Pat Carter

{{Short description|American football player and coach (born 1966)}}

{{other uses|Patrick Carter (disambiguation)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}

{{Use American English|date=April 2024}}

{{Infobox NFL biography

| name = Pat Carter

| number = 80, 85, 87, 88

| position = Tight end

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1966|8|1}}

| birth_place = Sarasota, Florida, U.S.

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 4

| weight_lb = 268

| high_school = Riverview (Sarasota)

| college = Florida State

| draftyear = 1988

| draftround = 2

| draftpick = 32

| pastteams =

• Detroit Lions ({{NFL Year|1988}})
• Los Angeles Rams ({{NFL Year|1989|1993}})
• Houston Oilers ({{NFL Year|1994}})
• St. Louis Rams ({{NFL Year|1995}})
• Arizona Cardinals ({{NFL Year|1996|1997}})

| pastcoaching =

• St. Louis Rams (OA, {{NFL Year|2004|2005}})
• Detroit Lions (TE, {{NFL Year|2006}})

| highlights =

• Second-team All-American (1987)
• First Team All-South Independent (1986)

| statlabel1 = Receptions

| statvalue1 = 107

| statlabel2 = Receiving yards

| statvalue2 = 1,117

| statlabel3 = Touchdowns

| statvalue3 = 9

| pfr = CartPa00

}}

Pat Carter (born August 1, 1966) is an American former professional football player who was a tight end in the National Football League (NFL) from 1988 to 1998. He played college football for the Florida State Seminoles before playing in the NFL for the Detroit Lions, Los Angeles / St. Louis Rams, Houston Oilers, and Arizona Cardinals.

Pat Carter entered his third NFL season with Head Coach Rod Marinelli's coaching staff.{{Cite web|url=http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20120108/COLUMNIST/120109622?tc=ar|title = Article 404 - Sarasota Herald-Tribune - Sarasota, FL}} He returned to Detroit as the Lions’ tight ends coach in 2006 after originally being drafted as a tight end out of Florida State by the Lions in the second round (32nd overall) of the 1988 NFL draft.{{Cite web |title=1988 NFL Draft Listing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1988/draft.htm |access-date=2023-09-23 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}}

Before joining the Lions staff, Carter served as an offensive assistant in St. Louis for the 2005 season after working as a coaching intern for the Rams in 2004.

After playing his rookie season with the Lions (1988), Carter moved on to spend the bulk of his pro career with the Rams (1989–93, 1995) after he was traded by the Lions to the Rams in August 1989 for a fourth-round pick in the 1990 draft. He also played one season with the Houston Oilers (1994) and finished his 10-year career with Arizona (1996–97). Carter, who earned first-team All-America honors by The Sporting News as a senior at Florida State, played in 154 NFL games and had 107 career receptions for 1,117 yards and nine touchdowns. His best pro season was in 1996 when he registered 26 receptions for 329 yards and a touchdown with the Cardinals.