Cris Carter: Hall-Worthy?

In an old Seinfeld episode, the character of Elaine hordes a stash of sponges (the prophylactics, not the dishwashing kind), and quizzes each potential mate to determine whether or not he is sponge-worthy.

Well, a similar process goes on in the world of sports, and this one has to do with making the Hall of Fame in a player's respective sport.

Cris Carter, the famed former Eagles wide receiver is up for nomination this year, which brings the question, "Is he Hall-Worthy?" Let's take a look at some of his highlights, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com and discuss...

*8 Pro Bowl selections and 4 All-Pro selections
*1101 Receptions, placing him second all-time
*13,899 yards all time, ranking him 6th
*130 career receiving TD's, good for second, and sixth all-time for TD's for all wide receivers and running backs
*5 2-point conversions made, ranking him third (okay, not the most important stat, I just thought it was kinda cool!)

So those are Cris Carter's highlights. Based on them, and other stats you can find at the above link, is he Hall-Worthy???

My verdict...

YES! Send him to Akron to the Hall of Fame.

He had a stellar career and deserves to be enshrined. Too bad that most of his career was spent outside of Philly, else we may have seen a Super Bowl, assuming he could have done just as well here as he did in Minnesota.

For the record, Carter, an Ohio State alum, was drafted in the 4th round by the Eagles in 1987, and stayed in Philadelphia on the steely Veterans Stadium turf until 1989. He spent the bulk of his career with the Vikings, and then fizzled out with 5 games in Miami in 2002.

Unfortunately Buddy Ryan let him go, as this statement from Wikipedia reveals:

During training camp in 1990, while coaching the Eagles, Ryan released an up-and-coming young wide receiver named Cris Carter. Ryan subsequently explained to the media that he had cut Carter because Carter "only catches touchdowns" - an explanation for which Ryan was widely ridiculed for several years, especially after Carter was signed by the Minnesota Vikings with whom he almost immediately developed into one of the NFL's premier passcatchers. Years later, however, it was revealed that Carter had had a serious drug problem, and that Ryan had released him from the Eagles to send him a wake-up call. Carter credits Ryan's actions with helping him to turn his life around.

So there you have it. At any rate, good luck on your HoF bid Cris, and you're more than welcome to suit up and try out for the Eagles again this summer...