Harry Carson is one of the greatest captains in sports history. Carson was a force for the New York Giants from 1976 to 1988, making nine Pro Bowls.
Carson and Lawrence Taylor could be the best linebacker pairing the NFL has ever seen and they led the Giants to a Super Bowl XXI victory. Carson was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2002, the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006 and the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2018. He is also a cancer survivor.
Harry Carson joined SportsJam with Doug Doyle to talk about his amazing career on and off the football field.
One of the shining moments for Carson came on January 25, 1987 in Super Bowl XXI at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The New York Giants defeated John Elway and the Denver Broncos, 39–20, for the Giants first Super Bowl victory and first NFL title since 1956. Carson played a huge role in the Giants win making a goal-line stop that prompted a New York comeback.
"We were righting a wrong. In1985, we had a pretty good season and went to Chicago, we thought we were better than them. We made some mistakes and we didn't make it. We came back in '86 during the off-season and everybody to a man had a much different attitude and work ethic. There was nobody would could tell us that we were not going to Super Bowl XXI. We went. We won the game. People asked what was it the lit the guys fire and I said losing to Chicago in Chicago. The thing I remember personally is going out for the coin toss and (Coach Bill) Parcells told me to go out by myself as a captain. I'm walking to midfield and to this day I really don't exactly know why he wanted me to do that or kind of message he was sending but it wasn't like I said I wanted to go out by myself. It served its purpose. There are so many people I run into, Giants fans, and they say when i walked out on the field and Denver had five or six guys who were walking towards me that was so cool."
Carson has always taken his role as a captain and leader seriously. Even during fun times. As the clock was winding down in Super Bowl XXI, Carson put on a yellow security jacked and doused head coach Bill Parcells with a Gatorade shower. That tradition of showering the winning coach has remained a huge part of Super Bowl celebrations.
"It's kind of nice to see that over the years it (dousing the winning coach) is still the case. It is still that symbol of we are the champions. We sort of set what winning championship was all about."
Harry Carson came through "in the clutch" time and time again. His ability to blitz with speed and force landed him in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Carsons and Lawrence Taylor became a ferocious duo. Carsons says it was all about the game plan.
"Playing with Lawrence you didn't know what you were going to get. Sometimes he would do some free-lancing and they allowed him to do it because he was making plays. He was a guy who would take chances. I knew that if he took a chance and he failed to accomplish what he was trying to do, I would be there to fill in for him. I'd be his backstop. So, I knew how he played and he knew how I played. That's really one of the good things about longevity of players staying with one team and knowing that guy next to you and what he's going to do and how we are going to mix together. It's not necessarily the case now. But back then, I knew exactly what Lawrence was going to do even though he might have slept through it in meetings when (Bill) Belichick would be going over certain defenses."
LT, Carson, Carl Banks and Gary Reasons shut down the Broncos time and time again in Super Bowl XX!.
One of the amazing parts about Carson's football career is that he never played linebacker at South Carolina State. He was a defensive lineman there along with his teammate and future Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Famer Donnie Shell. Both changed positions in the NFL and would eventually be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The leadership skills he learned on the gridiron have never left Harry Carson. For years, in partnership with Hackensack Meridian Health, he's been the face of the battle against prostate cancer and an advocate for men’s health and the life-saving power of early cancer screening. He had successful surgery. Earlier this year, the Giants celebrated that Carson was "Cancer Free" at the NFL Giants Crucial Catch Game September 28th at MetLife Stadium.
"I want to tell men, especially of color to get checked for prostate cancer. Go and get checked. You may not have any symptoms but after a certain age you want to go and take care of your health. At the age of 37 I was getting checked for prostate cancer. Every year I would go in and take my physical. It wasn't until this year that they saw something abnormal in my urine. What eventually happened is that they called me into the office and told me I had prostate cancer. I wanted to document everything I was going through so I could help me with prostate cancer."
Carson continues to work with Hackensack Meridian Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC) in getting the word out about prostate cancer awareness and the importance of screenings.
That's not the only health battle Carson has faced. All the accomplishments Carson had on the field took a toll soon after he retired. He was diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome in 1990 and has dealt with ongoing symptoms.
"I wanted to get it checked and asked my doctor will I live and he said you'll live but you'll have to learn how to manage it. That was the key for me whenever I'm feeling depressed or whatever noise bothers me or bright lights bother me or I just don't feel right, I know that in time that will pass because I'm learning how to manage it. People ask would you do it (play football) all over again and I would say given what I know if I had to do it all over again I wouldn't have done it. I do think parents should make a decision as to what their kids are doing because football is not for everybody."
Carson says it's up to the parent to decide what age they should allow their kids to play tackle football.
Harry also works with military soldiers who experience issues from bomb blasts and equestrians who are suffering from traumatic brain injuries.
"It's been an interesting ride for me to just understand that when you damage the brain you're life will probably never be the same."
You can SEE the entire SportsJam interview with Harry Carson below:
