Carl Lawson - Class of 2013

In 2011, Carl’s first year of varsity football at Milton High School, he recorded fifteen sacks and ten tackles for loss. At the end of that year, he was named All-Region, All-State, and also to the AT&T Georgia Junior Bowl All-Star game. During 2012, Carl was named a 5-star recruit by ESPN. He was heavily recruited by every major program in the country, topping out with over 110 scholarship offers. In addition, he won the Georgia State Weightlifting Title and Rivals VTO MVP.

Carl was invited to the Army All-America Game, named an ESPN, Rivals, Max Preps, 247 Sports and Parade All-American and also participated in the Under-Armor All-American Game. That season Carl set both the MHS and state records for single season sacks with 27.

After graduation in 2013, Carl accepted a scholarship to play football at Auburn University. As a member of the SEC Championship team, he finished his freshman year with 5.5 sacks and was named Freshman All-SEC and Freshman All-American by ESPN and The Sporting News. Carl was red-shirted due to injury in 2014 and also missed some time in 2015, but once fully healthy in 2016, he had a monster season and was named 1st Team All-SEC and All-American as well as the Auburn team MVP. While at Auburn, Carl was named team captain for 3 years in a row.

In 2017, Carl was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals and in his rookie season led all NFL rookies with 9.5 sacks and was named to the NFL All-Rookie Team by ESPN, the NFL Network, Fox Sports, and USA Today. As a defensive end, Carl appeared in all 16 games for the Bengals in 2020, finishing with 36 tackles, 5.5 sacks and a career-high 32 quarterback hits. He was seventh in the NFL in sacks created. Carl was inducted into the MHS Hall of Fame in 2019.