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Lost Lettermen: This is Jose Bosch from LostLettermen.com and I’m joined by Penn State’s Ki-Jana Carter, the No. 1 overall draft pick of the 1995 NFL Draft. Mr. Carter, thank you very much for joining us.

You mentioned your injury. That injury happened almost immediately right out of the gate of your professional career. How tough was that for you?

Ki-Jana Carter: It was disappointing. It was a little disappointing because I expected so much. I had goals. I wanted to try and maybe contend for Rookie of the Year but also I made it to the ultimate level you can make it as a football players and I’m at the pinnacle getting ready to go and showcase my talent and something like this keeping from playing one season.

It was definitely tough and I sulked for a day and I had some people around me trying to boost up my spirits but then after the second or third day there’s only two things that you can do. You either make a positive out of this or you can kind of sulk and keep on moping. And that’s not going to do anything because it’s not going to change your injury.

So I just tried to set goals and use it as motivation for the next season.

LL: Around this time of year a lot of websites and TV will look back in time and look back at what draft picks worked out and what didn’t. Not long ago Yahoo! Sports had said that you were the worst all-time first round pick.

Do you think that’s a fair assessment of what happened to you?

KC: I couldn’t really give a rat’s ass what Yahoo! Sports says. I didn’t have a long career but I played over eight years. But with the inactivity, all my stuff was being injured on the field. So it’s not like I did something stupid (inaudible) or did something stupid to end my football career. Every injury I did was playing the sport.

So everyone has their opinion and everyone is entitled to their opinion. But do I think I was the worst? Of course I don’t, but that’s just me. I think if the situation arises and came again – which it won’t – but if it did and I could avoid injuries, I think a lot of people would’ve thought different. But you know what, things happen to certain people for certain reasons. And I can’t complain about it and I can’t worry about what other people are thinking about me.

It comes with the territory of being in the spotlight and being in that draft pick. When you have that pressure, when you’re good, they put you on a pedestal. If you aren’t successful, they’re going to say you’re terrible and those are the things that come with the territory when you’re playing sports. If you don’t like things like that, don’t even play the game.

LL: The “bust” really kinds of come in two molds. There’s the player like you that had the injuries to end their career, then there are also the players that through actions of their own either get injured off the field or allow themselves to fall to things like drugs and alcohol and that derails their career.

For you, looking back on your NFL career, do you ever find it frustrating because it was something that was out of your control whereas the player that might’ve derailed their career can at least say, “Well I caused that”?

KC: That’s that cards I was dealt. I can complain all I want. What if this and what if that. Of course I’m going to be disappointed. But it’s not going to do me good right now, or even back then, to complain because the position I’m in right now, there’s a reason why maybe all the stuff happened to me in football. Maybe it made me a better person. What happened to me might affect young players right now.

Why those things happen to me, I don’t know. But it’s on me to be successful. I’m living, I’m breathing, I’m happy, my family’s happy and that’s all that I can ask for.

LL: With today, the 24-hour news cycle and the constant media coverage of the draft, you mentioned it certainly wasn’t (then) near what it is now. Do you think players are at a greater disadvantage where now you have this 24-hour cycle, this “What have you done for me lately?” attitude, than the pressure you were under?

KC: Like I said, that’s just the territory. News is news. If you go look on the news station, for the most part, nothing positive is ever in the newspaper. Everything you hear is something about negativity. So, you know what, yeah, I got injured and he was a bust, but what if I donated half of my proceeds to my local church or to a charity? Is that worth what I went through? I would think so. I’m not saying that’s what I did, but the good gestures that people do on a day-to-day basis always get overlooked because everyone wants to find something wrong.

For example, Tim Tebow. They want to say what he stands for is remarkable and excellent. But everybody is going to just wait for that one moment that he messes up and say, “See I told you so.” And next thing you know they’re going to run with that throughout the publications.

So all you can do is be yourself and live your life. Everybody’s going to scrutinize, I don’t care who you are. Somebody is always going to have something negative to say about you.

LL: Last question and it seems like you kind of touched on it at the very end of your answer there, but as a No. 1 draft pick, for whomever is going to end up being the first person chosen in the draft this year, what piece of advice would you give them heading into their professional career?

KC: Of course stay focused. Like you were saying, there’s going to be a lot of pressure within that organization that you’re playing at. But it’s a wonderful time of your life because now they’re able to do a lot of good things for people, for their families and for themselves that they weren’t able to do before and just don’t be complacent on making the money you have and then that’s it.

You gotta love the game if you make $1 million or if you made $1. It’s still the same game. And you gotta go with the same drive that got you there.

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Lost Lettermen: This is Jose Bosch from LostLettermen.com and I’m being joined by Penn State’s Ki-Jana Carter, the No. 1 overall draft pick in the 1995 NFL Draft. Mr. Carter thank you very much for joining us.

In the NFL draft you have about 170-180 players drafted but only one player gets to be the No. 1 overall pick. When you finished your last season in college, when do you first get the sense or first get the inclination that you were going to be the No. 1 overall in that year’s draft?

Ki-Jana Carter: It was kind of still up in the air. A lot of buzz was generated throughout my last year at Penn State. And then probably half way through the season a lot of scouts and stuff were coming to our games. And then probably toward the end you started hearing … of course the media was not as big then. But you still hear the buzz on TV that certain teams are looking at certain prospects.

I heard it and I was kind of flabbergasted, I couldn’t believe it. And then I really focused on football, but getting toward the end, like right at the end of the season and going to all the award banquets and award dinners and things like that. The buzz started going that if these players go out; they have a chance at going high.

Even that being said, you still don’t know because even though there’s a Mel Kiper or Todd McShay or whoever it is saying that this person is going to go high, they’re not making the draft pick. So it’s still up to the team. Even then dealing with that I still had to be kind of skeptical and do some due diligence.

Then after my bowl game coach Paterno came up to me and was like, “From what all the people are saying, you’re going to be a top five pick.” And with that knowledge that really changed my life. I figured even if I go top five, you’re somewhat slotted to make extra money, you would think.

Now did I think I was going to be the No. 1 pick? It’s really hard to say because it was still up in the air. Remember back then the Carolina Panthers and the Jacksonville Jaguars were expansion teams and the whole debate was were they going to draft a running back, were they going to trade the pick, were they going to draft Tony Boselli – who was the top lineman – or were they going to draft Kerry Collins. Steve McNair was in there so there was like four or five people that could’ve went anywhere in those first five picks, so I really didn’t know until the day before the draft.

LL: You mentioned before that you had the idea that you were probably going to be a top five pick. When you hear that and you realize that’s going to be a very real possibility, regardless of whether or not you know what pick you’re going to be, how does that change the way you look at life? How does that change the way you approach your football career at that point?

KC: Well football I still approached it the same way. I still loved the game and I still loved playing it and I wanted to be the best I could. It changed my perspective some because you always hear the stories of people coming out of the woodwork. That happened somewhat but I had a good support base to divert that.

But now I was able, had the ability to do things for my mom and my little brother that I wasn’t able to do before. Pay to buy her a house, buy her a car. Get my mom and my brother some nice things that I wasn’t able to do – I’m able to do that without even thinking about it. So that’s basically really the thing that changed.

Of course you always saw there’s more money, there’s more problems and there’s always other things that are involved. But regarding football there’s going to be some pressure, but for me I would go play the game that I love and now the only thing I have to worry about now is doing that and I can take care of my family while I do it.

LL: So the moment that you were drafted No. 1, did you feel any pressure at all, especially with an organization like the Bengals that were looking to get back to where they were in the 80s?

KC: Of course the media is going to be on you and they’re going to have a spotlight on you, but regarding pressure wise, I try to take everything in context. There was a lot of pressure on me at Penn State and of course you can’t say that Penn State and the NFL is similar, but on the same note being at a high caliber program like Penn State, there’s a lot expected of you.

I guess there might be a little sense (of pressure) because me being a home state (player), me being from Ohio and being from Columbus as somebody coming back there. But ever since my first interview I always said I can’t do it by myself.

With a running back, no matter how good you are,  you’re only as good as the five-ten other guys on offense blocking for you. So not to take anything away from the team, but with me I had the misfortune of injuries.

But I didn’t really feel that much added pressure on me because I was always plying the game to my ability. I always put more pressure on myself than anybody else would be able to.

When I played for the New Orleans Saints, I had a staph infection. I had no idea how I contracted it. I didn’t know if it was from the air, the carpet, a towel, the turf, a hard floor or what. But I knew I had it.

I just had the infection on my arm and I’ve got a scar to show for it.

The company is just something that dawned on me, and I had the opportunity.

I majored in business at Penn State. If you asked me a year and a half ago, I wouldn’t have thought about doing this.

I never would’ve thought I’d turn into a scientist/chemist for a cleaning company—knowing all the different pathogens. Now, when people talk about this stuff, I know what they’re saying.

My infection didn’t come from surgery. Although that’s how a lot of athletes get it.

Hospitals are some of the biggest breeding grounds for bacteria like this. Everybody goes to the hospital to get healthy. When you consider the air ducts and ventilation, they don’t quarantine rooms off. So, the air quality in a hospital isn’t good.

We have a spray that can help prevent airborne illness. When it comes from a surgery, it can be from the surface the surgery is being done on or the air.

In surgery, our bodies are exposed all the way down to the bone. It’s not like just scratching the dermis. That’s why it’s so easy for the air quality to affect someone’s immune system.

Look at Joe Jurevicius, a former Penn State teammate of mine. He had five knee surgeries in the last year. His football might be done, and he was a hell of a receiver.

The issue has really come to light once superstars like Tom Brady and Peyton Manning have had staph infections.

Kelvin Winslow Jr. almost died from the infection last year. And the Browns got mad he talked about it. When you’re messing with someone’s life, you don’t want to hide stuff like that.

Everything happens for a reason. Hopefully, I can just be a positive influence with my name and bring a light to the situation.