Cris Carter has joined the growing chorus of former NFL players who say that the words captured on tape of Gregg Williams urging his players to injure opposing players go so far beyond the bounds of fair play that he shouldn’t ever coach again.
Carter, the wide receiver who played 16 pro seasons, said on ESPN’s NFL Live that Williams’ indefinite suspension should be extended to a permanent ban.
“I believe that Gregg Williams, he shouldn’t be able to coach football any more, and the reason why is because we have given him our best athletes,” Carter said, via ESPN spokesman Bill Hofheimer. “We have given him the best athletes to coach in the NFL for the last 16 years and he has taught them the worst tactics that you can teach a football player. So, I believe the only penalty that would suffice for this type of crime: he shouldn’t be able to coach any more. It is a privilege for us to be able to play football, and a privilege to play in the NFL, and he has taken the last 15, 16 years of his career, and he has decided to do that with it. I believe that Roger Goodell, his penalty should be: he shouldn’t be able to coach in the NFL any more.”
There’s been a surprising disconnect in the way current and former NFL players have reacted to the Williams audio, with some saying it’s typical of the way coaches speak to their teams, and others saying it’s so appalling that it has no business in the NFL. Carter falls in the latter camp.