“The punt off a JUGS machine is the hardest ball to catch,” said the man who caught a pass thrown by Peyton Manning off a Manhattan skyscraper. “It’s the hardest to judge. But his overall timing and catching it with all hands, I was like, ‘OK, now that is different.’
“Going to his home games here, Holy Angels, he used to do the one-hand grab,” Carter added. “Across the middle of that one game I came to, he caught that one off the ground, and I said, ‘OK, now we might have something.’ I told your dad after that, ‘Keep it under wraps, but we might be onto something here.’ But along the way, athletes like him, you see them and their overall mentality is totally different. And he’s been that way since he was 15.”
Fitzgerald remembered the Panthers visiting the Miami Hurricanes in 2002. Carter had transitioned from Minnesota to Miami for his final pro season and made the trip to the Thursday game.
“I’ll never forget — I caught a touchdown on the left sideline. He was right there with me, gave me a high-five — the way he made me feel. I felt like I could do anything,” Fitzgerald said. “It didn’t matter if Sean Taylor or Jon Vilma, it didn’t matter who was out there. I got my uncle here with me. And it just gave me so much confidence to — “
“And they were loaded — ” Carter interjected.
“It didn’t matter. That made me feel good,” Fitzgerald resumed. “And driving from Boca Raton down to the Orange Bowl … that’s an hour and 15 minutes,” Fitzgerald said. “That’s a long way to drive on a game week, too. … All those sacrifices meant a great deal to me.”
