Wake Forest cornerback Caelen Carson’s journey of football and faith
In many ways, football embodies life.
It’s rough. You get thrown around. You’re going to have to figure out everything around you while simultaneously being surrounded by moving parts. It’s about adapting to your surroundings and making the best of it, no matter how dire they may be.
No one knows that more than Wake Forest cornerback Caelen Carson.
The youngest of eight siblings, Carson went from the small town of Waldorf, Maryland to being one of the best cornerbacks in college football. But it was in the streets of his hometown that Carson found the love for football.
“I started [playing] when I was five years old,” Carson said. “And really it started before that because I was playing outside with the older kids just because my siblings were older. But what made me fall in love with the game was my older brother, Antonio.”
Carson credits his older brother for a lot of his development from such a young age, and helping him get a head start at enhancing his talent.
“He took me everywhere he went. And when we’re playing in the streets, we’re playing sideline pop. So once you get near the sideline, or the edge of the street, you’re gonna get a little shoulder bump. So I had older kids hitting me, and when we played in grass you get tackled. So if I cried, he’d tell me to go in the house. But I wanted to keep playing, and I wanted to be like him so much. So I’d go inside, calm down, and be back out five minutes later to go play.”
Antonio didn’t have a career in football. Rather, he lived vicariously through his younger brother.
“He didn’t play in high school or anything,” Carson said. “He just lived his dream through me.”
Things for Carson were far from easy, though. While the Wake Forest star has grown to make a name for himself as one of the most dominant players in the ACC, the road he travelled to get there was far from illustrious.
“I come real humble beginnings,” Carson said. “When I was real young, me, my mom, and four of my siblings were driving on the night of Christmas Eve. My mom fell asleep at the wheel and we hit a tree. The car caught on fire, and luckily this man had seen everything and helped me and my siblings out, but part of the car was trapping my mom in the driver’s seat. The ambulance and everything showed up, and they were able to get my mom out and fly her to the hospital, but she lost her leg.”
While his mother lost her leg, she was given a prosthetic and still able to live a normal day-to-day life, usually working two jobs. Carson highlighted resilience as the No. 1 lesson he has learned in life, and how is mother’s constant ability to overcome adversity provided a constant example on how to be resilient.
“My mom had her first kid at 13,” Carson said. “So her entire life has been about overcoming a lot of obstacles.”
Carson was asked about resiliency, and named his mother as the biggest example of being resilient.”
“They said she couldn’t raise 6 kids by herself… she did it,” Carson wrote. “They said she wasn’t going to make it after the car accident… she did it. They said she was never going to be able to walk again… she did it. Resilient!!”
Carson leaned on that resilient nature throughout his childhood and high-school years.
“Going from my middle school to high school was tough,” Carson said. “The middle school and high school I went to were in different counties. So in middle school, most of the kids were in similar situations as me- not a ton of money and certain things would happen there that wouldn’t fly when I went to high school. And not everyone in high school came from money, but it was definitely a big difference there compared to middle school when it felt like everyone was going through the same things. And I’d see other guys before we did went to the weight room warming up their food beforehand, and I’d be the only guy with no food to heat up. And my coach used to have to pick me up and take me to practice because my mom was at work.”
With several obstacles already in his path, Carson would have to go through them all without his supportive older brother by his side. In his sophomore year of high school, Antonio was arrested and charged with murder.
“At that time, I didn’t want to play football,” Carson said. “I was already at a low point because I wasn’t starting. It was my first year at corner, and I was competing for the job. I had a bad scrimmage where I got beat a lot. The next scrimmage, I wasn’t starting. And when I did get in the game, I got into a fight on the field and was suspended for a week. So I couldn’t play in Week 1. And I couldn’t talk to my brother about it because after he got locked up, I couldn’t talk to him for over a year. I told my friend I was done. Not a lot of people know that, my brother doesn’t know that. But yeah, at the time I was like ‘I’m done with this.’ But once he was sentenced, there was a lot of crying in my room at night. My sister was locked up, too. There was no one for me to run to. But I really feel like all of that helped make me who I am.”
While his life at home and on the field were in somewhat of a tailspin, Carson stayed on the path. In two years as a defensive back at North Point High School, he became one of the best defensive backs in the state of Maryland and earned an All-Southern Maryland selection.
Carson gives a lot of praise to his high school coach, Tom Petre, who went 69-14 as the head coach at North Point.
“Without him, would be no Caelen Carson,” he said. “I actually used to hide from him all the time after practice because if practice ended at five o’clock, I’d be there until seven. But I didn’t want him to see me there because it was embarrassing always waiting for a ride, always needing something. He probably doesn’t even know that, but yeah I used to hide but I’d always end up having to go back and be like “Yeah, I need a ride.”
Petre spoke with Touchdown Wire, and said that on top of his ability on the field, Carson was just as special and unique as a human being.
“With Caelen, it’s always been character,” Petre said. “He was quiet by nature when he was younger but once you gained his trust, there wasn’t a thing he wouldn’t do.
Petre adds that it isn’t just Carson’s talent that made him special, but his preparation that truly set him apart from others.
“Beyond skill, it was his competitive nature and ability to prepare,” Petre said. “He knew film and schemes and competed like crazy on both sides of the ball.”
That skill led to multiple offers at the collegiate level, but only one from a power five school- Wake Forest.
“I wouldn’t say I was a late bloomer, because I had the tape,” Carson said. “To be honest, I don’t know why nobody else offered me [a scholarship]. At first I thought ‘well maybe I didn’t do this or didn’t do that.’ But when I look at my tape, I’m just like ‘why wouldn’t anyone else offer me with that?'”
Amongst the other schools to offer Carson a scholarship were James Madison, Marshall, Eastern Carolina, and Temple. He had 15 offers in total, but ultimately chose to become a Demon Deacon because of how strongly they pursued him.
“For them to be my only power five offer, but still recruit me as if I had multiple other offers was what did it,” Carson said. “Like, they knew I was probably going to end up going there, but they still recruited me heavily and showed that constant interest and belief in me. They came to my school three times, they came to see me work out and run the 40. Other schools would just drop off an offer and leave, but Wake Forest was always there and making it known like ‘hey, we want you.'”
The Demon Deacons’ pursuit in Carson paid off, as he gave them four years of great cornerback play. In 2021, he allowed a passer rating of just 55.5 to opposing quarterbacks, per PFF, while intercepting two passes. As his career advanced, he began moving around the defense more, getting snaps on the perimeter and in the slot, as well as jumping up in the box. His 71.7 coverage grade was higher than the national average, and he showed willingness as a run defender and tackler, as well.
“From 2020 to 2024, I probably have the most film of anyone in terms of consistently not getting beat,” Carson said. “Like this year, against Notre Dame I gave up a post, and I didn’t have a great game against NC State. But I can sit here and pick out that post that I gave up because it’s not like I can sit here and name many other examples of me getting beat in coverage. If you go look at the tape, try to find a catch on a fade or a vertical that I gave up. I can’t name one. And when you watch the tape, take away the different factors like height and build- who’s been consistent? That’s what the name of the game is. And I’m not speaking on anyone, but it’s easy to pop off and have a good year. It’s about consistency.”
Carson also spoke about his versatility, and how that sets him apart from his other cornerback peers in this class.
“My best game was at nickel against Pitt,” Carson said. “And that was my first game ever playing nickel- I don’t think everyone has that versatility. It was something that came natural to me. I went into that game without ever taking a zone drop before. I basically had to learn on the job, and I played well.”
Carson also pointed out the top-tier talents he was tasked with covering, and how he was able to shut down that echelon of talents.
“I mean this in the most humble of ways, so I don’t wan anyone to take this wrong,” Carson said. “Dontayvion Wicks was the toughest matchup I had, and that was my sophomore year. He probably got the best of me in the first half, and in the second half I bounced back. I don’t have a game where I struggled from start to finish, and I don’t think many cornerbacks can say that.”
It is now just a matter of weeks until Caelen Carson hears his name called on draft day. When asked what that moment is going to bring emotionally, he said he just wants to give back to everyone that got him there.
“It’s gunna be a relieving feeling,” Carson said. “My mom will definitely be crying. She’s the strongest lady I’ve ever met. So for me to be able to tell her she won’t have to work anymore, that’s going to mean a lot to me. And outside of my family, I think it will mean a lot to my community in Waldorf. There’s been a few guys from the city to make it to the NFL, but they don’t really come back here. I want to be a representative of my city and be able to show kids in the area that you really can make it and be able to say ‘wow, if he can do it, that means I can do it.’ That’s the example I want to set. I just want to give people some hope and let these kids know they can do it.”
As we wrapped up our conversation, a light-hearted dialogue about tattoos began, as Carson has a respectable amount on his arms. He pointed to his right forearm, and shared a thoughtful story.
“The newest tattoo I got actually says ‘Only God can judge’ and “Faith over fear,” Carson said. “I’m trying to give my life to God more. Because a lot of this stuff really opened my eyes. All this stuff I told you, I wouldn’t say I was depressed, but I wasn’t the happiest. You may see someone like me who had four successful years at Wake and think that everything is glitter, but I didn’t feel that. So even though I had success on the field, if I were to get hurt, it would be everything I’m going through on top of being injured- it would just make everything worse and I’d get in real pissy moods. And I knew that this last year was a big year for me, and I just wanted to get into my Bible more.
“And I can honestly say if there are times when I do start to feel upset, it doesn’t last as long and it’s short-lived because I know I’m blessed and I’m thankful for the opportunities I have. Because someone didn’t wake up today, someone has it worse than me. Everybody has a story. And I decided to take my life from being not so happy all the time to living my best life regardless of what happens, regardless of what life throws at me. I know that there’s a higher-up somewhere.
“I know God’s got me, and I’m gonna keep going.”
