Can Carter Add a Ring to His Loot?

From the Olympics to the Super Bowl, Michael Carter has had quite a year.

Carter, a 6-foot-2, 290-pound defensive tackle for the San Francisco 49ers, won a silver medal in the shot put at Los Angeles last summer, and now hopes for a Super Bowl championship ring.

He would also like to get his big hands on Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino at Stanford Stadium today. They met before, when Carer, a junior at Southern Methodist, sacked Marino, a senior at Pittsburgh, in the Cotton Bowl two years ago. SMU won 7-3, and Carter’s hit late in the game was the last time Marino was sacked in college.

“I was pretty thrilled at the time,” Carter said.

At 24, Carter is a rookie with so many big moments that he feels he will take all the hoopla of the Super Bowl in stride. He hasn’t spent this season just learning from the sidelines like some rookies.

As the season progressed, he played more and more, usually entering the game on the second series and shuttling with the veterans on different situations in the 49ers’ complex system.

“I’ve been going from one high to another,” he said. “It’s been a great, outstanding year for me, ’84 going into ’85. I as just hoping to go to the Olympics and then make a football team. All this stuff is extra.”

Carter, who spent many hours lifting weights preparing for the Olympics, is among the strongest players in the National Football League. He has bench pressed up to 450 pounds and lifted over 700 pounds from a squat. At the Olympics, he weighed 320 pounds, but shed some of that for the quickness needed to paly nose tackle.

In order to get to Marino in the Super Bowl, Carter will have to get by Dolphins’ Pro Bowl center Dwight Stephenson.

“Stephenson is by far the best center I’ve seen,” said Cater, who has never played against him but has been studying films. “He’s got good strength and he’s a good athlete. From the rumors I heard about him, I thought he’d be about 6-5, 270 pounds. But I saw the statistics. He’s only 6-2, 255. He’s doing some job for that size.”

The toughest center Carter said he’s faced was Mike Webster of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 49ers’ only loss of the season.

“Basically, Stephenson and Webster are about the same, but Stephenson is a little bit more aggressive,” Carter said. “I’ll try to get my hands on him and control him with my strength, so when I get off the block I can run without him getting a second shot on me.”

Carter said he’s practicing several moves, with help from veteran teammate Gary Johnson.

Even if Carter does get his Super Bowl ring, he doesn’t anticipate any problem reaching for new goals.