Philadelphia Eagles star defensive tackle Jalen Carter has been subject to a lot of criticism following the spitting incident in Week 1 that resulted in getting him ejected against the Dallas Cowboys. And on Wednesday, Eagles legend Jason Kelce weighed in on the matter, piling onto the list of critics Carters has.
Carter's decision to spit on Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott prior to the first play from scrimmage in the team's season opener resulted in Carter being hit with a $57,222 fine from the NFL.
Fortunately for Carter, the NFL viewed his ejection from the team's Week 1 game as a one-game suspension of sorts. So he is not expected to miss any further action for his behavior.
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But according to Jason Kelce, Carter's reputation around the league taking a hit may very well be the worst of his punishments.
"By far the craziest start to a season ever," said Kelce on Wednesday's edition of his New Heights podcast with his brother, Travis Kelce. "What are we doing? I don't understand why that would happen. It was just a very frustrating moment. It's just a really awful thing to be a part of as a fan base, as an organization and for that player. He's a great player. He's had all of these character things or whatever surround him, and then to do this, all of that gets brought up.
"It's really unfortunate that happened. It's really unfortunate that now he's going to have that image on him. Again, we all make mistakes. I have done things that I'm not proud of. Everybody gets caught up in the heat of the moment. He's taken accountability. Now, moving forward, we need you to be better than that, Jalen. We have to have you better than that. And you need to be better than that for yourself."
Kelce continued on to speak to the kind of talent that Carter has as a player, which could all be wasted should he continue to make poor decisions like this on the field.
"He has to be smarter than this," added Jason Kelce. "He has a chance to be one of the best defensive linemen in this era of football. That's how dominant he has been to this point. Don't let this dumb behavior jeopardize the career, the person and the legacy that you can build, especially in this city."
Carter has since owned up to his mistake, explaining that it won't happen again. So hopefully, Carter can put this incident behind him and let his tremendous play do that talking in Week 2 against the Kansas City Chiefs and beyond.
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