Mick Unplugged - Quincy Carter | The Legacy of Quincy Carter: Football, Faith, and Community Impact

Episode Date: December 2, 2024

Welcome to another compelling episode of Mick Unplugged. I'm your host, Mick Hunt, and today we dive deep into the extraordinary life and career of Quincy Carter. From his early sports days at Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia, where he revolutionized the team's offensive strategy, to becoming a trailblazing African American quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, Quincy's journey is nothing short of inspirational. We'll explore Quincy's remarkable college career, his transition to the NFL, and his surprising struggles off the field, including battles with substance abuse and the pivotal role of faith in his recovery. Quincy opens up about his relationship with legendary coach Bill Parcells, the impact of meeting his hero Doug Williams, and the significance of being one of the few African American starting quarterbacks in the NFL during his time. Despite facing numerous challenges, Quincy has emerged stronger, dedicating his life to giving back to the community through his foundation and coaching initiatives. Join us as we unpack Quincy's heartfelt stories, his relentless work ethic, and his mission to inspire the next generation. This is an episode you won't want to miss—an intimate look into the trials, triumphs, and unwavering spirit of Quincy Carter. Welcome to Mick Unplugged. Takeaways: ·       Carter helped shift UGA's offensive strategy and was a pioneering African                     American quarterback. ·       He was cut from the Cowboys due to failed drug tests. ·       Growing up, Carter had fond memories of watching Cubs games with his                      grandfather. Sound Bites: ·       "For it to end up in Dallas after I'm done playing college football was a dream                 come true, man." ·       "One thing I always knew, Mick, is that I had to work my butt off to keep it." ·       "We can think we're being slick, but what's done in the dark eventually comes to           light." Connect and Discover LinkedIn:           linkedin.com/in/thequincycarterfoundation Instagram:         Instagram.com/quincylavoncarter Facebook:         facebook.com/quincylavon.carter Website:            thequincycarterfoundation.com                                Quincycarter17.com                                Playersforgood.com Youtube:            @TheQuincyCarterFoundation X:                          @quincylcarter  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Talk to us a little bit about baseball, what that meant for you and what it was like, man, just to get drafted professional sports out of high school. Yeah, that was a pretty cool experience. You know, first, it all started with me at Gresham Park and playing alongside the likes of the Travis Strouds of the world and some other great players to play it along with. And so that's where my competitive baseball started at. In your mind, what was the first thing you were buying? Well, the first thing I was buying was a Mercedes.

But then Sherrick Carter Embry was buying something else. What is 18, 17 year old Quincy, the first time you report to the Cubs, man? Walk us through when you realize, oh, this is what grown people do. Yeah, well, it was probably my first morning at practice, and it's rookie ball. Before baseball, you give a rubber to Georgia Tech,

and then baseball is over, and you don't go to Georgia Tech. How did that come through? Georgia was getting ready to be on probation, or was already on probation. And I just didn't feel comfortable in possibly going to college and not being able to play in bowl games.

Welcome to Mick Unplugged, where we ignite potential and fuel purpose. Get ready for raw insights, bold moves and game-changing conversations. Buckle up, here's Mick. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of Mick Unplugged where legends don't just share their stories, they have legacies. And today we're honored to sit down with the University of Georgia football icon, former Dallas Cowboys starting quarterback, and a true warrior of resilience. From the glory days of the game to life's toughest challenges, he's transformed every obstacle into a lesson,

and he now shares those hard-earned wisdom with the next generation. He's a dynamic speaker, he's an inspiration to the world, and a force of unwavering grit. Help me welcome my friend, my dog, Mr. GQ himself, Quincy Carter. Quincy, what's up, brother? What's up, man? Good Lord, man. You talking about making somebody feel special, man. I appreciate that introduction, man. Thank you. Hey, that's all you. That's all love. You know, you're my main man, 50 grand, man.

So just just honored to share some time on the podcast all you, that's all love. You know, you're my main man, 50 grand, man. So just honored to share some time on the podcast with you, brother. Hey, man, I'm honored to be spending some time with you too, man. Thanks for the introduction, oh, good Lord, man. Hey, it's all you, man. Quincy, this is, when I'm honored, I told you when we met face to face,

how much I've always looked up to you, how much, like, even my family, right? Like we're a Georgia football family and had an uncle, Tron Jackson, that played at Georgia. So we bleed red and black, bro. And I'm going to say this, you know, I always tell David Pollock, he's my favorite Georgia Bulldog defensive player of all times. And it's you and Garrison Hurst, my top two on offense, man. Like, you are the guy. You're the goat when it comes to Georgia football, bro. Wow, man, I appreciate that, man.

Yes, sir. Yes, sir. So I wanna start by, not today, but you and I talked about your recruiting process, right? And how you went from junior high to high school and the legend of Quincy Carter started forming, not just on the football field, but you could swing that back too, brother.

So I'd love to talk about just your journey of young Quincy, right? Getting into high school, because that's the story that most people don't know. So I'd love for you to share that moment, brother. Yeah, you know, McMahon, born in Chicago, for a lot of people that don't know, we were actually born in Bloomington

and went to Chicago right out the hospital. And then me and my mom moved down here to Atlanta, Decatur area about, you know, when I was about three or four years old. But yeah, McMahon, life was to me, it was humbling, you know, coming down here from from Chicago. As a kid, I thought I had everything I wanted. You know what I mean? We didn't grow up in the nicest of neighborhoods. My mom don't like to tell me exactly what neighborhood so I'm a mom on

that. But it was humbling. Grew up at the recreation park. Nick, I was a kid that got dropped off at Gresham Park, did all my homework there. And that's where my competitive nature started, you know. And that's where sports started for me. It was table tennis and bumper pool that moved to basketball, baseball, and football. And I wanted to play all three. You know, also, coming up closer to high school, I wanted to play at the best high school for football. And we, you know, actually had a good baseball and basketball team,

but that football team was top of the Cab high school. You know, Coach Buck Godfrey had established himself in the late 80s, mid to late 80s. In the 90s, we're starting. And I wanted to keep that tradition going. We had just went to a state championship in 1990. I think I was in the seventh grade then. And coming into the eighth grade,

well coming in high school, which was eighth grade for us, because we didn't go to middle school. I wanted to be the QB that got us back there. We took a tough loss to Val Oster in the championship game in 1990. And I wanted to be in the QB besides Eric Johnson to lead us back to premises. So I started on that journey in the eighth grade, man. And we put our head down and went to work as a team.

And you did it. Yes, we did. You did it, right? Like, you can brag a little bit. Let's talk about those accolades, man. Like Southwest DeKalb, Quincy doing his thing, leading the school to multiple championships, breaking records, doing things that quarterbacks that look like you hadn't done in the state of Georgia or in the United States, to be honest with you, man.

So talk about those accolades, Quincy. Well, you know, it was a big accomplishment. And one, having pride in being, you know, the only black school, all black school, to win at its highest classification. You know, the Clark Central's are the world's ruled, the Valdosta's, shoot, the Camden County's, you know, Parkview was coming up at that time.

And so, we're very proud of that. You know, what you just mentioned, wasn't happening for black quarterbacks either, you know, as far as going to D1 schools, you know, but having an idol like Charlie Ward, you know, right down the street in Thomasville and seeing him go on the Florida state, you know, to win a national championship

and to win a Heisman was everything to me. You got to think that was my freshman sophomore, junior season in high school, you know, and I was watching him and then Damien Craig, you know, started to make some noise at Auburn. And ironically, you know, those were the first two or three schools I started looking at was Auburn, it was Florida State. And then I, you know, ended up settling with Georgia Tech, not settling, I'm sorry, no disrespect,

because they had a really good program at the time, which you want to get into that anyway. You know I do. We talked a lot about that when we were in person. Absolutely. Yes. But yeah, you know, those are the guys I looked up to. Those are the guys that were running, throwing the ball, being in multiple facet formations and really, you know,

being able to show every aspect of their game. Yeah. So before we get into the Georgia Tech story though, I want to get into that curve ball. Cause you know, I'm a Tar Heel. I'm a Georgia guy, but I'm a Tar Heel grad. And you know, MJ went and played baseball for a little bit, but he couldn't hit that curve ball.

Quincey Carter could. Quincey could hit it. So, so, tell us a little bit about baseball, what that meant for you and what it was like, man, just to get drafted professional sports out of high school. Yeah, that was a pretty cool experience. You know, first it all started with me at Gresham Park and playing, you know, alongside the likes of the Travis Strouds of the world and some other great players, you know, to play it along with. I ended up getting selected to play for the East Cobb Astros at the age of 13. And we took the opportunity. At the time, East Cobb, which is well, really pretty,

nationally well known, only had one team out the whole state for each age group. So we took advantage of that opportunity. So from 13 to 17, I played a lot of travel ball, played about shoot 80 to a hundred games a summer. I had a really, really good coach at Southwestern Cal, two coach Pruitt who helped start, you know, the read-in program before Coach Goodwin later took it along. And then the really winning region championships and the whole nine over there in the state championship and read-in.

But yeah, so with me getting so much experience during the summertime and my game really taking off, you know, a lot of scouts start, you know, buzzing around Southwestern cap, you know, during the spring of my senior season. And my hometown team, who I say about my second hometown team, I can't disrespect Atlanta and Decatur. Good Lord. Don't get me because boy, my people here really fed my spirit. But yeah, my original hometown team,

let's say it like that, Chicago Cubs drafted me in the second round and it was a dream come true, Mick. I think I told you this, but I tell everybody, man, that getting that phone call at graduation practice was pretty cool. You know, cause I didn't know what time it was gonna happen. You know, the baseball draft could go on for, you know, what I think 30, 45 minutes of pick or something like that, if I'm not mistaken. I think it's changed now.

But to get that call of graduation, man, it was pretty cool. Heck yeah. Walk us through that call and that emotion, man. So you got young Quincy graduating high school, getting a call of second round pick by the Chicago Cubs. Right. The team that, you know, us growing up, Quincy, you always saw the Cubs because the WGN station, right?

Like the Cubs, you saw the Cubs more than the Braves for the most part, I'm from the South Sioux. Absolutely. What is that like? My granddad, well shoot, make no cut y'all, sorry about that, but me and my granddad, I went to Chicago right after my short kind of baseball season growing up in Gresham Park.

I went to Chicago the rest of the summer. So me and my granddad sat there and watched, well, first we had to watch the Bozo show because grandma wasn't playing games. Then it was General, I think General Hospital, one like to live, one of them. Then we can watch the game. But yeah, man, shoot, we watched Chicago baseball,

man, all summer. Growing up and seeing Andre Dawson and I mean, Sharon Dawson, Andre Dawson, I'm sorry, Sean Dunston, let me get my guys right. Mark Grace, Ryan Sandberg, Ryan Sandberg and then walking in the locker room, actually seeing them after I got drafted was just so, you know, surreal. But man, that was, it was surreal, you know, to really get that phone call. And I think my mom called me first on the three way with her.

Yeah. Yes. That's wild. That's wild. So that means that young Quincy had a cell phone too. We'll talk about that later. Cause I know I ain't get a cell phone till way into college, way into college. So I have one. So, but yeah, man. So you get the call from the Cubs, go into your hometown team, the team that's

always on TV. You got Harry Carey, like most people don't know the Cubs never played night games until like 10 years ago. Like they didn't have lights at the ballpark, which is like 10 years ago, like they didn't have lights at the ballpark, which is exactly cool. Exactly. It was. Yeah. So, so you got the call. What's the first thing in your mind that you bought? Cause you got to think through, right? Like, man, I'm with the Cubs, like I'm 17, 18, like I'm about to buy something. In your mind, what was the first thing you were buying? Well, the first thing I was buying was a Mercedes. But then Sherri Carter Embry was buying something else. Not that she was taking my money,

but I wasn't about to spend all this money on a Mercedes. So I think we settled, what did I get? Eddie Bauer, yeah, I never forget. I got the Eddie Bauer edition. Eddie Bauer started making clothes, I think, also. So I had the jacket. What was that, a Ford, I never forget. I got the Eddie Bauer edition. You know, Eddie Bauer started making clothes, I think, also. So I had the jacket. What was that? A Ford, I think? The Explorer. Yeah.

The Explorer. There it is. And I got the Eddie Bauer edition. Yeah, heck yeah. But in my mind, like you were, I thought I was getting ready to get a Mercedes, but that wasn't happening. And my mom wanted me to be smart. And now I'm smart for her for discipline. Okay.

All right. So now you're a professional, young age, you're a professional. What's means you go from high school practices with people your age and younger, and you're kind of the leader to, as I always tell people, man, you know what they were grown folks.

Right? Yeah. What is Yeah, exactly. What is 18, 17 year old Quincy, the first time you report to the Cubs, man? Like walk us through when you realize, oh, this is what grown people do. Yeah, well, it was probably my first morning at practice and it's rookie ball.

So rookie ball is, you know, you think you're getting ready to come to the park and have a little batting practice and then play a game. But rookie ball work started at 730, you know, to about 11. And so that's fielding, that's outfield drills, that's base running, shoot, you name it. Out, I mean, well, fielding situations

as far as having men on base, you know, hitting the ball in the gap, where you throwing the ball, batting practice for an hour, you hitting live pitching in the cage. And then you go have lunch, probably about 1030, maybe 1030, 11. And then you're out on the field, you know, playing the game at 12 o'clock. So it became grown man business right away, you know, that first day. But hey, that's what I dreamed of. And that's what I wanted to do. So I embraced it, man. I embraced it and loved it. Yeah. And so now we get to talk about Georgia Tech. So you find out you

like baseball, but maybe you don't love everything about the professional side of it, right? Absolutely. Cause you still 18, right? You still like, hey, I still, listen, Mercedes, I still want, right? So high school you recruited and give a verbal commitment to Georgia Tech. Quince, we gotta talk about this one. We all know in the state of Georgia, my bulldogs reign supreme.

Absolutely. So I'm gonna ask the question that, you know, I've been waiting to ask you forever. How much money did Georgia Tech give you to give you that verbal commitment? Because I know you, no, I'm joking, I'm joking, I'm joking. I'm joking. But, so before baseball, you give a verbal to Georgia Tech

and then baseball is over and you don't go to Georgia Tech. You made the wise decision to go to UGA, but how did that come through? I want the listeners and viewers to hear this story. Okay, all right, now Mick, now I gotta tell a whole story too now. Yup. And that whole story was is that-

You've got a bag. Well, no. No. I'm still not gonna to tell on nobody. But the whole story is though, make Georgia was getting ready to be on probation, or was already on probation. And I just didn't feel comfortable in possibly

going to college and not being able to play in ball games. Now I've got to add my real spin to it. And that's that, you know, Georgia Tech was pretty decent at the time, you know. The offense they were running, Ralph Freeh. Pro-style offense. Pro-style offense, good mentor of mine,

Steve Davenport, you know, was from Georgia Tech. And then I had about four or five baseball buddies who was joining me on the baseball team too. So, so it was a tough decision. You know, I've always been a Georgia boy, wanted to stay home. So it was a tough decision to sign with Georgia Tech. And it was even tougher talking about it now because I didn't play the red and black,

but Mick, I owe you this one. There you go, that's my answer. But it was a business decision too, it was. Uh-huh, and we'll just leave it at that so nobody else gets in trouble. It was a business decision for the record. So now let's talk about my dogs, man. You go to Georgia and let's just be honest,

60s, 70s, 80s, I'm gonna say until Eric Zyer got there, Georgia's offense was, we're gonna have the best running backs in the country. First and second down, we're running the ball. And if it's third and five or less, we're still gonna run the ball on third down. Absolutely. You get there and you become a prolific

passer of the football. Something that honestly was new to Georgia fans, right? Like first down, wait, we're, we're dropping back. We're going to throw the ball. We're going to line up in the shotgun on second down. Like what? But you totally changed because these are the words of Mick and Mick only, unlike other African-American quarterbacks up till that day, you were

not a run first quarterback, you were not an option. You were like, let me show off this gun that I got. And I'm going to sling this ball down the field. And you set records, moment one, as a freshman quarterback at Georgia. Yeah, it was a dream come true, too, man. And shout out to Coach Donovan, who believed in me. Shout out to him saying the words to get me down there, but then actually delivering as far as giving me a chance to compete, you know,

against five other, five other quarterbacks. And, you know, being an African, being the only African American in that role, and Georgia really not having the history of having a Black quarterback there since, well, I think James Jackson. James Jackson. Yeah. So the opportunity, you know, to be a quarterback at the University of Georgia was a dream come true. And you just, you said it best, man, for us to be throwing, you know, first and second down sometimes instead of running the ball on first and second down was unheard of. But you know, Eric Zaire, he set the precedent for that.

And he's, you know, he showed that it could be done. And then I had to go in and prove that an African American can do the same thing as Eric Zaire. And so, man, I put my head down. I had some great teammates. Shout out to Jonas Jennings, too, for giving me the confidence, you know, to give, you know, Georgia a shot, you know, coming back from baseball. But, man, we put our head down. It didn't hurt having Champ Bailey

as your little receiver that year too. And everything he could bring to the table. And that just kind of set the bar, for Larry Brown running routes up underneath. Wiggins, another one of our tight ends. Man, Michael Gray had a big year that year too. He had some big catches. And shout out to Tony Small.

They didn't get a lot of credit for being a really, really good receiver, standing at six too, about 200 pounds too. So I had some pretty good, you know, some pretty, not pretty good, but I had some great guys around me too. And then let me get a shout out to Steve Herndon and Miles Lucky before they knock me out

on my official live, man. They were my boys. They helped you stay upright, brother. They helped you stay upright. Absolutely. So you have three really, really good years at Georgia, which leads you to being second round draft pick by the Cowboys.

Another one of those things, like you almost can't write this story of Quincey Carter, right? Get drafted by the Cubs, write big national brand, go to the University of Georgia, starting quarterback, big national brand. And now you get drafted by the Dallas Cowboys. Shout out to Kenny Anderson. That's his team. I am whatever.

I'm not a Cowboys fan, but dog on the Quincey Carter. Not only do you get drafted, but you do something that's really hard at that time, which was you start. That's people now, right? You draft a quarterback round one or two, kind of the expectation is you're gonna start a little bit. Not then, like rookie quarterbacks, you're gonna sit a couple of years,

maybe year three, you get some shine, you get some burn. Quincy gets in the game. So let's walk through the draft. So Quincy Carter drafted by the Dallas Cowboys. Man, Nick, I'm telling you, it is a move. It is a move to have those three teams you've played for, but then for it to end up in Dallas after I'm done playing college football

was a dream come true, man. And Nick, everything know, everything, you know, that I, you know, had been through and God had placed me at, you know, having some adversity in baseball with the Cubs, going to Georgia, being one of the only, you know, African-American to ever start there. And then coming to Dallas and being one of the only African-American to start there. Not only that, like you just said, the first game of the season, opening day, and then seeing your hero on the field, Doug Williams,

who was the first to ever win a Super Bowl, as an African-American, and to see him pregame and shake his hands my first time ever meeting him, it was a dream. But one thing I always knew, Mick, is that I had to work my butt off to keep it. And I had my eyes on the prize of doing that. And that was year in and year out. And nothing was going to stop me but myself. And I ended up, you know, stopping myself through

some things that we'll probably get into. But, you know, as far as my work ethic, as far as who I was as a person, who I was trying to be, who I was becoming, who I was representing was evident. And I was going to do anything to accomplish everything I wanted to. Yeah, man. And I don't want to slide past something because not only you drafted by the Cowboys and starting for the Cowboys,

I'm going to say more importantly, bro, you're starting for Bill freaking Parcells. Right? Like, like of any coach that I'm not going to say is against you, but of any coach that doesn't want to start a rookie quarterback, it's Bill Parcells, bro. So that is a testament to the work ethic that you had, the leader that you were. And for anyone, go watch, I don't know if it's season one, Hard Knocks, but there's a Hard Knocks episode. And I told you this, right? Like where Bill Parcells is sitting there talking to someone and they're like, you want to know about Quincy Carter?

It's 11 o'clock at night. Watch this. And he yells out your name. You were at the football facility at 11 o'clock at night, breaking down your practice film, not even game, but your practice film and figuring out ways to get better. That's a true testament to who you are. So I love to go behind the scenes a little bit. What was it like, especially year one,

Parcells in earning his trust? What was that like? Because that's something, again, nobody else has done other than Quincy Carter. So we're adding to this movie, brother. Nick, it was perfect for me, because not to toot my own horn, but I was like the perfect quarterback for him

because I wanted someone not growing up but a father in my life. I wanted that father in my life. I wanted that father in my life. And I finally got that. And it was the perfect recipe for me to have somebody that is just so enamored with every detail possible for just one play to work. And now we're not, we're just talking about,

I'm just talking, mentioned in plays, but now when we get to, you know, actually how you take care of your body, how many lifts a week, the hot and cold tub, you know, then you, you skip over to the fem room, you know, what is defense is doing to you on first and second down? What are they doing to you on third, you know, in medium? What are they doing to you on third and long?, in medium? What are they doing to you on third and long?

Now, after about six or seven games, you know, now what are we doing, you know, that's tipping off defenses? And so now, you know, me and him and the coaches, you know, Sean Payton, now we're going into a south scouting mode. You know, so what formations are we running in? What formations are we motioning?

And when we're motioning, are we throwing, are we passing? And so just every detail was so important to him. And it was just like a dream come true to me to have somebody that just loved the game as much as he did and just was able to just give me that wisdom and knowledge, man, of how to approach it. And I just ate every bit of it up, I did. Testament to who you are brother. Testament to the determination and grit that you have.

So let's get into, and for those that don't know Quincy, you're about to know him. A lot of people watching and listening know Quincy, but the real Quincy, I call him the inconvenient truth. He's gonna tell you the truth. He's gonna hold no punches back. You got called into Jerry Jones office. Absolutely. Yep.

You over there thinking, oh, I'm about to get a contract extension, about to buy this other Benz. Conversation didn't go that way. It did. And actually before I even got in the office, you know, I thought I had some, to what you call lucky training camp visitors. And I'll keep it PG. But yeah, Mick, you know, I started a habit and actually started in baseball where, you know, I didn't depend on God like I should have. And I started smoking weed, Mick, and it's a habit that I've formed.

You know, I tried to keep it a secret as much as possible, as much as what we, you know, we're discussing as far as my work ethic and, you know, the things and the person I was trying to be. I was doing things that eventually caught up to me. I failed my first test in 2002, going into the season actually, was it today? Yeah, 2002. Bill Parcells knew I was in the program too was two, yeah, 2002.

Bill Parcells knew I was in the program too and had faith in me. Shout out to him having faith in me throughout this process. But anyway, a week before training camp, I failed another test, Mick. And I was at the four game fine phase. We had a couple of words in training camp about my reps. You know, me and Jerry and Bill, they were concerned that, you know, I possibly be getting a third, you know, fail test,

and then that'll be a suspension and embarrassing the whole whole franchise. And they made a decision to cut me and move on from me because they couldn't trust me. And I thoroughly understand that to this day. You know, that's why I'm out here, you know, and I don't like to use the word preaching because, you know, I'm not a pastor, but I am trying to preach to these young men, you know. It's in a world right now that they're being told that marijuana is legal, and it may be in certain states,

but it can't be legal to you if you're trying to accomplish all your goals. What billionaires out here sitting around trying to get a PhD in marijuana, which I kind of slightly say I was at some point because I wasn't dependent on the man up above. But who's doing that out here and being a billionaire, being successful, man? So I'm trying to get this word out here to these young men. We can think we're being slick,

but what's done in the dark eventually comes to light. And they bit me in my butt. Yeah, and I wanna clear up some stuff here too, because again, you and I talked, we talk a lot. You got suspended for marijuana, right? Like there was some other noise that was out there, but the truth was Quincy Carter got suspended or fired for marijuana usage, right?

Yeah, absolutely. At the time, Nick, now my addiction would go on and I'd get a PhD in cocaine, which I'm not proud of. I'm smiling at now, but I'm not proud of it. But I'm proud to be able to tell somebody my journey, man. That's what feels good. But yeah, but at the time, that's what it was, man. A lot of other things were being said, but yes, at the time it was.

Yep. Yep. And so then you're out of football or out of professional football for a couple of years. Yes. But then you get another call from the Dolphins. And what happened there, Quincy? Well, yeah, Mick, I had played arena football about two seasons, Mick, and I was up in Kansas City and really close to another one of my good coaches, Herm Edwards, who was keeping an eye on me and ended up playing like the last, you know, what, four or five games of that season and played, you know, okay enough, you know, garnered some interest from teams. And the same guy who cut me still believed in me and brought me down

to training camp for the Miami Dolphins during the started training camp season of 2009, Mick, yeah, 2009. And I had a great workout, Mick, but couldn't stop doing what had got me cut from the Cowboys. And so he told me, well, Bill Parcells, man, told me to go back to the room and, hey, we're going to sign you, work you out, work out the deal with your agent. And I knew Mick going back, you know, it was just a feeling that I had. You know, get done taking the physicals and all that or what have you. There was a

chance that, you know, the things that I hadn't quit just yet, smoking and I, you know, could possibly get caught and that's what happened, Mick, you know. My agent called me about a couple hours later and told me, you know, first of all, Eugene Parker rest in heaven. And he was just asked me, you know, question, why you didn't tell me? Why you didn't tell me?

And I was just like, what, trying to play it off? And he was like, you should have just told me, you know, that you were still having some issues. And we could have just, you know, kind of waited on you going down and working out. But he said they can't even test, you know, the, your urine. And that's because I tried to mask it, man.

And it cost me my job, man. And Bill, you know, I ain't got too grown yet, but Coach Parcells, man, was really, he was really disappointed, man, because I had done a lot of work, you know, in rehabilitation, working down there in Florida with my mentor and sponsor to this day, Hollywood Innocent,

still in my corner. But I had a golden chance, man, of the man who cut me four years later, Nick, and brought me back to get a chance. But that lesson that I had to learn just got a little bit more harder for me because I wasn't believing in the man yet, man. Well, let's talk about it now though.

Yeah. So you go through your challenges, you go through struggles, and then you get closer to the man. The man, the spirit that you've known all your life, right? All my life. Because you don't shy away from it. You've known God for all your life, right?

Yes. What was that moment where you said, it's not enough to just know him, you gotta have him? What was that moment for Quincey Carter? Well, it was two phases of it, Nick. It was the morning that I reached out to Hollywood, July 22nd, 2019. It was that morning,

and it was getting on my knees and praying. And the next moment, Mick was picking up the phone and telling Hollywood, hey man, come get me before something really bad happens to me. And put me somewhere, man, walk, you know, work on this thing. And so that was the spirit of God. That was, you know, Marsha Stone from BRC in Austin coming down

and picking me up, and I was in rehab in like five or six hours. But that surreal moment, Mick, was me sitting at a table. You know, I used to get up 4.35 in the morning, writing all my notes, we're doing step work and everything. I'll never forget sitting on that porch and just looking to the skies, Mick, and just asking God, man,

if you hear for me, please show me. And Mick, little bit by little bit, whether it's the phone conversations with my mom I started to have in rehab, whether it's, you know, that bird that was chirping in your ear when you're in a critical spot and you're writing and you're talking to God, and he's like, is that God? And then just seeing my confidence as I'm going through the steps and building, you

know, I never disowned God. You know, I got mad at God, Nick, and I got mad because, you know, so much bad was happening to me, you know? But, Nick, what I wasn't accounting for is that I was the one in the way. You know, I was the one that failed, you know, the test for the Cowboys, a dream come true job.

I was the one who was in position to get myself back in the NFL NFL and I didn't lean on God a little bit more and get that job with the Miami Dolphins, you know. And so, you know, and then being walking home, being, you know, on the bottom of the barrel but living in an extended state up and coming Georgia and somebody stopping me on the side of the road, you know, Mick. And now I have a high school, you know, baseball job, a basketball job, a football job, and then coaching, you know, at a prep school too.

So God was still, you know, tugging me, hey, I'm here, I'm here, I'm here. And I was so upset with God. So I strayed away from Him. So accepting those truths, you know, once I got to rehab and just getting closer to Him, you know, I thought I knew God as a kid. I thought I knew Him, you know, in my early 20s,

doing some FCA things and seeing the miracles of God, but knowing Him on that personal level and feeling His Spirit and not wanting to not be feeling the Spirit at any point of your life, man. That's the special part of our relationship. I love that, brother. I love that so much. And I would love for you to just give some advice

or a couple of words, a message to the person that's listening and watching that's right there. That's like, they're angry or upset, or maybe they're like, I don't know if I can continue this path. Like, what's your message for that listener reviewer, Quincy? Well, it's a point that you get, you know, when you're in your addiction,

that you just gotta say to yourself, how can I continue to live like this? And if you're there, and most of us, it takes, sometimes it takes longer than others to get there, but there's only two ways that this addiction, man, that you have option wise, to get it under control, and that's one, you have to have someone outside of yourself, to get it under control. And that's one you have to have someone outside of yourself,

you know, to restore you to sanity. And the second one, you know, is, you know, you got to dig deep in those steps and go through a great, you know, a great 12 step program, whether it's a 12 step program or you just go into a meeting and get a sponsor. But one of those two things has to happen because if it came, I mean, if it could come from us, you know, we had the power with inside of us, we wouldn't have this addiction.

We wouldn't be taking ourselves to hell. Who wants to do that? But it's one of two things, man. You've gotta get with God and some people, you know, we don't understand how we can get what a person, what bad things have happened. Well, you have to have some kind of higher power outside yourself, no matter what, for me is God, you know?

And you know what I'm talking about when I say that, and I mean that. But yeah, and you've got to have those 12 steps, you know, up under your belt and really go through a thorough 12 step. Yeah, I love it Quincy. And one of the things that I admire about you, I'm most proud of you is how you now give back, right?

You know, on Make Unplugged, I talk about your because, right? That thing that's deeper than your why. Like your real purpose to me is your because. And I just love the fact, man, that you share with youths, you're out in the community, you're coaching and you're staying busy by making an impact man.

So what's Quincy's because today? Like what's that mission, that purpose for you today? Man, it's because, you know, God gave me grace, man. Man, I'm getting emotional dude. He gave me a second chance, man. And I just thank him so much. You know, we browse over the addiction, but I know what it was like being in that extended state,

getting picked up, you know, making that call to Hollywood, man. And he's given me life. He's given it back to me. I never thought I would actually be telling my whole life story of missed opportunities and having joy about it to be able to tell somebody else and help them. And then coming from where I came from,

you know, coming out of Mountain Park, you know, on Custer Avenue and getting there with the Cubs and God giving me an opportunity with George and Dallas, even the Jets, and then to see it come full circle, man. You have your struggles and then you can get out here and help people regardless of what you've been through and knowing you accomplish some things that a lot of people want to accomplish, you know, but how do you get them there? You know, what can you tell them? How can you help them? And then my biggest gift is I can point them to God and I can show them, you know, no matter what mistakes I've made. Me being upset with God, you know, at a point,

Joe did too. And they took everything from Joe, but I never disowned him. I know how powerful he is. And then they picked me back up on my feet, Nick. And that's all I can do to give back to him, man. You know, Nick is some days, man, I should have been there, but I'm here. And so I'm going to do everything I can, you know, to give back to his people

because I know what he's done for me, man. You got me. You got me, dude. But it's that story, it's that message why, when I opened and said one of the greatest speakers of our generation today with the best message is Quincy Carter, man. Like everybody, I don't care what your organization is, what your association is, what your association is,

that Quincy's story, his message is so powerful that, and we're just getting a glimpse, right? Like I spent a few hours with Quincy and was just mesmerized by everything. Like his story is so powerful. Like everyone should definitely reach out and just have Quincy come speak, have Quincy come talk, have Quincy mentor,

because you all know, I believe in the power of mentorship. So Quincy, man, just love the fact that you took some time out of your schedule to share a glimpse into the story. I think it's something, you know, maybe we have a make-unplugged series with Quincy Carter, where you just break down stuff for people, man, cause there's so much that you have to offer.

Where can people follow you, find you, and then what's Quincy have going on now outside of coaching? Outside of coaching, Nick right now, I've got my foundation that I started here a couple years ago. We were on a mission to advocate for safe drug-free communities.

We do that through speaking engagements, camps, clinics. We've got a Thanksgiving, you know, feet to home bring deal coming up here in a minute. We have a back to school special and we're just going to continue to add to that golf tournament is down the line here. And then also we want to, you know, give it give it to us. So a little celebrity bowling out. I mean, annual celebrity bowling deal every year.

So I'm doing that and really busy with that. I've got my own quarterback school, I'm mentoring quarterbacks. And then Mick, man, just giving where I can, you know, really. But yeah, you can find me on. I'm old school with it, I'll probably get my Facebook out first. But it's Quincy LaVar Carter on Facebook. And then also you can reach out for my foundation. It's what? The Quincy Carter Foundation.

Sorry about that. I was about to give you my email. That's The Quincy Carter Foundation. And then for camps and training kids, Quincy Carter 17.com. It's both of my websites. It's the Quincy Carter foundation.com, the Quincy Carter 17.com. And then also the quickest way to get to me because I'm still old school

is that Quincy LaVon Carter on Facebook. There it is. I'll make sure that we have links to all of that in the description and the show notes. I'm going to make sure socially I'm posting about some of those things too. Quincy, brother, I'm honored to call you a brother, to call you a friend. And more importantly, man, and I'm going to tell you this for the first time, I'm honored to call you an inspiration in my life, Quincy.

So I just want to thank you for the things that you do that go unseen brother, because it helps me just so you know. Well, man, I want to thank you too, Mick. And thank you for being a friend also, man. You know, you can only really have these conversations with the people you really feel. And man, your spirit is special, man. So you continue being great. And yeah, I'm going to just be quiet now. Nah, I got you, man. So you continue being great. And yeah, I'm gonna just be quiet now.

But thank you. Nah, I got you, man. So for the listeners and viewers, Quincy and I about to have a series. We're gonna work that out. We're gonna have the Mick and Quincy hour, like once a month, once every other month or whatever, because I love this dude so much

and the world needs more of Quincy Carter. So Quincy again, thank you, brother. Thank you, man. God bless you too, Mick. You got it. For the listeners and viewers, remember you man. God bless you too Mick. You got it. For the listeners and reviewers, remember you're because, it's your superpower. Go unleash it. Thank you for tuning in to Mick Unplugged. Keep pushing your limits, embracing your purpose, and chasing greatness. Until next time, stay unstoppable.