I have a confession to make. I took something from the MCG change rooms on April 21, 2012. It was lying next to a bin ready to be thrown out before I stuffed it in my backpack and guarded it with my life until I got home. It’s a navy blue guernsey, size M, with the No.44 on the back. It’s one of my most prized possessions.

Today, its genuine owner announced his retirement from AFL football after 14 seasons, 12 with Carlton. It brings the curtain down on the career of a true Carlton man.

Andrew Carrazzo, or “Carrots” as he’s affectionately known, is the embodiment of every Carlton supporter’s dream. A boy from the suburbs who grew up a fanatical Blues supporter and went on to vice-captain the Club. He’s a John Nicholls Medallist, dual pre-season Premiership player and a Life Member.

Everything to do with Carrazzo seems to be intrinsically linked to Carlton, and, more specifically, Italian Carlton. When Carrazzo’s grandfather Leo arrived from southern Italy in the late 1940s, he chose to set up the family bakery in Nicholson Street. Andrew ran around with a Blues guernsey sporting the number of another famous Italo-Australian footballer, Stephen Silvagni, as a youngster. He was the kid asking Ang for his autograph at Family Day. He was there when Kouta hauled in 18 marks and won the game against the Eagles. He became the last Carlton player to make his debut at Princes Park when he ran out for this first game in Round 21 2004 against the Demons.

Andrew Carrazzo in 2005. (Photo: AFL Photos)

As a supporter with Italian heritage, I was quick to anoint him as my favourite player. I hadn’t even seen him play a game yet, but he was already “my man”. This is a touch embarrassing, but I even tried to copy his hairstyle. I just loved him.

Don’t get me wrong; it wasn’t just his look. He could play. Carrazzo was an outstanding junior, captaining the Oakleigh Chargers in the elite TAC Cup Under-18 competition. He finished runner-up in the 2001 Morrish Medal count and was one of the first midfielders elected in that season’s All Australian team. He’d been assured by the Carlton recruiting team that he would be heading to Princes Park in the 2002 Rookie Draft, only for Geelong to swoop and secure him with Pick 5. He was a star for the Cats at VFL level, winning their B&F in 2003, but found it hard to break into a midfield that boasted the likes of Ablett, Bartel, Corey & Ling. Eventually, though, Carrots did find his way to the Blues as a Rookie after being delisted by Geelong at the end of 2003, and he certainly didn’t let Carlton’s recruiting team down.

Carrazzo came to the Club during our most difficult period. No money, little hope. Starting off as a small defender, Carrazzo eventually started running with the competition’s elite midfielders, and even though the team as a whole was struggling, he was starting to grow as player. With Nick Stevens absent for most of the year in 2007, Carrazzo stepped up, finishing the season 5th in the AFL for disposals with an average of 26 a game.

Then we started building. Judd arrived. Stevens was back. Kreuzer was rucking. Carrots had the support around him. We started rising up the ladder. They were exciting times to be a Bluebagger.

The energy around Princes Park after the first three rounds of 2012 was palpable. We were 3-0 for the first time since 1995. All the big guns were firing. We were flag favourites.

Andrew Carrazzo had just been awarded the Richard Pratt Medal for his inspired performance against Collingwood’s Scott Pendlebury and we were about to take on a team that we’d had the wood over for a few years, Essendon. Sure, they, like us, were undefeated so far that season, but we were playing better footy and we’d smacked them in an Elimination Final five games ago. I couldn’t see us dropping it.

It was a gloomy day in Melbourne, but 70,000 people were on hand for the opening bounce as the players readied themselves for the 236th meeting between the Blues and Bombers. Then it all went wrong.

Jeremy Laidler, coming off a terrific 2011 campaign, went down in the opening minute clutching the same knee that he’d injured in the NAB Cup. That was going to hurt us. Then, two minutes later, a moment that I can still remember vividly. Carrazzo chases the ball to the Southern Stand wing, with Essendon’s Lonergan in toe. Our boy was first to the ball, so what did Lonergan decide to do? He decided to crudely drive himself into Carrazzo’s back, injuring our No.44’s shoulder and leaving us a man down for the rest of the game. Bombers win. Laidler out for the rest of the season. Carrazzo out for eight weeks.

Admittedly, I have an unhealthy hatred of the Essendon Football Club, but I will never, ever forget the name Sam Lonergan.

The Club was seething over the incident. Walking behind Brett Ratten as he headed to his post-match press conference, I could tell he was furious. To his credit, he held it together and gave diplomatic responses to questions about the physicality shown by the Bombers. Interviewed the day after, future skipper Marc Murphy told the media that he couldn’t wait to play Essendon later in the year. Add this to the list of reasons we don’t get along with the mob from the airport.

Andrew Carrazzo and Essendon's Jake Melksham exchange pleasantries. (Photo: Carlton Football Club)

Carrazzo was in a shoulder brace when we all got back to the rooms after the 30-point loss. It was one of the strangest feelings I’ve ever experienced in my time at Carlton. Everyone was shattered about the loss, angry at what had happened to Carrots, and shellshocked about the fact that we’d been comprehensively beaten by a team that we’d beaten in a final six months earlier.

I could tell Carrots was frustrated, too. In the form of his career one minute, looking at an extended injury layoff the next. All that with three baby girls at home. It must’ve been a tough time for his wife Yvette, too.

We never recovered from that game. Injuries continued to pile up and despite a few good wins (including a 96-point annihilation of the Bombers in Round 21), we ended the year in 10th spot. I often wonder about what would have had happened if Laids and Carrots hadn’t gone down that day.

Constant niggles interrupted proceeding seasons. Rehab, rehab and more rehab. Dragging a weight behind him as he tried to strengthen his calves. Not having a clean run at it. You could see it was frustrating him, but he kept his energy levels up and imparted years of experience to the younger blokes coming through. He’d finally sorted out his calf issues this year when his toe started playing up. A game of football would leave him shuffling around like an old man for two or three days. He hasn’t been able to train properly for months. That’s hard for a bloke who would literally do anything for the place.

Andrew Carrazzo has been the model Carlton Football Club representative. He hasn’t put a foot wrong in his 12 years at the Club. Get him in front of the media and he’d give you thoughtful, composed responses. Opposition players getting stuck into our younger blokes? Carrots would be first on the scene remonstrating with whoever the opposition player might be. Need to shut down the other team’s best player? Stick Carrazzo on him. Just ask Joel Selwood.

In the end, his body told him that it was time to give it up. He goes out on his terms and passes the baton onto a new generation of Carlton players. As usual, his speech to his teammates was thoughtful, intelligent and heartfelt. He told them to create their own destinies, to reinstate the glory he, as a young supporter, once took for granted.

Retiring champion Andrew Carrazzo. (Photo: AFL Photos)

That navy blue No.44 in my wardrobe symbolises so much more than a crude tackle by an Essendon player. The guernsey, with its left shoulder cut to enable Carrazzo to take it off pain free, is the embodiment of the fickle nature of football. Riding high in April, shot down in May.

I know this sounds silly, but I felt like he was representing me every time he pulled on the jumper. He loves this Club as much as we supporters who weren’t blessed with footballing ability do. He gave his all every time he ran out and he’s left nothing in the tank. You can’t ask for more than that.

Thank you, Carrots. You’re a true Bluebagger.

Luca Gonano is Digital Manager at the Carlton Football Club.