BALTIMORE — Baltimore native Gordon Cartnail is knocking it out the park with Orioles pride. He’s getting creative with how he shows love to team with a custom 6 foot rug of Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson.
“ I love where our team is headed. I love the culture of our team. I love how our team is like a family,” said Cartnail.
Cartnail started making handmade acrylic yarn rugs in March 2023. He picked up the craft by watching YouTube videos and now he’s making custom carpets for his favorite athletes.
“I bought Adley Rutschman to 16 to 17 Orioles games and I met people, people knew me. They would say hey, that’s the guy with the rug,” said Cartnail.
He’s the guy with the rugs, from Camden Yards to M&T Bank Stadium.
“I describe this like a coloring book. Yes, it’s a business but it’s therapeutic at the same time,” said Cartnail.
You may recognize the name and the rugs. There are so many viral on the field moments from this past Raven’s season. But there’s one on the field fan interaction, captured on camera, that so many people have flocked to.
“The equipment manager for the Ravens saw it and was like, oh man that’s cool. I was like, I’m trying to get it to Lamar,” said Cartnail.
During the 4th quarter, Lamar Jackson spotted the carpet version of himself and said “I want that carpet.”
“I didn’t even know they were recording. And I didn’t even know he said that. I just saw him giving me a thumbs up. That just made me happy, a thumbs up for Lamar,” said Cartnail.
The video of Lamar accepting Cartnail’s rug has over views 5 million views on TikTok.
“This video means a lot to me. It’s the start of everything. I’m speechless. I’m still speechless. He signed my jersey, dapped me up, thanked me for my rug,” said Cartnail.
Once the word caught on, business took off. Cartnail has made rugs for the Houston Texans and opened up an online shop for custom orders.
“ESPN reached out. They asked me to make a rug for the army navy game,” said Cartnail.
But Cartnail is forever loyal to his home team.
“If he [Lamar] sees this, thank you. He didn’t have to do what he did and after that it opened up so many avenues for me,” said Cartnail.