Carter should be in the Hall of Fame, beyond that he isn’t a very good analyst.
His personal feelings also cloud his judgment on certain players like Terrell Owens and Randy Moss. Also he is very hypocritical as he had ton of sideline blow ups and was one of the most self centered players of his time, but finds a way to criticize players like Chad OchoCinco.
He was asked on ESPN radio to list the elite WRs in the NFL and here is what he had to say.
Carter said, the top receivers in football are Andre Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, Greg Jennings, Reggie Wayne, DeSean Jackson and Roddy White.
If Carter had stopped right there, I wouldn’t have had a that big of an issue. Those are some great receivers, but then he had to add this.
“Calvin Johnson, he’s very, very good at Madden and Tecmo Bowl or whatever they’re playing now,” Carter said. “But on film, when I watch film, and I break down the film, he’s not to the point of these guys yet.”
ESPN Radio’s Mike Greenberg pointed out that Johnson has played with lousy quarterbacks, but Carter wasn’t buying it.
“I made eight Pro Bowls,” Carter said. “I made it with five different quarterbacks. They weren’t always great. So I don’t want to hear the excuse that I’m not playing with a great quarterback.”
Then Mike Florio of Profootballtalk.com pokes serious holes in Carter’s assessment.
Frankly, for Carter to compare the quarterbacks he played with to the quarterbacks Johnson has been saddled with is absurd. In Carter’s best years he was catching passes from Jim McMahon, Sean Salisbury, Warren Moon, Brad Johnson, Randall Cunningham, Jeff George and a prime Daunte Culpepper. Johnson has caught passes from Jon Kitna, Dan Orlovsky, Matthew Stafford, Shaun Hill, Drew Stanton and a past-his-prime Culpepper. Carter’s quarterbacks were far better than Johnson’s.
Carter also downgraded Johnson, he said, because “right now you don’t have to double team him to take him out of the game.” But Tom Kowalski writes at MLive.com that opposing defenses don’t seem to think that’s true: Even with Charles Woodson and Darrelle Revis, the Packers and Jets doubled Johnson last season.
First off there was no reason for the unfunny diss on Johnson about him being good at Madden or Tecmo Bowl, that was totally unnecessary. Similar to when Carter said the Cowboys should put a bullet between the eyes of Terrell Owens. He simply isn’t funny.
Secondly out of Carter’s list in my opinion only two of those receivers could prosper with the Lions. Larry Fitzgerald and Andre Johnson. I doubt Reggie Wayne would be putting up huge numbers with the Lions.
Cris Carter is turning into a shock analyst.
Call me crazy I doubt Carter is pouring over film like Merrill Hoge who is also a shock analyst, but actually puts in the work.
Carter is just on ESPN to talk loud and say nothing. He is doing an excellent job at that.