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Q+A With Duke Football: DeWayne Carter
10/7/2021 3:29:00 PM | Football
DURHAM – The Voice of the Blue Devils, David Shumate, sat down with redshirt sophomore DeWayne Carter for a brief question and answer session.
DS: A lot of your relatives played football. What was it like growing up in that football environment with your dad and others having played the game?
DC: It was really cool. I was primed to play football, but never forced. At family gatherings, no matter where it is, it was football, football, football. When are you going to play football? Where are you going to school? It was a constant talk of football. It was really cool having relatives and a father who have all been at this level and succeeded at this level. It is a blessing.
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DS: What are some of the things you are doing when you are not playing football?
DC: When I'm not playing football, my main priority besides school is to catch up on sleep. I play a little bit of video games. I'm involved in a lot of clubs and different things around school so I'm very active in the community.
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DS: What is one club that you are heavily involved with?
DC: Most commonly I'm working with UBA, which is United Black Athletes. I'm in meetings, panels, conversations with professors, things of that nature. We are working around the community, the Duke community to try to make it better.
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DS: I know your coach this week has said several times that certain things that happened in the game, he owns it. But, it sounds like you as one of the captains, feel like you own it too?
DC: Of course. Only so much falls on the coaches. We are out there playing the game so we have to own ours, too. It's not just on them.
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DS: What are the keys for you and your involvement in the pass rush and getting in there from your spot in the middle of the contact? What are some of the things you have to keep in your mind to be successful as a pass rusher?
DC: That starts in the beginning of the week when you are doing film study and Coach Ben Albert first introduces the game plan – how they set, how they protect, what the quarterback is like, what the running back does in protection and how the tight ends are in protection. There are a lot of things you must keep in mind, but by the time we come out here on Tuesday and you have all that in the back of your mind you are working through it. It kind of becomes second nature. We have seen a lot of their sets already and different plays that they run because our scout team does a great job.
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DS: Is playing defensive line more technical than people may think?
DC: There is a lot of technicalities when you play defensive line. We have to be the smartest on the field. Coach Albert also says we have to be just as smart as the smartest specimen on the field, which is the quarterback. We have to be just as smart as him in how we attack them.
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DS: How did you first get involved in playing on the defensive line?
DC: I didn't originally start playing football until the sixth grade because my father wanted me to develop more. He wanted to protect my body a little bit more. I grew up playing soccer and baseball. Whenever we did football work, I would be trained as a receiver or tight end. My footwork was there because of soccer and my dad's training as well. But, I just kept getting bigger and bigger. By the time I got to playing football, the first position they put me at was middle linebacker but that just wasn't me. Then, I put my hand in the ground and the rest was history.
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#GoDuke
DS: A lot of your relatives played football. What was it like growing up in that football environment with your dad and others having played the game?
DC: It was really cool. I was primed to play football, but never forced. At family gatherings, no matter where it is, it was football, football, football. When are you going to play football? Where are you going to school? It was a constant talk of football. It was really cool having relatives and a father who have all been at this level and succeeded at this level. It is a blessing.
Â
DS: What are some of the things you are doing when you are not playing football?
DC: When I'm not playing football, my main priority besides school is to catch up on sleep. I play a little bit of video games. I'm involved in a lot of clubs and different things around school so I'm very active in the community.
Â
DS: What is one club that you are heavily involved with?
DC: Most commonly I'm working with UBA, which is United Black Athletes. I'm in meetings, panels, conversations with professors, things of that nature. We are working around the community, the Duke community to try to make it better.
Â
DS: I know your coach this week has said several times that certain things that happened in the game, he owns it. But, it sounds like you as one of the captains, feel like you own it too?
DC: Of course. Only so much falls on the coaches. We are out there playing the game so we have to own ours, too. It's not just on them.
Â
DS: What are the keys for you and your involvement in the pass rush and getting in there from your spot in the middle of the contact? What are some of the things you have to keep in your mind to be successful as a pass rusher?
DC: That starts in the beginning of the week when you are doing film study and Coach Ben Albert first introduces the game plan – how they set, how they protect, what the quarterback is like, what the running back does in protection and how the tight ends are in protection. There are a lot of things you must keep in mind, but by the time we come out here on Tuesday and you have all that in the back of your mind you are working through it. It kind of becomes second nature. We have seen a lot of their sets already and different plays that they run because our scout team does a great job.
Â
DS: Is playing defensive line more technical than people may think?
DC: There is a lot of technicalities when you play defensive line. We have to be the smartest on the field. Coach Albert also says we have to be just as smart as the smartest specimen on the field, which is the quarterback. We have to be just as smart as him in how we attack them.
Â
DS: How did you first get involved in playing on the defensive line?
DC: I didn't originally start playing football until the sixth grade because my father wanted me to develop more. He wanted to protect my body a little bit more. I grew up playing soccer and baseball. Whenever we did football work, I would be trained as a receiver or tight end. My footwork was there because of soccer and my dad's training as well. But, I just kept getting bigger and bigger. By the time I got to playing football, the first position they put me at was middle linebacker but that just wasn't me. Then, I put my hand in the ground and the rest was history.
Â
#GoDuke
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