Drafted in the fifth round out of Miami in 1975, Rubin Carter entered the pro ranks as a consensus All-American college defensive tackle. After landing in Colorado, he shifted to nose tackle, serving as the central anchor around which Joe Collier built Denver's legendary 3-4 "Orange Crush" defense.

Lining up directly over center, Carter’s job was unglamorous and relentless: absorb double-teams, destroy interior blocking schemes, and occupy space so linebackers like Randy Gradishar and Tom Jackson could run free to make tackles. In 1977, Sports Illustrated featured him on its cover while touting him as the ideal prototype for a 3-4 nose tackle. That breakout campaign saw him earn Second-Team All-Pro honors while anchoring a defense that carried Denver to its first AFC Championship and Super Bowl XII appearance.

Though nose tackles in 3-4 fronts rarely compiled massive box-score metrics, Carter brought surprising pass-rush push from the interior, posting a career-high 6.0 sacks in 1977 and logging another 6.5 in 1978. His durability in the middle was remarkable; he missed few games and anchored Denver’s front seven across two distinct Super Bowl eras (Super Bowl XII and Super Bowl XXI).

After hanging up his cleats, Carter transitioned to coaching, serving as Denver’s defensive line coach in the late 1980s before enjoying a long coaching career at both the collegiate and NFL levels.  As a player, he had 30 sacks.