Jalen Carter’s first game of the Eagles’ new season was over before the first defensive snap.
With Philadelphia trainers addressing an injury after the opening kickoff, Carter, the star defensive lineman, walked up to Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and proceeded to spit on his chest.
Carter received an unsportsmanlike penalty and was ejected just six seconds into Philadelphia’s 24-20 win, with Eagles chief security officer Dom “Big Dom” DiSandro escorting him off the field as the NBC broadcast reacted in shock at how the first game of the NFL season began.
When addressing reporters postgame, Carter vowed that it won’t happen again.
“Whoa, whoa,” NBC play-by-broadcaster Mike Tirico said, before later adding, “First of all, I got no idea what he’s thinking, and second, this is massive in terms of the game.”
“He’s the best player they have on their defense and about 80 percent of what we were gonna talk about on this broadcast,” NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth said. “Because to beat the Philadelphia Eagles, you have to double-team Jalen Carter. If you don’t, you don’t get your offense started. Now you take off that one player on the defense that you had to focus your attention on, and it’s almost like Micah Parsons now gone from the Cowboys — same impact now with Jalen Carter gone.”
Referee Shawn Smith told a pool reporter that an official observed Carter spitting on Prescott, describing it as a “disqualifiable foul” because it’s a “non-football act.”
“I heard the refs talking,” Carter said when asked if he expected to get ejected after the incident, “and I heard them say this is a toss-able offense, something like that. So that’s when I knew.”
As the game was about to resume following a lightning delay, the broadcast then showed Prescott appearing to spit in the general direction of Carter prior to the Eagles star spitting on Prescott’s chest.
Prescott also smiled in the direction of Carter after spitting.
After just two NFL seasons, Carter, the No. 9 overall pick in 2023, has already established himself as one of the league’s best defenders — collecting 4.5 sacks and 42 tackles while making the Pro Bowl last year for the defending Super Bowl champions.
But he’ll need to wait to start contributing to Vic Fangio’s defense in 2025.
The chaotic opening sequence started with Eagles fullback Ben VanSumeren sustaining a knee injury while defending the kickoff, and while trainers examined him on the field — before he was eventually carted off — Carter approached a cluster of Dallas players and appeared to say something to Prescott.
While the words that the pair of stars exchanged remains unclear, Carter spit in Prescott’s direction, prompting an official to throw the flag.
