It’s not every day that a Pro Football Hall of Famer gets called “overrated,” but that’s exactly what happened to Cris Carter this week.
The former All-Pro receiver, who was inducted into the Pro Hall of Fame back in 2013, recently got called out by Asante Samuel Sr. Apparently, the former NFL cornerback just wasn’t that impressed with Carter’s 16-year career that included eight Pro Bowl appearances.
“He was nothing more than a possession receiver,” Samuel said on his “Say What Needs To Be Said” podcast. “That’s all Cris Carter was, a possession receiver, a receiver that catches the ball and is immediately tackled. That’s what a possessions receiver is. They have no [yards after catch]. Cris Carter is overrated, to be honest. Cris Carter is one of the most overrated [receivers] to ever come in the NFL, or into the Hall of Fame.”
Calling Carter overrated might be the hottest hot take that anyone has had about the NFL this year. The former Vikings star has been out of the league for 23 years and despite that, his numbers are still among the best in NFL history in several receiving categories:
- Receiving touchdowns: 130 (Fourth all-time)
- Receptions: 1,101 (Sixth all-time)
- Receiving yards: 13,899 (13th all-time)
Samuel did compliment Carter during his podcast, calling him a “hell of a route runner” and pointing out that he was “great during his time,” but he also doubled down on his overrated comment.
“As a cornerback, what do I have to worry about covering a guy like Cris Carter? He’s going to run a nice crispy route and get tackled immediately,” Samuel said. “OK. I’m not worried about him running past me. No one is worried about him running past him, so what fear does he put in any cornerback or defense? What Cris Carter did in his career wasn’t anything special, maybe above average, but it wasn’t anything special.”
Samuel spent 11 seasons in the NFL and got voted to four Pro Bowls along with one first-team All-Pro nod, so he was certainly no slouch, but it’s hard to side with him in this argument.
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Cris Carter responds to being called ‘overrated’
Carter responded to Samuel’s comments this week, and he actually seemed more surprised that Samuel was using “possession receiver” as a derogatory term than by anything else.
“Number one, you got to point out the things that are correct. Yes, I was a possession receiver, absolutely, but the best possession receiver in the history of the game,” Carter said on his “Fully Loaded” podcast. “That’s what the numbers say. There’s nothing wrong. I don’t take it as derogatory when people say ‘Oh, you’re a possession receiver.’ That’s fine, but all right, who did it better?”
As for whether cornerbacks had to worry about him while he was playing, Carter said they were always worrying about the possibility of him getting into the end zone.
“There’s so many fast guys that can’t score the football, so to me, he’s talking about ‘What are you worried about?’ Well you’re worried about me scoring,” Carter said. “High school, I scored a lot of touchdowns. College, I scored a lot of touchdowns, they’re just now breaking my touchdown records (at Ohio State). After 23 years away from the NFL, I’m still fourth in touchdowns. The difference between me and the other possession receivers is that they didn’t score a lot of touchdowns. There are a lot of guys that can catch balls, but not a thousand balls.”
The spat between Carter and Samuel started because of something Carter said about Chad Johnson a few weeks ago. In late June, Carter called out the former Bengals receiver for saying he could beat Travis Hunter the cornerback in a one-on-one matchup 10 out of 10 times, despite being 47 years old.
“There were points in Chad’s career, you had to go out there and tell him what to do because he couldn’t get open to save his life,” Carter said. “He couldn’t get open against average guys.”
Samuel didn’t like the insult.
“He is really beside himself coming for Chad Johnson,” Samuel said.
Samuel also mentioned that he was impressed with Johnson’s career, which led Carter to point out that the player once known as Ochocinco didn’t get into the end zone as often as he did.
“Chad Johnson scored double-digit touchdowns one time in his 11 years,” Carter said. “I think I scored [double-digit touchdowns] six times. Scoring the football is the No. 1 play as a receiver. No, I was not a burner, I ran 4.6 (in the 40-yard dash), 4.65, but can do it every single day, can do it for four quarters, and consistent at it.”
Carter’s career more than speaks for itself, and if you’re going to call someone overrated, you probably don’t want to go after the guy who has scored the fourth-most receiving touchdowns in NFL history.
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Author: John Breech
July 11, 2025 | 2:55 pm
