They arrived together as first-round picks in 2025. Thirteen months later, things got awkward between them.
And while the dust has settled for now on the one-sided social-media skirmish between Giants linebacker Abdul Carter and Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart, it’s not over.
For those who unplugged over the three-day weekend, here’s a summary. Dart introduced President Donald Trump during a New York rally on Friday. On Saturday morning, Carter expressed disapproval on Twitter. Later in the day, Carter declared that all is well — and chided those who reasonably reacted to Carter airing out internal laundry externally.
Many of the reactions have been predictably hypocritical. They’re wagging a finger at Carter for reacting to Dart’s unforced error. And they’re ignoring the fact that Dart lit the fuse on all of this.
In the broader cost-benefit analysis that should have preceded Dart’s acceptance of the invitation to introduce a polarizing and increasingly unpopular political figure, what was the potential gain? What was the potential loss?
What was it that prompted Carter to sound off on Saturday morning? Was it the product of a stream of texts from teammates and/or family members and/or friends and/or NFL players Carter knows from other teams?
Finally, what led to Carter doing a public about-face?
Plenty of related questions should all be asked (regardless of whether they’re satisfactorily answered) the next time the Giants make coaches and/or players available to reporters. And it will continue until Dart, Carter, and head coach John Harbaugh address the situation in a Q&A that hits the various salient points.
For Dart: Why did you do it? Did you tell the team you were going to do it? Did you seek advice from anyone as to whether it was a good idea to do it?
For Carter: Basically, the same questions as it relates to his Saturday morning tweet.
For both, it will be interesting to know how their conversation came to be. Who called whom? What was said? Was there an intermediary involved?
For Harbaugh: What did you think of Dart introducing Trump? What did you think of Carter’s response? What role if any did you have in getting the fences mended?
These are all fair questions, because the answers will shed plenty of light on whether the hatchet is truly buried — or whether they merely kicked the can for the good of the team. It remains to be seen which questions are asked, and what is said in response to each of them.
