Quite the Development : Pacificaâs Carlson Hopes to Be Backup Ram Quarterback
One of the eight quarterbacks taken ahead of USCâs Rodney Peete in last monthâs National Football League draft remembers he couldnât quite crack a certain newspaperâs high school all-county team back in 1983.
You could look it up.
Jeff Carlson, though, has recovered from the oversight and is looking forward to an exciting future in professional football.
The former Pacifica High School star, you may not remember, was selected in the fourth round by the Rams, who are looking for a long-term, developmental quarterback to work slowly into Jim Everettâs backup spot. They may have found their man in Carlson, a strong-armed left-hander who grew up in the shadows of Rams Park.
For Carlson, getting drafted by the Rams was like never leaving home. Heâs staying at his parentsâ house in Cypress this week during mini-camp while making a very short commute.
âI live 10 minutes from here, over on Knott and Orangewood,â Carlson said. âSo I just leave 10 minutes before I need to be here. Itâs right around the corner.â
Carlson will return to Weber State next week in preparation for graduation June 9, when he will receive a degree in broadcasting.
Itâs all pretty exciting stuff. Carlson, for one, was always a Rams fan growing up, though he never envisioned a professional football career waiting around the corner.
âI had not one clue,â he said of the Rams drafting him. âI worked out for them over spring break, but didnât hear anything from them. A couple other teams gave me more positive stuff. I didnât have any feeling for the Rams whatsoever.â
Somewhere at home, thereâs still a bulletin board with Ram memorabilia on it. It used to hang in Carlsonâs room.
He remembers as a kid meeting former defensive tackle and present Ram coach Larry Brooks at a punt, pass, and kick competition. He remembers attending a Ramsâ game at the Coliseum in the early 1970s, featuring quarterback John Hadl and the Saintsâ Archie Manning.
âThe Rams were still wearing their blue and white uniforms,â Carlson said.
And yes, he does remember 1983 being a tough year for high school quarterbacks in Orange County. Carlson led the Mariners to the Empire League championship that year and was named the leagueâs most valuable player. As for all-county honors, he was edged by Fountain Valleyâs Brett Stevens, who was named to The Timesâ first team. Burt Call of Capistrano Valley made second team.
Interestingly, all three players ended up in Utah--Stevens at Utah State, Call played baseball at Brigham Young, and Carlson attended Weber State.
Actually, Carlson had no real gripes with one newspaperâs opinion.
âIn the preseason, I was on the Top 25 in Orange County list,â he remembered. âBut I wasnât in a real throwing offense. Burt Call was throwing the ball a hundred times a game. What can you do? I wasnât worried about it.â In other words, things turned out pretty well. Carlson become only the second player in Weber State history to throw for more than 5,000 yards in a career, finishing with 6,147 yards and 47 touchdown passes.
Like a lot of other quarterbacks, Carlson still isnât sure how or why he was drafted ahead of Peete, the USC star who lasted until the sixth round before being selected by the Detroit Lions.
âYou donât know whatâs going to happen, and what people see in different people,â he said. âAs coaches came through and worked me out, I didnât know if they saw positive or negative things in me, so I didnât have any idea. Obviously, teams saw something in him (Peete), because 28 teams passed him over five different times, so they saw something. I feel for him, because of the publicity he had beforehand and his expectations that were let down.â
Carlson thinks his size--6-foot-3, 215 pounds--was a determining factor in going ahead of Peete.
âI would say size and strength,â he said. âAnd I think I have a lot better arm than he does, and Iâm about two, three inches taller than he is. I think those things, plus how many quarterbacks have been hurt the last couple of years? Thereâs durability. He got knocked out of a couple games. Iâve never been hurt or knocked out for a game or a play or anything. They might have looked at that.â
With Everett entrenched as the Ramsâ starter for years to come, the chances of Carlson being injured--or playing for that matter--appear slim. But he says he understands the role of a âdevelopmental quarterback,â especially since heâs coming here from a Division 1-AA college program.
âThatâs what I need,â he said. âComing out of a small school and playing against the caliber of competition thatâs out here now, itâs the best situation for me--to learn from the guys that have been doing it. I took it as totally positive.â
And so what if the quarterback here is a star and only 26 years old?
âIâve thought about that,â Carlson said. âAnd the way I look at it, if I just play the best I can play, something good will happen. I canât say whatâs going to happen with Jim. Heâs only 26 and heâs a heck of a quarterback, but if I play the best I can, I can back him up or whatever. If I do well here, and they decide they need to keep (Mark) Herrmann or whatever, then something good will happen down the road. Things I canât control, I donât have to worry about them.â
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