Brigade signs former Cowboys quarterback Quincy Carter

Quincy Carter is up front about his past drug use.

He knows it has cost him a once-promising NFL career with the Dallas Cowboys. He knows it is one reason he’s been playing football on-and-off the last three years.

But for the last six months, Carter says he’s been doing something he should have done a long time ago — working on himself. He says he’s more mature after a two-month stint in rehab and another four months spent working out and attending AA meetings.

Now the Brigade will give him another chance to play football. The team agreed to terms with Carter on Thursday.

“No one has ever complained about my talent,” said Carter, 30, who says he’s been sober for six months. “No one has ever complained about my work ethic. One thing that’s always dragged behind me is my marijuana use.”

The Brigade’s move comes on the heels of a 72-38 blowout loss to Grand Rapids, which dropped the team’s record to 1-7. Starting quarterback D. Bryant struggled against the Rampage, committing turnovers on the Brigade’s first three drives.

Kansas City quarterbacks have combined for 15 interceptions in eight games.

“We feel real good about it,” said Brigade co-owner Neil Smith. “You can’t look back and judge the past of a person. We’ll bring him along slow, let him get adapted to our system.”

A second-round pick in the 2001 NFL draft, Carter started 31 games for the Cowboys from 2001 to 2003 before he was released in 2004 amid rumors of drug use. During his four-year NFL career, which included a season with the New York Jets, the 6-foot-2, 213-pound Carter completed 542 of 960 passes for 6,337 yards, 32 touchdowns and 37 interceptions.

Since then, Carter has struggled to reclaim a grasp on his football career. After missing the 2005 season, Carter spent a month with the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes in 2006 and last played football in 2007, for the Bossier-Shreveport BattleWings of af2.

In November 2007, Carter pleaded guilty to misdemeanor possession of marijuana after he was arrested in Shreveport, La., in October. He entered rehab shortly thereafter, where he stayed until late January.

Since he finished rehab, Carter says he’s been living in a halfway house in Deerfield Beach, Fla., working out and attending AA meetings.

“I hate that I even have to come in with this kind of baggage, but I do understand I created these problems,” Carter said. “All I can do is show people that I’ve changed.”