Const. Yannick Carter’s greatest memory while playing in the CFL is the day he was just a rookie with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2007 and the team won the Grey Cup.

“I remember as soon as the game ended the confetti started falling and I ran up into the stands and was hugging my Mom and Dad. It was a dream for me to play professional football and it wasn’t until that game that it hit me that I finally made it,” says Const. Carter.

After playing with the Roughriders for two years, Const. Carter was traded to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and later played with the Calgary Stampeders. 

Professional football was Const. Carter’s passion until he retired from the physically demanding sport in 2014. Only two years later he was presented with the opportunity to enter the second career of his dreams.

While working at a bank in Calgary, trying to figure out the rest of his future, he was approached by a customer who happened to be a recruiting officer with the Calgary Police Service.

“He started talking to me about policing and before I knew it, I was applying. I wish I had done it sooner, right after leaving football I should have gone into policing,” he says.

Const. Carter applied for the Calgary Police Service and the Edmonton Police Service at the same time and was accepted into Recruit Training at EPS in 2016.

In May, Const. Carter, who was known in the CFL as a hard-hitting linebacker, was recognized for his leadership and dedication in football by being inducted into the Wilfrid Laurier “Legends of Laurier Football” hall of fame. The University honors one Golden Hawk from each decade of the program’s history and Const. Carter took the 2000 to 2009 spot.

“It was something I never thought about, so when I got a call about the recognition, I was completely caught off guard. I didn’t think my game had that much impact on the program, so it was a true honor to be recognized and to know that someone else saw that it was worthwhile,” says Const. Carter.

During the Golden Hawks Football Dinner where he received the award, Const. Carter found out about records he had set that he wasn’t aware of previously, such as his seven-season sack record while playing at Laurier. 

A confident 6’1”, Const. Carter describes himself as a gentle giant who enjoys working with youth.

He hopes to set some new personal records in his career as a police officer, pointing out that one of his goals on the list is to become a School Resource Officer.

Even though football and policing are entirely different professions, there is one skill from football that has served him well, he says.

“In football you’re counting on 11 other guys to do their job and if they don’t something can go wrong for the entire team, and everyone gets held accountable for a loss. You have to work as a team. It’s important that you do your job, so you don’t let your teammates down and to step up when things don’t go as expected.”

Const. Carter has worked in patrol at Northwest Division since 2017, and just recently joined Squad 1 in Southwest Division.