Dan Barreiro had Cris Carter on his popular radio show last week, and the conversation with the Hall of Fame receiver naturally drifted towards what is happening with Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Carter believes that this issue is “a little bit about respect” but is more about money.
“I think Aaron is a different guy,” he told Barreiro, “and I think when a guy is different, you’ve gotta respect that. And also kinda the unknown. I believe that Aaron will be playing football, and I believe his feelings were hurt over the last several years, as far as his involvement with the club and what they were doing. The lack of personnel moves that they were making, trying to get him a second Super Bowl.”
Then the interview turned extremely interesting, and Carter revealed his true reaction to the drafting of Randy Moss. Everyone knows the story about Denny Green calling Carter to tell him about Randy Moss, But now we know what happened next.
Carter said that as soon as he got off the phone with then-head coach Denny Green, the next call was to former Vikings general manager Jeff Diamond. He told him he wanted a four-year extension, or he “wasn’t coming to Minnesota.”
Carter said that adding Randy Moss to an already budding duo of him and Jake Reed would take away from both of them. He wasn’t going to have that potentially shorten his career, even though he was excited to play with and mentor Moss.
“I wasn’t gonna have them shortening my career by drafting him,” Carter told Barreiro. “I never said anything about it, never told anything to anybody, and me and the Vikings just handled that business behind closed doors.”
Carter later sat down with Red McCombs, who sold the Vikings to the Wilfs before the 2005 season, to hash out a deal. Even the infamously parsimonious McCombs saw Carter’s value and came to an agreement with him.
“Red sat down with me,” Carter told Barreiro, “and he said, ‘Cris, I don’t know what they promised you, I’m sure you’re not making it up, and you’re the leader of this team. We want to have you. I want to see you sign for the next four years, so let’s try to work something out and get something done.’”
While the thought of Carter being anywhere else seems almost incomprehensible, it is more interesting is that if the Vikings weren’t able to commit to him long-term, this could have been a reality.
Looking at Carter’s situation compared to Rodgers, it is incredible to see how the Vikings were able to handle this all behind closed doors while the Packers front office has repeatedly bungled their chances to mend the fences with their superstar quarterback. It will be interesting to see if the Packers front office heeds his advice and commits to Rodgers long-term, but one thing that is for certain is that Vikings fans will keep both eyes on the situation as it unfolds.
