Tom was born and raised in St. Petersburg, FL, an only child to a single mother. Tom started playing organized youth football when he was 7 years old. It was here that he learned the discipline and courage necessary to play football at a high level. In high school Tom achieved high marks in his academics, taking honors and AP classes while finishing 17th out of 265 students in his senior class. Similar success followed on the athletic side, lettering in four sports (football, basketball, baseball, and track and field), achieving All-American status in football. Following high school, Tom earned a full scholarship to attend The University of Notre Dame.
Tom was a first-round selection in the 1993 NFL Draft. He played a total of nine seasons for three different organizations (Washington Football Team, Chicago Bears, Cincinnati Bengals). After a brief retirement, Tom worked at a sports ministry for professional athletes, then went back to teach high school special education students with emotional and learning difficulties.
Most recently Tom served for 15 years as Director of Player Affairs at the National Football League Players Association. Throughout his years in this role, Tom witnessed the difficulties young players go through in the process of finding proper representation, managing their finances, and dealing with career transition. The desire to help them through these challenge-filled processes led him to form Carter Alo Consulting. Carter Alo exists to provide universities, organizations and athletes with an independent and objective resource to assist with the navigation of these stages.
Tom received his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame in Finance, earned his MBA from Indiana University, and his Doctorate of Business Administration from Jacksonville University. Tom has been married 28 years to his high school sweetheart Renee, and they have four beautiful children. He currently resides in Jacksonville, FL.
