It’s hard to imagine DiJonai Carrington doing anything other than being an elite basketball player, but it turns out she’s talented at more than one sport. While fans have become accustomed to Carrington’s fiery on-court persona over her six-season career in the WNBA, a video has resurfaced that might change that perception.
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Before making the switch to basketball, DiJonai Carrington was blitzing past defenders on the football gridiron. An Instagram video by The Daily W, acquired from The WBB Archive on TikTok, shows one of Carrington’s clips from her school days. The video showcases her donning a football jersey, playing for the Clairemont Hawks. Fans couldn’t stop reacting to the clip, flooding the comments and drawing parallels between her football career and her current basketball performances.
The clip showcases Carrington running a full 69 yards to a touchdown. Carrington played as a tackle between second and fourth grade, as she said in a YouTube video by Stanford Athletics. Carrington then played basketball for Horizon Christian Academy, averaging 18.8 points, 13.5 rebounds, and four assists.
Her football background shouldn’t come as a surprise, as she is the daughter of former NFL safety Darren Russell Carrington, who played for teams like the Denver Broncos, the Detroit Lions, and the Jacksonville Jaguars, among others. Football seems to run in the family, as her older brother, Darren Carrington II, played for the Oregon Ducks as a wide receiver.
While the fans cannot stop talking about Carrington and her style of play, many wonder at the same time what it would have been like if Carrington hadn’t made the switch to basketball.
“Definitely plays like she played football. Tuff,” one fan said. It’s not hard to see why anyone would point out the similarities. Carrington has transferred the mentality she had on the football field to the basketball court as well.
Earlier in the season, in a game against the Indiana Fever, Carrington got ejected for a flagrant foul on Sophie Cunningham. While many criticized her play, she found support in none other than the opposing team’s head coach, Stephanie White, who said that she knows Carrington is a fierce competitor and had no ill intent when making that particular play.
“We can tell by the way she plays basketball,” one fan said online.
“Makes sense🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥lol,” another fan said, while referring to the video’s caption that read “DiJonai Carrington used to play football”
“Long graceful strides, true athlete,” one fan remarked.
“Explains why she is so tough in the paint. And doesn’t take no s*** from no one on the court. 😀😀😀,” another fan said.
Clearly, Carrington has used her physicality to her advantage in the WNBA. She won the Most Improved Player award in 2024 on the back of a strong campaign for the Connecticut Sun. In the same year, she made the All-Defensive First Team for her strong perimeter play and ability to disrupt opposing guards, evident in her 5.0 rebounds per game in 2024.
“I would’ve canceled the whole team as the other team’s coach 😂,” said another fan.
This reaction is not out of proportion, as Carrington can be seen rolling past multiple players to score the touchdown.
“When she don declare for the NFL draft lol,” one fan another fan joked in the comments.
What Carrington did instead was declare for the 2021 WNBA draft, and she was picked by the Connecticut Sun after a strong year with the Baylor women’s basketball team, where she averaged 14.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.1 steals per game in the 2020 season.
While the current season has seen a dip in Carrington’s minutes due to persistent injuries, she has given glimpses of her potential from time to time. She has played only 11 games this season for the Chicago Sky, averaging 8.8 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 0.6 assists.
In her finest outing of the season, she erupted for a career-best 26 points, six boards, and five steals against the Seattle Storm on Monday, August 10, at Climate Pledge Arena. In doing so, Carrington became the first player in WNBA history to record 25+ points, 5+ rebounds, and 5+ steals in a game while coming off the bench.
With the Chicago Sky having been knocked out of playoff contention this season, and with DiJonai Carrington injured, the team and she will look forward to the 2027 season, hoping to make a comeback towards the top of the leaderboard.