'06 OH RB DeLone Carter (2005 Ohio Mr. Football/Syracuse signee)

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Delone Carter turning his luck around at Syracuse
Big '09 debut a testiment to running back?s comeback

Syracuse running back Delone Carter was running a route in spring practice before his sophomore season in 2007. His true freshman year couldn?t have gone much better ? his 713 yards rank second in school history among freshman rushers and he was named a Sporting News Freshman All-American. Expectations were high for the Copley, Ohio, native, who was expected to play in a platoon backfield.

Then, his fortune took a turn. During that fateful route in spring practice, Carter planted his foot and extended his leg in front of him when a defender shoved him from behind, forcing his right leg completely out of socket.

?It happened like a freak accident in practice,? he said of the dislocated hip that ended his 2007 season before it began. ?During the spring, I was running a route and I was shoved in the back. I remember leaning over with my leg extended and my hip popping out. I remember trying to stand up and I couldn?t feel it and I just could feel it fall out.?

A promising sophomore season wiped out in spring practice. Carter was on crutches for a few months following successful hip surgery, enduring a long rehabilitation process just to walk again.

?The whole thing was hard to deal with,? he said. ?I was depressed right after my surgery ... I?d never been hurt like that. So it was just weird, laying up in my room and not being able to walk or anything. All that was a hard deal but you know, my family told me I could do it, my mom and my grandmother and the whole family was praying for me and helping me get through it.?

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