Nehemiah Carter on 300 Emails, Two Colleges and the Road to Pro Football

Episode 12 of Moderately Mic’d is out now: Nehemiah Carter on sending 300 emails to college coaches, playing at two colleges and signing to play pro football. Watch it on YouTube, or listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Nehemiah Carter grew up in Annapolis, played at Old Mill High School, and played college football at Kentucky Christian University and Bluefield University. Carter said he has signed to play for the Pueblo Punishers, a team in the National Arena League, and leaves for Colorado this winter.

Carter joined Moderately Mic’d for Episode 12 to talk about family and faith, sending hundreds of emails to college coaches, starting over at a new school, and what the path to professional football looks like for players who are not drafted. “If you put the preparation and the time in, it will always show, right? Cream always rises to the top,” Carter said.

God, family, football

“I am the oldest of four boys,” Carter said, describing himself in three words: “God, family, football.” Carter said he grew up in a rough neighborhood in Annapolis, and that his mother and grandparents kept him away from trouble. His mother’s rule, Carter said, was “streetlights on, you better be in the house.”

Carter said his grandparents had him in church every Sunday. “My grandmother, she didn’t play,” Carter said. Carter said he did not have a father growing up, and that his grandfather “played that father figure for a long time for me.”

Carter said he knew by about age 12 that football was what he wanted. “I wanted to be a pro,” Carter said. He said football also became an outlet when times were rough.

Old Mill, wrestling and 300 emails

At Old Mill, Carter said he played running back and linebacker on JV until he rolled his ankle in a scrimmage, after which his coach stopped giving him the ball. Carter said he moved to safety late in his sophomore season because he was not big enough to play linebacker. “I’ve been playing safety ever since,” Carter said. Bluefield’s roster lists Carter as a defensive back from Annapolis and Old Mill.

Carter also wrestled at Old Mill. “The discipline that comes with wrestling is like no other,” Carter said, describing days when he barely ate so he could make weight.

Carter said he wishes someone had told him in high school how much rejection recruiting involves. Between his junior and senior years, Carter said, he “probably sent about 300 emails” to head coaches, position coaches and recruiting coordinators. “All you need is one chance,” Carter said. “You just need one shot.”

Kentucky, then Bluefield

Carter said he played as a true freshman at Kentucky Christian, then came home when COVID hit and started emailing coaches again. Carter said Bluefield’s coach told him he would love to have him, and that he committed without a visit. “I just was like, I’m coming,” Carter said.

Carter said he arrived at Bluefield immature, late to meetings, and ineligible at first because not all of his credits transferred from Kentucky. “I was very childish,” Carter said. Carter said his defensive backs coach told him to get it together. “I had to mature and I had to do it really, really fast,” Carter said.

Carter said he went from starting at Kentucky Christian to the bottom of the depth chart at Bluefield, and took it personally. He said things changed the spring before his senior season, when Bluefield changed defensive coordinators and he set a goal of two or three big plays every practice. “I took off,” Carter said.

Carter said the most memorable play of his college career was an 88-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in a season opener, on a kick he said was meant for a teammate. The teammate still reminds him of it, Carter said. So does an interception against Pikeville that Carter said he returned about 60 yards before tripping around the 5-yard line. Carter said a teammate posted the clip for his 25th birthday in September.

Carter said Kentucky Christian and Bluefield both played Division I opponents, and that the game is mostly the same at every level. “The biggest difference probably is like the lineman,” Carter said.

The road after college

Carter said he had a pro day at Bluefield, then sent out his film and pro day numbers and looked for an agent. He said the first agency did not get him anywhere before he found another agent. Carter said he works out four or five times a week. “I was always trying to stay ready so I didn’t have to get ready,” Carter said.

“I thought it was either like the NFL or nothing,” Carter said of what he knew in high school. Carter said he is the first in his immediate family to go through the process, so he figured it out on his own, and learned that teams play in Europe, Germany, Mexico and several U.S. leagues.

Not every opportunity held. Carter said his previous agency told him he had a contract to play in the LFA, and that about two weeks before he was set to fly out, the team said it no longer wanted him. “So it’s real cutthroat, right? It’s a business,” Carter said.

Carter said he learned of the Pueblo opportunity while sitting at a draft table with his family at an RPFL draft, and broke the news to them at dinner that night. The Pueblo Punishers are a professional indoor football team in Pueblo, Colorado. KOAA reported that the team would join the National Arena League at the start of the 2026 season, with home games at the Southwest Motors Events Center. Carter said he expects to leave sometime after Christmas, with camp in January and the season running until about June.

“I want to play in the NFL one day,” Carter said, naming the NFL and the CFL among the leagues he hopes to reach.

Coaching, and what comes next

Carter said he is currently a JV defensive coordinator and helps coach varsity defensive backs. “I went from like being one of the chess pieces to controlling a whole chess board,” Carter said. Carter said he wants to become a high school head coach or a college defensive backs coach when his playing career ends.

Carter said one lesson came after his senior season at Old Mill ended with a loss that kept the team out of the playoffs. Carter said his defensive coordinator told him he had more football ahead, and that he should be there for teammates whose careers had just ended.

Carter said he wants his name to stand for “somebody that worked hard and accomplished their dreams,” so that people who are told they cannot do something can point to him.

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