Bettis urges Giants teammates Dart and Carter to find common ground after political rift
Bettis urges Giants teammates Dart and Carter to find common ground after political rift
Pro Football Hall of Famer Jerome Bettis called on New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart and linebacker Abdul Carter to prioritize their professional relationship over political disagreement, after a public dispute between the two rookies drew widespread attention. The friction began when Dart, 23, introduced President Donald Trump at a campaign-style event in Suffern, New York, on Friday, May 22, 2026, and Carter responded critically on social media before later deleting his post.
Carter reposted video footage of Dart leading the crowd in a "Go Big Blue" chant before formally introducing Trump as "the 45th and 47th president of the United States," captioning his repost with: "Thought this s--- was AI, what we doing man." He subsequently deleted the post and addressed the situation in a follow-up message, also since deleted, stating: "Me and JD6 are good! We spoke earlier as Men. Y'all can keep y'all narratives." Dart's introduction concluded with a handshake with Trump on stage before the quarterback departed.
Bettis, who won a Super Bowl with the Pittsburgh Steelers following the 2005 season and retired in 2006 after a 13-year NFL career, said political tensions within a locker room were rare during his playing days but acknowledged the landscape has shifted considerably. "You don't have to agree. And that's the one thing - you don't agree with your teammate, but you got to find a way to work with them," Bettis told Fox News Digital. He added that the current political climate is markedly more divisive than it was two decades ago. "Now everyone's picking sides and now you hate the other guy's side. And that was never the case in politics 20 years ago," he said.
Bettis framed team sports as an environment that demands exactly the kind of reconciliation the two Giants appear to have reached. "People coming from different walks of life are all coming together for one common goal. And in order for you to all support that goal, you have to find common ground with each other," he said. Both Dart and Carter were selected by New York in the 2025 NFL Draft, making the handling of this early public disagreement a notable test of the Giants' locker room cohesion heading into the 2026 season. Bettis is scheduled to compete in the American Century Tournament, a celebrity golf event, from July 10-12 at Edgewood Golf Course in Lake Tahoe, which will be broadcast on NBC and Peacock.
