In the wake of the New Orleans Saints' bounty scandal -- which has Minnesota Vikings' players happy with the respective punishments and the Vikings even releasing a player involved -- one of the biggest names in Vikings history has come forward and admitted to using bounties in his playing career.
Cris Carter took to the radio airwaves to talk about bounties that he used throughout his career, including his time as an All-Pro receiver with the Vikings.
"I’m guilty of it," Carter said. "It’s the first time I’ve ever admitted it. But I put a bounty on guys before. I put bounties on guys. And the guys tried to take me out, a guy tried to take a cheap shot on me, I put a bounty on him, right now."
"A money bounty?" Mark Schlereth asked.
"Absolutely," Carter said.
"Protect me. . . . Protect me from him. . . . Especially if he’s playing a different position where I can’t protect myself," Carter said. "I’d tell one of them guards, ‘Hey man, this dude is after me, man. Bill Romanowski.’ He told me he’s gonna me out before the game, in warmups. No problem. ‘I’m gonna end your career, Carter.’ No problem. I put a little change on his head before the game. Protect myself, protect my family. That’s the league that I grew up in."
Carter also said that bounties were used to protect players like Randy Moss, Daunte Culpepper and Randall Cunningham.
Of course, Carter is not the only one and he expresses zero regrets because he said it was 'part of the game.' It's clear the bounties have a much richer history than the 2009-2011 Saints, but the NFL hopes to set an example so this doesn't continue to be an issue henceforth.
It'll be interesting to see if the Vikings respond to Carter's admission given that they have been outspokenly positive about the NFL's initiative against the bounties of late.
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