Cris Carter goes old-school at the Rookie Symposium

By Doug Farrar

When former Eagles, Vikings and Dolphins receiver Cris Carter talks about overcoming difficulties and playing in the NFL for a long time, it would behoove young players to listen. Carter, who ranks third in NFL history with 1,101 regular-season catches, may have had the best hands of all time, was unquestionably the best sideline receiver in league annals, and will surely go into the Hall of Fame when the voters get a clue, came very close to missing his chance at greatness.

Selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fourth round of the 1987 supplemental draft, Carter was eventually cut by Buddy Ryan because he couldn't handle his off-field activities. But he cleaned himself up and went on to have one of the greatest careers among the last generation of NFL players.

Now, Carter gives his life lessons to the next generation every year at the Rookie Symposium. It's a great chance for players coming into the league to learn how important it is to keep their heads on straight, and what awaits them either way. This year's talk was particularly video-worthy:

Carter talked about the need to come into camp looking to "take a dude's job", and that being the first step to a long career. He also discussed the need to keep one's family (including one's momma!) in check once the contract is signed, the need to watch that money (because "ain't nobody taking double teams

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Seahawks rookie Tate involved in donut-related mischief

When I interviewed former Notre Dame and current Seattle Seahawks receiver Golden Tate(notes) for the Washington Post in March, I should have asked him if he had a sweet tooth. Evidently he does, and it seems to have gotten the rookie in a bit of trouble. As first reported by TMZ.com, Tate was given a trespass warning by police in Bellevue, Washington (a suburb of Seattle) when the owner of the Top Pot donut shop below the apartment complex in which Tate lives noticed that there were intruders in his place of business at 3:00 last Saturday morning. The Seattle Times reports that Tate and a friend got in via a common door that was left open.

Tate said that the idea was to go into the shop to grab a few maple bars, which are apparently addictive to the extreme. "They're irresistible," Tate told the media after his pastry caper was made public. "It was kind of a foolish mistake that won't happen again. But if you ever want some maple bars, that's the place to go.

"A buddy made the mistake of going in, grabbing a couple. He came out, we ate them. There's nothing much to the story other than that. I'm very apologetic to it. This is the wrong type of media I want to bring to this organization. I apologized to the team, the coaches and even Top Pot. As of now, I think that's the end of it."

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Vikings rookie free agent overcomes darn near everything

A lot of hopeful rookies have overcome a lot of hardships to earn a crack at an NFL roster over the past couple of weeks, either through the draft or as undrafted free agents.

I'm sure there are a lot of rough stories out there. There probably aren't many rougher than the story of Bill Noethlich, though.

Judd Zulgad of StarTribune.com tells the story of Noethlich, a 6-7, 308-pound offensive lineman who just signed a contract with the Minnesota Vikings. He went undrafted but was invited to try out at the Vikings rookie camp. He ended up walking away with a contract.

That's the happy ending. Now let's rewind eight years.

Noethlich is 15 years old. That's when his mother died as the result of a car accident.

Depression set in for the youngster. His grades dropped. But then he sat down and had a heart-to-heart with his grandfather, who convinced him to lift himself up and try to become a football player. That's when his grandfather died.

Bill went on to college, though, and his father remarried. The new family built a house together, and they all moved in. That's when the family house burned down.

Bill continued on at college, though, studying and playing football. And that's when his sister Jennifer went into a diabetic coma, and she died.

And if triumphing over nearly unending sadness isn't enough for you, how about an underdog story on top of it? Noethlich played college ball at Southwest Minnesota State. The football they play there is nine-on-nine, which I didn't even know existed.

I'm not entirely sure how nine-on-nine football works, but I'm pretty sure that if you end up at a college where the football is nine-on-nine, the odds of you making the NFL are pretty long.

Back to the happy ending, though. Again, via StarTribune.com:

"There was just so much emotion after having something great happen to me," said Noethlich, 23. "I was hugging my parents and holding them as much as I could and enjoying this great moment, because we've had a few bad ones, that's for sure."

Said Bill's father, Dan: "You have no idea how proud we are of that kid. I don't know if you can put into words how proud you can be as a parent of somebody who has carried themselves to this level."

It would be phenomenal to see Noethlich go on to make the Vikings final roster, but that he's even come this far is downright awe-inspiring. Best of luck to him, and that entire family.

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