Abdul Carter’s welcome-to-the-NFL moment turned messy after online response

Anyone who follows the New York Giants should know the team found a stud in Abdul Carter. There’s nobody denying that, but the 21-year-old still has plenty to learn if he wants to have a seamless transition to the NFL, especially given he has only spent one season as a defensive end.

His name has been floated in elite company and is the runaway favorite to be named Defensive Rookie of the Year, but Carter’s lack of maturity is becoming a glaring issue. After getting pancaked by Jets’ tight end Stone Smartt, the Penn State product took to social media to address it, but instead of owning it, he posted a profanity-laced rant before beginning to gloat… over a preseason game:

In a response to the NFL's social media account posting the pancake, the clearly embarrassed rookie responded with:"might be the only highlight of the Jets all season and we put BTA. weak a** chip ate that mf like bbq."

The No. 3 pick in the 2025 Draft referenced the final score of Big Blue’s 31-12 victory, and that went over about as well as you would have expected with Jets fans—they let him hear it. And he doubled down on his thoughts in the comments when the NFL posted the play on their Instagram account.

Abdul Carter's rookie mistake is quickly snowballing into more

The reigning Big Ten Player of the Year has wasted no time making his presence felt in training camp, but struggled to make a true impact on Saturday's second preseason game. According to Pro Football Focus, Carter’s 46.9 PFF grade was second-lowest among all Giants and ranked 147th of 166 qualified edge rushers for the week.

Yet even amid a disappointing performance, the Pennsylvania native saved his real thoughts for his Twitter timeline. When addressing the media after the game, he was diplomatic, admitting to ESPN’s Jordan Raanan he was more focused on the final outcome.

Carter’s answer to the media was fantastic, so if he had kept his response to that rather than typing with Twitter fingers, he could have saved himself some further embarrassment. People would have forgotten about it, but now this play will be easy ammunition for Jets fans—or other fanbases who want to take a shot at the hot-headed pass-rusher.

If you want to make it in the NFL, you’re going to have to take moments like this on the chin and use it as fuel, especially when playing in New York. The Big Apple’s harsh media landscape is part of why it’s known to be a notoriously difficult place to play, and that’s a lesson the rookie pass-rusher is going to need to learn fast if he wants to live up to those lofty expectations.