By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The last time the Bengals had the first overall pick in the draft, they took Ki-Jana Carter.

The Bengals wanted the Penn State running back, so they traded their Nos. 5 and 36 selections to Carolina for the Panthers' pick.

The Bengals earned the first pick in Saturday's draft by ending the 2002 season with an NFL- and franchise-worst 2-14 record.

Rewind to 1995: His many critics even hailed Bengals president Mike Brown for making the bold trade to get Carter, who had rushed for 1,539 yards and 23 touchdowns in 1994, finishing runner-up in Heisman Trophy voting.

Carter signed a seven-year, $19.2 million contract - with a then-rookie record $7.125 million signing bonus. But his NFL career, to say the least, was injury-plagued from the beginning. In his third carry in his first preseason game at Detroit, Carter tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. It would be the first of three seasons to end in either August or September with injuries.

"It definitely was not lack of effort," said Bengals running backs coach Jim Anderson, who coached Carter. "If the guy ever had any luck at all, it was bad luck."

Carter rebounded to play in 16 games in 1996 and 15 in '97. He scored eight touchdowns in '96 and seven the next.

"He was exceptional around the goal line," Anderson said. "He had that burst of speed and the knack for getting into the end zone."

But Carter rushed for 747 career yards and became somewhat irrelevant after Corey Dillon's emergence in 1997 as a rookie. Carter broke his wrist in the 1998 opener and missed all but three games in 1999 with a ruptured cyst in his right knee.

The Bengals released Carter on June 1, 2000.

"Hopefully when I get back healthy, I'll have promising years left," he said then. "It's unfortunate I haven't been able to do the things I wanted to, but maybe I still can. I'm just looking forward to playing again."

He played 14 games with the Washington Redskins in 2001, scoring three touchdowns. He went to camp the following August with Green Bay but was cut at the end of the preseason.

Bengals draft by the numbers

• The first overall is just one of nine picks the Bengals have in the draft. They also select at Nos. 33, 65, 98, 118, 136, 174, 215 and 259.

• The 118th pick is the 21st in the fourth round and comes via trade from New Orleans, in exchange for tailback Curtis Keaton.

• The 259th pick is compensatory, awarded by the league for free agent losses.

• A trade, however unlikely, would have to garner the Bengals an additional first-day pick - coming in Rounds 1-3.

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E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com

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