Cris Carter is one of the greatest wide receivers in the history of the NFL and will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this weekend. He is respected by his colleagues and NFL analysts across the country. However, that doesn’t mean every person likes him. Carter’s former teammate Qadry Ismail is one of those people, according to Pro Football Talk.
“To be perfectly honest with you, Cris was a bona fide diva,” Ismail said while on SiriusXM's Mad Dog Radio. ”That dude would make, as far as his play, some outstanding one-handed grabs in practice to the point where when we got to the game we were just like, people would be like, ‘Oh, no!’ And we were like, ‘Yeah, and? Well, that’s just kind of Cris Carter.’”
Ismail added Carter was great, but he was no Shannon Sharpe.
“However, to me, when I say the greatest guy that I played with was Shannon Sharpe, because he raised the game up for me as a player. I know there would be times when we’d get in the huddle and he’d look over at me and go, ‘Q, we need to make a play.’ Or whatever it might have been in that moment. And I swear to you it would be like, ‘Oh my god, I’m going to make a play because Shannon just called me out.’ And sure enough, boom, it would be there. Shannon was that kind of a guy that you just knew that he was in your corner. You couldn’t say the same thing for Cris Carter. You couldn’t say the same thing as far as his attitude towards his teammates. You couldn’t say the same thing as far as his attitude as far as the coaching staff. You knew that he had a selfishness to him that was an extreme selfishness.”
Carter’s former teammate continued his berating of future Hall of Famer. He said the former Vikings wide receiver was an unbelievably talent. However, he lacked the intangibles that allowed guys like Jerry Rice and Shannon Sharpe to take the next step.
“Could he flat out make catches? Absolutely. Could he flat out make plays? Absolutely. But there’s a reason why they didn’t go all the way and win Super Bowls,” Ismail said. ”There’s a reason why, that his talent was good, but when you talk about Jerry Rice talent you also talk about that team elevating it to the next level to win championships. When you talk about Shannon’s talent you are talking about that team elevating and winning championships. When you are talking about talent, there’s one thing to have talent but, to me, if you’re a complete, amazing football player, others around you rise up to whatever their level of talent is.”
Although Ismail thought the wide reciver was a “diva,” he did acknowledge Carter belonged in the Hall of Fame. However, he said the way he carried himself on the football field did not allow him to better his teammates.
According to ESPNMediaZone.com, Carter played with the Vikings for 12 season. When he retired in 2001 he held or shared 19 team records. He received the Walter Payton Man of the Year award in 1999 for his commitment to charity. The Vikings would eventually retire his number 80. His career totals include 130 receiving toucdowns—second all-time in NFL history—1,101 receptions and 13,899 yards.
