Everyone is always piling on T.O., including the ESPN Sunday Countdown crew. Both Keyshawn Johnson and Cris Carter have been critical of the wide receiver multiple times this season, which is why some of their comments came across a bit hypocritical this past weekend.

The set was discussing Anquan Boldin's recent run-in with a coach, and both Johnson and Carter were sticking up for the Arizona receiver. This isn't sitting well with the Dallas Media, who are calling both analysts hypocrites today. Via Barry Horn at the Dallas Morning News....

As we all know from watch ESPN's Sunday studio show this season, Keyshawn Johnson and Cris Carter aren't very fond of Terrell Owens. The ex-WRs have picked, picked, picked on T.O. for everything from alligator arms to lizard leanings. They think T.O.'s sideline behavior has been lousy.

So it was surprising to hear Keyshawn kid-gloving Cardinals WR Anquan Boldin this morning after his sideline spat with former T.O. sparring partner Todd Haley.

"No. It's not that big of a deal," Keyshawn said. If it was, you could see players grabbing him ... I've been with Todd Haley and I've been around Todd Haley. He coached me with the Jets. He coached me in Dallas. In our meeting rooms (he) was the worst. You would like to be a fly on that wall. I don't how we could even be in the same room, I don't know how we can get along so well. But that's just a player and a coach out there competing. I work for TV, but I hate it because they try to turn it into more than it is. And, it's not that big of a deal."

Said Carter: "For one, a lot of times you don't know what the players are saying. But as players and coaches, we're a fraternity. Whatever we say on Sunday's or Monday's during the game it doesn't count. This is a competitive atmosphere. It's a result's oriented business ...When you have an athlete like him and he can't participate in the game, he's going to let the coach know that. And he has a right to know that because of the sacrifice he's made for his teammates."

Considering that the Carter-T.O. "Bullet incident" happened only a few short weeks ago, it's definitely surprising that he would be a Boldin apologist. Forget the fact that anytime Keyshawn says that someone is a "distraction", that it's extremely hypocritical. I know the media is trying to play up the whole fight between Anquan and Coach Haley, and ESPN was right in dismissing it over the weekend, but they should be more careful about who they do and don't defend on-air.

Do Keyshawn and Cris Carter have a double standard when it comes to T.O.? (Dallas Morning News)

Yardbarker, the site that supports this site, has a ton of athletes on its blogging roster, but their latest pickup might be the most notable. Well at least controversial. Terrell Owens is now blogging for the network, and in his first post (a huge 50 word piece) he addresses Cris Carter's comments on "shooting" the Cowboys' wide receiver....

Hey Yardbarker... This is T.O. and I want to tell you this myself. People ask me what I thought about what Cris Carter said about me a few days ago. All I know is, if I'd been the one who had said that about him, what would everyone have thought?

Well, as short as that side of things is, he's actually right. The Sports World would have been up in arms if Owens was the one using the reference, but then again....who does he have to blame that perception on? It's a double edged sort out there folks, especially for athletes. It's usually best to be on the duller one, if you know what I mean.

What Cris Carter said (Yardbarker)

Cris Carter hasn't been making any friends in Dallas, and probably won't be doing so anytime soon. The ESPN analyst was caught a week ago saying that a Cowboys' Playoff run would be a "a discredit to team sports" and to "team unity", but he added a final parting shot to T.O. on Mike and Mike this morning.

"If it was me, I'd get rid of T.O. T.O. got to go from the beginning. Right from the giddy up. I take one bullet and put it right in him. Bam!"- Cris Carter

Well then. I mean he's right, but he didn't have to say it quite so harshly if you ask me. Using the phrase "putting a bullet in someone" isn't really going to go over well when you're talking about the NFL. Especially in recent years.

(Thanks to DM for the tip)

Last night's game, as far as the booth went, really wasn't all that bad. Sure Tony had his moments, but I think the trio was just so shocked at the outcome that they didn't have time to say anything too annoying. Countdown however was pretty wild throughout, but they saved the best for the end. Here is Cris Carter doing his endzone celebration for you before the game started last night, and the rest of the quotes below that....

Your Monday Night In Quotes:

"Eli Manning he has a big brother you know, Archie. Peyton's injury?"- Chris Berman
"Cooper! You talking about Cooper?"- Chris Mortensen

"You were a hawk on that."- Jaws to Tirico
"He's being helped by that hunter's moon."- Tony Kornheiser

"A lot of the issues of the Dallas Cowboys yesterday having pressure on Tony Romo, came from the outside pressure."- Emmitt Smith

"We think Eli is taller and handsomer now that he's won the Super Bowl. Imagine what would've happened if [Jaws] won the Super Bowl." - Tony Kornheiser

"In 1492, Christopher Columbus....in the ultimate road game. Where was he going? I don't know, but winning in front of hostile crowd....not easy."- Chris Berman

"How did Eli get to be the first pick? If his name was Schwartz he would have went in the sixth round."- Tony Kornheiser

"Even if Cleveland sails the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria can the Browns win tonight."- Chris Berman

"Penalty on the Browns. That's a shock....they only have nine a game."- Mike Tirico

"Thanks for Coughlin and Crennel, or I would be the third oldest coach in the NFL."- Tony Kornheiser

"The dog pound got a bone they can chew on here tonight"- Mike Tirico

"Wasn't Jamal Lewis, Brandon Jacobs, before Brandon Jacobs was Brandon Jacobs?"- Tony Kornheiser

"We think Eli is taller and handsomer now that he's won the Super Bowl. Imagine what would've happened if [Jaws] won the Super Bowl." - Tony Kornheiser

I thought Cris Carter was a good hire for ESPN when they brought him on to replace Sean Salisbury, and while he hasn't really disappointed, he's certainly not doing much to improve his reputation. He verbally threatened Will Leitch a few months back and now he's taken to flat out lying on-air.

The topic of Matt Millen's firing came up on Sunday Countdown and when drilling the former Lions GM's drafting downfalls, he had this to say....

“Matt Millen – do a little undercover work. (Mike) Williams and Charlie Rogers both worked out with me before the draft. I could have told him, don’t draft neither one of them. (He) never asked me.”- Cris Carter

Okay then. That's kind of an egotistical way to go about discussing a topic, and I guess Carter's opinion is well thought of in the Football community, but there's one small problem. According to Yahoo Sports' Charles Robinson, he actually WAS asked back in 2003 and 2005 by two separate newspapers, and he had a completely different view of the two receivers before they were drafted....

That’s interesting because here is what you said about both players just before they were drafted. Carter’s comments about Rogers, to the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel just before the 2003 draft: “He’s very similar – and I don’t like to make a lot of comparisons – to Randy (Moss) in a sense, a big basketball player playing wide receiver. He’s the only receiver that’s come out since Randy that you can make an honest comparison to. He has a yearning to learn.”

And Carter’s comments about Williams, to the St. Paul Pioneer Press just before the 2005 draft: “I think he’s going to be a great player. I think people will be surprised at the kind of person he is. He’s really a hard worker. He takes his training very seriously and wants to be very good.”

So much for consistency.

It's one thing to forget a prediction or two as you go through the season, but something like this is pretty egregious mistake. I still find it funny that media members rarely go back and look up what they said when they spout off at the mouth like this. I'm no pro at the Internet, but it should be pretty easy to just Google "Cris Carter Mike Williams Draft", if you can't remember what you said 3 to 5 years ago.

Winners and losers (Yahoo Sports)

Obviously they should be promoting what's arguably the best matchup of the College Football season, but I haven't seen them go to this degree before. Even with playoff games in professional Sports. First off they've dubbed it "The Collision In The Coliseum" and they've made a crawl for info on the game for the bottom of the screen. They're also hyping the game on both Sports Center and First Take multiple times a day, showing clips of former players Keyshawn Johnson and Cris Carter talking bets and now ESPNU plans on starting coverage on Friday with something called “Walk ThrU” at 1pm....

As a prelude to No. 5 Ohio State at No. 1 USC live Saturday, Sept. 13, at 8 p.m. on ABC and ESPN Radio, ESPNU’s Walk ThrU special will highlight several college football moments from the Buckeyes and Trojans’ past and present, including the 1985 and 1990 Rose Bowl matchups between both schools. Coverage begins Friday, Sept. 12, at 1 p.m.

In addition, ESPNU will continue to utilize Campus Connection students during the college football season. All weeklong, a student from Ohio State and USC will provide student perspectives from the campuses leading up to Saturday’s matchup. USC vs. Ohio State Walk ThrU Schedule...

Fri., Sept. 12

Ohio vs. Ohio State (2008)- 1pm
USC at Virginia (2008)- 3:30pm

Sat., Sept. 13

USC vs. Arizona State (2005)- Midnight
Michigan vs. Ohio State (2006)- 3am
2006 Heisman Presentation (Troy Smith)- 6am
2005 Heisman Presentation (Reggie Bush)- 7am
1985 Rose Bowl: USC (20) vs. Ohio State (17)- 8am
1990 Rose Bowl: USC (35) vs. Ohio State (26)- 10am

Again, not a bad idea at all, but I can't remember them hyping a game to this degree in quite awhile. Well maybe the Michigan-Ohio State game back in 2006, when it was #1 vs. #2, but other than that I can't think of one.

Given that there will be no guests in the MNF Football booth this year (so says ESPN), ABC has found another way to cross promote its hit show "Dancing With The Stars". Yep, they've decided to throw it into a Monday Night Countdown promo and here is the awesome result....

It's not the worst commercial ever made, but it doesn't hold a candle to Emmitt and Key leading that pottery class last year. Although the Tom Jackson reply of "worrrrd" made me chuckle.

So last night's telecast was rather interesting. Monday Night Countdown had more analysts than ever, Tony Kornheiser complained about the heat in Arizona and Emmitt....well, Emmitt actually wasn't that bad (not THAT bad at least). The broadcast definitely got stale at times, namely the second half, but you can expect that in a preseason game. Let's break this out and do a paragraph on each element, shall we?
____________________

Countdown: Your players were (from left to right) Trey Wingo, Keyshawn Johnson, Cris Carter, Tom Jackson and Emmitt Smith. The problem wasn't the content, in fact they all had solid contributions at one point or another, but rather just too many cooks in the kitchen (per usual).

The best segment of the show came when their collection of former players at the ready explained how Favre would help each individual offensive position for the Jets next season. Carter discussed how the offensive line should buy in right away, Key broke down how the receivers should be excited for not having just 6-yard routes to run, and good ole' Emmitt actually made sense when explaining how all of this would lead to a huge year for Thomas Jones.

Emmitt still had his moments, and while this pregame show wasn't bad, it still wasn't great. In all honesty a host (not Berman), Tom Jackson and Cris Carter would be solid, but with 80 people on the payroll that's probably not possible.

1st Half: Okay, what the heck happened to the whole nixing the sideline reporters thing? Michele Tafoya was all over this broadcast and Suzy Kolber was milling around during Countdown. As recent as a month ago, Tony Kornheiser confirmed that the two would likely be seeing less time but he wasn't sure of the reasoning.

Other than that obvious addition, or rather non-deletion, the first half was pretty spot on. Lots of Leinart and Bush talk, but that was expected, and amazingly....and I mean AMAZINGLY....very little Favre talk. The trio talked about the potential of the Saints offense, delved into the dicey acquisition of Shockey and had a few good interviews. It was a good mix.

Halftime: By far the best part of the program. It was just Wingo and Carter on the set (which looked insanely small with just them at the desk) talking highlights. The two even delved into Baseball and Golf and had a pretty good rapport that obviously developed over the Summer during NFL Live.

2nd Half: This is where things usually derail for the trio. Tony goes off on inane tangents, Mort forces stats talk and Tirico is left picking up the pieces. If the game is a blowout or a preseason game, it's even worse. Never fails.

This game was no different with Tony's cheesy joke du jour being that it was ridiculously hot in Arizona. Who knew it was hot in the f'ing desert? I'm not sure how many actually enjoy his act at this point of the game, but it can't be many. He also added in a "Brett Favre has been traded to the Knicks" joke for good measure. Look for it around either the 3-minute mark of the third quarter or the 11-minute mark of the fourth of every game this year.

Tirico, on the other hand, was extremely good throughout the game and even made me laugh out loud at one point in the second half with this exchange....

“You have a incredible amount of facts at the ready. You knew that was the only first down of the half. I think no more than five people in the world knew that.”- Tony Kornheiser
“Enjoyable moments in play by play. Men dream of the fourth quarter in preseason games. These are the happy moments of the year.”- Mike Tirico

(I guess that's a good segue into the quotes)

Your Top Ten Quotes:

We're changing up this year. Going with both good and bad in the same spot....well, mostly bad.

10. “The question I have for Matt Leinart, does he love playing in the National Football League? Or does he love the benefits of being a player in the National Football league.”- Cris Carter (Great way to pose it)

9. “Jaws, this maybe as good a quarterback situation as any team in the NFL.”- Mike Tirico on the Cardinals (Ummm really?)

8. “Watch Terrell Smith here, this is one of those Chris Berman lines…..rumbling, bumbling, bullying to the endzone.”- Ron Jaworski (Huh?)

7. “This just in….Brett Favre has left Jets, he signed with the Knicks, I’m tired all the stuff the Jets said about me.”- Tony Kornheiser (Boooooooo!)

6. “440 Completions for Drew Brees.”- Ron Jaworski
“That was like five years for you right?- Tony Kornheiser (Now that's funny)

5. “This is the thing, Brett Favre is coming to New York and leaving Green Bay.”- Emmitt Smith (Thanks for the insight Emmitt!)

4. “He’s been the Most Valuable Internet Player for awhile with those beer pong photos. You want to say, hey dude....it’s not Entourage.”- Tony Kornheiser on Leinart

3. “I don’t know how they can truly be comfortable with Aaron Rodgers considering that the fact, that, he has only played in that number of games.”- Emmitt Smith

2. “I don’t know anything about Football, but I believe what Keyshawn says.”- Cris Carter (I'd rethink that)

1. “Where does Hochuli go to get his shirts made that tight?”- Tony Kornheiser (Come on, you knew an Eddie Gunz joke would make it in)
___________________

In the end (I'm sure it doesn't read like it above) the broadcast wasn't bad. With the way the past two years have gone you have to know that this is a vast improvement. There were still some elements that were less than desirable, but that just comes with the territory. Again, it was the first preseason game of the year.

There is one final note I wanted to make though. For the first time ever, Jaws really got on my nerves in the second half. He was forcing things and his stance that the Packers were better off without Favre was laughable. Especially after Tony asked him why he'd pick Rodgers and he responded, "Because when you build a Football team you build it for the future. Right now they could probably win more games with Brett Favre." Huh? That makes zero sense. I understand he's the "nice" one, but he'd be better served by at least once talking bad about something or someone. Just a thought.

Overall Grade for the Night: C+/B- (I can't talk myself into giving out a solid B out this early in the season)

(Normally there'd be a video of the night in this spot but this post ran super long. Once I get the format down and/or figure out how to add a "jump" feature....it'll all go in the same spot. Stay tuned for your MNF Video of the Night coming in the next post. Oh and if you have suggestions on the "Review" format and/or a title for the brand new "Pam Ward Chronicles" of the NFL, let them be known in the comments.)

Noooo! Pro Football Talk is reporting this morning that ESPN is officially dropping Emmitt Smith from the Sunday NFL Countdown team for the upcoming season. Smith will be replaced by Cris Carter on the show but will still be featured on that morning's edition of Sports Center....

It’s official. Emmitt Smith will not be part of ESPN’s two-hour pregame show, NFL Countdown, in 2008.

ESPN is expected to make the formal announcement soon.

Emmitt will be replaced by Cris Carter, whose enhanced visibility could help his chances of getting into the Hall of Fame on the second try. (Then again, if Carter does a bad job or comes off as a blowhard, it could hurt him.)

The Sunday NFL Countdown lineup will consist of Chris Berman, Mike Ditka, Carter, Tom Jackson, Keyshawn Johnson, and Chris Mortensen.

Monday nights from Bristol also will feature Berman, Ditka, Carter, Jackson, Johnson, and Mortensen. Stationed at the game sites will be Stuart Scott, Smith, and Steve Young.

Very sad news as about 80% of Emmitt's stellar comments came on the Sunday edition of Countdown. There is good news though....Emmitt still has a spot on Monday Night Countdown along with newcomer Trent Dilfer!

You can also tell that this is the first of many problems that ESPN will run into in regards to scheduling. They're either going to have to phase Emmitt out entirely or continually move people around to give everyone an opportunity on-air. That's what happens when you employ 8,000 different analysts.

Update: From the official release....

Former All Pro wide receiver Cris Carter has been named an analyst for Sunday NFL Countdown (11 a.m. ET) and Monday Night Countdown (7 p.m.), ESPN’s popular NFL pre-game studio shows. In addition, Emmitt Smith will move this fall from Sunday NFL Countdown to the new expanded Sunday morning editions of SportsCenter (8 a.m. and 10 a.m.) where he will offer insight and analysis during NFL segments. Smith will also continue to travel to the Monday Night Football game site each week for Monday Night Countdown.

Carter In, Emmitt Out On Sunday NFL Countdown (PFT)

(P.S.- I also saw Kordell Stewart on a program the other day....don't even think about it ESPN.)

Here's yet another humorous story to add to the vault and it again shows that MSMers have no idea how blogs work. Will Leitch wrote an article for Sporting News that goes into another interesting interaction he had at the Costas Now show. Not only did Buzz Bissinger lay into him, so did ESPN analyst Cris Carter....

“Hello, I’m Will.”

Cris frowned, and even sneaked in a scowl. “Are you the blog guy?”

I smiled. The best way, I’ve learned, to deal with the hostility is just to smile. They’re not expecting that. I suspect they all think we look like the Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons or, more sinister, like a member of the thrash metal group GWAR. “Yes, sir, I do write a blog.”

Cris’ scowl was no longer sneaky. “You know, I got a problem with you,” the Ohio State grad said, through gritted teeth. “Some Michigan blog said I was an a--hole. Better nobody say that to my face.”

Smiling, trying to look calm, I said, “Well, sir, you know, I didn’t write that.”

Cris took a step closer to me. “You damn well better not of, ’cause if you had, I’d take you out right here.”

Once again.....Geez people in Sports are sensitive! One random guy said you were an asshole and you want to beat up everyone on the Internet. Cris Carter always seemed like a nice guy to me, but now he really does seem like an asshole. Go figure.

Bloggers, Or Anyone Associated With a Blog, Is Gonna Want to Steer Clear of Cris Carter (The Sporting Blog)

It's always good when you're in the business of guys arguing on television for no reason, to have a guy who has no idea what to say when posed with a question. I don't know whether Chris Mortensen was trying to cater to NFL Live guest Maurice Jones-Drew, but he went out on a limb and was taken to task by Cris Carter and Trey Wingo....

I mean picking Jacksonville to win the AFC South over Indy isn't THAT big of a stretch, but at least have an answer to simple questions when they're posed to you. Oh and what the hell is with MJD being on every ESPN show over the past few days? I understand getting athletes to comment on the goings on during the offseason but the kid has been on (by my estimation) NFL Live, Sports Center, every Draft special, Mike and Mike, First Take, NFL Primetime and NASCAR Now (that last one might be wrong).

Don't get me wrong, Jones-Drew hasn't been bad at all, but I don't know why they're trying him out on every single show.

Cris Carter was on M&M this morning to talk Football and it didn't take long for the ex-Receiver and HBOer to make his mark. The subject was Randy Moss and not only did Carter share the advice he gave him but he also had a few choice words for the Oakland Raiders...

"Oakland is a cesspool. If you want to die right now.....I mean who wants to go to Oakland?"- CC

He's obviously talking about the team and not the city but those are some pretty harsh words. I was actually hoping for an honest voice that could add to football conversations. Hopefully he hasn't been prepped to fill Salisbury's vacant loudmouth role. That would be disappointing.

Cris Carter on Randy Moss: 'I Told Him I Was Flat-Out Disappointed in What He Had Done' (Fanhouse)

ESPN has just released a statement that for some reason they are adding yet ANOTHER ex-player to the mix of analysts covering Football for the network. Cris Carter will be joining the team next season as analyst!

Former All Pro wide receiver Cris Carter has joined ESPN as an NFL studio analyst and will appear on NFL Live, SportsCenter and ESPNEWS, among other programs. As part of his multiplatform role, the 16-year NFL veteran will also contribute analysis on ESPN Radio and be part of ESPN’s 2008 NFL Draft coverage. Carter will begin April 1. He will also participate in ESPN The Weekend this weekend (February 29 – March 2) at Walt Disney World Resort.

Man they waste no time getting him involved do they? Ship him to Orlando stat! In all seriousness this is probably one of their better hires over the past few years. Carter has always been solid on HBO and I always thought his insight could be used more throughout the league.

Now we can only hope they don't drop someone now that they've got 8 ex-players/coaches (Mike Ditka, Merril Hoge, Tom Jackson, Keyshawn Johnson, Mark Schlereth, Emmitt Smith, and Steve Young) to deal with. Just don't let it be Emmitt because then I'd only have Berman left to make fun of next season.

(Via ESPN PR)