Former Vikings WR Cris Carter has never been shy about talking, whether it was on the field or now that he is retired and working in television. It is also a well-known fact that Carter struggled with substance abuse early in his NFL career, a fact that helped lead him to the Vikings, where he not only salvaged his career but became a Hall of Famer.

With that as a backdrop, Carter was asked recently about Cleveland WR Josh Gordon, a talented player who is struggling with similar issues as Carter did early in his career.

Carter encouraged the Browns to cut Gordon; another outspoken former NFL WR who has had substance abuse problems, Michael Irvin, didn't like that. He talked not only about that on the radio this week, but also dropped a revelation about he and Carter that goes back many years. From a Palm Beach Post transcription of Dan Le Batard's ESPN radio program:

Dan, this is a brain disease. Addiction is a brain disease. You know, we act as if someone should…How can you make that decision? You must be stupid. He's not. That's why they call substances dope. Because it makes you less intelligent and you make the poor decision. It's a brain disease. And it affects everybody differently. Dan, I was so hot when I heard it. I was so hot.

Oh, but wait, there's more:

[Carter] said to my wife – he said to my wife –you know, Michael would never come out of this problem until you leave him. Till you leave him. For years, I've held it. I've never shared that with anybody. I've never in my life shared that with anybody. I was so irked with Cris because he was out of line then. His [redacted] is out of line now.

To recap: Carter thinks the Browns should cut Gordon to help him out. He also apparently told Irvin's wife to leave Irvin if she wanted to help him out. Get all three guys in a room and we'd have some real interesting conversations.