In one of his famous rants, the late, great Howard Cosell voiced his outrage at the jockocracy. In layman's terms, the jockocracy is a system that rewards recently-retired athletes with (in Cosell's view) an undeserved seat in the broadcast booth.

Cris Carter is the latest jock to go directly to the booth without passing Go -- or broadcasting school. Cosell wouldn't approve of his appointment, but I think the modern sports fan will.

	Cris Carter joins the new look "Inside the NFL" team.

Carter is the ideal voice of the jockocracy. The eight-time Pro Bowler will fulfill both requirements: to add color to the game, and to cast judgement on the athletes.

Carter brings to the booth an incredible wealth of information. You don't spend 15 years in the slot, learning formations, studying fronts and reading coverages without mastering every aspect of the game. But it's his holier-than-thou attitude that will certainly win over those fans who like their media representatives to castigate athletes who fail to live up to superhuman standards.

A former coke addict, Carter won't hesitate to tell some wayward rookie how to walk the straight and narrow. Just two years ago, while on stage at the NFL's annual rookie symposium, Carter berated a young man who had the gall to doze off during his speech.

While Carter's ability to analyze the game and degrade the man should make him an instant hit in his new gig, he won't be the most effective ex-athlete in TV-land. That distinction belongs to Charles Barkley. His strength as a commentator stems from the fact he doesn't have time for political correctness. Like Cosell once quipped to Don Meredith: "We see it, we have to say it."

But not everyone feels that way. Just the other day I got some mail from people who supported my most recent views on black athletes and education. But I'm afraid they missed the point. One talked about how inarticulate Sixers guard Allen Iverson was at his press conference a couple of weeks ago. Another accused Charles Barkley of turning the TNT set into a crime scene where he consistently murders the English language.

Let me be crystal clear on this one. When athletes form the nexus between sport and speech, grammar takes a back seat to content. Sure, being articulate is never a bad thing, and I happen to love words. But sometimes it's what you say, not how you say it, that validates a point.

In March, after creating a mountain of controversy for posing as a slave on the cover of Sports Illustrated, Barkley said the following: "Black people and poor white people are treated like crap in this country." That ain't the voice of jockocracy. That's a former athlete using his celebrity to make a real statement about real life. Regardless of errors in diction, grammar, or syntax on any other telecast, that one honest, truthful statement gives Barkley lifelong credibility in my eyes.

I wonder to what lengths Cris Carter will go to establish his credibility on the HBO set. While competing with Bob Costas' smarmy quips, Dan Marino's self-important swagger, and Cris Collinsworth's southern cornpone, Carter, an ordained minister with a penchant for self-righteousness, will be under pressure to create his own persona.

In his quest for credibility, I hope Carter's view of player "misconduct" isn't blurred by revisionist history. I mean, we're talking about a guy who, over the past two seasons, turned the sideline tirade into his own personal trademark. Will he remember that when some player goes ballistic next fall?

"When you look back on things, your version is always perfect," Carter said on Tuesday.

Ah, sweet denial. It should serve him well in the booth.

Alan Grant, a former NFL defensive back, writes football for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at alan.grant@espnmag.com.