I tried years ago to get an interview with Rae Carruth, the former Carolina Panthers receiver who was convicted in 2001 of ordering a hit on the mother of their son, with whom she was seven months pregnant. Cherica Adams died. The son, Chancellor Adams, was impaired; he has cerebral palsy. Until he talked to WBTV this week, Carruth had been silent 17 years.
His trial began every day with loud and public prayers by the Carruth group and their minister. Women competed on the stand and in the crowd for the attention of Carruth, a first-round draft pick whose career was undone by injuries.