The New York Giants weren't exactly starving for success in 1990. That year, the 13-3 Giants marched all the way to the Super Bowl against the Jim Kelly-led Buffalo Bills, in one of the most exciting, edge-of-your-seat championship games the league has ever seen.
Big Blue came out on top 20-19 after Bills kicker Scott Norwood went "wide right" on the potential 47-yard game-winner with eight seconds remaining. But somewhere, in another universe, that game doesn't go down to the wire. The Giants blow the Bills out of the water. And the next dozen years in that same alternate dimension don’t end with the G-Men wandering through the ’90s without another Lombardi, either.
Hall of Fame wide receiver Cris Carter was one warm sweater away from becoming a New York Giant in 1990. In a recent interview, the 2013 inductee opened up about how he ultimately landed with the Minnesota Vikings after the Philadelphia Eagles waived him before the 1990 season.
Two teams put in a claim for the then-25-year-old: Minnesota and New York. And even though Big Blue had Bill Parcells at the helm, Phil Simms under center, and Lawrence Taylor anchoring the defense, the Vikings’ indoor stadium was simply too much for the G-Men to overcome:
Cris Carter revealed that the #Giants and #Vikings were the only 2 teams that put a claim in for him after Philadelphia waived him in 1990, and Minnesota paid a $100 transfer fee in order to secure him:
— VikingzFanPage (@vikingzfanpage) February 18, 2026
“I really didn’t have a choice, it came down to the New York football… pic.twitter.com/ZltcO6QxWw
Cris Carter was inches away from playing for the New York Giants
I’ll just say it. What an objectively terrible decision on Carter’s end. In 16 years, the eight-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro caught 1,104 passes for 13,899 yards and 130 touchdowns, with 1,004, 12,383, and 110 of those coming in Minnesota.
The biggest thing missing from his résumé is a Super Bowl ring. And to think he could have been on the 1990 team, fighting confetti instead of fighting off regret. There's a chance the G-Men would have had more consistent success throughout the 90s had he just purchased a winter jacket.
They did make the playoffs in 1993 and 1997, but by 2000 they were back in the Super Bowl. Had Carter been on the team, there's a chance they could have come away with another Lombardi Trophy. Good times in that alternate universe, I'll tell you that.
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Meanwhile, in Minnesota, playoff appearances were routine. In Carter's 12 years rocking purple, the Vikes made the postseason eight times. No Super Bowls, though, appearances and all.
They say hindsight is 20/20. It's crazy to think about how one seemingly innocent choice has such massive repercussions. In Carter's case, the comfort of playing indoors won out over the Meadowlands wind. It happens. However, billions of light-years away, Carter is routinely mentioned as one of the best receivers ever, winning multiple rings in Giants Blue. Could've been a time.