Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Hall of Famer Cris Carter talks Justin Jefferson, his WR1 podcast and his favorite catch

Episode Date: September 16, 2021

Matthew Coller and Sam Ekstrom are joined by Hall of Fame wide receiver Cris Carter. They talk with the legendary Viking about Justin Jefferson's rise, what makes an elite wide receiver, why Jake Reed and Chris Walsh were the most unselfish receivers he played with and his favorite catch ever in the NFL. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Want to remind you before we get started, the Tick Pick is the exclusive ticketing partner of Purple Insider and the Blue Wire Network. Tick Pick should be your first choice to buy football tickets because they save fans money by never charging service fees ever. Hello, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Pollard, Sam Ekstrom here, and joining us, the first Hall of Famer to appear on the show. In fact, smaller pads than the last Pro Bowler we had, Scott Studwell, on the show. This is Chris Carter. What is up, Chris? How are you?

Very good. How are you doing? We're doing great, man. I've been listening to your podcast, Wide Receiver One, which everyone needs to go find. You just dropped an episode with Megatron Kelvin Johnson that is going to be a must-listen. You've recorded an episode with Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson, which we're going to get into. But I want to know, just to to kick us off this project of yours, interviewing wide receivers, Terry McLaurin, Alan Robinson,

some of the great receivers in the game. Just tell me about this project and like what it's been like for you. You've been a broadcaster for a long time, but I don't know that you've ever done something like this, where you dive into the ins and outs of playing wide receiver at this level? No, I've never done anything like this. And I thought at the time, it's something that there's no one else in the marketplace doing. So when you look at the world of broadcasting, when you look at the world of a podcast, when you can pick an area that is, there's no competition, you know,

that was very, very exciting to me. So that's why I partnered with blue wire. They came up with the concept. So we worked it out as far as who the guests, how many episodes and everything. So I thought it was a fresh idea to present a new information to sports fans. Chris, good to meet you. Sam Ekstrom here. You know, the Vikings as a franchise have had a lot of wide receiver one types and often on teams at the same time. You and Randy, Thielen and Diggs kind of had that dynamic for several years, and now it's Thielen and Jefferson. You have an episode with them coming up. I guess, what do you enjoy about the Thielen-Jefferson dynamic that we saw last season? Well, I think that their roles are clear as far as who they are as individuals. And there's a great deal of respect there, even for Adam, you know,

understanding that, you know, he's worked with other young receivers before, recently Stephon Diggs. So his role is fairly clear as far as what he's trying to accomplish, the leadership, the day-to-day far as what he's trying to accomplish, the leadership, the day-to-day intensity for which he's going to go about his job, and then also the type of information that he's trying to put into Justin. And Justin is a sponge to the information. He realizes that role, him as a mentee, and Adam as the mentor. So he concedes to that. And that really helps out the relationship early because sometimes the veteran and or the young person, there's not clear roles

as far as what they're supposed to be doing. And you can't do anything without respect. And you can see that both of them clearly have that for one another and how they're going to go about trying to continue building their relationship. They realize that relationship is important for that receiver room. And they also realize that we've had a great legacy in the purple as far as, you know, wide receivers and wide receiver combos. Chris, it's just been so interesting for us covering Justin Jefferson on a daily basis to see his mentality. And even though he's kind of got a happy-go-lucky attitude, he also comes across, you know, a reputation is demanding the football and things like that. But I think you see with Jefferson that he just he really wants to be one of the truly best receivers in the league. So I wonder what you sort of see in his personality. Right. It's hard to be in that position and not want the football.

I don't I don't know why people look at wide receivers just like, if a guy's a baseball pitcher, you think he wants to play in the outfield? You think he wants to play in right field? No, he wants to throw the baseball. If he's got heat, he wants to throw it. And if it can help the team win, then that's the way we should go about it.

So running backs want to run the ball. Wide receivers need to catch it. And the other thing that's more important about that is I've never seen a wide receiver develop properly without giving him the football. So if you want to see wide receivers develop, you want to continue building legacy, you have to give him the football. The thing about Justin that I've learned is that he's really hungry to understand and learn more about the position, understanding that you have to be a tremendous route runner. It takes years and years of experience, and he's really opened up to try to go out and learn from other guys

that have played the position or currently playing the position and guys that have been successful and played at a high level. So that part I did learn about the young man. Chris, I want to ask you about another former teammate of yours that had wide receiver one type talent. His name is Jake reach. You know, when, when Randy came in in 1998, Jake had four straight years of 1000,000 yards in a season.

And, you know, for Randy to come in and have the impact he did, Jake was sort of relegated to that wide receiver three role. That's sort of like Adam Thielen. Like if he were shoved to the side for a rookie this year, how did Jake handle that dynamic being as talented as he was and all the talent you had in that room? How did that go? Well, I mean, we had to have real heart to heart conversations. You know, the one thing that I did know when Denny Green and the organization was calling me and saying that they were going to draft Randy Moss. Now I knew that we were a three receiver offense. You know,

we play three receivers about 70% of the time. So I wasn't necessarily worried about that. But I did know that there's still only one football out there. And at that time, I was very, very healthy. And I felt like I could continue to play. I felt like I was still in my prime. I could continue to play at a high level for at least a couple more years. At that point, I thought, but Jake's a really good friend of mine.

So we had a lot of good heart to hearts. And as far as when someone like myself and you get into the Hall of Fame, it's because you got a lot of good teammates and also people that weren't selfish. So Jake Reed's one of the most unselfish teammates that I've ever had. And ultimately with us drafting Randy, yes, Jake and his stats and his career probably suffered the most. Yeah. And a guy who I think is very well appreciated in Minnesota, but maybe outside of Minnesota is not, I don't know if there's an understanding of how good Jake Reed was because of that. I wanted to ask you,

Chris, as you talk to these wide receivers for the podcast, what comes away as something that all great wide receiver ones have. And I know obviously this team has had multiple wide receiver ones, but, but Calvin Johnson is six foot six or something. Julian Edelman, who you spoke to is not anywhere close to that, but yet these guys are both dominant wide receivers. So is there something like a commonality between all great wide receivers that you find? I think the thing you mentioned before, all of them have the desire to have the football in the most critical situations, but also as you go through body types,

right receivers are like thoroughbred horses, even though they might look the same. They come in a lot of different sizes and shapes, and they have different gates about them. All of those guys that you mentioned, if you're going to be a wide receiver one, you can't be one-dimensional. Like, you can't be a third-down guy.

You can't be just a red zone guy. You can't be just a guy that plays outside the numbers. So that's what you'll see is some of the commonality is in the versatility, but ultimately in the most clutch situations, these are the guys you want to put on their hands. I saw you shooting hoops and shooting pool with Masters Hasfazi and Chris. And during that show, you mentioned that DeAndre Hopkins, you think, is on a Hall of Fame track. That's the opponent that the Vikings have to deal with this Sunday.

What do you like most about DeAndre Hopkins? You know, to me, when you go through history, it's always nice to pick out guys from the past and guys that are playing now and try to mirror their style of play. And for me, outside of Larry Fitzgerald, you know, he's just a guy that plays extremely hard. He can high point the ball. He's got potentially the best hands in the NFL. He can operate in tight quarters. He's tough. He blocks. He's a good leader. He practices hard. He's tough. He blocks. He's a good leader. He practices hard.

He plays hard. So for me, all those attributes about D-hop, nuke, are things that I love. And when people ask me about the game and everything, I really try to relate to them outside the numbers and everything. What are some of the things that I hear about people? And I try to get that word out there so people really know that we got a lot of ballers in the league, but even amongst the ballers, we got baller ballers. And, you know, that's who DeAndre is. Well, and DeAndre, I mean, if we're talking about a Chris Carter,

a guy who catches everything. And I always wondered when I used to watch you, Chris, is you would do the toe drag thing and just be able to catch. I mean, the quarterback could be throwing it way out of bounds and you would find a way to catch it. I mean, did you always have this sense that I can catch everything? And there are Adam Thielen catches that maybe you see. And I think of Chris Carter catches where you're like, oh, no way he's bringing this in. Was that a skill that you developed over your years? Or was that

something that you just always had and then refined as you went along? Cause it used to kind of blow my mind. Some of the catches that you would make. I think I've always had the great hand-eye coordination. It's a gift. I have, you know, tremendous size hands, you know, more than a size 10 hand I have. And, you know, I had a great desire to try to exhaust all of my talent, try to put it out there and try to be as good as I can in all areas. And I knew that I caught the ball different. And, you know, to me, I thought that separated me from other guys. And, you know, I tried to make it a point that the quarterback didn't have to be on target and we could still connect.

And that was part of my job. And it made me different. I remember Brad Johnson, one, he throws me a ball and, um, I think I got smacked pretty good on it and I made one hell of a catch and Brad came down and apologized. He's like, Chris, man, I'm so sorry. And everything I said, right. He shouldn't be sorry. He's like, yeah, yeah, man. I don't like to throw you in the traffic like that. I said, but the fans they're cheering. They don't think that was you, Brad. They know that was me. So I think that you develop a reputation and you try to live up to that reputation.

I really understood how wide the field was. I understood from the slot outside how many strides I had for the time I hit the numbers. The numbers are two yards wide. You probably got about five strides before you're going to hit the number. You can toe drag swag about five and then a toe drag swag to 53rd and 53 yards and a third wide is critical to knowing that how far the hash marks are apart, cover to how much room you have to operate. So all those things became very, very important in doing my job so that I can get the more balls. Do you have a favorite catch that you ever made?

I would say Rich Gannon and I hooked up. I had only been with the Vikings maybe four or five weeks, and we played the Eagles on Monday night. And the Eagles had an all out blitz and they thought that we were going to have a hot read and I was going to break the route off. And I was able to run past the corner and not the person to have a reputation for speed and everything to run past the fast guy and Rich got clobbered and he stood in there and delivered a strike. And I think I scored from like 75 yards out on a Monday night after only being with the team for a few weeks after Buddy Ryan had cut me.

So on the national stage, I think I went for a couple of touchdowns and like over 150 yards. And that was a pretty special night. Well, you proved him right. Didn't Buddy Ryan say all he does is catch touchdowns? So I guess that was that was correct well i think that um when buddy ryan cut me and he said that um i made a pact with myself that he couldn't be right there was no way there was no world that existed um if he was going to be right and that's why i really went to working on all aspects of my game so that I necessarily,

outside of my long range speed, didn't have any weakness. Chris, you just described that touchdown in great detail. And there's another wide receiver one, Larry Fitzgerald. There's been articles written about him where he remembers like every touchdown he's ever scored in great detail. He can tell you about the situation and the route uh you've scored 130 touchdowns in your career what kind of recollection do you have about the the 15 year career and and pulling specific plays from your memory bank i got a very good recollection of it um it's uh at some points in your career, the plays happen in slow motion. So your ability to retain those are a lot different.

And I think working around the league, working at the league office, working with NFL films, too. I'm around seeing a lot more than normal players would see too. So for, yes, I do have great recall as far as that. Now, when I get with my buddies from high school and from college, my memory is not, it's not nearly as sharp and they're always upset and everything. And I say, well, I got all these, I got 230 NFL games or something like that on top of those memories. So I'm sorry. So at Denver 1999,

do you remember what you did on, on that day on the mile high city? I think I had like seven or seven or nine catches. I think I had like 150 or 170 yards. To me, I had a feeling. I just had a feeling. A lot of the guys on the team, especially the quarterbacks, they ask me before the game what's it look like or what's it feel like. Typically,

I would try to draw a circle, like my catch radius. I remember that day telling the quarterback that my radius was – it was ridiculous. It was limitless. And it was a beautiful day. I remember the sun shining over the mountains in the stadium. Like, yeah, I remember.

I remember Ray Crockett playing against him and lighting him up um yeah something like that i think i remember eight 144 and two touchdowns that was your line that day pretty good memory what was it eight catches 144 and two touchdowns i was right in the middle i was like okay was that je that Jeff George or was that Randall? Was that George for that game? What year was that? 99. It was Jeff George, I believe.

Have you ever seen anyone throw a football faster than Jeff George? He can sling it. Yeah, he could sling it. I couldn't remember if that was more towards the beginning of the season where we had moved on from Randall and put Jeff George in there. Yeah, he can definitely swing. Fans are going back to stadiums, so you have to be ready with the best Minnesota football gear. That's why you have to check out Soda Stick.

I saw a ton of Soda Stick gear around training camp. I expect to see it in the stadium as well. There are so many cool designs on hats, T-shirts, and hoodies for the fall weather, including the John Randall design that is extremely cool. There's also the straight cash homie Randy Moss homage. Can't stop the Thielen hats. And a personal favorite, the old video game designs that Tecmo fans will appreciate.

Check it all out at sodastick.com. That is S-O-T-A-S-T-I-C-K.com. Everything is screen printed here in Minnesota. And I can tell you that the shirts are comfortable and they last because half of my closet is now SodaStick at this point. Again, that's SodaStick.com. Minnesota sports inspired goods and keep your eye out for our Soda soda stick giveaways. Folks, Minnesota football is back, and there's no need to exhaust yourself searching all over the Internet for Minnesota football tickets anymore,

because TickPick, that's T-I-C-K, P-I-C-K, is the original no-fee ticket site and the only one you'll ever need to go for NFL tickets. TickPick got rid of all those awful service fees like the other ticket sites charge, which lets them guarantee the best prices of all of their NFL tickets. Don't believe it? If you can find better prices for the same seats on another ticket site, TickPick will give you 110% of the difference on your purchase price. We've got quite a slate of home games in downtown Minneapolis, including revenge game for Cleveland when they return to Minnesota and plenty

more visit tick pick.com slash insider today and use the promo code insider to save $10 on your first order for Minnesota football tickets. That, that is a great like party trick for you. Just like give me a box score and I'll tell you all about that day. I wanted to know, Chris, just like the differences between playing receiver when you played it and now, because there's a lot of similarities for sure. Like you were talking about knowing the game, the competitiveness element of it, just catching the football, like all those things translate. But, you know, the back in the day 90s fan will say going over the middle.

You know, I grew up in Buffalo, New York, watching Andre Reid go over the middle. Now everyone goes over the middle. So I wonder what like what you think is is similar and what you think is different for receivers in today's game. Well, it can't be the same. I mean, we know more information. The game is a lot safer. The rules have changed. How many times they're going to throw the football has changed. But the fundamentals of running routes and getting open and coverages,

they haven't invented any new coverages. They haven't put any 12 guys on the field. They still play base defense, nickel, and dime. That's it. All right? Some teams play a 34. The other ones play a 43. Like, let's get it.

So I think that, you know, the last three decades are married together very, very similar because they still are attacking defenses and still great wide receiver play is highlighted and craved around the league. So I love the way the game is played now. I'm glad it's safer for all the players out there, not necessarily just wide receivers. And I don't, you know, Lynn Swan doesn't take anything away from me because I didn't play in the

seventies. So why should I take something away from the guys that are playing after me? That's idiotic. I'm glad the game is growing. I'm glad more people can play the game. We've got more small receivers than ever before. So now if you're a good route runner and you're tough, like you got a chance to play receiver and play it at a high level, maybe you didn't have that chance 20 years ago. Chris, you've been so generous with your time. We won't keep you long here. I just, I saw a piece of footage today. It came across my Twitter feed. It was a clip of 1997.

You were catching balls in the flat, and Chris Walsh was out in front of you just blocking guys into oblivion. I don't know if you remember that. Yeah, Arizona. I couldn't believe that it popped up just hours before we were going to talk to you. So I wanted to know if you remember that game. Oh, that's the knockout game. Yeah.

And what were your impressions of Chris Walsh? Man, Chris Walsh is one of the toughest human beings ever. Man, I love Chris Walsh. I loved having him in our locker room. I loved playing with him, going to battle with him. And him and I used to have some packs as far as practice and everything because, you know, Wh he used to like to hang out a little bit on the nightlife so he would let me know how how late he had hung out

and everything if he had too many cocktails and then i would try to pick up the slack and if i was a little banged up and everything he would pick up my slack so um i don't know anyone who played with chris walsh who did not love him. And Arizona thought that we had something out for him that day. And I just kept saying, man, that guy likes me. Because every time a guy would try to tackle me, Chris would knock him out. That was one of the most amazing games. But pound for pound, and you're talking about a guy that gave his body up for the game.

And he suffered as far as his overall health right now because of what he did um for the game of football but chris walsh is the reason why the game is is what it is man and you need guys more guys like chris walsh playing the game he played it the right way great team well toughness will always play in the nfl right um chris before we wrap up i just wanted to ask you, like, how's life, man? I mean, this podcast project is really cool. You've done so many great things with broadcasting. Your post-career NFL career has turned into a whole nother career for you. Just how are things, man? I'm in New York now working, doing some things on Good Morning Football. They're looking for a replacement for Nate Burleson, so they're going to have some legends in over the next probably couple months before they – so I'm going to help them out. In the meantime, as they're in transition, so I'm in New York for a few days working, watching games, watching tape, talking to coaches,

talking to players and everything. So I'm still connected with the league office. I still for the league and work at a good morning football tomorrow check me out 7 to 10 eastern time on NFL network and then Monday I'm have a recap of week number two so I work there today so doing some other things media wise but got a good life still live in Florida still make my home there still got a good life. Still live in Florida. Still make my home there. Still got a daughter that works for the Purple, works for their foundation and everything.

So still connected to the Purple. That's my favorite team, always will be. So I'm forever fond of the people of Minnesota and Twin Cities, how they embrace me and help me grow up. So that's always a good trip for me to talk about or talk about or go see the park. Yeah, for sure. And we really appreciate this. We saw you this morning. We were in the media room. We have lots of, the new media room has a lot of nice TVs and stuff.

It's not like winter park for back in the day. So we saw you there on a good morning football. So really appreciate all of your time, the great analysis and insights. Can't thank you enough. And people should really check out the podcast. So good, especially if they like this podcast where we try to go hardcore football. It's hardcore football. So, Chris, thanks so much for your time and really appreciate you joining. No, thank you, guys.