Oregon wide receiver Darren Carrington burst into national stardom after Oregon’s 59-20 win over the Florida State Seminoles in the 2015 Rose Bowl, when he caught seven of Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota’s passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns.
Carrington figured to play a key role in the Ducks’ game against Ohio State in the inaugural College Football Playoff National Championship.
But a week after his Rose Bowl performance, Carrington made national headlines again – only this time because he’d be forced to miss the biggest game of his life.
Carrington tested positive for marijuana on an NCAA-administered random drug test. He had been tested numerous times before, and said that he hadn’t thought much of it. But when Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich informed him he’d failed the test and been suspended, Carrington broke into tears.
“I wanted to play in the national championship and play with Marcus one more game,” Carrington said. “Honestly, I was just sad because I hurt my family more than anything; I hurt my family name.”
Carrington’s suspension caused him to miss the first half of the 2015 season. He spent several months after the national championship in his house, reading his Bible, praying and keeping to himself to avoid confrontation with others. People he’d never met — and some he knew and cared about — saw him and said things to provoke a reaction from and anger him. People gave him looks when he walked on campus and went to the store.
“People talked about how dumb I am,” Carrington said. “Honestly, it was just sad to see how people react.”
Oregon wide receiver Darren Carrington (87) skips towards the end zone during the second half. The No. 2 Oregon Ducks play the No. 3 Florida State Seminoles at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California on January 1, 2015. (Ryan Kang/Emerald)
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Carrington’s high school highlight tape opens with him making a one-handed, Odell Beckham Jr.-esque catch for a long gain. Later, he hurdles a cornerback on a QB keeper and returns a punt 90 yards for a touchdown on a lateral. Carrington watches this highlight reel, set to the tune of Kirk Franklin’s “I Smile,” the night before every game.
“It just reminds me of what I’m capable of doing,” he said.
This football season, Carrington has tried to act more like he did in high school, when he was “a lot more loose and having more fun.” It seems to be working: he’s caught 25 passes for 502 yards and five touchdowns in his six games.
His first game back in action came against Washington on Oct. 17, and his first catch of the season was a 36-yard touchdown from quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. on the game’s opening drive. He finished with five catches for 125 yards and two scores.
After the game, Carrington addressed the media for the first time since the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1. He answered every question, including the awkward ones about the elephant in the room, with a smile on his face.
“I almost shed a tear, but it was just all smiles,” Carrington said after the game. “You never know how fast it can be gone.”
Carrington later said he always wants to look positive, because no one ever knows what’s behind a smile.
“Some of the people hurting the most just keep a smile on their face to get them through the day,” Carrington said. “And when people see your smile, sometimes it brightens up their day.”
Carrington was raised in San Diego by a family of athletes. His father, also named Darren, was an NFL safety for eight seasons and played in two Super Bowls. His mother, Vickie, ran track and competed in bodybuilding. They met at Northern Arizona University, where they both played collegiately. His two sisters, DiArra and DiJonai, play NCAA Division I women’s basketball, for University of New Orleans and Stanford, respectively.
Since he was 10 years old, Carrington played football and basketball against Oregon defensive back Tyree Robinson and his twin brother Tyrell Robinson, a former Oregon linebacker. Carrington’s father coached his youth teams, while Tyree and Tyrell’s uncle coached theirs.
Oregon recruited all three of them while they were in high school, and Carrington committed early, in his junior year. Carrington had grown up watching his godbrother Jairus Byrd, a first-team all-Pac-10 and three-time Pro Bowl defensive back, play for Oregon, so he always wanted to wear green and yellow.
Carrington and the Robinsons’ mutual family friend, Todd Doxey, also a San Diego-native, played defensive back for Oregon in 2007. Doxey was a star player for nearby Herbert Hoover High School, where his No. 9 football jersey is now retired. When Carrington was in elementary school, he spent hours at his home watching highlights of Doxey on a local TV show called Prep Pigskin Report. Doxey played his freshman year on Oregon’s scout team before his death in a tragic swimming accident in Eugene’s McKenzie River on July 14, 2008.
Carrington, Tyree and Tyrell Robinson came to Oregon as a tribute to Doxey.
“We’re all from San Diego and he didn’t get to finish what he started,” Carrington said. “We were hoping to finish strong for him.”
“We just figured, why not bring the old Lincoln and Horizon talent together and become something special here at Oregon?” Tyree said. “We wanted to come and finish off what [Doxey] wanted to do.”
Carrington, Tyree and Tyrell redshirted their freshman years, but Tyrell left after one season. Tyree and Carrington — the “third” Robinson brother — decided to stay.
“Things changed with my brother’s situation, but me and Darren stuck it out, and everything’s paying off,” Tyree said.
Carrington and Tyree started contributing in regular season games as redshirt freshmen in 2014. In 10 games, Carrington hauled in 37 balls for 704 yards and four touchdowns. But after the Rose Bowl, Carrington didn’t play in a game for 10 months because of his suspension, which stimulated controversy over the NCAA’s marijuana testing policies.
Carrington’s sample barely exceeded the NCAA limit of 5 nanograms (ng) of THC, marijuana’s primary ingredient. By comparison, the National Football League’s threshold is 35 ng, Major League Baseball’s is 50 ng, and World Anti-Doping Agency’s is 150 ng.
Mason Tvert, the director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project, called the NCAA’s levels “very, very low,” and told Sports Illustrated, “Someone could fail even if they last used days or possibly weeks ago.”
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During the offseason, Carrington mostly talked to his old friends from high school, trying to remember the good times. He got used to blocking out the noise and learned not to let one part of his life take control. People still make comments about the failed test to him, but Carrington just smiles back.
“If you don’t have haters, you’re not doing something right,” he laughed.
Since his return, Carrington leads the team in receiving yards and Oregon has gone 6-0, outscoring its opponents by 10 points per game on average. Coming off a 52-42 Civil War victory on Friday, the Ducks are hopeful for a spot in a New Year’s Six bowl game. They’re 16-0 in games in which Carrington catches a pass.
“I’ve been really happy with his attitude and effort,” wide receivers coach Matt Lubick told the Register-Guard. Lubick said it’s natural for players who know they won’t be taking the field each week to put less effort in during practice, but that Carrington was “the exact opposite” during his suspension.
Although the suspension was a low point, Carrington said it was also a high point because it made him stronger as a person and hungrier on the field. He’s embarrassed, but not ashamed.
“When you fall, you can get back up,” Carrington said. “You’ve just got to stay focused.”
Follow Kenny Jacoby on Twitter @KennyJacoby