About

Carter Stoutmire is a 5-foot-11, 205-pound safety who sports the No. 23 for the Colorado Buffaloes. In 2024, as a sophomore, he played in all games and started seven of them, moving from his customary safety position into an extra-defensive-back alignment whenever injuries necessitated the coaches to juggle the lineup. He accumulated 42 total stops, defensed seven passes, caused a fumble, and sacked the quarterback twice—production that put him sixth on the team in stops despite his age. With an entire offseason to hone his safety skills, he now enters the 2025 season as one of the voices of a secondary that lost two upperclass starters to graduation but still anticipates leading the way for Colorado’s revamped Big 12 defense.

Bios

Position:	Safety
Weight:	210
Hometown:	Plano, Texas
Height:	5-11
Class:	Junior
High School:	Prestonwood Christian
Carter Stoutmire Net Worth	$500 Thousand

Before Fame

Stoutmire was raised in Plano, Texas, and played at Prestonwood Christian Academy. In four varsity seasons, he guided the Lions to 29-15 as he filled up the stat sheet with 78 tackles, nine interceptions, and 16 pass break-ups. He was not one-dimensional as a football player; on the track and field team, he long-jumped 21-11.5 feet and was a member of two state-title relay teams, evidence of the burst he presently displays on kickoff coverage.

Recruiting services tagged him a three-star prospect, and for six months, he was verbally committed to Arizona. A late unofficial visit to Boulder—and the family ties he already had on the new Colorado staff—flipped his decision on signing day and “took a lot of stress” off his shoulders.

Trivia

• Special-teams magnet: As a sophomore, he recorded 167 special-teams plays—fourth-most on the team—and deflected a field-goal attempt as a freshman.
• Versatility badge: In 2024, he replaced injured starter Shilo Sanders at safety, then wound up the season as the additional defensive back in passing downs, demonstrating to coaches that he could do more than one thing.
• Track roots: His personal-best long jump from high school (just under 22 feet) still pops up in Colorado weight-room conversations whenever conditioning competitions involve a broad jump.
• Family tradition: He carries the same build and on-field instincts as his dad, but purposely chose No. 23 instead of the 27 and 33 his father wore in the NFL to “start a chapter that’s mine.”
• Quiet student of the game: Teammates joke that he can recite entire opponent tendencies because he watches tablet cut-ups during team flights instead of movies.

Family Life

Football is woven into the Stoutmire DNA. Carter’s father, Omar Stoutmire, spent 11 seasons in the NFL as a hard-hitting safety for the Cowboys, Giants, and three other franchises after rewriting the tackle record book at Fresno State. His mother, Sheila Stoutmire, is a certified wellness coach and former five-time All-American sprinter at LSU who now mentors high-school athletes. Carter credits Sheila for his speed-work routine and Omar for the “little-brother curiosity” that keeps him asking veteran teammates questions. He also counts Colorado cornerbacks coach Kevin Mathis—a longtime family friend and his godfather—as an honorary uncle who has been offering technique tips since Carter was in middle school.

Associated With

Stoutmire’s college story is tangled with some famous names. His dad played alongside Colorado head coach Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders on the Dallas Cowboys in 1998-99, a connection that helped Carter feel comfortable in Boulder from day one. He competes daily with two-way star Travis Hunter in practice, races fellow defensive back DJ McKinney in conditioning drills, and still seeks pointers from outgoing mentor Shilo Sanders, whose injury first opened a starting spot for him in 2024. On the coaching side, Kevin Mathis—Dad’s former Cowboys teammate and Carter’s godfather—guides the cornerbacks, while defensive coordinator Robert Livingston frequently singles Carter out as an example of how preparation translates into game-day poise. Those links have created a tight support circle that the junior safety says “feels a lot like home,” even 800 miles from Plano.