Video From '14 NFL Rookie Symposium Shows ESPN's Cris Carter Saying To Get A "Fall Guy"

The NFL "has another black eye on its hands after video surfaced" of Pro Football HOFer and ESPN analyst Cris Carter "telling rookies to pick a 'fall guy' to go to jail for them," according to Katie Dowd of the S.F CHRONICLE. The video, which had been up on NFL.com for a year before having "since been removed," only "drew widespread attention" after former NFLer Chris Borland brought it up in ESPN The Magazine. Dowd: "Unsurprisingly, this is not the image the already embattled league wants to project." ESPN issued a statement "distancing the network from his comments." ESPN in the statement said, "We completely disagree with Cris's remarks and we have made that extremely clear to him. Those views were entirely his own and do not reflect our company's point of view in any way." Carter yesterday tweeted, "Seeing that video has made me realize how wrong I was" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 8/24). In Hartford, Paul Doyle notes Carter and fellow HOFer Warren Sapp are seen in the video from the '14 rookie symposium. Carter says to the group, "In case y'all not going to decide to do the right thing, if y'all got a crew, you got to have a fall guy in the crew." Carter adds the "'fall guy' should know he's the one going to jail, but 'we'll get him out.'" The NFL in a statement "called Carter's remarks 'unfortunate and inappropriate.'" Doyle: "That's quite a league Mr. Goodell is running" (HARTFORD COURANT, 8/24). In N.Y., Mark Sanchez notes Carter's suggestion was, "If you can’t do the time, make sure one of your lesser-known friends can," and players in the audience "greeted his stunning advice with nervous laughs and occasional sporadic cheers" (N.Y. POST, 8/24).

GOING TO EXTREMES: THE MMQB's Peter King writes Carter's video is the "biggest example of inmates running the NFL asylum that I've seen in years." King: "How could the league have placed this offending video of his talk on NFL.com until yanking it Sunday? This is so offensive it boggles the mind." King also asks, "How could NFL VP Troy Vincent, who is in charge of the symposium, have allowed Carter to spew such venom?" (MMQB.SI.com, 8/24). In N.Y., Stephen Lorenzo writes Carter's advice on how to succeed in the league was "highly unusual," and such a message from a HOF player "is not the best look for the league." Lorenzo: "How about, just stay out of trouble?" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 8/24). But YAHOO SPORTS' Eric Adelson wrote to "lay all the blame on Carter is to make the same mistake the NFL did in allowing that video to remain on its site for months." The problem "is not only Cris Carter; it's the NFL culture." Too much of that culture "is built on the idea that these athletes are elite, and above-the-law, and to be protected (off the field) at all costs" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 8/23).

CARTER TO ADDRESS COMMENTS TONIGHT: Carter yesterday said the issue would be addressed tonight on ESPN during "Monday Night Countdown." He added, "I'm sure we'll address it then. That's really all I can give you" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 8/24). In Tampa, Tom Jones writes Carter's comments in the video are "appalling" and ESPN "needs to seriously examine its relationship" with him (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 8/24).