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Rice University Athletics
David Carter
5/2/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
May 2, 2007
David Carter came to Rice looking to create opportunities for running backs by providing key blocks as an offensive lineman. Five years later, he leaves the campus--degree in hand--having created far more opportunities for a much greater sampling of the student body.
After a redshirt year in 2002, Carter saw considerable playing time in 2003 and made three starts on the offensive line in 2004. But a series of injuries to his right shoulder forced him to give up his pursuits on the gridiron and to blend into the general student population as well as you can when you are 6-6 and played at nearly 300 pounds.
"It really gave me a unique perspective," Carter recalled. "When you are playing football, you have two full-time agendas. You are a student but you also have to practice and prepare for games. The other students on campus have their schedules totally dedicated to their classes. It's really two different schedules. I saw the need to try and bring the groups together, if possible," he recalled.
He was approached to become a board member in the newly formed Student Owl Club and serve as a liaison between his former teammates on the football team and the general student population. He gladly accepted the challenge of bridging whatever gaps might have existed and two years later, is happy to note the results of his efforts.
"There is a different level of enthusiasm on campus. I know there were more students at the football games last year and you see Rice football shirts around campus," Carter noted. "Granted, the success last year has something to do with it, but I also think that the students have a better understanding of the hard work the players have put in to have that success," he added.
Carter also displayed a knack for commerce during his time at Rice. For several summers, he and a friend in Dallas operated a web-based consignment business that allowed people to sell a wide variety of items on eBay. "We didn't have the money to open a store front, but we found there was a niche market to offer a consignment service to people who had items they wanted to sell without the hassles of doing it themselves," Carter recalled. "We sold everything from desks to motorcycles and it was certainly education to go through the steps of shipping a motorcycle to a buyer."
While not exceedingly lucrative, the business proved invaluable as a reference point in job interviews, as has his involvement with the Student Owl Club. David Carter has exhibited his leadership abilities time and again, and certainly projects as one of Tomorrow's Leaders as he makes his move into the business world.
