Former NFL wide receiver Cris Carter publicly admitted during a Tuesday interview with ESPN Radio that he placed bounties on opponents during his 16-year career.
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"I'm guilty of it," Carter said, according to ProFootballTalk.com. "It's the first time I've ever admitted it. But I put a bounty on guys before. I put bounties on guys. And the guys tried to take me out, a guy tried to take a cheap shot on me, I put a bounty on him, right now."
Bounties became a big story this offseason when an NFL investigation found a pay-to-injure program run by the New Orleans Saints. The league suspended numerous team officials and players, including coach Sean Payton and linebacker Jonathan Vilma for the 2012 season and former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams indefinitely.
Carter said Tuesday that if he heard a defensive player was going after him -- he cited former linebacker Bill Romanowski as an example -- he would "put a little change on his head before the game" to ensure his team's guards would "protect" him.
"Protect myself, protect my family," said Carter, who has been a Pro Football Hall of Fame finalist for five consecutive years. "That's the league that I grew up in."
Carter claimed he wasn't the only one to use bounties during his time in the NFL. Carter was a member of the Philadelphia Eagles for the 1989 Thanksgiving Day game against the Dallas Cowboys -- the so-called "Bounty Bowl" -- in which Eagles coach Buddy Ryan allegedly put bounties onCowboys quarterback Troy Aikman and kicker Luis Zendejas. The league subsequently investigated that game but couldn't find proof bounties were used, though Carter said Tuesday he personally witnessed them that day.
"I saw guys getting wiped out, guys going for the money," Carter said.
Carter -- who said the bounties weren't used "to maim or hurt" opponents, only to boost excitement -- claimed the Vikings placed bounties on opponents to protect offensive stars such as quarterback Daunte Culpepper and wide receiver Randy Moss.
Carter was an Eagle from 1987 to 1989, then played for the Vikings for 12 seasons (1990-2001) before finishing his career with the Miami Dolphins in 2002.
