Cris Carter Hall Of Fame Success Brings Hate: He Was A Primadonna And 'Extremely Selfish' According To Former Teammate Qadry Ismail
As former Viking receiver Cris Carter gets ready for a victorious weekend centered on entering the Hall of Fame in Canton, Minnesota, his former teammate Qadry Ismail is throwing him a shady pass.
After playing with Carter for four seasons on the Vikings in the mid-90s, it seems like Ismail has some unresolved resentment toward his old "ally." When recently speaking with SiriusXM, he let all his frustration out. He accused Carter of being somewhat of a primadonna.
“To be perfectly honest with you, Cris was a bona fide diva,” Ismail said.
Unlike Carter, Ismail credited Shannon Sharpe, a former tight end for the Broncos and Ravens, for being the perfect team player.
"T]he greatest guy that I played with was Shannon Sharpe, because he raised the game up for me as a player," emphasized Ismail. "I know there would be times when we’d get in the huddle and he’d look over at me and go, ‘Q, we need to make a play.’ Or whatever it might have been in that moment. And I swear to you it would be like, ‘Oh my god, I’m going to make a play because Shannon just called me out.’ And sure enough, boom, it would be there."
Ismail insisted that Sharpe, who is now a CBS Sports commentator, always had his partner's back. The wide receiver couldn't give the same compliment to Carter.
"Shannon was that kind of a guy that you just knew that he was in your corner. You couldn’t say the same thing for Cris Carter," said Ismail. "You couldn’t say the same thing as far as his attitude towards his teammates. You knew that he had a selfishness to him that was an extreme selfishness.”
Although Ismail thinks Carter earned his Hall Of Fame recognition, he wished that his former teammate could've been a better team player.
“Could he flat out make catches? Absolutely. Could he flat out make plays? Absolutely. But there’s a reason why they didn’t go all the way and win Super Bowls,” Ismail said. ”There’s a reason why, that his talent was good, but when you talk about Jerry Rice talent you also talk about that team elevating it to the next level to win championships. When you talk about Shannon’s talent you are talking about that team elevating and winning championships. When you are talking about talent, there’s one thing to have talent but, to me, if you’re a complete, amazing football player, others around you rise up to whatever their level of talent is.”