August 23, 2015
NFL Hall of Famer Cris Carter is catching flack for a 2014 video that has resurfaced in which he tells league rookies to 'get a fall guy' if they get in trouble.
The video began popping up on several national media outlets Sunday. The former Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver made the comments at last year's Rookie Symposium.
In the video, which was on NFL.com until Sunday when it was taken down, according to Deadspin, Carter suggests that players should have someone in their group of friends that is willing to take the heat if he gets in trouble. Watch the video here:
Warren Sapp, also a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, can be seen laughing at Carter's comments in the video. Sapp was fired from his position as an analyst for NFL Network in February after he was arrested for soliciting a prostitute.
According to NBC Sports, the NFL called the comments "unfortunate and inappropriate" in a statement, and said they weren't representative of the league's message.
He currently serves as an analyst for ESPN's "Monday Night Countdown," which previews the league's Monday night games.
Several have criticized Carter for his comments as well as the timing of the league's response, on social media:
Cris Carter should be fired @ESPN
— Glen DeNigris (@GlenDeNigris) August 23, 2015
So the #NFL proudly displays @criscarter80 advising rookies to have a fall guy for their crimes, but Tom Brady is biggest integrity problem?
— Butch in Boston (@Butch617) August 23, 2015
The only reason the #NFL is taking a stand on Cris Carter's comments is because it became public. Carter said what they league was thinking
— Karintha Styles (@Reignof_Styles) August 23, 2015
@NFL trying to clean up and Cris Carter says something stupid about " fall guy" .should be fired from @espn for that line of thinking
— Chuck Freimund (@ChuckFreimund) August 23, 2015
Carter later apologized for his comments on Twitter:
Seeing that video has made me realize how wrong I was. I was brought there to educate young people and instead I gave them very...
— Cris Carter (@criscarter80) August 24, 2015
bad advice. Every person should take responsibility for his own actions. I’m sorry and I truly regret what I said that day.”
— Cris Carter (@criscarter80) August 24, 2015
Carter is an eight-time Pro Bowler and his number is retired with the Minnesota Vikings, the team he spent most of his career with.
He was selected by the Eagles in the 1987 supplemental draft. Carter admitted that during his short tenure in Philadelphia he had gotten heavily into drugs, according to Bleeding Green Nation, and when Eagles coach Buddy Ryan cut him he began to turn his life around.
