Every time he was released, DeAndre Carter was disappointed and a little bit smarter.
Carter, released six times by four teams, survived Eagles cuts Saturday and at least for now is on an NFL 53-man regular-season roster for the first time in his life.
Carter, a 25-year-old wide receiver out of Sacramento State, made the team by catching 10 passes for 178 yards in the Eagles' four preseason games.
After being released in past years by the Patriots, Raiders, Ravens and 49ers, it looks like Carter finally has an NFL job.
"Been around a lot of great players, a lot of great coaches, and learned a lot," Carter said Thursday night after the Eagles' preseason finale. "Bill Belichick, Kyle Shanahan, Pierre Garcon, Michael Crabtree, Amari Cooper, Steve Smith, Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola, the list goes on.
"I've been around a lot of great players in this league and I feel like I've taken every opportunity I could to learn from those guys and pick those guys' brains when I had the opportunity to and (it) definitely helped me with my game as it pertains to today just taking a little bit from each of them and adding a little bit from each one and learning how different coaches like to prepare, like to gameplan.
"Everybody's got a little something different to it but if you can take a little bit from everybody you've been around, you'll definitely be great, and I've tried to do that."
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Carter's rise from bottom guy on the 90-man roster to legit NFL wide receiver was improbable for a lot of reasons, most notably because he wasn't even with the Eagles through all the spring workouts (see story).
The Eagles signed Carter on July 28, so he even missed the first three days of training camp.
He had one month to get to know his teammates, his coaches, his quarterback and just to learn the offense.
"It's always tough when you come in the middle of training camp and you're not here for OTAs and spring, anything like that," he said.
"You're trying to learn the playbook, learn the system, get acclimated with the locker room with the guys, with the receiving room and trying to gain trust from the quarterbacks and make plays.
"It was definitely a challenge to come in late but definitely something that's not impossible to do. I came in and it's just about how much work you put in.
"I did a lot of extra work so I could be on top of it so I could get the reps I needed in practice."
