Carter May Be Joining Ex-Files

With New York still buzzing about Giant Coach Jim Fassel’s playoff guarantee, one of the greatest receivers in NFL history slipped into town and nonchalantly indicated he might be playing in his final game Sunday.

This is a story line worth following, not the Minnesota Vikings’ loss to Atlanta in the 1998 NFC championship game or the Giants’ last-minute collapse against the Vikings the last time these teams met in the playoffs, on which so many people seem fixated.

If all NFL receivers must stand behind Jerry Rice, then Minnesota’s Cris Carter is the next in line--statistically, at least.

Carter trails only Rice in career touchdown receptions (123) and career receptions (1,020). He is sixth in receiving yards, with 12,962.

And those might be the final numbers. Carter, 35, sounds ready to retire, even if he isn’t saying so publicly. If the Vikings lose the NFC championship game against the Giants at the Meadowlands on Sunday, “I have already made up my mind what I am going to do,” Carter said.

“Coach [Dennis] Green and I have discussed it. My wife, Melanie, we have discussed it and we pretty much know what we are going to do. My thing is I think there is a good story in the Vikings and I don’t want to take any attention away from the team. The story is not me and how long I am going to play. Fourteen [years], 15, a thousand, a hundred--it doesn’t matter. When it is time for me to quit, I will quit.”

If this isn’t time, why would he be worried about overshadowing the rest of the team? All it would take would be two simple words--”I’m staying”--and it would no longer be a story.

He also sounded like a man thinking about life outside football when he was asked if he expected his team to reach this point.

“If I didn’t think I was on a team that could compete for the world championship, I would not play,” Carter said. “There are so many other things in life, so many other things that you can make a contribution. But I do believe that [the Vikings can win]. I believe in Coach Green.”

The only sign that doesn’t point to Carter retiring is that he’s playing so well. He ranked third in the NFC this season with 96 receptions, good for 1,274 yards and nine touchdowns.

And he still plays with enthusiasm.

Some people were even complaining he was too animated in last week’s playoff game against the New Orleans Saints, when his tendency to celebrate each big catch by making an exaggerated first-down sign drew the ire of Saint Coach Jim Haslett and the two exchanged words.

Carter doesn’t apologize for his bursts of excitement. He says it’s the result of a personal pledge he made after his sister gave him a picture of him playing football in the fifth grade.

“I had made a pact with myself that I would play in the pros with the same type of energy I played with when I was in the fifth grade,” Carter said. “If I can’t do that, why should I play?

“It was something that I had, and it reminds me so much of my son [9-year-old Duron]. “I don’t know if that’s a blessing or whatever, but he looks a lot like me.”

Michael Jordan didn’t announce beforehand that the 1998 NBA finals would be his last appearance, but the thought it might be made us pay extra close attention. The same principle should apply here with Carter.

He might not be the NFL equivalent of Jordan. Perhaps he’s more like an Alex English, consistently great if not completely appreciated. His willingness to go over the middle, his ability to make the clutch reception, his concentration level and great hands made him the consummate receiver.

And yet Carter hasn’t even been the most celebrated receiver on his own team since Randy Moss burst on the scene.

Carter amassed these career numbers despite wasting the first part of his career--and almost throwing it away--by indulging in drugs and alcohol. He never caught more than 45 passes in his first three seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, and he was so ineffective that the Eagles waived him.

He cleaned up his act and went to the Vikings, where he didn’t benefit from the consistency of having the same quarterbacks throw to him throughout his career, the way Rice did with Joe Montana and then Steve Young.

Carter’s quarterbacks seemed to rotate every couple of years. He has caught touchdown passes from Randall McDaniel, Warren Moon, Jeff George, Rich Gannon, Jim McMahon, Sean Salisbury--and even Wade Wilson and Matt Cavanaugh.

Now he is playing with an up-and-comer named Daunte Culpepper, who had a Pro Bowl season but is only in his second NFL season--and first as a starter.

Carter has confidence in Culpepper--and his team.

“I don’t believe that we are the best team in football, but they are not going to give the trophy to the best team,” Carter said. “They are going to give the trophy to the team that plays the best, and I believe that we have built ourselves to the point where if we play two more great football games, that could be us.”

Fassel said almost the same thing, which didn’t make for a great endorsement of this game. Why should we watch if even the participants don’t believe the best teams are involved?

But we should watch if it could be the last game for Cris Carter, one of the best of all time.

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J.A. Adande can be reached at his e-mail address: ja.adande@latimes.com.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Where Carter Ranks

Statistics through 2000 season (x-active):

CAREER RECEPTIONS

Player: Rec.

1. x-Jerry Rice: 1,281

2. x-Cris Carter: 1,020

3. x-Andre Reed: 951

4. Art Monk: 940

5. x-Irving Fryar: 850

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CAREER RECEIVING YARDS

Player: Yds

1. x-Jerry Rice: 19,247

2. James Lofton: 14,004

3. Henry Ellard: 13,777

4. x-Andre Reed: 13,198

5 Steve Largent: 13,089

6. x-Cris Carter: 12,962

7. x-Irving Fryar: 12,785

8. Art Monk: 12,721

9. Charlie Joiner: 12,146

10. x-Tim Brown: 12,072

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CAREER RECEIVING TOUCHDOWNS

Player: TD

1. x-Jerry Rice: 176

2. x-Cris Carter: 123

3. Steve Largent: 100

4. Don Hutson: 99

5. Don Maynard: 88

CAREER TOUCHDOWDNS

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Player Rush Rec Ret Total 1. x-Jerry Rice 10 176 1 187 2. x-Emmitt Smith 145 11 0 156 3. Marcus Allen 123 21 1 145 4. Jim Brown 106 20 0 126 5. Walter Payton 110 15 0 125 6. x-Cris Carter 0 123 1 124 7. John Riggins 104 12 0 116 8. Lenny Moore 63 48 2 113 9. Barry Sanders 99 10 0 109 10. Don Hutson 3 99 3 105

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