HOF Profile: Cris Carter
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is full of the best football players to ever step on a football field. That is according to the Football Writers Association who hold the vote for players to make it to Canton. The writers hold the key to a place that every player hopes to be when their career is done as those selected become legends in the league. As with any Hall of Fame or Greatest of all time list there is always controversy. Every year there are players up for election to the Hall of Fame that do not make it. Many of them are eligible but will get no consideration to ever make the Hall. There are players who will get a quick look because they were good but for one reason or another will never come close. There are of course players who will make it in their first year of eligibility because they were simply the best of the best when they played. There are also players who will wait a few years to make it because they either meet a very good class of potential Hall of Famers and weren’t among the top or because they may not be good enough to make it right away. No group of players is more debated than those that fall into the snub category. These players have been up multiple times and are considered one of the best at their position yet continue to find themselves out of the Hall. A part of these groups for the last few years has been a trio of receivers that have constantly been passed over. Now one of them has finally made is as Cris Carter has left Andre Reed and Tim Brown on the outside with a call to Canton.
Cris Carter has been waiting since 2007 when he was first eligible for the Hall of Fame and since then he has been mentioned among the biggest snubs from the Hall of Fame. The underdog story has not been an unfamiliar one for Carter as he was drafted in the 4th round of the supplemental draft and wasn’t expected to make a huge impact. After a full draft in 1987 Carter had yet to be taken and it wasn’t until the draft after the draft that the Philadelphia Eagles would take him. With that spot in the draft Carter may have seemed to be a roster filler for training camp. Then with his first regular season catch he would get his first TD scoring a 22-yard touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals. That would become a theme for Carter who became known for catching TDs. It wasn’t until he joined the Minnesota Vikings that his reputation would take off though as he would reach new levels as the top receiver for the Vikings. While on the Vikings it seemed that all that Cris Carter would do is catch TDs as their leading receiver for years. He was a force to be reckoned with as he would be a threat to score any time that the ball was thrown his way. After waiting so long and being labeled as one of the best players not in the Hall of Fame Carter finally gets the call and joins the legends in Canton.
Cris Carter, WR (1987-2002)
6’3” 208 lbs
Minnesota Vikings (12 years)
1,101 rec
13,899 yds
130 TD
– 8 Time Pro Bowl Selection (1993-2000)
– 1999 Walter Payton Man of the Year
– 2000 NFL Alumni Wide Receiver of the Year
– Also played with Philadelphia Eagles and Miami Dolphins
The Sport Addiction 