Cris Carter: Trying to find logic behind controversial quote

A member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame telling rookies to have a “fall guy” was always going to generate negative headlines. Cris Carter absolutely should have known this before the words entered his mind.

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In a world dominated by political correctness and public relations, the comments that the all-time great NFL wide receiver made while speaking with first-year pros in 2014 were, upon being leaked, going to make for headaches for the league and for ESPN. They were going to get Carter crushed by sports talk radio personalities and even by people who work at the Worldwide Leader. There is a way that Carter could have properly made his point to those athletes. This wasn’t it:

"“And just in case y’all not gonna decide to do the right thing: If y’all got a crew, you got to have a fall guy in the crew.”"

Carter then brought Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater to the stage before continuing:

"“If they’re gonna keep rollin’ on Teddy’s bankroll…cause each one of y’all are in business for yourselves. This right here is Teddy Bridgewater Inc. That’s him. Now, every dime that comes into Teddy is gonna be earned by him and this body, alright? Now, I’m gonna let my homeboys know: Y’all wanna keep rollin’ like this? Then I need to know who is gonna be the fall guy, who gonna be driving, because y’all not gonna all do the right stuff. So, I’ve got to teach you how to get around all this stuff, too.“If you gonna have a crew, one of them fools got to know that he’s going to jail. We’ll get him out.”"

Carter finished up his thoughts:

"“I know none of y’all will never drink late. I know none of y’all are never gonna use drugs. All of you are gonna go to Bible study. I realize that. But still get you a fall guy. If you’re gonna have a crew, make sure they understand that can’t nothing happen to you. Your name can’t be in lights under no circumstances, alright? Y’all understand that?”"

The comments from Carter make for bad press for him, the NFL, ESPN and just about anybody in the football community, and the hot takes on the now-infamous advice handed out by Carter on that fateful day have been flowing ever since they have seen the light of day. Fans, critics of football and intelligent people in the world of sports have gone so far to suggest that Carter was, with his words, saying that committing illegal actions is not all that big a deal if you don’t get caught by the authorities and by the media.

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Just one problem: That is not at all what he said, and don’t let anybody convince you otherwise.

Carter goofed in the words that he used. Every time he says “fall guy” is an unintentional version of the old Chappelle’s Show joke “when keeping it real goes wrong.” Carter took to Twitter on Sunday to apologize for his comments, in part because he had to if he wants to have even a chance of keeping his ESPN gig and in part because he probably did feel at least a little silly upon seeing himself on the video that has since been removed by NFL.com.

In a perfect society in which pro athletes such as young football players are model citizens who think only happy thoughts, Carter and other veterans would, while sharing milk and cookies with the youth of the NFL, tell impressionable minds that certain activities must be avoided at all times. Those players would nod upon hearing Carter’s suggestions, hold those words in their hearts forever and then think twice about jaywalking let alone about committing serious infractions or crimes.

In reality, however, NFL players who are young, single and have a lot of money to burn go to bars and clubs. They stay out well past midnight. Some even (gasp!) smoke marijuana in states where doing so is not legal. Carter knows this, and he also knows that anything he says to a 21-year old male who just had millions of dollars guaranteed to him about not doing those things is going in one ear and out the other. He instead didn’t dance around the matter.

You want to go to the club and treat your crew to a good time? Make sure anybody but you is driving you home, and make sure you’ve got some guys to step in, step up and get you out of the bar in an instant in case some drunken fool wants to make himself famous and potentially rich by throwing down with you. You want to smoke weed with your buddies because you’ve learned how to beat NFL drug tests? Fine. Make sure you aren’t carrying when the police shows up.

Take Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon as one example. Had Gordon taken Carter’s advice to heart and had somebody there to drive him around during his travels, he wouldn’t have been good for multiple DUI charges in 2014. He thus would have been allowed to drink while taking a vacation late in December. Gordon instead was banned from using alcohol up through the end of the NFL year, he was apparently unaware of this factoid, and he is now suspended until the NFL decides that he is no longer banned.

Perhaps the biggest shame in all of this is that the most powerful words voiced by Carter on that day will go ignored because they don’t make for juicy headlines and Internet clicks. Carter and Warren Sapp, who was also speaking to the rookies on that day, were asked to discuss the one thing from their careers that they would change if presented with that opportunity. Carter, who nearly became a forgotten name early in his playing days because of issues with drug and alcohol abuse, answered:

"“One morning, (Philadelphia Eagles head coach) Buddy Ryan — Labor Day, 1987 — called me into his office. He told me his wife had a dream. In the dream, she said ‘don’t cut me.’ He cut me. And I had just bought my first house I ever lived in. I grew up in the projects. And my wife was pregnant, and I had only been married less than a a year. And he told me I could get my belongings, and put them in a garbage bag, and I could leave the premises.“If I could change anything, I would change that day. I would change that day right there. But, I learned my lesson. I went off to Minnesota and I learned what I had to do. I’m trying to tell y’all: You make one decision, it can alter your life. Your kid’s life. Your mama’s life. This is the lottery, man. Y’all hit the number. Cash it in!“But what we see is kids who don’t believe they can hit the lottery. They think they understand everything. They’ve got everything. OK. No problem. This is what I know. God willing, me and Sapp are gonna be back here next year if y’all listen or not. They ain’t basing it on the results of what y’all do. But, if I could change it, that day, man, that day right there.”"

Carter can learn from all of this. He has a lifetime of knowledge to pass down to younger players who may otherwise make mistakes and miscues made by Carter in the past. Once the public floggings come to an end, all involved should accept this matter as a teaching tool and then move on.

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