Jalen Carter's Year Started With A Spit And Will End With A Questionable Trip To The Pro Bowl

Philadelphia Eagles defensive lineman Jalen Carter has had an incredibly up and down year.

During the opening game of the 2025 season, Carter spit on Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott - before a single play had been run. He was promptly ejected.

Whether Carter was baited into doing it is up for debate. Regardless, I can’t think of a more bizarre way to begin a year. He got suspended for the next game.

As the year progressed, Carter was playing well but not spectacular. Nevertheless, when it came time for NFL fans to cast their Pro Bowl votes, he got the nod to represent the NFC at the Pro Bowl (unless the Eagles make an unlikely appearance in the Super Bowl).

But was he worthy? Probably not.

Compare Carter’s stats with that of Seattle Seahawks lineman Byron Murphy II at the time voting closed.

If we are going solely off of statistics, Murphy II should have gotten in hands down. However, since Leonard Williams also got a Pro Bowl nod (and he also plays for Seattle), the selection committee might have thought it best to give Carter the nod.

Diversity for the win!

Even though Murphy II had better stats and was number one in fan voting.

Does this matter in the long run? Not really. We all know the Pro Bowl is more pointless than a broken pencil, so this isn’t going to be something that people won’t care about in a week.

But it is funny that Carter is heading to San Francisco in the same year that he spat on someone in the season opener. The NFL really is wild.