NFL Legend Doesn’t Hold Back on Jalen Carter for Spitting on Dak Prescott as Punishment Awaits

Jalen Carter is once again in the spotlight, but this time not for his head-crushing tackles. Instead, he is in for a much more controversial moment that led him off the gridiron just seconds into the play. Only 6 seconds into the play, the Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle was ejected after a shocking incident: he spat on Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott. The tension between the players soon turned from a face-to-face confrontation to an ugly action that stunned fans and commentators. Many spectators, including NFL legend and former Pittsburgh Steelers’ linebacker James Harrison, voiced his opinion about the whole incident

In a conversation with Joe Haden, a former Steelers cornerback, Harrison expressed his frustration with the whole incident. “Most disrespectful thing in the world you could do,” Harrison said on the Deebo and Joe podcast. “If somebody was to spit on me like, go ahead, get my bail money together like, like, I’m going to jail. I want to say that I would be able to control myself especially being in that situation, but he spit that on his neck, the disrespect,” he added by expressing his discontent.

“The only way I can understand why the offensive line didn’t react is that there’s no way in hell they saw that because that’s like an all-out brawl. And that’s in both teams. Y’all just cancelled the first regular-season game because this is not going to stop. It’s no way on god’s green earth dude that the linemen saw that. I believe they gotta suspend this dude man. I think he gotta get at least six games,” he said.

This is not the first time that the Steelers have been associated with a demeaning action on the field. In 2004, the Cleveland Browns‘ William Green accused Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Joey Porter of spitting on him. This reportedly sparked a pre-game fight between the two in November 2004. The altercation led both players to exit, and the NFL fined them. But the outcome was different the other time. In 2020, the NFL fined Marcus Peters (Baltimore Ravens) $12,500 for spitting on Jarvis Landry (Cleveland Browns), but they did not suspend him.

What awaits Carter?

Carter later apologized and showed some contrition in the locker room after the game. But the league will take aggravating factors into account. There is no doubt that Jalen Carter will be fined, but it might just be a really hefty one. They have yet to determine the exact amount. The main question remains whether the NFL will suspend him for next week’s game against the

Kansas City Chiefs, a potential Super Bowl rematch. “I understand the precedent that typically guys are fined here and he will be fined but he also very well could be suspended,” Jonathan Jones, lead NFL insider for CBS, said. The NFL considers the suspension necessary to emphasize sportsmanship. The league did so throughout training camps to all 32 teams, emphasizing that the athletes have to be great stewards of the game. The suspension might be a preventive measure to make spitting a short-lived trend. But the Eagles fans are complaining that Prescott possibly instigated the event, and actions should be taken against him as well.

Well, Prescott either started the quarrel or was provoked by spitting. Who spat on whom? Let the jury sift through the rubble. We all saw Jalen Carter spit on an opponent on Thursday, and the NFL will hold that against him. That will definitely not help his case, which the NFL will hear and decide this week. If he does get suspended, he is most likely to seek an expedited appeal. Then we will see if the league upholds the suspension on appeal.