DJR313 Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=528&u_...3&u_sid=2140109 Carriker's makeover super-sized BY DIRK CHATELAIN WORLD-HERALD BUREAU -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LINCOLN - On Feb. 1, Burger King announced a plan to issue public stock for the first time in its 52-year history, in part to bolster a company that had recently lost ground in the burger wars. Trainers clocked 300-pound Nebraska defensive end Adam Carriker at 4.68 seconds in the 40-yard dash, three or four tenths faster than most his size. "He's about as physically impressive an end as I've been around," defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove said. Is it merely coincidence that 300-pound Adam Carriker revolutionized his diet and ditched the drive-thrus just a few weeks earlier? "Seriously, I'd eat Burger King, Taco Bell like three, four times a week," Carriker said. "I loved it." That was before Nebraska's colossal defensive end consulted a few nutritionists and learned about fast-food ingredients; before he discovered his new - ahem - favorite food: chicken breasts, the kind that don't come with fries and a drink. "At first I'd just drench them in barbecue sauce and choke it down," Carriker said. "I've gotten to the point where I can actually eat it without a ton of barbecue sauce." Since the last time Carriker slipped into a red uniform, he's traded Whoppers for grilled bird, afternoon class for the East Campus weight room. He's scared linebackers in sprint drills and added enough pounds to knock the wind out of a scale. He's morphed from All-Big 12 into "freak" status. "It's my last year," said Carriker. "You dream about something your whole life and then you realize you've only got one year left. You kind of appreciate it a little bit more." The former baseball fireballer who can still launch a football 75 yards - take that, Harrison Beck - fought off consistent double teams at the laborious base end position and sacked the quarterback 91/2 times in 2005, good enough for first-team all-conference honors from the media, second-team from the coaches. But Carriker went home to Kennewick, Wash., after the Alamo Bowl and made a decision. He'd come back to Nebraska - he never seriously considered the NFL - and dedicate himself more than ever to the team he grew up cheering, to the sport that could make him rich a year from now. "He's becoming considerably more competitive now than he was a few years ago," said Dave Carriker, Adam's dad. Adam Carriker was born in Hastings in the spring of 1984, while his father was still mending from a missed two-point conversion in the Orange Bowl. Dave religiously followed Tagge and Davis, Humm and Redwine, Gill and Rozier. When Adam was 3, Dave lost his job. Chevron Oil recruited him to Washington. The family moved on Father's Day 1987. Adam was bigger than most his age. Fiery, too. He got locked out of the house one time and smashed his hand through the screen door. He stood as tall as Dad, 5-foot-10, about the time Tom Osborne retired. That's also the period - scientists call it puberty - when the big kid chilled out. "He got the low voice and he just got mellow and relaxed," Dave said. "It's a great attitude for life, but he's about got to flip a switch when he gets on the field." In junior high, Adam started playing football because of the Big Red. He remembers when Nebraska traveled to Seattle in 1997 to meet Washington. The family had just bought a satellite dish and, for some infuriating reason, couldn't pull in the local ABC affiliate. The antenna out back was shielded by a big hill. The Carrikers watched Scott Frost score touchdowns through the static. Dad was "irate." "All the games that we watched games together, I was the loudest, most emotional probably," Dave said. "I really never paid that much attention to what (Adam) was doing, but evidently he had become a lot more of a fan than I had realized." Adam wanted to do one of two things: pitch in the major leagues or play football at Nebraska. The former seemed more likely by his sophomore year. He was hitting 90-plus on the radar gun. But a pitching arm injury soon after he obtained a driver's license ruined that dream. He directed his efforts to quarterback, the position Oregon State had in mind when it offered him a scholarship; Carriker didn't play defense until his senior year. But the kid's desire to throw deep had soured because of a team that didn't win a game in 2001. "The coaches kept telling him to throw the ball hard and there wasn't a kid on the team that could catch," Dave said. "They didn't have a line. The second the ball was snapped it was 11 guys after Adam." When Nebraska called asking him to play defensive end, his heart jumped. But Frank Solich wanted Carriker to pay his own way freshman year. Financially, that didn't make much sense. Carriker probably would've ended up at Washington State had NU not called back the next day offering a full ride. He arrived in Lincoln in the summer of 2002. Injuries in 2003 and 2004, combined with more turmoil and heartbreak than Osborne accumulated in 25 years, seized much of Carriker's passion for football. Losing and coaching changes and bum ankles weren't any fun. Last season, especially the finish, injected a dose of energy. Now, with a Big 12 title and an NFL career within reach, the big man with the Ivan Drago e-mail address is thinking bigger. The past two months, he completed his workout at Memorial Stadium, then made a beeline for the not-so-luxurious East Campus weight room. Less crowded, he says. He had class in the morning and at night but nothing during the afternoon. Four days a week, he lifted for three hours. He added 15 pounds. Somehow he got faster. During winter conditioning, Carriker joined the linebackers for a drill in which players sprint 10 yards, backpedal five, then sprint five more. Linebackers pushed a little harder than usual. "We don't want to be beat by a D-lineman," said middle linebacker Corey McKeon, who called Carriker "a freak of nature." "He did get beat by the defensive lineman," Carriker said. "I don't know if he said that part, but I did get him." Trainers clocked the 300-pounder at 4.68 in the 40-yard dash, three or four tenths faster than most his size. "He is scary," said defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove. "He's about as physically impressive an end as I've been around." Carriker walked into a press conference Wednesday looking mean enough to scare Rocky out of Siberia. His arms hung like old oak branches. His red T-shirt covered a chest as hard as a rock road in Nemaha County. From time to time, Carriker relents and devours pizza or ice cream or, his old favorite, banana cream pie. Most often, he eats fruits, veggies and those barbecue-coated chicken breasts. That pleases Dad, who always got on him about junk food. The pristine Columbia River, some 1,500 miles from Memorial Stadium, hasn't distracted Dave Carriker from his Huskers. He called his son Tuesday, as he always does the night before spring and fall practices commence. He delivered one of those classic pep talks. He asked Adam a question: "Are you ready?" Quote Link to comment
DJR313 Posted March 26, 2006 Author Share Posted March 26, 2006 300 lbs. and he runs a 4.68 40 now? That is freakin nuts! Quote Link to comment
pigsonthewing Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 300 lbs. and he runs a 4.68 40 now? That is freakin nuts! handheld.. his electronic is around 4.8 Quote Link to comment
hack Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 300 lbs. and he runs a 4.68 40 now? That is freakin nuts! he's gonna run over people like a freakin' train. Quote Link to comment
Benard Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 Hopefully the coaches aren't pulling all the time this year. Let him get 20 sacks. Quote Link to comment
BIGREDFAN_in_OMAHA Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 300 lbs. and he runs a 4.68 40 now? That is freakin nuts! handheld.. his electronic is around 4.8 Who cares? Get off the 40 times rant. Quote Link to comment
AR Husker Fan Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 Built like a low-land gorilla, runs like a cheeta. Pretty good combination for a defensive end, I'd say... Quote Link to comment
husker rob Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 this guy is going to be a first round pick next april. and he is pushing the linebackers in sprints. everyone called Kearse a "freak" i think that Adam is going to top that Quote Link to comment
DJR313 Posted March 27, 2006 Author Share Posted March 27, 2006 this guy is going to be a first round pick next april. and he is pushing the linebackers in sprints. everyone called Kearse a "freak" i think that Adam is going to top that This is gonna be a big year for Adam! he's gonna run over people like a freakin' train. Hopefully lots of them. Quote Link to comment
BIGREDIOWAN Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 He's definately impressive!!! Quote Link to comment
pigsonthewing Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 300 lbs. and he runs a 4.68 40 now? That is freakin nuts! handheld.. his electronic is around 4.8 Who cares? Get off the 40 times rant. lol Quote Link to comment
StuckinChicago Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 I dont care what his forty time is, He is beating McKeon in spring drills and McKeon ain't slow... Quote Link to comment
DJR313 Posted March 27, 2006 Author Share Posted March 27, 2006 I dont care what his forty time is, He is beating McKeon in spring drills and McKeon ain't slow... Exactly! That was my point really, to give props to how quick he is for his size, rather than start the 40 time debate again. I think that is . If Carriker is getting stronger and he can keep up with a safety converted to play middle linebacker, then I think Carriker is gonna wreck some sh#t this season! Quote Link to comment
Benard Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 I dont care what his forty time is, He is beating McKeon in spring drills and McKeon ain't slow... Exactly! That was my point really, to give props to how quick he is for his size, rather than start the 40 time debate again. I think that is . If Carriker is getting stronger and he can keep up with a safety converted to play middle linebacker, then I think Carriker is gonna wreck some sh#t this season! Since when was Mckeon a safety? Outside linebacker possibly? Safety? Quote Link to comment
DJR313 Posted March 27, 2006 Author Share Posted March 27, 2006 I dont care what his forty time is, He is beating McKeon in spring drills and McKeon ain't slow... Exactly! That was my point really, to give props to how quick he is for his size, rather than start the 40 time debate again. I think that is . If Carriker is getting stronger and he can keep up with a safety converted to play middle linebacker, then I think Carriker is gonna wreck some sh#t this season! Since when was Mckeon a safety? Outside linebacker possibly? Safety? I'm pretty sure he played safety in high school and came to Nebraska as a Safety/OLB prospect. Quote Link to comment
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