PRO BOWL : Bears’ Carrier Proves to Be Fast Learner

When Mark Carrier joined the Chicago Bears’ secondary, he quickly realized he was in a quite different type of zone.

“I was really having some problems at first,” he recalled. “When I first showed up at camp, I felt like I was in the twilight zone.”

The Bears’ rookie, however, caught on fast, far faster than opposing quarterbacks would have liked.

A starter at safety from the first game of the season, Carrier went on to lead the NFL in interceptions this past season with 10, rewriting a 42-year-old record for interceptions by a rookie, formerly held by Johnny Lujack with eight.

Carrier, a 6-1, 190-pounder from USC, was voted by his NFL peers into the Pro Bowl. He finished third on the Chicago team in tackles with 122 and forced 5 fumbles.

Carrier also turned in a couple of dominant performances, including 11 tackles, two interceptions, a forced fumble and a pass deflection at Tampa Bay on Nov. 4; and three interceptions and nine tackles against Washington in December.

Although he seemed to slide right into his new job, Carrier said it wasn’t as easy as it perhaps looked.

“There were a lot of adjustments from college,” said Carrier, who entered the draft after his junior season. “The talent of the people coming at you in the NFL obviously is a big thing, and you’re dealing with a lot of outstanding passers.

“I made a lot of mistakes early, but I had time to iron most of them out. There are still a lot of things I have to correct.”

The Bears had so much faith Carrier, they cut Pro Bowl safety Dave Duerson.

Chicago coach Mike Ditka had predicted that Carrier would be a Pro Bowl-caliber safety. His prediction came true sooner than even the coach probably anticipated.