| No. 37 | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Defensive back | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born: | (1967-07-15)July 15, 1967 (age 57) Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 213 lb (97 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school: | Culver City(Culver City, California) | ||||||||||||||
| College: | UCLA | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1989: 2nd round, 34th pick | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
As a player: | |||||||||||||||
As a coach: | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Carnell Augustino Lake (born July 15, 1967) is an American former professionalfootball player and coach. He was asafety andcornerback in theNational Football League (NFL). He is a member of theNFL 1990s All-Decade Team. He was thecornerbacks coach for theUCLA Bruins underhead coachRick Neuheisel in 2009 before leaving after one season for family reasons.[1] He was thePittsburgh Steelers defensive backs coach until February 2018.[2]
Lake played linebacker for theUCLA Bruins from 1985 through 1988. He finished his college career with 45.5 tackles for loss and 25.5 sacks. Those totals, as of the 2016 season, are 1st and 4th in UCLA football history.
“We don't have a better player on the team than Carnell Lake. He's marvelous.”[3]
On January 15, 1989, Lake played in theEast-West Shrine Game and was part of the West who lost 24–6 to the East. On January 21, 1989, Lake was part ofLos Angeles Rams' head coachJohn Robinson's South team that defeated the North 13–12. Lake played safety in both games as multiple teams were interested in moving him to safety as he was considered to be too small to continue to play linebacker professionally.[4]
| Height | Weight | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft0+3⁄4 in (1.85 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | 4.36 s | 1.55 s | 2.61 s | 4.29 s | 35.5 in (0.90 m) | 9 ft 9 in (2.97 m) | 15 reps | ||||
| All values fromNFL Combine[5] | ||||||||||||
ThePittsburgh Steelers selected Lake in the second round (34th overall) of the1989 NFL draft. Lake was the third safety drafted in 1989.[6]
On May 10, 1989, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Lake to a three-year,$850,000 contract.[7]
Head coachChuck Noll named Lake the starting strong safety to begin his rookie season, alongside free safetyThomas Everett and cornerbacksRod Woodson andDwayne Woodruff.[8] Lake played his first three seasons under defensive backs coachJohn Fox.
He made his professional regular season debut and first career start in thePittsburgh Steelers' season-opening 51–0 loss to theCleveland Browns. On October 15, 1989, Lake recorded five combined tackles, made two pass deflections, recovered a fumble, and made his first career interception during a 17–7 win at the Cleveland Browns in Week 6.[9] Lake made a one-handed interception off of a pass by Browns' quarterbackBernie Kosar. His exceptional performance in Week 6 earned him AFC Defensive Player of the Week Award.[10] In Week 9, Lake made his first career sack on Broncos' quarterbackJohn Elway in the Steelers' 34–7 loss at theDenver Broncos.[11] He finished his rookie season in1989 with 70 combined tackles, six fumble recoveries, two forced fumbles, one interception, and one sack in 15 games and 15 starts.
ThePittsburgh Steelers finished the season third in theAFC Central with a 9–7 record and earned a wildcard berth. On December 31, 1989, Lake started in his first career playoff game as the Steelers defeated theHouston Oilers 26–23 in the AFC Wildcard Game. The following week, they lost 24–23 at theDenver Broncos in the AFC Divisional Round.[12]
The Pittsburgh Steelers promoted linebackers coachDave Brazil to defensive coordinator afterRod Rust accepted the head coaching position with theNew England Patriots. Brazil retained Lake and Thomas Everett as the starting safety tandem in 1990.[13] Lake started in all 16 games in1990 and recorded 67 combined tackles, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, an interception, and a sack.[14]
Head coach Chuck Noll retained Lake and Thomas Everett as the starting safety tandem in 1991, along with cornerbacksRod Woodson andD. J. Johnson.[15] On December 27, 1991, Pittsburgh Steelers' head coachChuck Noll announced his decision to retire after the Steelers finished with a 7–9 record in 1991.[16] He started in all 16 games in1991 and recorded 83 combined tackles and a sack.[17]
On January 21, 1992, the Pittsburgh Steelers announced the hiring of formerKansas City Chiefs' defensive coordinatorBill Cowher as their new head coach.[18] On January 31, 1992, Cowher announced the hiring of formerNew Orleans Saints' secondary coachDom Capers as their new defensive coordinator.[19]
On August 24, 1992, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Lake to a three-year contract.
Head coach Bill Cowher retained Lake the starting strong safety in 1992. Lake started alongside free safetyDarren Perry and cornerbacks Rod Woodson and D.J. Johnson.[20] He started in all 16 games in1992 and recorded 85 combined tackles and two sacks.[21]
Lake and Darren Perry returned as the starting safety duo in 1993 and played under defensive backs coachDick LeBeau. On September 12, 1993, Lake collected a season-high 11 combined tackles, but was carted off the field due to an injury as the Steelers lost 27–0 at theLos Angeles Rams in Week 2. His injury sidelined him for the next two games (Weeks 3–4).[22] In Week 13, Lake recorded six combined tackles and made a season-high two sacks on Oilers quarterbackWarren Moon in the Steelers' 23–3 loss at theHouston Oilers.[23] On December 13, 1993, Lake recorded six combined tackles and made an interception off a pass by Dolphins' quarterbackSteve DeBerg during a 21–20 victory at theMiami Dolphins in Week 13.[24] He finished the season with 91 combined tackles, five sacks, a career-high four interceptions, two fumble recoveries, and a forced fumble in 14 games and 14 starts.[25]
Head coach Bill Cowher retained Lake and Darren Perry as the starting safeties in 1994.[26] He started in thePittsburgh Steelers' season-opener against theDallas Cowboys and recorded a season-high 12 combined tackles in their 26–9 loss.[27] On December 16, 1994, it was announced that Lake was selected to play in the1995 Pro Bowl as the Starting Strong Safety, to mark the first Pro Bowl selection of his career.[28] He started in all 16 games in 1994 and recorded 68 combined tackles, three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, a sack, and an interception.[25]
On February 15, 1995, the Pittsburgh Steelers chose to apply theirfranchise tag to Lake.[29] August 15, 1995, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Lake to a four-year,$9.20 millioncontract that includes asigning bonus of $2 million.[30] Lake and Darren Perry returned as the starting safeties to begin the regular season.
In Week 6, he collected a season-high eight combined tackles during a 20–16 loss at theJacksonville Jaguars.[31] On October 19, 1995, Lake was moved to cornerback and replacedAlvoid Mays after the Pittsburgh Steelers' defense allowedBengals' quarterbackJeff Blake to throw three touchdown passes during a 49–31 win at the Cincinnati Bengals.[32][33] Head coach Bill Cowher moved Lake to cornerback for the remainder of the season as a replacement for Rod Woodson, who tore his ACL in the season-opener against theDetroit Lions.[34]On December 15, 1995, it was announced that Lake was selected to the1996 Pro Bowl as a safety.[35] Lake started in all 16 games in1995 and recorded 63 combined tackles, 1.5 sacks, one interception, a forced fumble, and fumble recovery.[25] He started the last nine regular season games at cornerback.
ThePittsburgh Steelers finished first in theAFC Central with an 11–5 record and earned a first round bye. On January 6, 1996, Lake recorded five combined tackles and intercepted a pass by Bills' quarterbackJim Kelly during a 40–21 win against theBuffalo Bills in the AFC Divisional Round.[36] The following week, the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated theIndianapolis Colts 20–16 in the AFC Championship Game. On January 28, 1996, Lake recorded five combined tackles as the Steelers lost 27–17 to theDallas Cowboys inSuper Bowl XXX.[37]
On December 13, 1996, it was announced that Lake was selected to play in the1997 Pro Bowl, marking the third consecutivePro Bowl selection or his career.[38]
In 1997, Lake was named AFC Defensive Player of the Year by theKansas City Committee of 101. For the second time, Lake played the majority of the season at corner. He also received a vote for MVP fromSports Illustrated writerPeter King, which created a situation where Barry Sanders and Brett Favre tied for the award that season.[39]
In 1999, Lake departed the Pittsburgh Steelers and joined theJacksonville Jaguars in free agency. The Jaguars signed Lake to a four-year,$18 million contract which made him the highest paid safety in the league. Lake was moved to a new position as free safety, making the Pro Bowl for a fifth time. He was reunited with Jaguars' defensive coordinatorDom Capers, who had previously held the same position with the Pittsburgh Steelers.[40]
On August 17, 2000, Lake underwent surgery on a recurring injury to his left foot and was expected to miss the entire2000 NFL season. Lake elected to have a bone graft and had a piece of his hip bone grafted to his injured left foot. Lake had undergone a surgery on his foot in March due to a stress fracture in the navicular bone near his ankle.[41] He underwent another surgery on the foot in May and returned to training camp in August.[42]
On September 2, 2001, the Jaguars released Lake in a salary cap-related maneuver.[43]
On September 11, 2001, theBaltimore Ravens signed Lake to a one-year,$477,000 contract at the veteran minimum.[44] Lake was reunited Baltimore Ravens' defensive coordinatorMarvin Lewis, who was a linebackers coach with thePittsburgh Steelers from 1992 to 1995, and former teammatesRod Woodson andLeon Searcy.
In summer 2009, Lake, along with former SteelerGreg Lloyd, was a coaching intern at the Philadelphia Eagles training camp at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.[45]
In June 2010, Lake was hired byJerry Simon to be the assistant coach of the Marina High School boys' basketball team.
On March 7, 2011, Lake was hired as the Pittsburgh Steelers defensive backs coach.[46] He left that position as of February 7, 2018, to "return to California to be a part of his youngest son’s last year of high school football".[2]
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Comb | Solo | Ast | Sck | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | FF | FR | Yds | TD | ||
| 1989 | PIT | 15 | 15 | 70 | — | — | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 0 |
| 1990 | PIT | 16 | 16 | 67 | — | — | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1991 | PIT | 16 | 16 | 83 | — | — | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1992 | PIT | 16 | 16 | 85 | — | — | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 0 |
| 1993 | PIT | 14 | 14 | 91 | — | — | 5.0 | 4 | 31 | 7.8 | 26 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 1994 | PIT | 16 | 16 | 82 | 68 | 14 | 1.0 | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1995 | PIT | 16 | 16 | 73 | 63 | 10 | 1.5 | 1 | 32 | 32.0 | 32 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1996 | PIT | 13 | 13 | 54 | 44 | 10 | 2.0 | 1 | 47 | 47.0 | 47 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 85 | 1 |
| 1997 | PIT | 16 | 16 | 60 | 43 | 17 | 6.0 | 3 | 16 | 5.3 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 38 | 1 |
| 1998 | PIT | 16 | 16 | 69 | 63 | 6 | 1.0 | 4 | 33 | 8.3 | 27 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 0 |
| 1999 | JAX | 16 | 16 | 58 | 51 | 7 | 3.5 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2000 | JAX | did not play due to injury | ||||||||||||||
| 2001 | BAL | 15 | 1 | 31 | 29 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 185 | 171 | 823 | 361 | 66 | 25.0 | 16 | 161 | 10.1 | 47 | 3 | 15 | 17 | 135 | 2 | |
Lake grew up primarily inSouthern California. Lake did, however, live in theSan Francisco Bay Area for three years (1979–1981) and attendedBowditch Middle School inFoster City, California. There he also playedPop Warner Football where he was a stand-out tailback and cornerback for those two years.
Lake attended Culver City High School, where he played varsity football for three years. He started on both sides of the ball as running back and linebacker. He also attended elementary school in Culver City prior to his move to San Francisco.
He and his wife, Monica, have three children. Lake and his family live inIrvine, California. Lake is a member ofAlpha Phi Alpha, an African AmericanGreek-letter fraternity.[47] His son,Quentin, plays defensive back for theLos Angeles Rams.
