Tyrone Carter Tyrone M . Carter ( born March 31 , 1976 ) is a retired American football defensive back who previously played in the National Football League ( NFL ) . He played college football for the University of Minnesota , earned All - American honors and won several national awards . He has played professionally for the Pittsburgh Steelers , Minnesota Vikings , New York Jets and Washington Redskins of the NFL . Early years . Carter was born in Fort Lauderdale , Florida . At Blanche Ely High School in Pompano Beach , Florida , Carter was named " Miami Sun - Sentinel " all - county defensive first - team choice as a senior . He also received " Miami Herald " all - county offensive first team honors as a running back , gaining 1 , 349 yards and scoring 23 touchdown s his senior year . College . Carter attended the University of Minnesota , where he majored in sociology and played for the Minnesota Golden Gophers football team . He was a first - team All - American in 1998 , and a consensus first - team All - American in 1999 . He also won the 1999 Jim Thorpe Award for best defensive back in college football , and was a finalist for the 1999 Bronko Nagurski Trophy which is given to the premier defensive player in the country . He also earned the Carl Eller Award twice , which is given to the Gophers defensive player of the year . In 1998 , Carter was named first team All Big Ten conference by both the coaches and the media . During his football career at Minnesota , he recorded 584 tackles ( 414 solo ) , which are both NCAA division 1 - A records . Professional career . Minnesota Vikings . Tyrone Carter was drafted in the 4th round ( 122nd overall ) in the 2000 NFL Draft out of the University of Minnesota by the Minnesota Vikings . On June 30 , 2000 , he signed a 3 - year contract with the Vikings and had 40 tackles in his rookie year . He played 3 seasons with the Vikings and would return to the team later in his career when on March 11 , 2004 he agreed to terms with his former team . However , on September 5 , 2004 , Carter was placed on the Vikings injured reserve list after spraining his knee during the second preseason game , and was expected to be out until October . On September 18 , he was taken off the IR and released . New York Jets . On April 14 , 2003 , Carter signed as an unrestricted free agent with the New York Jets , where he played for only one season and recorded career highs in tackles ( 88 ) and interceptions ( 2 ) . On March 1 , 2004 , he was cut along with longtime Jet linebacker Mo Lewis and safety Sam Garnes in order to free up salary cap space . Pittsburgh Steelers . On October 20 , 2004 , he signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers , where he played in 9 games , recording seven tackles . On February 23 , 2005 , he declared free agency , but on April 5 , 2005 , he re - signed as an unrestricted free agent to a 2 - year contract . In 2005 , Carter appeared in all 20 games ( 16 regular season , 4 postseason ) for the world champion Pittsburgh Steelers . He recorded 3 tackles and a pass defensed in Super Bowl XL . The Steelers re - signed Carter on March 27 , 2007 to a 3 year , 2 . 5 million dollar contract , which included a $ 280 , 000 signing bonus . After playing the Denver Broncos in week 7 , starting safety Ryan Clark suffered a life threatening illness in which Clark had to have his spleen and gall bladder removed . Tyrone Carter stepped in to replace Clark for the remainder of the season , starting 5 games in his absence . The 2008 season saw Carter appear in all 16 regular - season games for the fourth straight season . He was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week for the first time in week 17 against Cleveland , in a game in which he had 4 tackles , 2 passes defensed , 2 interceptions and 1 touchdown . In Super Bowl XLIII Carter recorded two solo tackles and earned his second Super Bowl ring . Carter entered 2009 as the third safety on the Steelers depth chart behind Troy Polamalu and Ryan Clark . When Polamalu was injured in the first game of the season against the Tennessee Titans , Carter replaced him in the starting lineup over the next four games . When the Steelers returned to Denver for the first time since Ryan Clark ' s injury , Coach Tomlin decided to deactivate Clark as a precaution and Carter started in his place . In this game , Carter had two interceptions , returning the first 48 yards for a touchdown . His second interception came with less than a minute to play and sealed the victory for the Steelers . Carter was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his effort . When Troy Polamalu was re - injured in a game against the Cincinnati Bengals , Carter took his place and started at the position for the rest of the season due to the injury . Washington Redskins . On August 23 , 2010 , Carter was signed by the Washington Redskins . On September 4 , 2010 , Carter was released . San Diego Chargers . On October 5 , 2010 , Carter was signed by the San Diego Chargers to replace suspended safety Steve Gregory . Personal . Carter and his wife April have 2 biological children Tyra ( 7 ) and Tyree ( 3 ) and 3 children from previous relationships ; Tyrone : Tyrone Jr . ( 19 ) and Tristan ( 14 ) / April : Tyron ( 15 ) . His brother , Tank Carter , was sentenced to five years in prison for not appearing at court for a charge of driving with a revoked license . Rather than report to prison on January 6 , 2006 , where he was to serve a 6 - month prison sentence , he instead traveled to watch his brother play 3 road playoff games and then in Super Bowl XL . Tank had originally been scheduled to report to jail on December 8 , 2005 , but Circuit Judge Stanton S . Kaplan allowed him an extra month to spend the holidays with his family and children . When he finally turned himself in on February 13 , one week after Super Bowl XL , the judge added 54 months to his original 6 - month sentence .