For the second season, Key West honored a hometown hero in its preseason matchup. The contest, now dubbed the Ran Carthon Kickoff Classic, pays homage to one of the Southernmost City’s finest athletes. So just who is the namesake of Key West’s preseason classic?
“Ran was one of the fastest and purest runners I’ve ever seen,” said former teammate Chaz Jimenez, who currently serves as Key West’s wrestling coach. “It literally looked like he was floating on air when he was in the open field.
Jimenez was part of the magic that paved the way for several Conch records owned by Carthon. Despite being injured for a portion of his senior season, Carthon managed to break numerous Conch records and reached a level on par with Key West great George Mira. Both athletes’ numbers are retired, both had successful collegiate and professional careers, and Carthon’s senior season began with a kickoff classic named after Mira. Now over a quarter century later, it’s Carthon’s game.
After missing the first half of the 1998 season, Carthon returned with a vengeance and made for a memorable game for Jimenez.
“His first game back that season was homecoming,” said Jimenez. The contest was against longtime Key West rival Belen Jesuit, and Carthon set about making history against the Wolverines. “Ran broke off a record-breaking 99-yard run from our own goal line. That 99-yard touchdown run is one of my greatest Conch football memories,” Jimenez said.
That run was just one of Carthon’s school records. He is the only Conch in history to cross the single-game 300-yard mark. The 375-yard feat made for two records – one for most offensive yards in a single game and one for most rushing yards, as he earned every inch of those 375 yards on the ground. Carthon also holds the record (2) for most games with 200-plus rushing yards in a single game. He did it in back-to-back games.
His contributions and leadership on the field carried over to every aspect of his life, and Carthon’s positivity is remembered fondly by another former classmate and Monroe County sports personality, Marathon athletic trainer Luis Leal.
“Off the field he was a super chill and down-to-earth guy. Seemed to get along well with everyone and spoke to everyone,” Leal said. “On the field he was a beast, a man amongst boys. You could tell just by watching him play that he was just different. Everyone that watched him play knew that he would be playing at higher levels after high school.”
Leal could not have been more correct in his observations.
After a successful career with the Conchs, Carthon turned his talents to the University of Florida and turned heads there as the leading rusher for the Gators his senior season. His athleticism caught the eyes of numerous professional teams, and Carthon appeared on the Indianapolis Colts and Detroit Lions rosters before hanging up his helmet.
But his retirement from active play did not end his work with the NFL. Carthon worked in the front offices of the Atlanta Falcons, St. Louis Rams and San Francisco 49ers and served as the general manager for the Tennessee Titans for two seasons. Today, you can catch him on CBS as an NFL analyst. His ascent to the highest realms of professional football have not caused him to forget his hometown, and the rebrand of the Conchs’ kickoff classic proves that Key West certainly has not forgotten Carthon, either.
