Cris Carter was one of the best wide receivers in college football history and one of the best wide receivers in pro football history, and he's frequently invited young receivers to work out with him, many of whom have raved about his ability to help them improve. He knows a thing or two about playing the wide receiver position. And Carter, who is now a TV analyst, said on ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown that two of the young receivers he worked with, Charles Rogers and Mike Williams, were clearly not suited to becoming good NFL players. Carter said he worked with Rogers and Williams before they were in the NFL and would have been happy to share a candid assessment with Lions President Matt Millen, but Millen never asked:
"Matt Millen, do a little undercover work," Carter said today. "Williams and Charlie Rogers both worked with out with me before the draft, and I could have told them, 'don't draft neither one of them.' ... Never asked me."Millen, of course, used Top 10 picks on Rogers and Williams. Both were terrible in Detroit and are now out of the league.
It's common for NFL teams to do obsessive levels of research before drafting a player with a Top 10 pick, but Millen apparently couldn't be bothered to find out that his prized wide receivers had been working out with a future Hall of Famer, and that the future Hall of Famer didn't think much of them. Which is why Millen is now, finally, out of work.
UPDATE: Turns out Carter wasn't exactly being truthful.
