Michael Christopher Minter (born January 15, 1974 in Lawton, Oklahoma) is a current safety for the NFL's Carolina Panthers. Minter attended Lawton High School where he started as running back and free safety. As a back, he led the state with 1,589 yards rushing and 21 touchdowns on 187 carries as a senior. Minter also averaged 21 points per game in basketball. Minter then attended the University of Nebraska, where he was a member of both national championship teams of 1994 and 1995. He redshirted as a true freshman, and played backup freshman year despite recording 21 tackles, two forced fumbles, and one sack. Sophomore year, Minter started the first two games of the season at free safety before tearing his left ACL, which took him out for the rest of the season. He played a key role as the starting strong safety for the 1995 national championship winning team, the first to win consensus back-to-back national championships in 40 years. He recorded 53 tackles, two interceptions, and deflected six passes. This earned him All-Big Eight second-team recognition. In his senior season, Minter started and played the first ten games at safety before moving to linebacker for the final two. He amassed 51 tackles, five interceptions, six deflected passes, and five quarterback rushes, which earned him All-Big 12 first-team honors.

NFL career

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Minter was selected 56th overall by the Carolina Panthers in the second round of the 1997 NFL Draft. He became the starter in the team's sixth game of his rookie season, and has remained there since. In his rookie year he posted 11 starts and finished second among defensive backs with 83 tackles, and also recorded 3.5 sacks, two fumble recoveries, two forced fumbles, 10 passes defensed and four quarterback hurries. In 1998, Minter missed ten games because of a staph infection that developed as a complication of surgery on his left knee. Since that season, Minter has started every game of each year, except in 2001, when he missed the first two games because of an injury. In Carolina's appearance in the Super Bowl vs. the New England Patriots in 2003, Minter ranked second on defense and equalled a career high of 18 tackles. Despite breaking his left foot in the third quarter, he stayed in the rest of the game. Though the Panthers lost that game, Minter proved his value to the team.

Since his first year in the NFL, Minter has received few honors and yet has remained one of the most consistent performers in professional football and one of the Panthers' best leaders. In his 9 years in the NFL, all with the Panthers, Minter has made 790 tackles, 9.5 sacks, 15 forced fumbles, 8 fumble recoveries, 15 interceptions (with 371 yards on the returns, and 4 defensive touchdowns.

1974 births | American football safeties | Carolina Panthers players | Living people | Nebraska Cornhuskers football players | People from Oklahoma