Abdul Carter has addressed the Jaxson Dart-shaped elephant in the room.
The New York Giants linebacker spoke to reporters on Friday after publicly calling out Dart for introducing President Donald Trump at a rally last week. Carter’s social media post blew up, and so did speculation about his supposedly crumbling relationship with Dart.
Carter claimed that despite his objections to affiliating with Trump in any capacity, there is no such rift between him and the Giants’ starting quarterback.
“So first off, I want to say that some things are bigger than football, and this is one of those things,” Carter said, via Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio. “Jaxson is one of our leaders. He’s the face of our franchise. He not only represents himself in what he does but he represents all of us. And that goes for anybody who wears a Giants uniform.
“But if he chooses to align himself with a man like President Trump, it’s my responsibility based on what I believe and what I stand on to not only show my teammates that I’m against that but to show the world.
“And that doesn’t mean that we have to spread hate. It doesn’t mean that me and Jaxson hate each other or we have beef. I sit next to Jaxson every day. Every team meeting we’re close, we talk, you know, we just — as long as we make sure we got the same goal as a team and our goals align, which they do, I feel like that’s all that matters. So, I just want to move past this, and, yeah, that’s it.”
When asked whether he wanted Dart to apologize, Carter said he’d prefer his teammate to “stand on what you believe in,” and Carter will do the same.
Carter previously tried to downplay any drama between him and Dart with a follow-up post on social media. But it did little to quiet the whispers, leading him to address the issue head-on.
Dart also spoke to the media on Friday and assured Giants fans that he still considers Carter and every one of his teammates as his brothers, regardless of any off-field affiliations.
