Arrest warrant for Jalen Carter, deadly car accident in January

[El Potro]

A warrant has been put out for top draft prospect DT - Jalen Carter out of Georgia. 

 

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/35760585/warrants-arrest-jalen-carter-ex-georgia-star-nfl-draft-prospect

[Crush22]

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2023/03/01/arrest-warrant-issued-for-jalen-carter-for-reckless-driving-racing/

[Defjamz26]

I heard in January that he had some character issues. This is really bad though. Probably La’el Collins level. Based on the articles and police statements I’ve read, it’s not a matter of if he did something because he did. The timing is crazy though. He was supposed to speak to the press today.

[Superman]

1 hour ago, Defjamz26 said:

I heard in January that he had some character issues. This is really bad though. Probably La’el Collins level. Based on the articles and police statements I’ve read, it’s not a matter of if he did something because he did. The timing is crazy though. He was supposed to speak to the press today.

 

If I understand it correctly, he was driving one of three cars that were being reckless, possibly racing. One of the other cars flew off the road, killing the driver and a passenger. Carter (and the third driver) were accused of leaving the scene. He supposedly came back later, claimed that he heard the crash from an apartment building nearby, then eventually admitted to driving alongside the crashed car. The officers said there was no evidence Carter was drinking. He's being charged with reckless driving and racing, both misdemeanors.

 

It's super dramatic, and incredibly sad. At this point, IMO, it doesn't appear that Carter did anything nefarious, but it's still a huge deal and comes with a ton of notoriety. And there's no excusing his actions -- alleged actions, I guess -- but it seems more like a stupid mistake than anything else. (Compared to La'el Collins, who was wanted for questioning in connection to a murder... even though it was always unlikely that he was involved, and the investigation essentially cleared him of any suspicion. Just terrible timing in his case). I don't know if there are other questions about Carter's character, or if there are more off field issues. But this definitely seems like it's carefully timed...

[Defjamz26]

12 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

If I understand it correctly, he was driving one of three cars that were being reckless, possibly racing. One of the other cars flew off the road, killing the driver and a passenger. Carter (and the third driver) were accused of leaving the scene. He supposedly came back later, claimed that he heard the crash from an apartment building nearby, then eventually admitted to driving alongside the crashed car. The officers said there was no evidence Carter was drinking. He's being charged with reckless driving and racing, both misdemeanors.

 

It's super dramatic, and incredibly sad. At this point, IMO, it doesn't appear that Carter did anything nefarious, but it's still a huge deal and comes with a ton of notoriety. And there's no excusing his actions -- alleged actions, I guess -- but it seems more like a stupid mistake than anything else. (Compared to La'el Collins, who was wanted for questioning in connection to a murder... even though it was always unlikely that he was involved, and the investigation essentially cleared him of any suspicion. Just terrible timing in his case). I don't know if there are other questions about Carter's character, or if there are more off field issues. But this definitely seems like it's carefully timed...

Yeah that’s the gist of it. Also the person killed was one of his teammates. It’s makes you wonder why you would not only leave the scene of the accident, but also not be upfront about what happened to a teammate. You’d imagine someone would be pretty shaken up over something like that and want to notify the authorities. That part speaks a lot about his character IMO.

[VikingsFanInChennai]

18 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

 But this definitely seems like it's carefully timed...

Can you explain what you mean by this "carefully timed"? 

 

Is that the arrest warrant could've been issued much earlier but it's been issued right during the combine? 

 

What do they gain by that? Possibly some settlement for the city departments? 

 

He deserves what he gets his way, though it may be nothing. Even though the people who lost their lives had been reckless, Carter, as a top draft prospect, needed to be mature at least months before the Combine and not be involved in racing and speeding, that the article says involved going to opposite lanes and overtaking other travelers on the road, thus endangering the lives of many people. Article also says the incident happened hours after the national championship. 

 

After what happened to Henry Ruggs and his career, one would think NFL prospects and players would stay away from reckless speeding that endangers the lives of common people on the road and the players themselves. However, this seems to happen much more frequently that only fatal incidents come to light, months after it happened. 

 

It's chilling that after two lives are lost, the guy could end up as a top drafted player and being celebrated on draft day. 

 

When "accountability" word has been overused in the past year - blaming players for coming late to meetings and such "allegedly" - let's see how accountable this story goes and ends. 

[Superman]

31 minutes ago, Defjamz26 said:

Yeah that’s the gist of it. Also the person killed was one of his teammates. It’s makes you wonder why you would not only leave the scene of the accident, but also not be upfront about what happened to a teammate. You’d imagine someone would be pretty shaken up over something like that and want to notify the authorities. That part speaks a lot about his character IMO.

 

I don't know anything other than what I've read, and you've probably read the same stuff. The way I see it in my mind, when he left the scene, he was not aware that anyone had died. He made an awful, terrible mistake in leaving the scene -- and assuming the allegations are true, in driving recklessly.

 

There's not much else I'll say about it, because I don't want to be viewed as defending him or what he may have done. I'm certainly not advocating for him or giving him a pass. 

[Superman]

31 minutes ago, VikingsFanInChennai said:

Can you explain what you mean by this "carefully timed"? 

 

The timing seems absolutely perfect. Ultimately it doesn't matter, though.

[stitches]

Well, that's a very unfortunate thing to have happened. Pretty sad that a young man lost his life for stupidity like this.

 

I wonder just how much this would hinder Carter's draft stock. He's quite possibly the best player in this draft. I'm reading in other threads people dreaming about him falling out of the 1st in order to get him in the second. Unless something more insidious is going to be revealed in the coming months, IMO it's very likely he still gets drafted top 4-5. Teams will have 2 months to do their due dilligence and cross-checks... and more importantly they will have the time to convince themselves the talent is just too good to pass on because of a misdemeanor charge... 

[Defjamz26]

50 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

The timing seems absolutely perfect. Ultimately it doesn't matter, though.

 

to be fair the accident took place on January 15th. That’s also around the time the character concerns report came out. The timing is fair considering how long it would take to get all the facts together. Autopsy, toxicology report, interviewing any witnesses, etc.. would lead to a warrant right around this time.

[coltsfanej]

I wonder if this could lead to the bears staying at 1 or one wanting to trade with Texans? 
 

Everyone has been saying they expect the bears to want to stay in the top 4 to get Anderson or Carter and now after this Carter may be taken off some boards or at the very least be dropped.  If that’s the case they may not be willing to trade down to 4 and let the Cards take Anderson.  I would rather stay at 4 anyway but this could put a wrench in our plans if they intended to move up. 

Also if the bears stay in top 2 this could make the Cards more likely to try to trade down and someone could jump us for a QB. 
 

 

There is still plenty of time for this situation to be worked out and may not affect his draft stock much once it’s over with, but only time will tell.  

[DougDew]

Carter appears to have been the driver of the "not the car that crashed" when street racing after the championship game.  The driver of the car that crashed had a 0.17 alcohol toxicology report and killed two occupants.

 

It doesn't appear that Carter's car touched the other car, or caused it to crash in any way, and that the cars may have been playing Chase through the streets, and not drag racing.   The cars were not necessarily close to each other and one was quite a bit ahead of the other for most of the street racing.

 

Carter gets misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and one other driving related charge.  

 

While this is a bad look on its surface, and was certainly poor judgement and reckless, it doesn't appear that Carter caused any harm to anybody.

 

I mean, if you think this guy is the next Warren Sapp or DeForest Buckner, are you going to not want that long successful career because of some bad judgement decision about reckless driving and leaving a scene when he was 20/21 years old?   I wouldn't throw that player away.

 

The guy has a lot to lose, I can see how he reacted emotionally and left the scene.  Then his character actually put him back to the scene.  There may be some character questions throughout his college career, but if not, I don't see where this incident in isolation is going to drop him much.

[VikingsFanInChennai]

1 hour ago, coltsfanej said:

I wonder if this could lead to the bears staying at 1 or one wanting to trade with Texans? 
 

Everyone has been saying they expect the bears to want to stay in the top 4 to get Anderson or Carter and now after this Carter may be taken off some boards or at the very least be dropped.  If that’s the case they may not be willing to trade down to 4 and let the Cards take Anderson.  I would rather stay at 4 anyway but this could put a wrench in our plans if they intended to move up. 

Also if the bears stay in top 2 this could make the Cards more likely to try to trade down and someone could jump us for a QB. 
 

 

There is still plenty of time for this situation to be worked out and may not affect his draft stock much once it’s over with, but only time will tell.  

 

This may sound like a broken record, but I'm just gonna leave it out here.  

 

[esmort]

I would interview him and ask him about it and as long as he had a reasonable answer. And if he didn't cause the accident and is only being charged with reckless driving this wouldn't change anything for me if I had planned to draft him.

 

Some people act like they were never young and dumb ... and expect a maturity level beyond these kids years just because they are a high draft prospect. The fact he came back at all knowing what was at risk shows some level of character even if he wasn't completely honest.

[coltsfanej]

3 hours ago, VikingsFanInChennai said:

 

This may sound like a broken record, but I'm just gonna leave it out here.  

 

I’m sorry. It was not my intention to change the subject. I meant it all as possible draft ramifications of the Carter news. 

[VikingsFanInChennai]

2 hours ago, coltsfanej said:

I’m sorry. It was not my intention to change the subject. I meant it all as possible draft ramifications of the Carter news. 

No, your comment is relevant, I meant to repeat the particular comment that I linked to, I didn't mean it as diversion. 

 

The comment I referred mentioned trading up to #3 pick, which will ensure Colts getting one of the top 2 or 3 QBs that Colts may have on their board. But, that's assuming Colts are okay with drafting any of the three QBs who may get drafted first. 

 

As you said, there's plenty of time to see how things develop. Let's get the Combine done, and see if any other prospects rise up to be top 5 talent in teams' boards. Carter situation will have to get clarified before the draft, to see how teams value him then. 

[NewColtsFan]

6 hours ago, DougDew said:

Carter appears to have been the driver of the "not the car that crashed" when street racing after the championship game.  The driver of the car that crashed had a 0.17 alcohol toxicology report and killed two occupants.

 

It doesn't appear that Carter's car touched the other car, or caused it to crash in any way, and that the cars may have been playing Chase through the streets, and not drag racing.   The cars were not necessarily close to each other and one was quite a bit ahead of the other for most of the street racing.

 

Carter gets misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and one other driving related charge.  

 

While this is a bad look on its surface, and was certainly poor judgement and reckless, it doesn't appear that Carter caused any harm to anybody.

 

I would think that NFL teams would see this for what it is.  I don't see him dropping far at all based on character questions.

One problem that you didn’t mention.   Carter was interviewed by authorities 2-3 times.   And apparently lied each time.   His story kept changing.   I’m confident that lying to law enforcement is a crime even in Georgia.  What the punishment for that might be, is not known yet? 
 

But it does take you back to one of the more famous sayings….  The coverup is often worse than the actual crime.  

[Defjamz26]

Again there were character questions about him well before this. This just adds fuel to the fire.

[El Potro]

10 hours ago, coltsfanej said:

I’m sorry. It was not my intention to change the subject. I meant it all as possible draft ramifications of the Carter news. 

The original headline I put on the post was "Deforest Buckner's trade value might have just skyrocketed". So originally this was all about Carter's draft value plummetting because of his boneheaded mistakes. 

[Superman]

On 3/1/2023 at 8:46 AM, Crush22 said:

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2023/03/01/arrest-warrant-issued-for-jalen-carter-for-reckless-driving-racing/

 

This was merged here. 

[stitches]

 

So... he plead no contest to the misdemeanor reckless driving and racing charges and was sentenced to 12 months probation, $1000 fine, 80 hours community service... 

 

His attorneys are saying that he didn't leave the scene without being told he can leave and then he returned when they called him to ask additional questions. He also didn't cause the crash and he had not been drinking or using illegal substances. 

[VikingsFanInChennai]

53 minutes ago, stitches said:

 

So... he plead no contest to the misdemeanor reckless driving and racing charges and was sentenced to 12 months probation, $1000 fine, 80 hours community service... 

 

His attorneys are saying that he didn't leave the scene without being told he can leave and then he returned when they called him to ask additional questions. He also didn't cause the crash and he had not been drinking or using illegal substances. 

so no further legal trouble.. 

 

Not doing well at Pro Day, how teams view his character, commitment, work ethic and drive for excellence are the concerns moving forward. 

[stitches]

3 minutes ago, VikingsFanInChennai said:

so no further legal trouble.. 

 

Not doing well at Pro Day, how teams view his character, commitment, work ethic and drive for excellence are the concerns moving forward. 

From what I'm getting the word on him is that he's more immature than a bad guy... but who knows... 

[VikingsFanInChennai]

2 hours ago, stitches said:

From what I'm getting the word on him is that he's more immature than a bad guy... but who knows... 

heard some good things like sponsoring midday meal for team mate in college, I think that's him, maybe someone else? 

 

But you know.. from being consensus top 5 prospect to being overweight on Pro Day 2 weeks after the Combine and not being prepared to complete position group drills?

 

Cowboys usually get such guys and get great years out of him, some other team drafts such guys and they would've a dud. 

 

Remains to be seen how quickly he gets up. I think the accident and bad reputation has made him panic right now and he's not doing himself any favors.