be throwing, you know, on 1st and second down sometimes instead of running the ball on 1st and second down, was unheard of. But, you know, Eric Zahir, he set the precedent for that.

And, he’s you know, he showed that it could be done. And then I had to go and improve that a African American can do the same thing as Eric Zahir. And so, man, I put my head down. You know, I had some great teammates. Shout out to Jonas Genes too for giving me the confidence, you know, to give, you know, Georgia a shot, you know, coming back from baseball.

But, man, we put our head down. It didn’t it didn’t hurt Evan Champ Bailey as your leading receiver that year too. Yep. And everything he could bring to the table. And that just kinda set the bar, you know, for, for Larry Brown running, routes up underneath Wiggins or another one of our tight ends.

Mick Hunt: Yeah.

Quincy Carter: Man, Michael Gray had a big year that year too. They had some big catches and shout out to Tony Small. They’re getting didn’t get a lot of credit for being a really, really good receiver standing at 62, about £200 too. So I had some pretty good, you know, some pretty not pretty good, but I have some great guys around me too. And then let me get a shout out Steve Hernan and Miles Lucky before they knock me out on my off line, man.

Doing my boys.

Mick Hunt: They helped you stay upright, brother. They helped you stay upright.

Quincy Carter: Absolutely.

Mick Hunt: So you have 3 really, really good years at Georgia, which leads you to being 2nd round draft pick by the cowboys. Another one of those things. Like, you almost can’t write this story of Quincy Carter. Right? Get drafted by the Cubs.

Right? Big national brand. Go to the University of Georgia, starting quarterback big national brand. And now you get drafted by the Dallas Cowboys. Shout out to Kenny Anderson, that’s his team.

I am whatever. I’m not a Cowboys fan, but doggone to Quincy Carter, not only do you get drafted, but you do something that’s really hard at that time, which was you start. That’s people now, right? You dropped the quarterback round 1 or 2, kind of the expectation is you’re gonna start a little bit. Not then, like rookie quarterbacks, you’re gonna sit a couple of years, maybe year 3, you get some shine, you get some burn.

Quincy gets in the game. So let’s walk through the draft. So Quincy Carter drafted by the Dallas Cowboys.

Quincy Carter: Man, Nick, I’m telling you, it is a move. It is a move to have those 3 teams you’ve played for, but then it for it to, you know, end up in Dallas, you know, at them, after I’m done playing college football, was a dream come true, man. And, Nick, you know, everything, you know, that I, you know, had been through and, God had placed me at, you know, having some adversity in baseball with the cubs, going to Georgia, being one of the only, you know, African American ever start there, And then coming to Dallas, and being one of the only African American to start there. Not only that, like you just said, the first game of the season, opening day. And then seeing your hero on the field, Doug Williams, was the first to ever win a, you know, Super Bowl, as an African American and to see him, you know, pregame and shake his hands my first time ever meeting him.

It was a dream. But one thing I always knew, Nick, is that I had to work my butt off to keep it. And I had my eyes on the prize of doing that. And that was year in year out and nothing was gonna stop me but myself. And I end up, you know, stopping myself, through some things, that we’ll probably get into.

But, you know, as far as my work ethic, as far as who I was as a person, who I was trying to be, who I was becoming, who I was representing, you know, was evident. And I was gonna do anything to, to to accomplish everything I wanted to.

Mick Hunt: Yeah, man. And and let’s I don’t wanna slide past something because not only you drafted by the cowboys and starting for the cowboys, I’m gonna say more importantly, bro, you’re starting for Bill freaking Parcells. Right? Like like, of any coach that I’m not gonna say is against you, but of any coach that doesn’t wanna start a rookie quarterback, it’s Phil Parcells, bro. So that is a testament to the work ethic that you had, the leader that you were, and and for anyone, go watch, I don’t know if it’s season 1 hard knocks, but there’s a hard knocks episode and I told you this, right?

Like where Bill Parcells is sitting there talking to someone and like, they’re like, you wanna know about Quincy Carter? It’s 11 o’clock at night, watch this. And he yells out your name, You were at the football facility at 11 o’clock at night breaking down your practice film. Not even game, but your practice film and figuring out ways to get better. That’s a true testament to who you are.

So I love to go behind the scenes a little bit. What was it like, especially year 1, Parcells and earning his trust. What was that like? Because that’s something again nobody else has done other than Quincy Carter. So we’re adding to this movie, brother.

Quincy Carter: Yeah. Mick, it was perfect for me, you know, because, you know, not to toot my own horn, but I was, like, the perfect quarterback for him because I wanted someone not growing up with a, you know, a a father in my life. I wanted that father, you know, in my life, you know. And I finally got that, and it was the perfect recipe for me, you know, to have somebody that, you know, is just so enamored with every detail possible, you know, for just one play to work. And now we’re not we’re just talking about, I’m just talking mentioning plays.

But now when we get to, you know, actually how you take care of your body, how many lifts a week, the hot and cold tub, you know, then you you skip over to the femoral, you know. What is defenses doing to you on 1st and second down? What are they doing to you on 3rd, you know, and medium? What are they doing to you on 3rd and long? Now, after about 6 or 7 games, you know, now what are we doing, you know, that’s tipping off defenses?

And so now, you know, me and him and the coaches, you know, Sean, Payton, now we’re going into a south scouting mode. You know, so what are what, you know, formations are we running in? What formations are we motioning? And, when we’re motioning, are we throwing or are we passing? And so just every detail was so important to him, and it was just like a dream come true to me to have somebody that just loved the game as much as he did and just was able to just give me that wisdom and knowledge, man, of how to approach it.

And I just ate every bit of it up, bro. I did.

Mick Hunt: Mhmm. Testament to who you are, brother. Yeah. Testament to the determination and grit that you have. So let’s get into and for those that don’t know Quincy, you’re about to know him.

A lot of people watching and listening know know Quincy, but the the real Quincy, I call him the inconvenient truth. He’s gonna tell you the truth. He’s gonna hold no punches back. You got you got called into Jerry Jones office.

Quincy Carter: Absolutely. Yep.

Mick Hunt: You over there thinking, oh, I’m about to get a contract extension, about about this other Benz. Conversation didn’t go that way.

Quincy Carter: It did. And actually before I even got in the office, you know, I thought I had some, so what you call lucky, training camp visitors. And I’ll keep it PG. But, yeah, Mick, you know, I started I have it I actually started in baseball where, you know, I didn’t depend on God like I should have. And I started smoking weed, Mick, and, it’s a habit that I formed.

You know, I tried to keep it a secret as much as possible, as much as what we, you know, were discussing as far as my work ethic and, you know, the things and the, person I was trying to be. Mick, I was doing things that eventually caught up to me. I failed my first test in 2002 going into the season actually. It was 2 yeah. 2002.

Bill Parcells knew I was in the program too and, and had faith in me. Shout out to, you know, him having faith in me throughout this process. But anyway, a week before training camp, I failed another test, you know, Mick. And I was at the, 4 game fine, phase. You know, we had a couple words in training camp about my reps.

You know, me and Jerry and, Bill, they were concerned that, you know, I’ll possibly be getting a 3rd, you know, failed test. And then that would be a suspension and embarrassing the whole, whole, franchise. And they made a decision to cut me and, and move on from it because they couldn’t trust me. And I and I thoroughly understand that to this day. You know, that’s why I’m out here, you know, and and I don’t like to use the word preaching because, you know, I’m not a pastor, but I am trying to preach to these young men, you know.

It’s in a world right now that’s they’re they’re being told that marijuana is legal. And it may be in certain states, but it can’t be legal to you if you’re trying to accomplish all your goal. What, you know, billionaires out here sitting around trying to get a, you know, PhD in marijuana, which I, you know, kinda slightly say I was at some point because I wasn’t dependent on the man up above. But who’s doing that out here and being a billionaire and being successful, man? So I’m trying to, you know, get this word out here to these young men.

You know, we can think we’re being slick, but what’s done in the dark eventually comes to life, and they bit me in my butt.

Mick Hunt: Yeah. And I I wanna clear up some stuff here too because, you know, again, you and I talked, we talk a lot. You got suspended for marijuana. Right? Like like, there was some other noise that was out there, but the truth was Quincy Carter got suspended or or fired for marijuana usage.

Right?

Quincy Carter: Yeah. Absolutely. At the time, Nick. Now Right. Now my addiction would go on.

And I get a PhD in cocaine, which I’m not proud of. I’m smiling at now, but I’m not proud of it. But I’m proud to be able to tell somebody my journey, man. That’s what feels good. But yeah.

But at the time, Nick, that’s what it was, man. Now a lot of other things were being said, but, but, yes, at the time it was.

Mick Hunt: Yep. Yep. And so then you’re out of football or out of professional football for a couple of years. Yes. But then you get another call from the Dolphins.

Yeah. Absolutely. And what happened there, Quincy?

Quincy Carter: Well, yeah, Mick. I had played, arena football about 2 seasons, Mick. And, and I was up in Kansas City and, really close to another one of my, good coaches, Herm Edwards, who was keeping an eye on me and ended up playing like the last, you know, what, 4 or 5 games of that season and played, you know, okay, enough, you know, garner some interest from teams, and the same guy who cut me still believed in me, and, brought me down to training camp for the Miami Dolphins during the, started that, training camp season of 2,009, Nick. Yeah. 2009.

And, had a great workout, Nick, but couldn’t stop doing what had got me cut from the cowboys. And so, he told me well, Bill Parcells, man, told me to go back to the room and, hey, we’re gonna sign you, work you out work work out the deal with your agent. And, and I knew Mick going back, you know. It was just a feeling that I had. You you know, get done, taking the physicals and all that or what have.

You. There was a chance that that, you know, the things that I hadn’t quit just yet, smoking. And, and and I, you know, could possibly get caught. And, and that’s what happened, Nick, you know. My agent called me about a couple hours later and told me, you know, no.

First of all, Eugene Parker rest in heaven. And he was just asking me, you know, a question, why you didn’t tell me? Why you didn’t tell me? And I was just like, what? Trying to play it off.

And he was like, you should have just told me, you know, that, that you were still having some issues. And we could’ve just, you know, kinda waited on you going down and working out. But he said they can’t even test, you know, the, your your urine. And that’s because I tried to mask it, man, and it cost me my job, man. And Bill, you know, what you know, I ain’t got too grown yet.

But coach Parcells, man, was really, he was really disappointed, man, because I had done a lot of work, you know, in rehabilitation, working down there in in Florida with, my mentor and sponsor to this day, Hollywood, Emerson, still in my corner. But I had a golden chance, man, of the man who cut me 4 years later, Nick, and, and brought me back, you know, to, to get a chance. But that lesson that I had to learn just got a little bit more harder, for me because I wasn’t believing in the man yet, man.

Mick Hunt: Well, let’s talk about it now though. Right? So so you go through your challenges, you go through struggles, and then you get closer to the man. You you the the the the man, the spirit that you’ve known all your life. Right?

Quincy Carter: Oh, my lord.

Mick Hunt: Because you don’t shy away from it. You you’ve known God

Quincy Carter: for for all

Mick Hunt: your life. Right?

Quincy Carter: Yes.

Mick Hunt: What was that moment where you said it’s not enough to just know him? Mhmm. You gotta have him. What was that moment for Quincy Carter?

Quincy Carter: Well, it was it was two phases of it, Mick. It was the morning that I reached out to Hollywood, July 22, 2019. It was that morning, and it was getting on my knees and praying. In the next, you know, moment, Mick was picking up the phone and telling Hollywood, amen. Come get me before something really bad happens to me, you know, and, put me somewhere, man, walking, you know, work on this thing.

And so that was the spirit of God. That was, you know, Marsha Stone from VRC in Austin coming down and picking me up, and I was in rehab in like 5 or 6 hours. But that surreal moment, Mick, was me sitting at a table. You know, I used to get up 4:35 in the morning, you know, writing on my notes. We’re doing, you know, step work and everything.

I’ll never forget sitting on that porch and, and just look into the skies, Mick, and just asking god, man. If you’re here for me, please show me. And Mick, little bit by little bit, you know, whether it’s the phone conversations with my mom I started to have in rehab, whether it’s, you know, that bird that was chirping in your ear when you’re in a critical spot and you’re writing and, you’re talking to God. He’s like, is that God? And then just seeing my confidence as I’m going through the steps and building.

You know, I never disowned God. You know, I got mad at God, Mick, and I got mad because, you know, so much bad was happening to me, you know. But, Nick, what I wasn’t accounting for is that I was the one in the way. You know, I was the one that failed, you know, the test for the cowboys. A dream come true job.

I was the one who was in position to get myself back in the NFL, and I didn’t lean on God a little bit more and get that job with Demyane McDuffins, you know. And so, you know and and then being walking home, being, you know, in the bottom of the barrel, but living in a extended state up and coming Georgia. And somebody’s stopping me on the side of the road, you know, Mick. And now now I have a high school, you know, baseball job, a a basketball job, a football job, and then coaching, you know, at a prep school too. So God was still, you know, tugging me.

Hey, I’m here. I’m here. I’m here. Mhmm. And I was so upset with God.

And so I strayed away from him. So accepting those truths, you know, once I got to rehab and just getting closer to him, you know, make I thought I knew God as a kid. I thought I knew him, you know, in my early my early twenties doing some FCA things and seeing the miracles of God, but knowing him on that personal level and, feeling the spirit and not not wanting to not be feeling the spirit at any point of your life, man. That’s the special, you know, part of our relationship, you know. And I

Mick Hunt: love that, brother. I love that so much. And and I would love for you to just give some advice or or a couple of words, a message to the person that’s listening and watching that’s right there. That’s like they’re angry or upset or maybe they’re like, I I don’t know if I can continue this path. Like, what’s your message for that listener or viewer, Quincy?

Quincy Carter: Well, it’s a point that you get, you know, when you’re in your addiction, that you just gotta say to yourself, how can I continue to live like this? And if you’re there, and most of us it takes, you know, sometimes it takes longer than others to get there. But there’s only 2 ways that this addiction, man, that you have option was, you know, to get it under control. And that’s 1, you have to have someone outside of yourself, you know, to restore you to sanity. And the second one, you know, is, you know, you gotta dig deep in those steps and go through a great, you know, a great 12 step program, whether it’s a 12 step program or you just go into a meeting and getting a sponsor.

But one of those two things could, has to happen because if it came I mean, if it could come from us, you know, we had the power with inside of us, we wouldn’t have this addiction. We wouldn’t wouldn’t be taking our ourselves to hell. Who wants to do that? But it’s one of 2 things, man. You gotta get with God and some people, you know, we don’t understand how we can get with a person where bad things have happened.

Well, you have to have some kind of higher power outside yourself no matter what. For me, it’s God, you know. And you know what I’m talking about when I say that, and I mean that. Yeah. But, but yeah.

And you gotta have those 12 steps, you know, up under your belt and really go through a thorough 12 step.

Mick Hunt: Yeah. I love it, Quincy. And one of the things that I’m I admire about you, I’m most proud of of you is how you now give back. Right. You know, on Make Unplugged, I talk about your because right.

And that thing that’s deeper than your why, like your, your real purpose to me is your because. And I just love the fact, man, that you, you share with youth, you’re out in the community, you’re coaching and you’re staying busy by making an impact, man. So what’s Quincy’s Because today? Like, what’s that mission, that purpose for you today?

Quincy Carter: Man, it’s because, you know, me God gave me grace, man. Man, I’m getting emotional, dude. He gave me a second chance, man. And, and and and I just think it was so much, you know, we browse over the addiction, but I know what it was like, being in that extended state, getting picked up, you know, making that call to Hollywood, man. And and he’s given me life.

He’s given it back to me. I never thought I would actually be telling my whole life story of missed opportunities and having joy about it to be able to tell somebody else and help them. And then coming from where I came from, you know, coming out of Mountain Park, you know, on Custer Avenue and and getting there with the Cubs. And, God give me an opportunity with George and Dallas, even the Jets, and then to see it come full circle, man. You have your struggles, and then you can get out here and help people regardless of what you’ve been through and knowing you accomplished some things that a lot of people wanna accomplish, you know.

But how do you get them there? You know, what can you tell them? How can you help them? And then my biggest gift is I can point them to God and I can show them, you know, no matter what mistakes I’ve made. Me being upset with God, you know, at a point Job did too.

And, they took everything from Job, but I never disowned him. I know how powerful he is, and then to pick me back up on my feet, Nick. And, that’s all I can do to give back to him, man. You know, Nick is some days, man. I I should’ve been dead, but, I’m here.

And so I’m a do everything I can, you know, to give back to his people because I know what he’s done for me, man. You got me you got me, dude.

Mick Hunt: But but but it’s that story it’s that message why, you know, when I open and said one of the greatest speakers of our generation today with the best message is Quincy Carter, man. Like everybody, I don’t care what your organization is, what your association is. Like Quincy’s story, his message is so powerful that and and we’re just getting a glimpse, right? Like I I spent a few hours with Quincy and it was just mesmerized by everything. Like his story is so powerful.

Like everyone should definitely reach out and just have Quincy come speak, have Quincy come talk, have Quincy mentor because you all know I believe in the power of mentorship. So Quincy manages. Love the fact that you took some time out of your schedule to to share a glimpse into the story, I think it’s something, you know, maybe we have a Mick Unplugged series with Quincy Carter where you just bring down stuff for people, man, because there’s so much that you have to offer. Where can people follow you, find you, and then what’s Quincy have going on now outside of coaching?

Quincy Carter: Outside of coaching, Nick, right now, I’ve got my foundation that I started here a couple years ago. We, we’re on a mission, you know, to allocate for safe, drug free communities. We do that through speaking engagements, camps, clinics. We got a thanksgiving, you know, feed the hungry deal coming up here in a minute. We have a back to school special, and we’re just gonna continue to add to that.

A golf tournament is down the line here. And then also, we wanna, you know, give it give it to us a little celebrity bowling alley. I mean, annual celebrity bowling deal every year. So so I’m doing that and really busy with that. I’ve got my own quarterback school.

I’m mentoring quarterbacks. And then Mick, man, just giving where I can, you know, really. But, yeah, you can find me on, well, I’m old school with it. They got probably get my Facebook out first. But it’s Quincy LaVar Carter on Facebook.

And then, also you can reach out for my foundation. It’s what? The Quincy Carter Foundation. Sorry about that. I was about to give you my email.

That’s the Quincy Carter Foundation. And then, for, for camps and training kids, it’s, quincycarter 17.com. It’s, both of my websites. It’s the quincycarterfoundation.com, the quincycarter17.com. And then also, the quickest way to get

Mick Hunt: to me, because I’m still old school, is

Quincy Carter: that Quincy LaVon Carter on Facebook.

Mick Hunt: There it is. I’ll make sure that we have links to all of that in the description and the show notes. I’m gonna make sure socially I’m posting about some of those things too. Quincy, brother. I’m honored to call you a brother, to call you a friend.

And more importantly, man, and I’m gonna tell you this for the first time, I’m honored to call you an inspiration in my life, Quincy. So I just wanna thank you for the things that you do that go unseen, brother, because it helps me, just so you know.

Quincy Carter: Well, man, I I wanna thank you too, Mick, and thank you for being a friend also, man. You know, you can only really have these conversations with the people you really feel. And, man, your spirit is special, man. So, you continue being great, and, yeah, I’m a just be quiet now. No.

Mick Hunt: No. I got you, man. So for the listeners and viewers, Quincy and I about to have a series. We’re gonna work that out. We’re gonna have the Mick and Quincy hour, like, once a month, once every other month or whatever because I I love this dude so much, and and the world needs more of Quincy Carter.

So, Quincy, again, thank you, brother.

Quincy Carter: Oh, thank you, man. God bless you too, Mick.

Mick Hunt: You got it. For the listeners and viewers, remember, your because is your superpower. Go unleash it. Thank you for tuning in to Mick Unplugged. Keep pushing your limits, embracing your purpose, and chasing greatness.

Until next time. Stay unstoppable.