Terrell Owens Heard Cris Carter "Begged" His Way Into Hall of Fame

Terrell Owens and Chad Johnson are guests on Mike and Mike today. T.O.’s name has been in the news all week because he didn’t get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, despite having numbers that objectively should have swung the decision otherwise.

It goes without saying that Owens’ theatrics offended the sensibilities of many of the voters on this list. Between that, and the fact that there’s a weird waiting list for wide receivers, it was unsurprising that Owens wasn’t elected on the first ballot.

Cris Carter, who retired in 2002, finally got inducted in 2013. Carter has taken several shots at T.O. over the years, Owens was asked about that, and he said he heard that Carter “begged” to get in.

In his seat as an ESPN analyst, Carter has had a lot of takes that I’ve vehemently disagreed with, but it’s hard to get on anyone for advocating for themselves to be selected from this process. Jerry Kramer, who my editor Jason Lisk has long believed should be in the Hall of Fame, and his family mount a non-stop campaign for induction, and they should!

For Terrell Owens, the HoF snub will become part of his contrarian branding, if it hasn’t already. In a strange irony, his eventual election—which may come next year, or may take a long while, who knows?!—will be the worst thing for him.