'I want that damn carpet': How a Baltimore student became the NFL's go-to rug maker

The Baltimore Ravens were coasting.

They garnered complete 500 yards while holding the Seattle Seahawks to conscionable 151, dominating for a 37-3 triumph successful November 2023. Lamar Jackson outgained Seattle himself, accounting for 247 yards arsenic he embarked connected different MVP-winning season.

Baltimore had recovered a groove. The triumph marked the Ravens' 4th straight, strengthening their lawsuit arsenic a Super Bowl contender.

As Jackson roamed the sideline, thing successful the crowd piqued his interest.

Hours earlier, Ravens instrumentality head Jordan Brown had been approached by Gordon Cartnail, a Ravens fan, pinch a civilization rug for Jackson. Handmade utilizing acrylic yarn, it depicted Jackson successful a throwing motion. Cartnail made it pinch the volition of giving it to the Ravens backmost astatine a crippled and told Brown astir it.

"He's my favourite subordinate successful the NFL. Favorite jock of each time, basically," Cartnail told ESPN.

Brown grabbed Jackson and pointed retired Cartnail, who stood grinning receptor to receptor successful the stands while proudly boasting the rug. Brown explained that Cartnail was going to springiness it to him, but earlier Brown could decorativeness his sentence, Jackson interrupted.

"I want that," he said. "Tell his ass. I want that damn carpet."

And Jackson sewage that damn carpet. Brown grabbed it for the two-time MVP, who recovered Cartnail aft the game, dapped him up, signed his jersey and thanked him.

NFL Films posted the full sideline speech of Jackson spotting the rug and it quickly went viral connected societal media. The jubilation successful the quarterback's guidance is precisely why Cartnail knits.

The Houston Texans flew Cartnail retired to NRG Stadium to present a rug for C.J. Stroud, who stopped successful his tracks to admit the work.

"The Texans DMed maine connected Instagram from the existent Texans page themselves," he recalled. "They said they wanted to do C.J., truthful I sent them a mates of ideas. We agreed connected a photo, and past I made the rug. They flew maine out, I met them astatine the game, talked to them connected the sideline, and yea -- it was conscionable wholly crazy. That was my first clip ever being connected a level and everything. It was amazing."

Houston flew Cartnail retired connected his day to present the rug during its wild-card crippled against the Cleveland Browns past season.

In each of his collaborations, Cartnail's ngo has remained constant: spreading positivity and honoring athletes' accomplishments successful a unsocial form.

"If there's thing that I could do to bring personification immoderate happiness, put a grin connected their face, immoderate it is that I could do to bring immoderate benignant of positivity successful this world amongst each the negativity, I'm astir decidedly consenting to do that," Cartnail said.

The rugs service arsenic a measurement to solidify "everything they've done successful a moment." Whether it's the throwing motions of Jackson aliases Stroud, his intent remains clear.

Cartnail described the activity arsenic "one-of-one" because the rugs are handmade. A rug he made for Ravens moving backmost Derrick Henry took him 36 hours.

The moving back's guidance to it gained traction, akin to Jackson's. Ravens linebacker Marlon Humphrey has 1 waiting for him also.

The NBA reached retired to Cartnail astir a rug for Los Angeles Lakers defender Bronny James during the Las Vegas summertime league. ESPN contacted Cartnail for a portion earlier the Army-Navy crippled successful 2023 that was displayed connected the set of "College GameDay." Carmelo Anthony reached retired for 1 excessively -- though Cartnail didn't bespeak if thing came to fruition.

But nary matter who receives his civilization rugs, Cartnail yearns for the aforesaid goal.

"I conscionable want to put smiles and bring smiles connected people's faces done the creation that I make," he said.

Referred to arsenic "112rugs" -- inspired by his birthday, Jan. 12 -- he's known wrong the Ravens organization arsenic "the rug guy." As a die-hard Ravens fan, the mostly of his rugs person been Baltimore-centric, but Cartnail isn't opposed to making a rug for a rival.

"Business is business, astatine the extremity of the day," he said.

He stayed existent to his connection erstwhile he delivered 1 to Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Quez Watkins this season.

Cartnail, a Baltimore native, is presently a postgraduate student astatine Stevenson University successful Maryland. He's studying criminal investigations pinch the dream of joining a constabulary academy past yet the FBI. It's a acold outcry from the tufting and acrylic yarn he deals pinch connected the side.

"It feels for illustration I'm benignant of here, there, everywhere," he said. "But it's for illustration wherever God calls me, that's wherever I'll go."

His acquisition was the spark that influenced his rug-making journey. While successful school, he began considering business ideas and stumbled upon a YouTube video of personification creating civilization rugs. Intrigued, Cartnail utilized a assemblage refund cheque to bargain supplies and taught himself really to knit by watching societal media videos.

When the materials arrived successful March 2023, Cartnail -- who had nary anterior creator inheritance -- threw himself into learning.

The basics proved to beryllium an contiguous issue. Tufting wasn't working, yarn kept snapping and a batch of rugs went successful the trash.

But the challenges didn't derail Cartnail's vision.

After agelong days of schoolhouse and shifts astatine Home Depot, he came location and worked connected a rug.

"It was a mates days wherever I was like... 'I benignant of conscionable want to propulsion this up and conscionable effort thing new,'" Cartnail said. "But I conscionable benignant of stuck done pinch it."

The proceedings and correction shape lasted each time for a period and a half. Eventually, he learned the craft.

A rug for Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman ended up being his first for a master athlete. Soon after, he collaborated pinch the Orioles connected a rug of shortstop Gunnar Henderson.

From there, Cartnail's business entered a word-of-mouth phase. While he worked to advertise himself to imaginable clients and navigate the business broadside of things, he was arsenic focused connected ensuring the value and authenticity of his work.

"I don't want to conscionable waste group crappy rugs," he said. "I want to make judge that if I make something, it's thing that group bask and it catches their eye."

The attraction from Baltimore's backmost changed everything.

Two weeks earlier the viral speech happened, Cartnail ran into Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers astatine a state station. Cartnail told him astir his activity and Flowers requested 1 for his caller house. Cartnail said he would make 1 successful speech for Flowers spreading the word, which the wide receiver agreed to do.

The rugs for Flowers and Jackson were made pinch the volition of giving them to each player. But Cartnail couldn't foretell the consequence to Jackson's piece. He had nary thought that NFL Films captured the moment.

Cartnail revealed he was astatine his aunt's viewing erstwhile a friend informed him astir the Instagram station going viral. After stepping extracurricular to watch the video, he returned moments later, and what had been a somber time turned little so.

His societal media stopped working. His follower count soared from 9,000 to 32,000 successful hours. His parents advised him to soak it successful and bask the moment. He still has thousands of unopened nonstop messages from that "surreal" day.

"I'm not saying I didn't person thing [before], but only having possibly 1 to 2 orders present and location that I had to conflict for ...'" Cartnail said. "To thousands and thousands and thousands of group conscionable flooding my DMs. It benignant of was for illustration an overwhelming feeling."

Clientele started coming successful and the business grew. Cartnail yet began trading his rugs.

It has been overmuch of the aforesaid this NFL season, highlighted by an affectional infinitesimal erstwhile he talented a rug depicting her precocious boy to the mother of erstwhile longtime Texans and Ravens wide receiver Jacoby Jones.

"That 1 was really typical to maine ... Whatever it is that I do, I ever wanted to do thing that's typical successful thing and that tin touch personification much than conscionable seeing a civilization rug," Cartnail said.