He played hurling with his local club Roscrea and with the Tipperary senior inter-county team.
Carroll first tasted inter-county success when he captained the Tipperary Under-16 team to the 'Nenagh Co-Op All-Ireland' title in 1994.
Carroll made his competitive debut for the Tipperary senior hurlers in the 1997 National League semi-final against Galway.
Similarly, he has won an All-Star award at wing-back while playing in the centre-forward position the following year.
Carroll has also played Gaelic football with the Tipperary senior team.