In his first NFL season as a member of the Cleveland Browns, Carson has cemented himself as a building block for the future of the defense. Earning the responsibility of wearing the green dot in games during training camp — acting as the defensive signal caller — Carson quickly stepped into a vital role as their starting middle linebacker.

LB Jerome Baker noticed from the first day that Carson was at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus around the team that he carried himself as a professional. Baker heard Carson's collegiate backstory and his journey to the NFL, and witnessed how his experience shaped him into the professional that he displays each day.

"Off the field and on the field, it's like two different people in my opinion," Baker said. "Off the field, man, he's like a sponge, man. He's just trying to find his way. He's very observant of everything. He's just a smart, smart individual. Very clever. [...] He's a genuine person that you just want to be around."

Carson has also quickly established himself as one of the top rookies in the league as well as an elite linebacker — and a frontrunner for Defensive Rookie of the Year. He is leading all NFL rookies in tackles and tackles for a loss, and is tied for second in interceptions. He is also one of two NFL rookies to record multiple interceptions and sacks this season.

His two interceptions are the most by a Browns rookie since CB Denzel Ward recorded three in 2018. Carson has also recorded double-digit tackles in six games this season, including each of the past five games, the longest current streak in the NFL. He was named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month for November, as he led all NFL rookies with 39 tackles and six tackles for loss for the month despite the Browns only playing four games. He was the only NFL rookie to record at least one tackle for loss in each game in November.

"I think his personality is perfect for what you want in a linebacker," Baker said. "Off the field, he listens and kind of just does everything right. On the field, he just turns into a monster. He's just a different beast. You can really tell he's just focused on the little things. I think his play on the field is a testimony of just who he is. So, like I always say, he's going to be my Defensive Rookie of the Year, no matter if he gets the award or not, but I think it's pretty clear what he got coming for the rest of his career."

In order to make it to the NFL, Carson first had to pick up football at the age of five. His early memories consist of playing flag football at the park with his older brother, Ethan. Carson then joined a flag football team, and since then, he hasn't stopped. He started playing tackle football at the age of eight on the same team as Ethan – who is two years older.

"Growing up like me and my brother were always going at it, whatever sport we could do," Carson said. "So, I think that definitely helped me. I figured out ways to win even when I wasn't the biggest or the strongest and things like that. But even playing up with older guys was good experience."

Their father, Dennis, coached their tackle football team, and was Carson's football coach from the age of eight until high school.

"I think it was great for him to have his older brother, and they were always really competitive," Dennis said. "So, for him, it was just always fighting, whether it was throwing routes in the backyard or whatever we were doing just for practice. He was always just competing with his older brother, trying to be the best out there. […] He just had a love for the game that from the time he was in football – he loved all sports – but football was his passion, and he loved everything about it. He looked forward to the practices, and that has followed him all the way up."

As the middle child of five, and his four siblings also involved in sports, Carson spent countless hours at sporting events throughout his childhood. During breaks at his brother's games, Carson would run on the field and throw fade balls in the end zone with Ryan Staub – now the quarterback at Colorado – until they were kicked off the field by the referees. At the next timeout, they would be back out on the field.

Jordan, Payton, Carson, Weston and Ethan – with only seven-year age difference between the five of them – developed their sibling relationships at a young age and have fostered them throughout their lives.

When Ethan and Carson were both in high school, Ethan tore his ACL and stayed on the couch the first night following the surgery. When Diana went downstairs during the night to check on Ethan, she saw Carson asleep on the floor next to his brother.

"He didn't even say, this is what I'm doing," Diana said. "And then I talked about the next day, and he goes, 'I didn't want him to be by himself.' And I thought, 'You have no idea.' Like, he doesn't see it. I see it as a mom. And our older son was like, 'Yeah that was really cool of him to do.'"

They have a sibling group chat that they frequently text in. For Jordan's 21^st birthday, she wanted to attend the Browns' game against the Patriots in order to see Carson play. As a surprise, Payton and her husband flew up to Foxborough, Mass., and also attended the game with Diana and Dennis.

Whether through playing "school" growing up with his oldest sister Payton or their family road trip to see 42 states, to playing board games on family vacations, their bond formed through shared experiences and time spent together throughout their childhoods and into their adult lives.

"Siblings are really the only people you know for your whole life. So, I think those bonds are important. And I've been blessed to have great siblings," Carson said. "I was the one who caused problems, but now it's always great. I'm able to talk to them all every week and so that's always great. And see them at a lot of the games too. Having those relationships are always great because I always have at the very least, four people who are always going to have my back and be my biggest supporters. And hopefully, I'm the same way for them."

That connection with his siblings stems forward with his parents. Diana and Dennis have attended each Browns' game of the 2025 season – both home and away. Over the course of his playing career from youth football through collegiate, Diana and Dennis have rarely missed a game – able to count on one hand the number of games they have each missed.

And before each game, Carson sends a simple text message to his mom, his only pregame ritual that first began when he was playing at UCLA during his sophomore year. Diana has an album on her phone filled with screenshots of the pregame texts Carson has sent her.

The message varies from week to week, but one constant line finds its way into each text – "love you momma."

His journey on the field has taken twists and turns from grade school to the NFL. Growing up, Carson played both offense and defense. He continued that trend in high school, playing wide receiver or tight end, as well as safety.

Halfway through high school, though, Carson had a decision to make. He had attended a small Christian school since kindergarten, but their football program was changing to eight-man football. With aspirations to play football in college and the NFL, Carson changed schools to attend Oaks Christian, which had a large football program.

There, he continued to play both receiver and tight end for the last two years of high school. With the timing of Carson's last year of high school during the COVID pandemic, recruiting was limited. He had expressed interest in UCLA from an academic standpoint, and with a connection from his former high school football coach, Carson earned a preferred walk-on spot at UCLA in 2021.

"For him, it was just a realization that the only way that you're going to make it here is if you make a name for yourself, because right now, you have nothing," Dennis said. "And you're competing against guys that are going to get more reps, and get all the attention, and you just got to find a way. And so, that was his mindset from the beginning. The message he got from us, was just you got your foot in there and just outwork them, outthink them and outperform them. And make it until they realize that they can't keep you on the bench. And so, he did that."

As Carson competed for his spot, he also was learning a new position. Heading into his first year, he knew because of his size and frame that he would play as a linebacker. However, after playing both sides of the ball throughout high school, he was dedicated to fully playing linebacker for the first time as he worked on the scout team during the 2021 season.

While at UCLA, Carson also earned a degree in bio engineering, an area of focus he was interested and wanted to be prepared with a degree after football. Carson said balancing the workload of his bio engineering classes, as well as football practices, helped refine his work ethic.

But his work ethic and skillset earned him a scholarship ahead of his sophomore year in 2022.

"(Former head coach Chip Kelly) brought up, I think, five or six guys, and a lot of them were six-year guys who they were getting the scholarship too for the last year," Carson said. "And then I was part of that group. And he just told the group in front of the team that we were on scholarships. It was pretty cool. The team all rushed us. It was pretty cool, but really, the best part was being able to call my parents and tell them. And then it was over pretty quick, though. From that it's like, all right, now how do I get onto the field more."

Even after earning the scholarship, though, he fought for playing time. Former special teams coordinator Ikaika Malloe gave Carson an opportunity first to play on special teams his first season on scholarship.

In both 2022 and 2023, Carson played in all 13 games as a reserve linebacker and a member of special teams. He finished the 2022 season with 15 tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss. A year later, he ended the 2023 season with 12 tackles, two tackles for loss and one sack.

"He got kicked out of a couple of practices by Chip Kelly because he was blowing up their offense," Dennis said. "He was on scout defense, and they accused him of knowing the calls and everything. And the players knew, and the coaches knew, but they couldn't say anything to Chip. And so, it ended up long-term that one of those coaches that was coaching the running backs was (DeShaun) Foster. And so as soon as he got the head coach – he was the one who gave Carson the opportunity because he had been watching him all the time."

When assistant head coach and inside linebackers coach Scott White returned to UCLA in February 2024, he immediately took notice of Carson. He watched how Carson did not miss a practice and how the performance staff regularly had to tell the coaching staff Carson had the highest player load and needed to come off the field. But White saw a competitor in Carson.

"And (I) start to dig into it a little bit more, and you hear the stories, the backstories of him being a walk on, and him not playing that much and being more of a special teams kind of guy and was on the scout team. And I'm watching him early on, and everybody in my mind had a fresh slate," White said. "And I remember, because the scouts would come by in the spring, and I remember telling the scouts, 'You guys are going to come back for this number 49 guy.'"

From the first game of the 2024 season when UCLA faced Hawaii, White noted a different edge to Carson – the same game that put Carson on Browns linebackers coach Jason Tarver's radar. As the ball broke down the sideline, Carson caught up and made a critical tackle to save a touchdown. Then late in the game, Carson punched the ball out to force the fumble as time expired and seal the 16-13 win for UCLA.

"And he waited a long time for that moment, and you could just see it," White said. "It wasn't too big. It just seemed like he couldn't wait to show everybody what he already knew. He's just special that way."

Then in Week 3 against LSU, Carson earned his first career start and became the full-time starting middle linebacker. Carson started 10 games throughout the 2024 season and played in a total of 12 on the season. He recorded 136 total tackles and led the nation with 90 solo tackles with an average of 7.5 solo tackles per game. He also added four sacks, two interceptions, 8.5 tackles for loss, one blocked punt and one forced fumble during the 2024 season.

White said in the final game of the season against Fresno State, on Senior Day, he watched how Carson played with the same competitive spirit as he had throughout the season. He finished the game with 15 tackles and one sack.

"I remember there was a time in that game, it was towards the end, and he came off to the side after a series," White recalled. "It was later on in the game, and we usually will talk on the iPad and go over some stuff. I just remember he came and sat down, and he put his head down. And you could just tell he was just having a moment to himself, like this is the last time I'm going to be here. And I noticed it, and I just let him be, let him have his moment. And then after the game, I remember seeing him in the locker room, and I just told him, 'Go, be great.' He was like, 'Yep, I got you.' And that was it."

Following his redshirt junior season, Carson officially declared for the 2025 NFL Draft on Dec. 19, 2024. White said before he made the announcement, Carson stopped into his office at UCLA to tell him. White reiterated the message he had shared with Carson just a few weeks prior – go be great.

"In the short amount of time, the marquee he's left on the program, on the room and the example he set – because we have a lot of young guys still here that were here with him – and you can always point to that," White said. "He's the example. He's the poster child of delayed gratification, because we talk about that a lot in the room and you're not all going to get it exactly when you want it. If you keep staying the course, though, it is possible. Look at Carson. He's just a great dude. I'm so thankful for him because he had a great year last year, and I'm just so proud and happy for all the sustained success and just keep going."

Tarver first met Carson during the 2025 NFL Combine, when Tarver coached the linebacker prospects. After watching his games during the 2024 season, Tarver said he was intrigued not only because Carson attended his alma mater in UCLA, but also because of his skillset as a linebacker – his awareness, power and ability to attack the ball.

But it was later in the draft process that Carson stood out among the rest. During one of the allotted FaceTime interviews, Tarver pulled plays from throughout the 2024 season. Tarver used both positive and negative plays, and he asked Carson what the call was on each specific play.

"And on every play, 'this is the call, this is what we were thinking, this is what I did,'" Tarver said. "The recall was amazing. And so, then I'm like, 'OK, good, he's got that.' And then I challenged him on a few things because he was only a one-year starter, like what do you think about this? And he knew his body well, he knew how to prepare really well for a college one-year starter, which is a tribute to him. And he's still that way. He's what you look for in a professional athlete and a professional in any field because he knows who he is and how hard he needs to work and has a great schedule and process to build his mind to get ready for a game and his body."

Then came the 2025 NFL Draft.

The Schwesingers hosted a small watch party with Carson's family and a few of his closest friends. Once the first round concluded, Diana said they knew he would be picked on the second day.

As they prepared to watch the second day of the draft, they went to take a group picture. Diana was next to Carson, and she looked over to see his head lowered and the phone in his hand on FaceTime with the Browns. On that call, Executive Vice President of Football Operations and General Manager Andrew Berry shared that the Browns would be drafting Carson with the 33^rd overall pick.

Head coach Kevin Stefanski, defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz and Tarver all congratulated him and expressed their excitement about adding Carson to the Browns' defense. As Stefanski said "You're a Cleveland Brown," the room erupted in cheers around Carson.

"That was really the only moment that I kind of was speechless," Carson said. "I didn't know what to say, because it was like, dreams to reality are happening. And so that was definitely cool to share with my family and everything and see everything. If you had told me a year ago, at that time that that's what will be happening, I could have believed you but based off where I was at just in football, that's not what I was expecting. Because, like I said, I was just waiting for an opportunity."

Through his pursuit of an opportunity, Carson has stayed true to himself. His love of Sci-Fi books and theater to building LEGO sets give him different outlets in the midst of his football career.

His music taste covers all genres, from country and rap to musicals – which spills over into his interest of seeing Broadway shows. He has seen productions of "Mamma Mia!," "Wicked" and "Hamilton" – his personal favorite. Carson said he has seen "Hamilton" three times in person and knows the lyrics to every song.

"He knows every single lyric, and he will give you a concert," Diana said. "I have videos of concerts of him sitting in the car with him while he's driving me wherever we were going someplace, and he would play it and just get a whole concert, a whole concert of Carson doing Hamilton."

He finished the Harry Potter novels this year, picking back up where he left off in the series from when he was a kid. He enjoys the Red Rising books and the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies – and built the LEGO Black Pearl.

His parents have witnessed a jokester side to their son, going back to his childhood and carrying through to his adult life. To Dennis, Carson has "a kid heart."

"He's a prankster," Dennis said. "Even now, at his house, Dillon Gabriel and Carson bought these little devices that make cricket noises. And then they went and hid them in Mason Graham's place, and then Carson hid one in Dillon's place. And they took the remote control to Mason's garage. So, they keep opening it. And he's like 'What's going on?' And Mason's alarm keeps going off because it beeps every time the garage door opens. They just like having good old-fashioned fun."

And while his hobbies provide other avenues of interests, Carson is also strongly rooted in faith.

Each game, Carson has a cross drawn in eye black on his cheek. When he runs out onto the field in pregame each game, he heads down to the end zone, kneels and prays before returning to the bench – a moment Diana said he has taken since high school. She noted that during the season opener against the Bengals on Sept. 7, Carson was one of the final defensive players announced. After he was introduced, she watched him run down the length of the field and into the end zone to take that moment before his first regular-season NFL game.

"Whenever you ask him what his things of importance are, he will say, faith, family, football," Diana said. "It's just part of who he is."

Carson's rookie season has had its own journey.

He used rookie minicamp, OTAs and training camp to acclimate to life in the NFL and learn the nuances of the Browns' attack-style defensive scheme. He worked among the group of linebackers to showcase his skillset in their playstyle.

"From day one, he's been making plays on the practice field and sometimes it's not that hard," Stefanski said on Nov. 21. "You just kind of watch what's happening on the field and when a linebacker in offseason program is showing out, that typically means this guy's a pretty good player because it's hard – there's no tackling, there's no run plays and that type of thing. But immediately it was clear that he had a great handle on the X's and O's of football, the cerebral nature of football."

However, with the retirement of Jordan Hicks in July 2025, questions raised about who would wear the green dot. The Browns had options among their linebacker room and worked through who could hold that responsibility for the defense.

During the first week of training camp, Tarver watched Carson make plays in practice and intercept a pass from former quarterback Joe Flacco. That's when he knew Carson could wear the green dot and be the signal caller for the defense.

"Carson has a great ability to stay in the moment," Tarver said. "When you have the green dot, you have to be because you've got to be able to get the team to the next play. So, he performs really well just staying in the process, going to the next play no matter what happens. He's very conscious of what happens, but he can put that away, too. And that is something that every human has to learn in every phase of our lives, but to have that at his age is impressive and special."

From Week 1 of the season, Carson demonstrated his positive impact on the defense. He recorded his first career sack in Week 3 against the Packers and his first career interception in Week 8 against the Patriots.

Then, in Week 8, Carson sustained an ankle injury. However, he did not let the injury slow him down.

"He took the bye week and the week after with a high ankle sprain and never left," Tarver said. "He had the trainers with him the whole time and just absolutely did everything he could to get his body ready. That is amazing and that's a trait of just straight determination. You can't teach that. That's just special."

Carson did not miss a game due to the injury, returning to the field in Week 10 against the Jets following the Browns' bye week. He has continued to play a vital role as the defensive signal caller and positively impact the game.

Carson has started all 14 games this season and has recorded six games with double-digit tackles this season. He leads the Browns with 125 tackles, the most by a Browns rookie since 1999. He also has 10 tackles for loss, seven quarterback hits, 1.5 sacks, three passes defensed and two interceptions on the season.

Schwartz has watched Carson grow in his role wearing the green dot and helping lead the Browns' defense to success. Heading into Week 16, the Browns allow the third-fewest total defensive yards per game, as well as the fewest passing defensive yards per game in the league.

In late November, he shared a compliment with Carson on his command of the defense, one that illustrated just how instrumental he has been to the level of play from their defense.

As Carson's rookie season draws to a close, his progress through his first season and trajectory in the league, paired with his high level of management of the offense, has established his role among the defense – cementing his opportunity.

"The command that Carson has now in a lot of respects took Ray (Lewis') third year in the league," Schwartz said on Nov. 20. "Middle linebacker is hard. Linebacker is a hard position to play for a young player. You have to have all of the run fits; you have to have the physicality to play there. You have to be a productive tackler. You have to know all the blitzes. You have to have all the coverage components. And a lot of times it takes guys sort of piecemeal to put all of that stuff together. […] He's been right in the middle of it, and it's been fun to watch because not only does he do all that stuff well, but he has great command. He's a great leader for us. He's our play caller."