Before Offering An Opinion On The “Character” Of Jalen Carter Do Your Homework
It was disappointing to me that on the night Jalen Carter became a Philadelphia Eagle after a trade up from the 10th spot to 9 that the man was already being amateur psycho analyzed by a local Philly media member. I know, why am I surprised? It’s 2023 and clicks are the agenda. Too many media members want to make themselves part of the story, even on the biggest night for an NFL Draft pick. Instead of asking a question, Reuben Frank decided to offer an opinion and a huge reach on his part regarding how “remorseful” Jalen Carter was on his introductory Zoom call with the media. Howie Roseman and Nick Sirianni sprung to his defense, not only because they are far more informed on Carter and his situation but they chose to show a little compassion.
A few things to clarify…
Jalen Carter absolutely showed poor judgement racing through the streets of Athens on the night after celebrating the Georgia Bulldogs National Championship parade. It was reckless and dangerous activity. It was also criminal. He was charged with 2 misdemeanors for speeding and racing. That was verified by street video and he received a year of probation. Howie Roseman described it as a tragic night and that is hard to argue. It was easily avoidable. Speeding and reckless driving isn’t an uncommon occurrence for many young men. There are huge things that need to be discussed.
The incident is completely documented. Jalen Carter did not cause the accident. His car didn’t run the other off the road or make a maneuver that caused the accident. The Athens DA not only fully investigated the incident but the video was there for anyone to review it. The driver of the car that crashed was doing 104 MPH and was intoxicated more than twice the legal limit. She lost her life in the crash that included hitting 2 power poles and several trees. There is an active wrongful death lawsuit going on and he is not even the focus of it.
Jalen Carter was NOT the cause of the accident and came upon it after the fact. He rushed towards the victims to try and assist. He was NOT drinking alcohol or under the influence and interacted with numerous members of law enforcement on the scene and cooperated with the investigation after the fact.
I can safely say from my 20+ years being no more than peripheral around the Georgia Football program, but having contacts throughout my phone and years of personal relationships surrounding it, that Jalen Carter was NEVER portrayed as someone who “lacked remorse”. In fact, I was told by many around the story that there were concerns about how he was very remorseful and how he would be able to overcome that.
The Eagles have great relationships within the Georgia program at the Coaching Staff and Administration level. I assure you that they have done their complete due diligence on Jalen Carter. It’s something that many in the local media might want to do before offering their own psychoanalysis on whether a young man is “remorseful enough” on a Zoom call.
I’ll discuss this at length on air today and will be joined by my former radio partner of more than 20 years, National Champion QB Buck Belue who actually covers the program and knows about the young man and his situation.
Welcome to Philadelphia Jalen. Believe it or not a lot of us in the media probably made some bad decisions ourselves when we were young men. You should expect harsh critique if your performance on the field ends up being a disappointment. Most of us don’t assume to judge whether you are remorseful or not, especially when we don’t know you and obviously haven’t done enough research on your situation.
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