Over the years, there are a few players who got away. These are the guys a team gave up on a little early only for their careers to end up blossoming elsewhere. Peter Forsberg comes to mind for the Flyers, there’s Ryne Sandberg for the Phillies, and any numbers of former Sixers. For the Eagles, it’s Hall of Famer WR Cris Carter.
Carter was maybe the best receiver in College Football during his junior season at Ohio State in 1986, leading the conference in catches, yards, and TDs. He was primed for an all time senior season but was caught with weed and secretly signed with an agent. He was ruled ineligible and applied for the NFL Supplemental Draft.
If he had played the 1987 season, Carter likely would have been a top pick. Instead, he fell to the Eagles with the 3rd pick in the 4th round (Brian Bosworth went 1st overall).1 He didn’t do much as a rookie, only catching 5 balls for 2 TDs, but he clearly had talent. The next two season, Carter started showing it off with 84 total catches and 17 TDs without missing a game. Just when Eagles fans thought they had a star for the prime of his career, Carter was abruptly cut at the end of training camp, September 3, 1990. Eagles coach Buddy Ryan never gave a reason for the release.
What the hell happened??? Turns out, behind the scenes Carter was a total mess. He had failed a league drug test and later admitted that he was addicted to cocaine and alcohol. In his Hall of Fame speech two decades later, Carter would credit Ryan for the career wakeup call. The next day, Carter was claimed by the Vikings.
The rest, as they say, is history. Carter got sober and once he climbed to the top of the Vikings depth chart he would be a regular at the top of all the statistical leaderboards. He managed 8 Pro Bowls, two All-Pro First Teams, and a Hall of Fame induction in 2013. He was a member of the All-Decade Team for the 1990s along with Jerry Rice, Tim Brown, and Michael Irvin.
Speaking of Michael Irvin, it’s hard not to see a comparison between him and Carter. While Carter got sober and continued his career, Irvin did not. Despite being out late every night partying, Troy Aikman has made it a point to credit Irvin for coming to practice on time and at 100% every day. His personal issues took a toll on his relationships off the field, but on the field, he was always the Playmaker. Completely selfishly I have to ask, could Carter have done the same? Hell, probably not. Most players ultimately fall out of the league once they fall victim to substance abuse. Irvin was a 1 of 1 kind of competitor.
Would Carter have helped the 1990s Eagles? That’s hard to say. Those teams were a mix of big talent, bad luck, and terrible decision making. Having Carter around wouldn’t have kept Cunningham healthy, Jerome Brown alive, or Reggie White from leaving, but he sure as hell would have made things easier for any QB.
- For those wondering, the Supplemental Draft is kind of like a pre-draft for the next year for those ruled ineligible. Carter did not enter the 1987 Draft. However, since he was not eligible for the 1987 college season, he applied to enter the SD where a team can sacrifice the next year’s equivalent draft pick to pick a player. ↩︎
Photo: MN National Guard, CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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