With Cris Carter in attendance, Justin Jefferson made a handful of impressive grabs during Vikings training camp.
The third day of training camp for the Minnesota Vikings brought a special guest to the Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center.
Former Vikings wide receiver Cris Carter made an appearance on Friday, prompting a post from the Vikings’ Twitter account.
Now an NFL analyst, Carter played 12 seasons with the Vikings, totaling 12,283 receiving yards and 110 touchdowns. In 2013, Carter was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
On Friday, however, Carter was a spectator to some impressive plays from Vikings wide receivers, including a catch from Justin Jefferson with a 360-degree spin in the air.
The video also included a clip of Justin Jefferson making a catch over the defensive back on a deep throw by quarterback Kirk Cousins.
Jefferson is only in his third season, but he’s already establishing himself as one of the best wide receivers in team history. Jefferson was named the Associated Press Offensive Player of the Year last season after finishing with a league-high 1,809 receiving yards, his third over 1,000 yards.
Chris Olave shared his Mount Rushmore for Ohio State wide receivers — earning points for humility after declining to name himself as the school’s receiving TD leader:
This was a fun conversation: New Orleans Saints wide receiver Chris Olave was interviewed on the Richard Sherman Podcast to explore a range of topics, including something he’s uniquely positioned to cover — the greatest wideouts in Ohio State Buckeyes history. Olave had the privilege of sharing a locker room with some talented future pros as well as the opportunity to watch elite prospects setting the standard in his youth.
When Sherman asked for his four-man Mount Rushmore, Olave singled out these names as the best he’s ever known:
Ranking the best players ever selected in the NFL Supplemental Draft
The NFL will hold its supplemental draft on Tuesday. It will be the first time since 2019 the event, which allows players whose draft eligibility has changed since the regular draft period to be selected, will take place.
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There have been over 40 players selected in the supplemental draft over the years, dating back to the first in 1977. Here are the five best players who came out of the supplemental draft ranks.
From Randy Moss to Jim Marshall, here are the best Minnesota Vikings players to wear each jersey number
From 0 all the way to 99, there have been a lot of talented players to wear the Minnesota Vikings jersey. Here are the best of the best at each number.
All of these are great players, but Jefferson is arguably the best non-quarterback in the NFL, let alone wide receiver. Former Vikings Hall of Fame wide receiver Cris Carter was upset with the rankings and went as far to say that the channel should be changed.
#CmonMan a top five wide receivers list in the @NFL and Justin Jefferson does not make the list @KeyJayandMax time to turn the channel .
In the abyss that is the time between mandatory minicamp and training camp, there are a lot lists that come out. They generate a lot of conversations on social media, but they aren’t always quality ones. Having Jefferson outside of the top three, let alone the top five, aren’t ones to be taken seriously.
No. 80 is now retired for Cris Carter, but who wore the number for the Vikings before him?
It’s the final countdown…
Well, sort of.
The Minnesota Vikings will kick off their 2023 regular season in 81 days at home against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sept. 10.
From now until then, we will take a trip down memory lane and count each day by revisiting the players that have worn that specific jersey number.
No. 80 is currently retired for wide receiver Cris Carter. Carter, a Hall of Famer, played 12 seasons with the Vikings and totaled 12,383 receiving yards and 110 touchdowns in purple and gold.
With 80 days until kickoff, here’s a look at every player to wear No. 80 with the Vikings (via Pro Football Reference):
NFL supplemental draft returns in 2023: A look at the Eagles’ history
The NFL’s Supplemental Draft is back for the first time since 2019 after the league granted eligibility for Purdue receiver Milton Wright. In 2021, he caught 57 passes for 732 yards and seven touchdowns for the Boilermakers.
Wright was ruled academically ineligible for the 2022 college football season and left Purdue last May.
The Supplemental Draft is for draft-eligible players who didn’t enter the selection process but cannot return to college football the same year.
There have been 46 players selected in the National Football League supplemental draft since its inception in 1977.
The supplemental draft was created in 1977 for players whose circumstances affected their eligibility and who did not enter the NFL draft during the spring.
Three players in the 1984 supplemental draft entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Steve Young, Gary Zimmerman, and Reggie White.
Cousins is the third Minnesota Viking to win the award
The Minnesota Vikings announced on Wednesday that quarterback Kirk Cousins was named the winner of the Athletes in Action/Bart Starr award. Founded in 1989, the award is meant to honor the NFL player who best exemplifies outstanding character and leadership in the home, on the field and in the community.
#Vikings Kirk Cousins has won the annual Athletes in Action/Bart Starr Award, given to an NFL player who "best exemplifies outstanding character and leadership in the home, on the field and in the community." He'll be honored at the Super Bowl. Vikings' Cris Carter won it in 1995
Kirk Cousins will be the third Viking to receive this award since its inception. Quarterback Warren Moon and wide receiver Cris Carter also won the award.
Cousins briefly touched on the award in his weekly press conference, where he went on to talk about getting the opportunity to meet Bart Starr.
Cousins: “I ran down towards their tunnel and just tapped him on the shoulder and shook his hand, introduced myself and just told him, basically, ‘Well done — in the life he's lived and not only what he does football field but who he was as a man and person.’”
Cousins will receive the award at the Super Bowl breakfast in Phoenix, Arizona on February 11th and hopefully, the Vikings will also be preparing to play in the Super Bowl that weekend.
The Minnesota Vikings are set to host the New York Giants in a Christmas Eve showdown on Saturday. Since the Vikings are at home, they’ll continue a tradition of sounding the Gjallarhorn, something that they’ve started since the opening of US Bank Stadium in 2016.
This Saturday, Minnesota Wild star left wing Kirill Kaprizov will get the honor of sounding the horn. Kaprizov is the first Wild player since center Erik Haula to sound the Gjallarhorn.
Other notable people that have sounded the Gjallarhorn this season:
Sylvia Fowles – Former Minnesota Lynx Cris Carter- Former Vikings Wide Receiver Lonnie Warwick– Former Vikings Linebacker Charlie Huizinga– Child battling acute Leukemia Jared Allen– Former Vikings Defensive End Paul Nakasone- United Stated Four-Star General Sunisa Lee- Women’s Gymnastic Olympic Champion Jairus Wright- Former Vikings Wide Receiver
Minnesota Wild left wing Kirill Kaprizov will sound the Gjallarhorn before Saturday's #Vikings game vs. the Giants.
Not many know this about Cris Carter, but now we do thanks to a documentary from NFL Films and EPIX.
Former Ohio State All-American receiver Cris Carter has been through a lot in his life. From growing up without a father to suspension and early departure from Ohio State, to his struggles off the field early in his NFL career, to say that his story is one of redemption would be an understatement.
There are plenty of Buckeye fans that know the story of Carter very well, but there are those too young to remember the NFL Hall of Famer from when he wore the scarlet and gray.
The “NFL Icons” Cris Carter Episode
But that’s OK. Thanks to the “NFL Icons” docuseries on EPIX, there’s plenty to get up to speed on. That’s because one of the eight episodes details the career and life of Carter. And, boy, is it worth a watch. It is done in partnership with NFL Films with Rich Eisen narrating, and it is both entertaining — and revealing — with some never before seen footage and behind-the-scenes moments we’ve all come to expect from NFL Films.
The Carter episode is set to air on Oct. 22, and we received a sneak peek here at Buckeyes Wire. Although Carter may be known by many more because of his Hall of Fame career in the NFL with the Eagles and Vikings, the episode goes into pretty good depth on his time in Columbus.
The Troubles at Ohio State
One of the rawest and most emotional moments deals with Carter’s unexpected early exit from Ohio State. For those of you that don’t know the story well, the Buckeyes were set up for what was expected to be a run at a national title in 1987, but it was derailed. First, by the suspension of Carter because of marijuana use early in the season. Then he was ruled ineligible after signing with an agent.
“When I got recruited to Ohio State, we had the No. 1 recruiting class, 1984. And we really thought we were gonna win a national championship,” Carter said in the documentary “I got tired of being broke. I got tired of not being able to call my mom. I got tired of just not — after the game, not being able to go get a slice of pizza.
“I really thought they were a great organization. I thought they were going to do big things. I mean, I’m not gonna sit here and act like I was naive. I know that I can’t take money from an agent, um, as long as I have eligibility. I didn’t think about my eligibility when I signed. I was thinking about my long-term career. My life, um, was totally turned upside down. Um, the relationships I had at Ohio State were ruined. And, um, it wasn’t like there was a lot of people that wanted Cris Carter associated with what they were doing at the time.”
Instead of a season of wonder under Earle Bruce, Ohio State limped to a 6-4-1 record with Bruce being fired in November.
“We were building something there together. And when I left, and not only did it alter the history of Ohio State, but it altered his career,” continues Carter. “He got fired. And I could have — I would have changed that.
“They needed my voice. And Earl lost control of the locker room. And that wouldn’t have happened. And, for me, and the decision that I made that I thought long-term was going to be best for my career it affected his career in a negative way, and I was sorry for that.”
Carter struggled with addiction with the Eagles and was let go by then-head coach Buddy Ryan. But with such great body control, hands and a desire to be the best, Carter found redemption and one of the best careers we’ve ever seen a receiver have in the league while with the Minnesota Vikings.
The Regret and Reflection
October 1985; Ohio State Buckeyes receiver Cris Carter (2) during the 1986 season. Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
Despite it all though, Carter still feels badly about what he did to Ohio State and Earle Bruce. In fact, to hear him tell it, in a life that had many struggles he had to overcome, it was the one moment in his career and time on this Earth he regrets the most.
Carter went back to speak at his high school, Middletown, in 2013, and his old college coach was in attendance. He took the time to let everyone know, Bruce included, how he was sorry for how things ended in Columbus.
“I got to tell you, coach Bruce, I love you to death. And I think that you should know this,” an emotional Carter remarked. “When I let you down before my senior year and was not able to play football for the Buckeyes, that was the worst thing that ever happened to me. And I’ve never had a chance to tell you this, Coach. From the bottom of my heart, I’m sorry. I wish I could go over and do it again. And if I could, I would have played my senior year for the Buckeyes. My fate would have been different. And I believe that your fate would have been different. And for that, I am sorry. And thank you for your support, Coach.”
Underappreciated Redemption
Look, there are plenty of stories where star players get in trouble and never recover. There are plenty of things chronicled about an athlete that could never round the corner of addiction or other off-the-field troubles resulting in a waste of talent and what could have been. A story like Carter’s probably isn’t told enough, and I don’t know that he’s ever gotten enough credit for how he turned things around despite it all to become one of the greatest to ever catch passes in the history of the NFL.
And this is just a small slice of the Carter episode that was very well done and highly entertaining with nuggets of information that many just never knew. If you are an OSU fan or a fan of Carter’s it is well worth an hour or so to check out the episode.
And if you are a football fan in general, the NFL Icons series is also must-watch television. Aside from the Carter episode, the second season also goes in-depth with episodes about John Madden, Walter Payton, Jimmy Johnson, Steve Young, Ray Lewis, Troy Aikman and Tony Dungy.
But first things first, find a way to get EPIX and watch the Carter episode on Saturday, Oct. 22. You will not be sorry.
