The greatest interception in CFL history? I think so. At least, I can\u2019t recall one that could top it.<\/p>\n
RELATED \u00a0<\/p>\n With the Lions on a bye this week, Carter Jr. was just about to head out on a trip to see his family when he took time out to talk about Sunday night\u2019s play. The native of Danville, Virginia has been far from home for some time now.<\/p>\n \u201cI haven\u2019t seen them in awhile,\u201d Carter Jr. says, looking forward to the trip. \u201cI came straight here from college.\u201d<\/p>\n They\u2019ll have plenty to talk about, including how the 22-year-old has become the talk of the football world for the second time in less than a year.<\/p>\n More on that, later.<\/p>\n But first, Carter Jr.\u2019s insights on play number 63 from Sunday night\u2019s game, one that will live on and on, with many of us wondering if it can ever be topped.<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels surreal, I think, each time I see it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cIt makes me think (back to) that kid in high school, like, five-seven, one hundred and forty pounds. Makes me think back to times like that.\u201d<\/p>\n And how far that kid has come.<\/p>\n ANATOMY OF A VIRAL FOOTBALL MOMENT DB Robert Carter Jr. signed with the Lions in May of 2025 (Arthur Ward\/CFL.ca)<\/p>\n To me, it looks like there are at least three impressive and absolutely necessary physical components to Carter Jr.\u2019s interception; Speed, jumping ability and strength of grip.<\/p>\n Carter Jr. had to stay with O\u2019leary-Orange in order to have a hope. He needed to launch himself high into the air \u2014 and forward \u2014 to get into position. And he needed a strong hand in order to stop and corral the ball as he pulled it in to his body before he hit the turf and rolled.<\/p>\n Maybe there\u2019s a fourth element at play here. Maybe Carter Jr. is just naturally aerodynamic, and that allows him to hang in mid-air a little bit longer than the average guy. Hollow bones, like a bird, perhaps? I forgot to ask.<\/p>\n On flying ability, maybe he\u2019s just blessed. On the others, it\u2019d be a mixture of blessings and hard work.<\/p>\n When it comes to Carter Jr.\u2019s speed, the five-foot-10, 175-pounder knows he\u2019s got to keep it up, but he did not talk about technique, the way an Olympic sprinter would. \u201cJust maintaining my leg strength,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause you can see I\u2019m really not the tallest person out there, so I\u2019ve got to be able to have that edge. I feel like my speed and being able to jump is my edge on other people.\u201d<\/p>\n His jump on the play was amazing. He leaves the ground at just inside the BC goal line and when he comes down, his landing foot hits about six yards deep. When he pops up with the ball, he\u2019s about 12 yards into the end zone. At the apex of the jump, Carter Jr.\u2019s hips are even with O\u2019Leary-Orange\u2019s shoulders.<\/p>\n That kind of explosive ability is something Carter Jr. says he works on by doing something specific.<\/p>\n \u201cI love single leg squats,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s where the explosiveness comes from.\u201d<\/p>\n Single leg squats are just like usual leg squats, with one important difference. They\u2019re done with one leg up on a bench, so that the other leg takes all the weight as an athlete moves up and down, with a barbell resting over their shoulders.<\/p>\n \u201cNothing crazy,\u201d says Carter Jr. when asked just how much weight he lifts in that drill. \u201cI would say just 135 pounds. You don\u2019t want your knees to get bad.\u201d<\/p>\n The third component of the play, is all about that hand. This could all be about hand size, one would suppose, but when I ask Carter Jr. if he\u2019s gifted with overly large mitts he laughs.<\/p>\n \u201cI do not have big hands at all,\u201d he says. \u201cMaybe youth-large or adult-small, adult-medium.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n So, it\u2019s strength? Maybe, but not entirely, says Carter Jr. Some of it\u2019s actually his eyes.<\/p>\n \u201cI think I\u2019ve just got a good way of tracking the ball so my hand is right on point to grab the ball, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n And on this element of Carter Jr.\u2019s interception \u2014 the grabbing of the ball \u2014 an assist actually goes to Hamilton quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell<\/a>.<\/p>\n Not because of any mistake by Mitchell. Precisely the opposite. It\u2019s because he threw a near-perfect ball, tightly spiralling.<\/p>\n \u201cIf that ball had been any type of wobbly, it definitely would have been a PBU (pass break up),\u201d says Carter Jr. \u201cBut I think with him throwing a really good spiral it allowed me to really get a grip on the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n It all happened so fast, at least to the eye of the observer. So many plays are like that, even those that aren\u2019t nearly as spectacular as Carter Jr.\u2019s interception. It must all come down to pure reaction. Thousands of hours of training and practice and game experience and film study precede it, and all of that means something. But in the moment? I can\u2019t imagine Carter Jr. had time to think about anything.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n That would be wrong. Even in that flash of time, Carter Jr. says, conscious calculations need to be made.<\/p>\n \u201cYou think about whether you can catch a ball with one or two hands,\u201d he explains. \u201cAt that moment I was thinking \u2018can I get my right hand over to grab this ball?\u2019 I couldn\u2019t get my right hand over, so I only had one choice, to grab it with the one hand that I had close to the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n After Carter Jr. made the stab, he pulled the ball in, hit the turf and rolled, quickly getting to his feet. He looked upfield and then hit the accelerator, just for a moment. Was he actually thinking he could make that play even more spectacular? Was he thinking a house call might be in the cards?<\/p>\n \u201cYes, I was thinking that,\u201d he replies.<\/p>\n \u201cI started running faster because, like, the sideline was clear.\u201d<\/p>\n But in the end, he decided against it.<\/p>\n \u201cI was just being a smart ball player, just going down and let the offence have the ball. Didn\u2019t want anything bad happening.\u201d<\/p>\n The Lions\u2019 offence followed Carter Jr.\u2019s interception by driving down the field for a half-ending field goal that would give them a seven-point lead at the break.<\/p>\n IT\u2019S DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN<\/p>\n Robert Carter Jr. is COLDDDD! \ud83e\uddca#cfl<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/P070ApdHuS<\/a><\/p>\n
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