Larry Brown Sports

Cris Carter had an emotional reaction when he was announced as one of the class of 2013 Pro Football Hall of Fame members.

The former Minnesota Vikings wide receiver joined Jonathan Ogden, Warren Sapp, Larry Allen, and Bill Parcells, as well as senior nominees Curley Culp and Dave Robinson as the seven people who made it into Canton this year. Carter broke down while speaking as one of the players selected for enshrinement.

“It’s unbelievable. It’s the most amazing thing that’s happened to me,” said Carter. “People told me when I didn’t get in the first year, and when I didn’t get in the second year … they told me that it would still be awesome (when I finally did make it). They weren’t lying.

“The process is what it is. These players are unbelievable. To be in a class like this … to play against these guys, my contemporaries — it’s unreal. It’s unreal that you’re going to end your career in Canton. For me, I’m forever humble. If you look at my career and how it started, for me to end up here? This is the happiest day of my life.”

The speech was a nice moment from Carter and it truly shows how important an honor like this is for a player.

Though we have disliked Carter as a TV analyst, we always respected him as a player and felt that he was a Hall of Famer. And why was Carter so emotional as he reflected on his career? He was a fourth-round pick by the Philadelphia Eagles in the supplemental draft, and he was a slow developer. He didn’t record his first 1,000-yard receiving season until his seventh season in the league. Once he did develop, he became a machine for the Vikings. Carter churned out eight-straight 1,000-yard seasons from 1993-2000, scoring 90 touchdowns in that span.

An eight-time Pro Bowler, Carter is ninth in career receiving yards (13,899), fourth in career receptions (1,101), and fourth in career receiving touchdowns (130). He was an extremely worthy inductee.

Former eight-time Pro Bowl receiver Cris Carter dropped a bombshell on Tuesday when he admitted using bounties throughout his NFL career.

The former longtime Vikings receiver told ESPN Radio’s Mike Hill and Mark Schlereth that he did it mostly for protection.

“I’m guilty of it,” Carter said. “It’s the first time I’ve ever admitted it. But I put a bounty on guys before. I put bounties on guys. And the guys tried to take me out, a guy tried to take a cheap shot on me, I put a bounty on him, right now.”

“A money bounty?” Schlereth asked.

“Absolutely,” Carter responded.

“You told one of your teammates that if ..” Schlereth began before getting interrupted by Carter.

“Protect me,” Carter said he told his teammates. “Protect me from him … Especially if he’s playing a different position where I can’t protect myself.”

“So if you played a linebacker you would …” Hill began, before Carter interrupted.

“I’d tell one of them guards, ‘Hey man, this dude is after me, man. Bill Romanowski.’ He told me he’s gonna me out before the game, in warmups. No problem. ‘I’m gonna end your career, Carter.’ No problem. I put a little change on his head before the game. Protect myself, protect my family. That’s the league that I grew up in.”

Asked whether he was the only one to do that, Carter was emphatic: “Heck no!”

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Randy Moss announced Monday he wants to play football next season. ESPN employee Cris Carter seemed to support Moss’ comeback Monday, boasting about his former teammate’s elite speed.

But Carter pointed out a downside Tuesday.

“The one thing you have to address with Randy Moss is not a conditioning thing,” Carter said on Mike & Mike in the Morning. “It’s not an age thing. It needs to be addressed. I believe it’s the elephant in the room. It’s that thing called quit.

“And Randy, not like any other superstar I’ve met, he has more quit in him than any of those other players. So I need to address that. That’s what [Bill] Belichick did when he brought him over from Oakland. He told him he wasn’t going to have it.

“But Randy, when things don’t go well, like no other player I’ve ever been around or associated with, he has a quit mechanism in him that’s huge. That needs to be addressed before he signs with any team.”

For once in his life as an analyst, Carter is right. Moss is a quitter. He quit on the Raiders, he quit on the Pats, he quit on the Vikings, and he quit on the Titans.

Knowing Randy’s style, he wasn’t going to stay quiet and take the criticism. He responded to Carter via his Da Real Otis Moss Twitter account (great handle).

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One of the attractions at the Super Bowl in Indianapolis this week has been the zip line. NFL.com reporter Jeff Darlington spent plenty of time this week goading ESPN reporter John Clayton and finally convinced “The Professor” to take a ride. That went down on Wednesday. Unfortunately Darlington’s video doesn’t contain any footage of Clayton going down the zip line, so we’ll take his word for it.

Now the video you won’t get to see is Cris Carter riding the zip line. Wanna know why? Because he chickened out. Observe:

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The Detroit Lions are 3-0 and standing as one of the three remaining unbeaten teams in the NFL. Quarterback Matthew Stafford has played brilliantly, hooking up with receiver Calvin Johnson for six touchdowns. On Tuesday, he decided to take a shot at former Vikings wide receiver and current ESPN NFL analyst Cris Carter, who ignorantly said in August that Calvin Johnson was not elite.

“Does anyone think 8 tds in 4 weeks will change chris carters mind about an “elite” receiver?” Stafford wrote on Twitter, per PFT.

It’s a little early in my mind for Stafford to be celebrating his team and their accomplishments given that we’re only three weeks into the season. Words like that would be more appropriate for the post-Super Bowl news conference.

But I digress.

The man known as Megatron is on a record-setting pace. Randy Moss holds the single-season record for touchdown receptions with 23 in 2007. Calvin Johnson is catching two per game, which would work out to 32. Thinking Megatron will maintain this pace is unreasonable, but the number he should shoot for is 18. If he gets that many, he will have surpassed Cris Carter’s career high of 17, which led the NFL in ’95. I think Calvin can get there.

I’ve been talking up the Stafford-Calvin tandem since last year, said they were poised for an explosive season in August, and picked Calvin Johnson to be the Offensive Player of the Year in my season preview. Only injuries and triple teams can slow Calvin. Let’s hope neither one happens.

Cris Carter is a former eight-time Pro Bowl receiver and two-time All-Pro. He led the league in touchdown catches three times. He was an excellent receiver and a player I’d vote for the Hall of Fame. But he’s showing his ignorance as an NFL analyst.

Appearing on ESPN Radio Friday morning, Carter was asked to name the elite receivers in the NFL. His list included (in order): Andre Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, Greg Jennings, Reggie Wayne, DeSean Jackson, and Roddy White. Omitted from that list was Lions receiver Calvin Johnson.

When the point was raised that Calvin was left off the list, Carter explained that was done on purpose. “Calvin Johnson, he’s very, very good at Madden and Tecmo Bowl or whatever they’re playing now. But on film, when I watch film, and I break down the film, he’s not to the point of these guys yet. That doesn’t mean he can’t play. He just not there yet.”

To this point, that’s just opinion. People’s opinions differ, so it’s hard to argue with what he’s saying. But then Carter provides analysis that just shows how clueless he is.

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