Cris Carter Advised NFL Rookies to Have Fall Guy in Crew
RUSH: Now, Dawn came in today. She's been out for a while, and says she's been indisposed, and she really didn't know anything that had gone on the last three days. Wait 'til you hear this, Dawn. This, I'm sure you haven't heard.
ESPN the magazine did a long profile of a San Francisco 49er linebacker named Chris Borland from the University of Wisconsin. He was on the way to superstardom after one season and quit. He retired, and will give away... He's gonna give back a portion of his $600,000 signing bonus. He quit because of all the news about concussions. He's not married, may be married someday, kids or whatever, and wants no concussion damage as it goes on.
Is a big, long profile about this, and in the story it was revealed that he had gone to the rookie symposium the NFL puts on in 2014 and he almost walked out when he heard some advice given to new rookies. The advice was (summarized), "Now, if y'all gonna have a crew you have got to make sure you have a fall guy in this crew." You've got to make sure that somebody gonna be willing to go to jail for you, if you gonna have a crew.
These are NFL rookies hearing this. Two NFL players were giving them this advice: You've got to make sure you have a fall guy, and you assure that fall guy that you'll bail him out, but he's gonna go to jail for you. You understand if you're gonna have a crew, the crew has to understand that you never go to jail; they go to jail. You get a fall guy, and you get 'em out. And the other player that was up there said, that's right. You will get 'em out. The players that he gave the advice were not named.
Borland said, "I don't want to name the players. I don't want to start anything here." Well, people went to the NFL.com website and they clicked on the symposium tab, and they found the video, and it was Cris Carter of ESPN, a former player for the Minnesota Vikings, a great wide receiver. He supposedly mentored Randy Moss. It was Cris Carter and Warren Sapp, and the NFL still had the video up there. The NFL still had that video up there for a year and a half from that symposium, for rookies.
Now, if you all gonna have a crew, make sure you got a fall guy. Somebody willing to go to jail for you because you are the leader; you cannot go to jail. In fact, the almost exact quote was, "If you're gonna do wrong, if you not gonna do right," meaning if you're gonna do illegal things, "you gotta find a way that'll take the blame for it." With the assurance that he'll stay in the crew and you'll get him out. Meaning you bail him out.
Warren Sapp said, "That's right. You get him out." Well, the NFL immediately took down the video, expressed shock and outrage, and yet (laughing) shock and outrage at what? They had left it up there. ESPN, upon learning this, then, of course, expressed shock and outrage and dismay that Cris Carter would ever say such a thing, and they began a long apology and so forth and so on, and Cris realized he done wrong. Cris now realizes he did wrong, and they went to Cris Carter, and he said (summarized), "Yeah, I saw the video of myself. I knew that wasn't right. I felt really bad about it."
So then they went to the reporter who knew who it was who originally reported about the symposium. It was a guy from Monday Modern Quarterback website claimed Robert Klemko. And he said (paraphrased), "Well, I made a deal with the NFL that I would get access, and they asked me to keep that comment off the record, and I made a judgment call. I had access to 95% of what went on in this symposium if I would leave that alone.
"I thought for the benefit of my readers, it's far more valuable to know 95% what went on in there than to be kicked out." So I don't know where it is now. I don't know what the latest on this is, other than Cris Carter is still on the ESPN pregame show. I doubt they'll have a problem with it, that deep a problem with it. But that's just one of the many things that you missed when you were indisposed.
RUSH: Now, Dawn came in today. She's been out for a while, and says she's been indisposed, and she really didn't know anything that had gone on the last three days. Wait 'til you hear this, Dawn. This, I'm sure you haven't heard.
ESPN the magazine did a long profile of a San Francisco 49er linebacker named Chris Borland from the University of Wisconsin. He was on the way to superstardom after one season and quit. He retired, and will give away... He's gonna give back a portion of his $600,000 signing bonus. He quit because of all the news about concussions. He's not married, may be married someday, kids or whatever, and wants no concussion damage as it goes on.
Is a big, long profile about this, and in the story it was revealed that he had gone to the rookie symposium the NFL puts on in 2014 and he almost walked out when he heard some advice given to new rookies. The advice was (summarized), "Now, if y'all gonna have a crew you have got to make sure you have a fall guy in this crew." You've got to make sure that somebody gonna be willing to go to jail for you, if you gonna have a crew.
These are NFL rookies hearing this. Two NFL players were giving them this advice: You've got to make sure you have a fall guy, and you assure that fall guy that you'll bail him out, but he's gonna go to jail for you. You understand if you're gonna have a crew, the crew has to understand that you never go to jail; they go to jail. You get a fall guy, and you get 'em out. And the other player that was up there said, that's right. You will get 'em out. The players that he gave the advice were not named.
Borland said, "I don't want to name the players. I don't want to start anything here." Well, people went to the NFL.com website and they clicked on the symposium tab, and they found the video, and it was Cris Carter of ESPN, a former player for the Minnesota Vikings, a great wide receiver. He supposedly mentored Randy Moss. It was Cris Carter and Warren Sapp, and the NFL still had the video up there. The NFL still had that video up there for a year and a half from that symposium, for rookies.
Now, if you all gonna have a crew, make sure you got a fall guy. Somebody willing to go to jail for you because you are the leader; you cannot go to jail. In fact, the almost exact quote was, "If you're gonna do wrong, if you not gonna do right," meaning if you're gonna do illegal things, "you gotta find a way that'll take the blame for it." With the assurance that he'll stay in the crew and you'll get him out. Meaning you bail him out.
Warren Sapp said, "That's right. You get him out." Well, the NFL immediately took down the video, expressed shock and outrage, and yet (laughing) shock and outrage at what? They had left it up there. ESPN, upon learning this, then, of course, expressed shock and outrage and dismay that Cris Carter would ever say such a thing, and they began a long apology and so forth and so on, and Cris realized he done wrong. Cris now realizes he did wrong, and they went to Cris Carter, and he said (summarized), "Yeah, I saw the video of myself. I knew that wasn't right. I felt really bad about it."
So then they went to the reporter who knew who it was who originally reported about the symposium. It was a guy from Monday Modern Quarterback website claimed Robert Klemko. And he said (paraphrased), "Well, I made a deal with the NFL that I would get access, and they asked me to keep that comment off the record, and I made a judgment call. I had access to 95% of what went on in this symposium if I would leave that alone.
"I thought for the benefit of my readers, it's far more valuable to know 95% what went on in there than to be kicked out." So I don't know where it is now. I don't know what the latest on this is, other than Cris Carter is still on the ESPN pregame show. I doubt they'll have a problem with it, that deep a problem with it. But that's just one of the many things that you missed when you were indisposed.