WASHINGTON (WUSA) — Meet Martez Carter, one of the newest football players for the Washington Redskins.
If you're looking for him on the list of draft picks that the Redskins chose during the draft, you won't find his name there.
If you're looking for a ton of highlight video online at one of the top power colleges, you won't find him there either.
But you will find him on the field with the rest of the Washington Redskins this upcoming 2018-2019 season.
Carter, a graduate of Grambling State University, which is a Historically Black College and University, or HBCU for short, was selected by the Washington Redskins after the draft ended as an undrafted free agent.
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But this isn't something that the Louisiana native could have ever predicted was in the cards for him from the start.
Carter's mother dropped out of high school in the 9th grade.
His father dropped out of high school in the 10th grade.
His brother was arrested at the end of his 10th grade year, and wasn't able to continue on to the 11th grade.
Add that to being one of 11 children, and it could be hard for any child to see what the future held.
However, Carter did complete all four years of high school, and even earned his Bachelor's from Grambling State University in December 2017.
His football career at Grambling was the start of people paying attention to the small running back.
In the 2017 season, Carter had 167 carries for 845 yards, and 10 rushing touchdowns.
But his talents don't stop at running back, he's also skilled at receiving.
He had 33 receptions for 401 yards, and 2 touchdowns last season.
So when the chance to play in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl came, you can imagine he was going to give it everything he had.
His play on the field was exactly what caught the eye of the Redskins' organization.
But the team already knew exactly who we was.
Redskins' VP of Player Personnel Doug Williams, is also Grambling State graduate.
He was actually the head coach of the football team there when Martez was playing football at Richmond High School.
Even though the Redskins didn't pick Carter in the draft, Williams told ESPN's Undefeated, "that Carter had been on Washington's draft board all along."
“We weren’t going to draft another back, but we wanted [Carter] to somehow come in here and sign him as a free agent if he wasn’t drafted,” Williams explained.
That's exactly what happened.
Thirty minutes after the last pick was announced, Doug Williams called Carter and offered him an undrafted free-agent deal.
It's up to Carter to now make the most of this opportunity.
He told ESPN's Undefeated, "My motto is I just need a shot."
Here's your shot Martez Carter.
Welcome to the Redskins.
Contact Ashley on Twitter @AshleyHasSpoken
