TAMPA, Fla. — This week, Tampa Catholic linebacker Lewis Carter played in the Under Armour Next All-American Game in Orlando. It's a contest that features the best high school football talent in the nation.
"It was great," Carter said. "I got a chance to practice hard all week. I had to limit my mistakes and compete at a top level."
Lewis played against good competition with the Crusaders, but this was a game where every player on the field is a Division I prospect. Carter said the stage and the level of competition didn't add any extra pressure.
"I thought heavy about it before the game. But once I got on the field, it felt normal, once I got on the field."
Carter's coach, Jeris McIntyre, starred at Auburn and was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2004. He knows top-level talent when he sees it.
"He’s just an all-around, great football player," McIntyre said while describing Carter. "On and off the field, works really hard. Sure tackler, flies to the football, and is very violent."
Carter received more than 50 Division I scholarship offers. He admits that sometimes he just wanted to make a commitment and end the process, but he also said the experience was a definitely positive one.
"It was really tough on me," he explained. "But I feel like it humbled me, and it kinda helped me grow, as well.'
"Staying focused, being humble. That’s what he is," McIntyre added. "He’s an outstanding football player. One of the best that I think has been around Tampa Catholic. He’s just one of those guys you want to have in your program."
When the dust settled, Lewis committed to play for the University of Oklahoma. "They all felt like great, genuine people. People that are gonna be there for me and develop me throughout those four to five years."
Carter wants to head to Norman, OK, in late May. He said he wants to get a jump-start on the next chapter of his football life. One that got a big boost by wearing a Crusaders uniform.
"This overall journey has been great to me," Lewis said. "I’ve been developed by some of the greatest coaches, coaches that played at the highest level."
"It’s great to have a kid like him because the other kids see it," McIntyre said when describing what Carter's career means to his younger players. "You kind of feed off of it. It just kinda trickles on down."
Carter is going to Oklahoma to play linebacker, but he made just as many highlight-real plays from the running back position. He joked that OU head coach Brent Venables didn't shut the door on his dream of being a dual-threat player.
"[Venables] was talking about that a little bit at my home visit, but I don’t know if he was serious or not," Carter said with a smile. "But I wouldn’t mind a couple carries."
