| No. 20, 27 | |||||||||||||||
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| Position | Safety | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | (1968-04-28)April 28, 1968 (age 57) Lake Charles, Louisiana, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 190 lb (86 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school | Long Beach Polytechnic (Long Beach, California) | ||||||||||||||
| College | USC (1987–1989) | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1990: 1st round, 6th overall pick | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
Playing | |||||||||||||||
Coaching | |||||||||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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Mark Anthony Carrier III (born April 28, 1968) is an American former professionalfootball player who was asafety in theNational Football League (NFL). He playedcollege football for theUSC Trojans, where he won theJim Thorpe Award. Carrier was selected by theChicago Bears in the first round of the1990 NFL draft.
Carrier went toLong Beach Polytechnic High School and was aletterman infootball. In football, he was a three-yearvarsitystarter. Mark was named to theParadeAll-American,USA Today All-American, and theLong Beach Press-Telegram's Best-in-the-West teams in 1985. Mark Carrier is the nephew of Créole fiddle playerBébé Carrière of the Carriere Brothers and The Lawtell Playboys and cousin to Creole fiddlerCalvin Carriere.
Carrier is a 1989 graduate of theUniversity of Southern California. As a junior in 1989, Carrier was named to thePlayboy All-American team and became USC's first winner of theJim Thorpe Award, presented annually to the nation's best defensive back. A two-time consensus first-team All-American, Carrier had seveninterceptions in 1989, plus 107tackles, threefumble recoveries and tenpass deflections. A three-year starter for theTrojans, Carrier finished hiscollegiate career with thirteen interceptions. Carrier was inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame, class of 2006.
He was selected in the first round with the sixth pick of the1990 NFL draft by theChicago Bears.[1] Carrier lined up at free safety and won DefensiveRookie of the Year in 1990, after he led the NFL with 10 interceptions, which also set the Bears record for most interceptions in a season.[2] Carrier has also been fined for several of his hits, and also suffered threeconcussions during his career.[3] Carrier played for the Bears from 1990 to 1996, theDetroit Lions (1997–99) andWashington Redskins until 2000. Carrier was known as a smart player, often leading the defense.[4] He played in threePro Bowls, in 1990, 1991 and 1993.[5]
| Year | Team | G | Tackles | Fumbles | Interceptions | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comb | Total | Ast | Sacks | FF | FR | Yds | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | PD | |||
| 1990 | CHI | 16 | 122 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 39 | 4 | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| 1991 | CHI | 16 | 93 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 54 | 27 | 39 | 0 | 0 |
| 1993 | CHI | 16 | 62 | 47 | 15 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 94 | 24 | 34 | 1 | 6 |
| 1994 | CHI | 16 | 69 | 52 | 17 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 12 |
| 1995 | CHI | 16 | 72 | 64 | 8 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1996 | CHI | 13 | 49 | 37 | 12 | 0.0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 1997 | DET | 16 | 75 | 54 | 21 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 94 | 19 | 66 | 0 | 14 |
| 1998 | DET | 13 | 53 | 41 | 12 | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 33 | 11 | 33 | 0 | 8 |
| 1999 | DET | 15 | 73 | 59 | 14 | 0.0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 5 | 16 | 0 | 8 |
| 2000 | WSH | 15 | 68 | 55 | 13 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 0 | 4 |
| Career | 152 | 736 | 409 | 112 | 0.0 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 32 | 370 | 12 | 66 | 1 | 67 | |
From 2004 to 2005, Carrier was defensive backs coach atArizona State University.[7]
In 2006, theBaltimore Ravens hired Carrier as secondary defense coach.
In 2010, he was hired by theNew York Jets as defensive line coach.[5]
On February 13, 2012, he was hired by theCincinnati Bengals as defensive backs coach. He was fired in 2016.
Since 2016 Carrier has worked forSports USA Radio Network as acolor analyst for NFL and college football.
Since 2019, Carrier has been an Associate Athletic Director atLoyola Academy.[8]