Alex Carder (born October 22, 1989) is an American football quarterback for the West Michigan Ironmen of American Arena League. He was signed as a free agent by the Detroit Lions of the National Football League. He was formerly the starting quarterback at Western Michigan University. Early years Carder was born in Springfield, Missouri in 1989. He attended Shawnee Mission Northwest High School in Shawnee, Kansas where he was selected as an All-Sunflower League player three consecutive seasons. He passed for 3,457 yards and rushed for another 524 yards as the quarterback for SMNW's football team. He also received two varsity letters in baseball and one in basketball. College career Carder was the backup quarterback as a redshirt freshman in 2009 and the starting quarterback in the 2010 through 2012 seasons. As a sophomore in 2010, Carder completed 289 of 458 passes for 3,334 yards, 30 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. As a junior in 2011, he gained 3,940 yards of total offense on 3,434 passing yards and 253 rushing yards. He ranked eighth among all players in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision with 335.18 yards of total offense per game. In November 2011, Carder was responsible for eight touchdowns (seven passing and one rushing) in a 66–63 loss to the Toledo Rockets. His seven passing touchdowns against Toledo set a new Mid-American Conference (MAC) record, and his 548 passing yards in the game set a new Western Michigan record. He was selected as a finalist for the 2011 FRS QB Performance of the Year. Carder's senior season was derailed when he sustained an injury in his throwing hand against Connecticut, though he was able to come back to play the final two games of the season. Statistics Source: Professional career Carder was rated the 20th best quarterback in the 2013 NFL Draft by NFLDraftScout.com. His NFL.com Draft profile states that "If teams are willing to look past his senior season, and if Carder performs well enough in the postseason process, he could be a late-round pick." Detroit Lions After going undrafted in the 2013 NFL Draft, Carder was signed on April 27 as an unrestricted free agent by the Detroit Lions. He was released May 29. Iowa Barnstormers On February 5, 2014, Carder was assigned to the Iowa Barnstormers of the Arena Football League. Carder was placed on league suspension on March 12, 2014. Nashville Venom Carder was allowed to