Alex Carder

Alex Carder (born October 22, 1989) is an American professional football quarterback for the West Michigan Ironmen of the American Arena League (AAL). He was signed as a free agent by the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He was formerly the starting quarterback at Western Michigan University.

Early life Carder was born in Springfield, Missouri in 1989. He attended Shawnee Mission Northwest High School in Shawnee, Kansas where he was selected as an All-Sunflower League player three consecutive seasons. He passed for 3,457 yards and rushed for another 524 yards as the quarterback for SMNW's football team. He also received two varsity letters in baseball and one in basketball.

College career Carder was the backup quarterback as a redshirt freshman in 2009 and the starting quarterback in the 2010 through 2012 seasons. As a sophomore in 2010, Carder completed 289 of 458 passes for 3,334 yards, 30 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. In November 2011, Carder was responsible for eight touchdowns (seven passing and one rushing) in a 66–63 loss to the Toledo Rockets. His seven passing touchdowns against Toledo set a new Mid-American Conference (MAC) record, and his 548 passing yards in the game set a new Western Michigan record. He was selected as a finalist for the 2011 FRS QB Performance of the Year.

Carder's senior season was derailed when he sustained an injury in his throwing hand against Connecticut, though he was able to come back to play the final two games of the season.

Statistics Year Team Passing Rushing 2009 Western Michigan 5 7 71.4 27 3.9 0 0 103.8 8 16 2.0 0 2010 Western Michigan 289 458 63.1 3,334 7.3 30 12 140.6 109 226 2.1 6 2011 Western Michigan 330 502 65.7 3,873 7.7 31 14 145.3 128 270 2.1 4 2012 Western Michigan 145 248 58.5 1,652 6.7 13 10 123.7 40 88 2.2 0 Career 769 1,215 63.3 8,886 7.3 74 36 138.9 285 600 2.1 10 Source:

Professional career Carder was rated the 20th best quarterback in the 2013 NFL draft by NFLDraftScout.com.

Detroit Lions After going undrafted in the 2013 NFL draft, Carder was signed on April 27 as an unrestricted free agent by the Detroit Lions. He was released May 29.

Iowa Barnstormers On February 5, 2014, Carder was assigned to the Iowa Barnstormers of the Arena Football League. Carder was placed on league suspension on March 12, 2014.

Nashville Venom Carder was allowed to sign with the Nashville Venom of the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) on March 12, 2014, when the Barnstormers placed him on league suspension. After leading the Venom to a 3–0 start, Carder was placed on the AFL-Exempt list by the Venom.

Jacksonville Sharks On April 24, 2014, Carder was assigned to the Jacksonville Sharks. After playing in parts of 3 games, and completing 2 of 3 passes for 19 yards, Carder was placed on other league exempt on June 9, 2014.

Ottawa Redblacks Once placed on the other league exempt list by the Sharks, Carder signed with the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He dressed for two games during his first season in the CFL but did not see any playing time. Carder was released on May 1, 2015.

Portland Thunder On May 25, 2015, Carder was traded to the Portland Thunder for claim order positioning.

Guangzhou Power Carder was selected by the Guangzhou Power in the nineteenth round of the 2016 CAFL draft and was the backup to J. J. Raterink during the 2016 season. Carder also served as the team's placekicker.

West Michigan Ironmen In 2016, Carder signed with the West Michigan Ironmen. On February 23, 2017, he re-signed with the Ironmen. He played in 12 games for the Ironmen in 2017, completing 169 of 282 passes for 1,845 yards, 30 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He earned First-team All-Northern Conference honors. As of 2024, Carder has been the starting quarterback for the Ironmen for every season since 2016 except the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season.

AFL statistics Year Team Passing Rushing 2014 Jacksonville 2 3 66.7 19 0 0 84.03 1 1 02015 Portland 21 39 53.8 305 6 4 78.42 4 33 0 Career 23 42 54.8 324 6 4 75.99 5 34 0