The very granular subtext of Jalen Carter’s absolutely stunning ejection before the first play from scrimmage in the season opener is that the NFL says it saw a sharp rise in both obscene gestures and taunting a year ago. Officials came into Thursday night’s game armed with morality detectors, prepared to make an example out of someone—anyone—before Sunday’s full opening slate. It’s not like players and coaches were not warned.
Had it not been Carter, it would have been some unsuspecting wide receiver pointing his fingers in a way that vaguely resembled pistols, or a running back aggressively trying to yank his feet out of a pile before catching someone’s arm. Of course, I’m not sure that even in Roger Goodell’s wildest dreams that someone would make his job so easy. The principal may not even have to hand out a single other detention this weekend.
What Carter did—hocking a loogie on the Cowboys’ most recognizable player and former Walter Payton Man of the Year—was classless and idiodic but was also, up until now, very much a part of the NFL’s milieu. This was, and remains, a filthy game. Ask an offensive lineman what happens underneath a pile (his groin gets twisted like a grocery store produce bag). Ask a defensive lineman why he now has a facemask with more protective bars than a locked-down bodega (to stop his eyes from being gouged out). Ask a coach why he’s always so reluctant to disclose anything about an injury (because once an opposing player finds out, he’s going to take that sensitive limb and contort it like bread dough).
We can talk endlessly about what Carter was thinking. We can tie it, if we want, into Carter’s past. There is a reason, after all, that he was available for the Eagles to draft in the first place, with the ninth pick, despite being widely viewed as one of the two or three best talents in the 2023 draft. It’s fun to naval gaze or armchair psychoanalyze when we’re not the ones in the chair.
But what interests me is how aggressively and effectively the NFL is trying to polish its product as the league reaches the next phase of its expansion and the outer reaches of its most aggressive goals. It’s not unlike some powerful new dictatorial regime that erases the very complicated and hard-to-palate history that predated its arrival. This is a global entertainment product. This is a political powerhouse with hooks deep inside the White House and a clear path to legislate itself into monolith status. This is a machine of self-generating content more vast and sustainable than any single streaming service. And, because of that, the NFL will have to find a way to shed the dusty and dirty lining that accompanied the product for so long. It has to be as neutral and inoffensive as puppies, Tom Hanks or a Bob Ross painting.
If you think I’m overreacting, look at how quickly we’ve all collectively moved on from the YOU GOT JACKED era. Our knowledge of the post-career impact of head trauma made the past seem more difficult to digest and the programming shifted from glorifying violence to the promotion of personal dopamine, either from the success of our fantasy football teams or the (rare and almost impossible) completion of some parlay. This is the forever sweet spot that the NFL is trying to occupy, while also trying to cement the family-friendly feeling of it all. It’s kind of like when nicotine is available in fun and fruity flavors.
To be clear, I’m not whimsical about some of this stuff and you shouldn’t be, either. It’s great that we don’t jump up and cheer when someone gets knocked out cold. It’s awesome that our kids are going to be a little more aware of just how not O.K. it is to approach another human being and spit on him (although, knowing Philadelphia like I do, to think that this will not lead to some kind of epidemic of fan spitting is incredibly optimistic).
I am pointing out that 10 years ago, Carter would not have been ejected (just ask Terrell Owens and Bill Romanowski). Spitting isn’t specifically in the rulebook, by the way, but officials have plenty of leeway under the phrase “abusive gestures” to make their case. I am pointing out that 20 years ago, there probably wouldn’t have been 325 cameras there to capture it in high definition. I am pointing out that, sometimes, it’s wild to look around and see how much has changed.
Carter 100% needs to clean up his act, but any player watching this game who thinks they won’t be next has another thing—or suspension—coming. The NFL’s Family Friendly Era™ is upon us. Tread lightly.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Ejecting Jalen Carter Part of the NFL’s Plan to Clean Up a Filthy Game.