Quincy Carter in the midst of greatest comeback yet

Making comebacks is nothing new for Quincy Carter. He has often been on the losing side of the scoreboard with time ticking away, including a famous dual against Drew Brees and the Purdue Boilermakers in the 2000 Outback Bowl. Georgia trailed 25-0 before Carter and his teammates marched back to win 28-25 in overtime.

Carter’s latest comeback is his greatest to date. He recently announced on social media that he is six months sober. July would mark one year.

“I’ve surrendered to my recovery,” Carter said in an interview on the Dawg Days podcast from UGASports.com.

Carter has spent much of his recent life away from the public eye. He is emerging now to help others and himself become more accountable.

“We (Carter and Thomas “Hollywood" Henderson, long-time sponsor and mentor) thought it would help other people to hear my story,” Carter said. “Not only that, it would bring more responsibility to me.”

With a newfound sense of purpose, Carter didn't even realize six months of sobriety had passed until days later. While grateful that he's living life and not simply counting days, the Decatur native understands that the worst times of his life are still very recent.

“The lowest point has come in the last three or four years, “Carter said. “I was a very big weed addict from the age of 16 or 17. I was not a big drinker until about the time I got cut from the Cowboys. In the last three or four years, I started messing around with cocaine. That’s become the lowest point, me going in that direction.”

Now, at 42 years old, Carter has had time to reflect and learn about himself. He admits to having an addictive personality, and says the same traits that make him susceptible to substance abuse are the qualities that drove him to watch film and train to thrive in athletics.

Carter’s first path to Athens went through an initial commitment to Georgia Tech, then a draft selection to play baseball for the Chicago Cubs. He knew at his first professional baseball game that a return to football was looming.

“That first game in Appleton, Wisconsin, when it was negative four degrees wind chill, when I was playing for the single-A Rockford Cubbies,” Carter said. “I knew then that I better love this right here or I’d be going to college real soon.”

He quietly attended a few Georgia games, spent time with Jonas Jennings, and hinted to coaches that he was interested in being a Bulldog. It eventually led to his signing.

Jim Donnan named him starting quarterback in 1998. Carter remembers some of the racial ire he felt from small segments of the fan base.

“Some of the things were a little hurtful, but at the same time, there are more great people at the University of Georgia—then there were some of those people,” Carter said.

One of the first players to help him assimilate to the team was current head coach Kirby Smart.

“Kirby was a senior, and he wanted to go out winning games,” Carter said. “That was all that was on his mind. In practice, we competed, but we were friends off the field.”

Carter was thrilled when his former teammate was hired as head coach in December 2015.

“I was excited,” Carter said. “I thought it was going to happen for years before it did. I know that dude. I know his heart. I know what he brings to that program.”

It has been a couple of years since Carter and Smart have spoken. It’s been much longer since Carter has been in Sanford Stadium. He says the end of the 2000 season is the last time he was between the hedges. He plans to change that this spring by attending the 2020 G-Day game.

Carter says Mark Richt wanted him to return for his senior season and “compete for the job.” Leaving early is one of Carter’s regrets.

Regrets, though, are something that Quincy Carter is learning to leave behind. He, as much as anybody, knows that the only way to make a comeback is a sequence of good play that leads to good drives and big scores. Most importantly, he knows it does not happen alone.

“My life is almost like some of my football games,” Carter said. “The first two or three quarters were terrible. Somehow, along with my teammates, we’re able to pull it out.”