How Alabama A&M’s Carson Vinson learned to love life on the blind side
Offensive lineman Carson Vinson, pictured at Alabama A&M University's Milton Frank Stadium, is a dominating player and NFL prospect. (Solomon Crenshaw Jr. / Alabama News Center)
Carson Vinson says he didn’t grow up in Morrisville, N.C., dreaming about being an offensive lineman.
“I wanted to play quarterback,” the Alabama A&M offensive left tackle said. “To be honest, and I’ll speak for all linemen, nobody really grows up wanting to be an offensive lineman. That’s just something that you’re kind of given, and then you learn to love it.”
Everybody wants to score touchdowns, and Vinson was no different.
“I thought I was going to play wide receiver,” he said. “I used to go to camps to play wide receiver when I was young. I used to refuse (to play on the line). Offensive line is something you’re forced into but you end up loving. I love offensive line.”
And people who pay close attention to the intricacies of the gridiron love the way Vinson performs his craft. An HBCU BOXTOROW All-American Second Team honoree, he anchored one of the best offensive lines in the conference in 2023, helping the Bulldogs offense average 374.6 yards per game, including 221.1 yards per game in the air. That offensive unit was tops in the Southwestern Athletic Conference in red zone offense.
The 6-foot-6, 305-pound senior was named to Phil Steele’s All-SWAC Preseason Teams and selected to the 2025 Reese’s Senior Bowl Watch List and the 2025 Shrine Bowl 1000 Watchlist. He could be selected in the spring 2025 National Football League Draft.
Vinson’s skills will be on display at Birmingham’s Legion Field on Saturday, Oct. 26, as he and his Alabama A&M Bulldogs face the Alabama State Hornets in the 83rd annual McDonald’s Magic City Classic presented by Coca-Cola.
Head Coach Connell Maynor said you must have your best offensive lineman at left tackle if you’ve got a right-handed quarterback.
“He protects the quarterback’s back,” the coach said. “He can’t see, so he has to be able to trust that he can look down the field at his wide receivers and know that you’re gonna block the (onrushing defender). The guy’s not gonna hit him in his back. On most teams, your best blocker’s gonna be your left tackle.”
Maynor knows what he is talking about. He was a quarterback in his playing days and fondly remembers his left tackle, Tyrone Brown.
“Like I said, he’s got to protect his back,” the coach said. “He’s one of his favorite players because he’s trusting him. The center, too, because you’ve got to get the ball from him every play, and then the left tackle.”
Alabama A&M Coach Connell Maynor has great confidence in offensive lineman Carson Vinson. (Alexis Blue / Alabama A&M Athletics)
Bulldogs quarterback Xavier Lankford has a close friendship with his left tackle, Vinson.
Alabama A&M quarterback Xavier Lankford says Carson Vinson has his back. (Solomon Crenshaw Jr. / Alabama News Center)
“Oh, man, Carson, he’s been with me since literally day one,” Lankford said. “We got to campus on the same day, five years ago, man, and we’ve grown ever since. We’ve done a lot together these last five years, a lot of great memories on and off the field. We were on the fifth floor of Foster (Mamie Foster Hall) together and now we’re making plays together our last year. Of course, Carson definitely has a special place in my heart.
“Carson’s got my blind side,” the signal-caller continued. “I wouldn’t want anybody else in the country on my blind side, having my back. Yeah, Carson is that guy.”
Left tackle is an obscure position in the eyes of most football fans. The position was placed in the spotlight in the 2009 movie “The Blind Side,” which depicts the story of Michael Oher, a football offensive lineman who overcame an impoverished upbringing to play in the NFL.
Vinson has seen the movie at least twice.
“They exaggerate a lot of stuff,” he said of the portrayal, “but that stuff about ‘taking somebody to the bus,’ that happens, and I do accomplish that multiple times.”
Vinson explains that “taking somebody to the bus” describes a dominating block against a defender, “when you just drive a guy as far as you want him to go.”
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Alabama A&M recruited Vinson out of North Carolina, plucking him from under Power 5 schools like the North Carolina Tar Heels, the North Carolina State Wolfpack and the Duke Blue Devils. Maynor said the player’s father knew him and his brother.
“He came on a visit. He liked it and his daddy told him, ‘That’s where you’re going,’” the coach recalled. “‘You’re going to A&M to play for Coach Maynor.’”
Like so many in this era of the transfer portal and NIL deals, Vinson had chances to leave for other schools. He declined them all.
“He could have made a little money last year and he chose to stay because he cares about this program,” Maynor said. “He cares about me. He’s loyal. He’s one of the few loyal players still in America today and he’s reaping the benefits.
“He’s had every NFL team come and look at him this year,” the coach said. “He’s gonna get drafted in this year’s draft. All 32 teams have been here to look at him because he stayed where he was. He made his name where he’s at and he stayed and now everybody’s coming.”
Offensive lineman Carson Vinson during Alabama A&M’s game with the Auburn Tigers. (Alabama A&M Athletics)
Vinson admits that he’s dreamed of making it to the NFL. But he’s careful not to be distracted.
“That’s one thing you always aspire to be as a kid growing up,” he said. “That’s what you always want to do, and that’s what you always dream for. But I think it’s also important just to be at where your feet’s at. I don’t really look too far in the future.
“There’s a lot of stuff going around, a lot of external factors, but I really just like to stay grounded and stay where I’m at and focus on what I got going on,” the urban planning major said. “Everything else, God willing, it’ll take care of itself.”
