Abdul Jabar Carter (born January 2, 2004) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Penn State Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Penn State Lady Lions basketball, Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot ...

, earning

unanimous All-American The College Football All-America Team is an honorific college football all-star team compiled after each NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) season to recognize that season's most outstanding performers at their respective positions. ...

and

Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Coaches and media of the Big Ten Conference award the following individual honors at the end of each football season. In addition, the ''Chicago Tribune'' awards the Chicago Tribune Silver Football to the most valuable football player of the confer ...

honors in 2024. Carter was selected by the Giants third overall in the

2025 NFL draft The 2025 NFL draft was the 90th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft was held at Lambeau Field and its adjacent Titletown District in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on April 24–26, 2025 ...

Early life

Carter was born on January 2, 2004, in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. He attended

La Salle College High School La Salle College High School is a Catholic, all-male college preparatory school located in Wyndmoor, a community in Springfield Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. La Salle is within the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, and i ...

Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania Wyndmoor is a census-designated place (CDP) in Springfield Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 5,853 at the 2020 census. Wyndmoor has the same ZIP code, 19038, as the towns of Glenside, North Hills, ...

. As a senior, he made 78 tackles with 10 tackles for loss. Carter was rated a four-star recruit and committed to play college football for

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

over offers from

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

and

Ole Miss OLE, Ole or Olé may refer to: * Olé, a cheering expression used in Spain * Ole (name), a male given name, includes a list of people named Ole * Overhead lines equipment, used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains Co ...

. Following the end of his senior season, he played in the

Big 33 Football Classic The Big 33 Football Classic is an All-star game, all-star American football game featuring the top high school football, high-school football players in Pennsylvania. Played since 1958 in sports, 1958, the game is often described as the "Super B ...

. As a native of

North Philadelphia North Philadelphia, nicknamed North Philly, is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is immediately north of Center City, Philadelphia, Center City. Though the full extent of the region is somewhat vague, "North Philadelphia" is regarded as ...

, Carter grew up a fan of the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

, attending their

Super Bowl LIX Super Bowl LIX was an American football championship game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2024 NFL season, 2024 season. In a rematch of Super Bowl LVII two years prior, the National Football Conf ...

victory in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

with his father in 2025.

College career

Carter enrolled at

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

in June 2022 shortly after graduating high school. He was ejected for targeting in his collegiate debut against

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...

. Carter served as a key reserve at linebacker at the beginning of his freshman season. He made his first career start in Penn State's seventh game of the season against

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. Carter finished the season with 56 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, a team-leading 6.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, and four passes broken up and was named second-team All-Big Ten Conference. In 2024, Carter was named the

and a

. He declared for the

following Penn State's loss in the

2025 Orange Bowl The 2025 Orange Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 9, 2025, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. The 91st annual Orange Bowl was one of the 2024–25 NCAA football bowl games, 2024–25 bowl games concluding the 202 ...

College statistics

Professional career

Carter was selected by the

third overall in the

. On May 22, 2025, Carter signed a 4 year, $45,255,180 fully-guaranteed contract.

Personal life

Carter is a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

; he wore a

Thawb A thawb, also known as a dishdashah or a kandura in other varieties of Arabic, is a garment traditionally worn by men in the Arab world. It is a long-sleeved, ankle-length robe that has regional variations in name and style. It can be worn in f ...

on draft day. He is nicknamed "Darth Vader" after the character of the same name from the ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'' franchise. In April 2024, Carter was charged with a misdemeanor for assaulting a tow truck driver who was towing Carter's car for parking without a permit. Carter was accused of forcefully pulling the driver from his truck, throwing him to the ground and not allowing him to get up, leaving the driver with a fractured rib. Carter was placed in a year long pre-trial intervention program in July.

References

External links

*
New York Giants profile

Penn State Nittany Lions profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Adbul 2004 births All-American college football players American football defensive ends American football outside linebackers Living people Muslims from Pennsylvania New York Giants players Penn State Nittany Lions football players Players of American football from Philadelphia