Twitter Teams Up With NFL Analyst Cris Carter As Thursday Night Football Streaming Debuts


After parting ways with ESPN, NFL analyst Cris Carter is teaming up with Twitter to provide live analysis on Periscope for Thursday Night Football games.

Carter announced the partnership on Twitter on Wednesday. A Twitter spokesman later confirmed that Carter would turn to Periscope for commentary on Thursdays, declining further comment.

Twitter will live stream the first of 10 Thursday Night Football games next week when the Buffalo Bills host the New York Jets. The NFL, while announcing in May that Twitter would begin streaming the games, added that the partnership included, “unique Periscope live streams, giving fans an immersive experience.”

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Carter, the 50-year-old Pro Football Hall of Fame player, tweeted that his Periscope live videos would take place 90 minutes before every Thursday Night Football game, during halftime, and after the game. He added that he would take questions and tweet out highlight clips on Thursdays. He is expected to provide predictions and fantasy football advice as well, Sporting News reported, citing sources.

Carter’s segments on Periscope could be similar to Twitter having retired tennis player Andy Roddick providing analysis on Periscope during the U.S. Open. Both are known for their charisma.

Carter had worked for ESPN since 2008 and appeared on shows such as the long-running “Sunday NFL Countdown.” Before season, he became embroiled in controversy when it was revealed that he advised players at the NFL’s NFC rookie symposium in 2014 to “have a fall guy in the crew” in case they get into trouble off the field. Carter apologized on “Monday Night Countdown” the day after ESPN issued a statement on the matter.

“We completely disagree with Cris’s remarks and we have made that extremely clear to him,” read ESPN’s statement last August. “Those views were entirely his own and do not reflect our company’s point of view in any way.”