FanHouse Cris Carter

Cris Carter went from Ohio State to a long and distinguished career as an NFL wide receiver. In fact, most believe he'll wind up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It's too soon to tell if Carter's son Duron will follow exactly in his father's footsteps, but he has the first step taken care of. Duron Carter, a true freshman, is looking to get on the field as Ohio State's fourth receiver this fall, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

For his part, Poppa Cris is trying to avoid taking credit for his son's success, passing it all off to his son's high school, St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Again, fair enough; Aquinas is ranked No. 1 nationally this season by many polls.

Now, guess who coaches Aquinas' receivers?

The Minnesota Vikings finished the 1998 season with 15 wins. The offense averaged almost 35 points a game (best in the league) with a 35-year-old Randall Cunningham under center, two big-play receivers in Cris Carter and Randy Moss, and a steady run game led by Robert Smith and Leroy Hoard.

And Brian Billick was the brains behind it all. He would parlay his successes as the Vikes' offensive coordinator into a head-coaching gig with the Ravens. Billick's offensive philosophy in Baltimore never produced anything approaching what he was able to accomplish in Minnesota, and by the time he was fired nine years later, he was known as much for his inability to develop a franchise quarterback or find a deep threat at wide receiver as he was for the organization's 2000 Super Bowl win.

So it is with some irony that the man behind Kyle Boller weighs in on the Vikings' current stable of quarterbacks now that Brett Favre has temporarily* announced his retirement.

During much of his 23-year Hall of Fame career as a quarterback in the Canadian Football League and the NFL, Warren Moon kept his inner turmoil simmering beneath a poised, polished exterior.

As a trailblazing African-American quarterback, he tackled racism and stereotyping to hone a wildly successful playing career. But Moon never shook the psychological burden of becoming man of his household at age seven when his father died of liver disease, and forever feeling he had to financially provide for a huge family that included his mother, six sisters and other relatives.

If the television thing doesn't work out for Cris Carter, he's got a future in motivational speaking. Carter was the final speaker at this week's NFL Rookie Symposium, and his message was what you might expect -- don't do drugs, don't fall for groupies, don't start a dog-fighting enterprise, so on and so forth -- but his delivery was what made it memorable.

It was part overdramatized reality teevee, part televangelist. No mention of living in a van down by the river, however. Either way, I think he got through to almost everybody.

On Thursday, we speculated about the possibility of Michael Crabtree being available when Green Bay picks ninth in the NFL Draft.

While many observers would probably double over in laughter if Green Bay actually made this selection, there is precedence for it in the Packers' own division. According to Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Packers may indeed pull the trigger if Crabtree is on the board.

TAMPA, Fla. -- I believe Cris Carter will one day be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But in talking to some Hall of Fame voters both before and after Saturday's selection meeting, I also believe that Carter, like fellow possession receiver Art Monk before him, will have a long wait before enshrinement in Canton.

TAMPA -- When the 44 members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Board of Selectors get together Saturday to choose the Class of 2009, the most hotly contested candidate is likely to be Cris Carter.

Calling Terrell Owens the "poison pill" in Dallas is one of the nicest things Keyshawn Johnson has said about the Cowboys receiver. And Cris Carter, not to be outdone by his ESPN colleague, has suggested that Jerry Jones should consider putting "a bullet in [T.O.]"

So it is with great mock stupefaction that I report that Johnson and Carter have double standards regarding moody NFL receivers. The Dallas Morning News' Barry Horn points out that during NFL Sunday Countdown, both Keyshawn and Cris backed Anquan Boldin in the aftermath of last Sunday's sideline confrontation with offensive coordinator Todd Haley.

Cris Carter recently said that if he was in charge of the Dallas Cowboys, he would take a bullet and put it in Terrell Owens. This wasn't smart, mainly because it implies that he would use violence as a solution for anything.

Naturally, T.O. -- who has nothing to do right now but stir up trouble -- responded. But not in the typical way you'd expect (sounding off to the media while doing push-ups, natch); nope, T.O. went out and got himself a blog at Yardbarker.

On Tuesday, the NFL announced the finalists for the 2009 Hall of Fame class, a list that contains the NFL's all-time sack leader, a current owner, a former commissioner, and six first-time finalists.

The voters will select a minimum of four and a maximum of seven new members on January 31. The complete list of finalists after the jump.