Senior receiver C.J. Carroll opts to conclude football careerSenior receiver C.J. Carroll opts to conclude football career
Football

Senior receiver C.J. Carroll opts to conclude football career


BLACKSBURG – Head coach Justin Fuente confirmed Friday that senior WR C.J. Carroll has informed him of his decision to step away from the playing field in order to get fully healthy. After playing in 13 games in 2016, Carroll was limited to seven games a year ago and re-aggravated his foot injury in Saturday's game against Notre Dame.
 
"Our team and our entire football and athletic training staff has the utmost respect for the way C.J. has worked and battled to keep playing through this injury," Fuente said. "Unfortunately, C.J., his family and our medical team all agree that the only way he can fully healthy is to rest and rehab without competing. While I know C.J. very much wanted to finish his senior year on the field with his teammates, we will always appreciate his many contributions to our program at Virginia Tech and know that he'll continue supporting our squad the remainder of the season."
 
Carroll (5-8, 173) returned eight punts for 54 yards (6.8 avg.) this season, including a career-long 20-yard effort vs. Notre Dame. In total, he played in 24 career games (two starts) after originally joining the squad as a walk-on. He later earned a scholarship and went on to catch 33 passes for 415 yards with one touchdown. He also registered 21 punt returns for 156 yards, in addition to 14 rushing attempts for 45 yards. His career-long 62-yard reception at Notre Dame in 2016 wearing Frank Beamer's No. 25 jersey helped spark a 34-31 comeback victory for the Hokies.
 
A prep standout at Baltimore's Our Lady of Good Council High School, he was a teammate of former Tech and current Kansas City Chiefs CB Kendall Fuller. The connection with the Fuller family helped get Carroll on the radar of Tech's coaching staff and after redshirting in 2014, he got on the field for two games in 2015 to begin his career in Blacksburg.