Message from cousin Ty: Shape up or Ship out

After his 3rd consecutive disappointing season for Minnesota (the first two under Coach Brewster), Coach Kill was ready to give CB Michael Carter the boot in November 2011. But before he did, Kill thought, "If he won't listen to me, maybe he'll listen to someone in his own family." It turned out to be a stroke of genius for Kill. Not only was Carter still on the team for his senior season, he played well enough to earn honorable mention all-Big 10 honors.

Carter, you may remember, was the lead story in my Week 9 College Football report. And you may remember I mentioned that he was the younger cousin of Tyrone Carter, who starred for the Gophers in the late 1990's before being drafted by the Minnesota Vikings and going on to have an NFL career that lasted longer than a decade (in 7 years of which he had dreads).
While I was gathering the details of Michael's outstanding performance in the Gophers' Week 9 win over Purdue, I also came across an article in the St. Paul Pioneer Press. And now that Michael is less than 24 hours away from playing his final game in a Minnesota uniform, I might as well share it with you now (if you haven't already seen it).

Apparently Tyrone wasn't too pleased to hear from Coach Kill that his cousin was messing up. And he let Michael know it. Said Tyrone, who had become a popular player in the Twin Cities, to Michael, "... but now you come and you just made a bad name for our family." Well, that's the quote Tyrone gave to the writer of the article. What he actually said to Michael probably went something like. "What the hell is wrong with you?! You are a disgrace. You are disgracing our name. You are disgracing my name, and I'm not gonna have it. Get your act together and get with the program!" Consider the message received. And before I spoil the whole article, I'll let you read it (link below).
http://www.twincities.com/gophers/ci_21899072/gophers-football-how-tyrone-carter-saved-cousin-michaels

Thanks to his willingness to shape up, Michael turned in by far his best season, with 2 INT and 14 PBU. And although he most likely will not be selected in the NFL draft, his performance this season will at least get him a look in somebody's minicamp. Who knows? Maybe he'll be a late bloomer. But before that, he gets one more chance to impress. And since the Gophers' opponent in the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas (Dec. 28 at 8 PM CT on ESPN) is pass-happy Texas Tech, Michael should see a lot of passes coming his way. So check it out if you have time, as Carter and fellow seniors Troy Stoudermire and MarQueis Gray appear for Minnesota for the final time.