When young athletes go pro, their lives can change overnight as they suddenly start earning money most of us could only dream of.
In order to help young players handle this transition properly, the NFL organises an annual “Rookie Symposium” where former stars dole out advice to those just entering the league.
While it may seem that the NFL are encouraging more responsibility among young players, a clip from the 2014 event has surfaced online, showing Hall of Fame wide receiver Cris Carter handing out some questionable advice.
In the clip, Carter advises rookies to find a “fall guy” in their group of friends who can take the blame for them if they get into some legal trouble, saying:
“Y’all not going to all do the right stuff now. So I’ve got to teach you how to get around all this stuff, too. If you’re going to have a crew, one of them fools got to know he going to jail. We’ll get him out.”
Carter has since apologised on Twitter:
Seeing that video has made me realize how wrong I was. I was brought there to educate young people and instead I gave them very…
— Cris Carter (@criscarter80) August 24, 2015
bad advice. Every person should take responsibility for his own actions. I’m sorry and I truly regret what I said that day.”
— Cris Carter (@criscarter80) August 24, 2015
The video was still available on the NFL website just hours before Carter’s apology:
https://twitter.com/CharlesRobinson/status/635547923388825600
