Mel Carver
| No. 28, 30 | |||||||||||||||
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| Position | Running back | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | July 14, 1959 Pensacola, Florida, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 221 lb (100 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school | Encinal (Alameda, California) | ||||||||||||||
| College | Laney (1978–1979) UNLV (1980–1981) | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1982: undrafted | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
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* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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Melvin J. Carver (born July 14, 1959) is an American former professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Indianapolis Colts. He played college football for the Laney Eagles and the UNLV Rebels.
College career
Carver played college football for the Laney Eagles from 1978 to 1979 and the UNLV Rebels from 1980 to 1981.[1] In his two seasons at UNLV he rushed 158 times for 857 yards and six touchdowns. Carver also caught 22 passes for 153 yards and three receiving touchdowns.[2]
Professional career
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
After not being selected in the 1982 NFL draft, Carver signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent.[1] He played in nine games his rookie year, compiling 229 rushing yards on 70 attempts, four receptions, 48 receiving yards and two total touchdowns.[3][4]
Carver's second season was his best playing in all 16 games, starting in nine, rushing 114 times for 348 yards, 32 receptions for 262 yards and one reception.[5]
His 1984 campaign was cut short after five games, going on the injured reserve list on October 3, 1984.[6] Carver rushed 11 times for 44 yards and caught 3 passes for 27 yards.[7]
Carver was released by the Buccaneers on September 16, 1985.[8] He played in two games but did not record any statistics.[9]
Indianapolis Colts (first stint)
Carver signed with the Indianapolis Colts on June 27, 1986 but was released on August 11, 1986.[1][10]
Indianapolis Colts (second stint)
Carver signed with the Colts again on October 13, 1987, playing one game, where he rushed two times for three yards, before he was released on November 2, 1987.[11][1]
He signed a reserve/future contract with the Colts on December 3, 1987. Carver was released as part of roster cut downs on August 29, 1988.[1]
NFL career statistics
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Bold | Career high |
Regular season
| Year | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | ||
| 1982 | TB | 9 | 1 | 70 | 229 | 3.3 | 1 | 4 | 46 | 11.5 | 1 |
| 1983 | TB | 16 | 9 | 114 | 348 | 3.1 | 0 | 32 | 262 | 8.2 | 1 |
| 1984 | TB | 5 | 1 | 11 | 44 | 4.0 | 0 | 3 | 27 | 9.0 | 0 |
| 1985 | TB | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1987 | IND | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Career | 33 | 11 | 197 | 624 | 3.2 | 1 | 39 | 335 | 9.6 | 2 | |
Playoffs
| Year | Team | Games | Rushing | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | ||
| 1982 | TB | 1 | 1 | 7 | 12 | 1.7 | 0 |
| Career | 1 | 1 | 7 | 12 | 1.7 | 0 | |
References
- ^ a b c d e "Mel Carver Pro Football Stats, Position, College, Draft, Transactions". Pro Football Archives. Retrieved September 25, 2025.
- ^ "Melvin Carver College Stats, School, Draft, Gamelog, Splits". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved September 25, 2025.
- ^ "Mel Carver 1982 Game Logs | The Football Database". FootballDB.com. Retrieved September 25, 2025.
- ^ "Mel Carver, Tampa Bay Buccaneers". www.bucpower.com. Retrieved September 25, 2025.
- ^ "Mel Carver 1983 Game Logs | The Football Database". FootballDB.com. Retrieved September 25, 2025.
- ^ "TimesMachine: Friday October 5, 1984 - NYTimes.com". The New York Times. October 5, 1984. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 25, 2025.
- ^ "Mel Carver 1984 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 25, 2025.
- ^ "TimesMachine: Tuesday September 17, 1985 - NYTimes.com". The New York Times. September 17, 1985. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 25, 2025.
- ^ "Mel Carver 1985 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 25, 2025.
- ^ "TimesMachine: Tuesday August 12, 1986 - NYTimes.com". The New York Times. August 12, 1986. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 25, 2025.
- ^ "Mel Carver 1987 Game Logs | The Football Database". FootballDB.com. Retrieved September 25, 2025.