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New York Giants coach John Harbaugh wrote off the tiff between Jaxson Dart and Abdul Carter following the quarterback's introduction of President Donald Trump an event as "part of the conversation of life" in his first comments since the incident unfurled.
Harbaugh addressed the Giants' biggest off-field storyline during a May 29 media availability after the Giants' third OTA practice session.
The 63-year-old coach said the discord provided "a good opportunity" for the Giants to have conversations about "a real-life incident."
"It's one thing to talk about it in theory," Harbaugh told reporters, "but when you have something that happens that's like real, because things are gonna happen that are real, you get a chance to talk about them practically. That was the best part about it."
Harbaugh made it clear the Giants didn't want any tension from tete-a-tete to linger. As such, the Giants held a team meeting to discuss what had happened, and Harbaugh credited the team's veterans for having "a really good conversation" about the matter.
"Really, the important thing to understand is that what we are is a collection of all of us together," Harbaugh explained. "And so, we need to understand really how we want to approach these things going forward."
What was Harbaugh's role in the conversation? He detailed that he didn't want to "dictate some terms as a coach" and tried to let the players steer the conversation.
In the end, he was happy with how the discussion went, and he believes the Giants will be better off from it.
"We had a good little meeting," Harbaugh said. "It wasn't real long, but it was to the point. The players established among themselves how they wanted to approach these kind of things part of the dialogue in our society. They did a great job. I was proud of them. I was impressed by them. Couldn't have asked for anything better. So, we're in a good place now and we're moving forward."
DONALD TRUMP: President says Jaxson Dart told him 'I love you, sir' at rally in new interview
Dart's introduction of Trump occurred at a campaign-style rally for Republican Rep. Mike Lawler in Suffern, New York on Friday, May 22. The 23-year-old quarterback gave a brief speech, led the crowd in a "Go Big Blue!" Giants chant and shared a handshake and hug with the president before leaving the stage.
Dart's appearance quickly went viral on social media. Then, the following morning, Carter seemingly questioned his teammate's decision to attend the event in a since-deleted post on X.
"Thought this (expletive) was AI," Carter wrote in a May 23 social media repost of Dart's introduction. "What we doing man."
Carter's social media post quickly garnered a great deal of attention. The response was polarized, with some criticizing the 22-year-old edge rusher for publicly airing a grievance with his teammate and other arguing the Penn State product had every right to speak his mind and react to Dart's appearance.
The response prompted Carter to eventually make a follow-up post that insisted he and Dart were "good" following a conversation between the two.
"Me & JD6 are good! We spoke earlier as Men. Yall can keep yall narratives," Carter wrote in an X post that has since been deleted while identifying Dart by his initials and jersey number.
Dart did not provide a public response to Carter's social media posts while they were live. He did, however, address his Giants teammates in a meeting on May 27, the team's first OTA practice after his introduction of Trump.
With that in mind, it would appear that the Giants' "locker room is fine," just as veteran offensive tackle Jermaine Eluemunor claimed May 23 in a post about the Carter-Dart feud directed at the Boston Globe's Ben Volin.
Trump, who has been supportive of Harbaugh since the 63-year-old's departure from the Baltimore Ravens at the end of the 2025 NFL season, was effusive in his praise of Dart during the event.
"I want to thank Jaxson Dart," Trump said. "This is going to be a future Hall of Famer in my book. Thank you, thank you Jaxson. Lot of talent."
The president also referred to Dart throughout his speech when discussing his policy goals, including his desire to ban transgender athletes from competing in women's sports.
"I'm looking at Jaxson," Trump said. "I’d like to know, is there any woman in the audience that thinks they can tackle that guy? Because I'd like to meet you. I’d like to shake your hand. I don’t know. Jaxson, you think you can play against women OK?"
"Don’t get involved Jaxson," Trump added. "Don’t answer that question."
Trump also referred to Dart as a "beautiful guy" with "legs like tree trunks" during his speech and continued to heap praise upon the Giants quarterback in a recent interview with Fox News Channel's Lara Trump.
"I wish I looked just like Jaxson," Trump said. "He's this guy. I said, is he a male model or what? He's a handsome guy, like a beautiful guy, and a conservative guy."
USA TODAY Sports' Nick Brinkerhoff and Nate Davis also contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Giants 'in a good place' after Abdul Carter, Jaxson Dart spat over Trump rally
Continue reading...
Harbaugh addressed the Giants' biggest off-field storyline during a May 29 media availability after the Giants' third OTA practice session.
The 63-year-old coach said the discord provided "a good opportunity" for the Giants to have conversations about "a real-life incident."
"It's one thing to talk about it in theory," Harbaugh told reporters, "but when you have something that happens that's like real, because things are gonna happen that are real, you get a chance to talk about them practically. That was the best part about it."
Giants held team meeting after Jaxson Dart's Trump rally appearance
Harbaugh made it clear the Giants didn't want any tension from tete-a-tete to linger. As such, the Giants held a team meeting to discuss what had happened, and Harbaugh credited the team's veterans for having "a really good conversation" about the matter.
"Really, the important thing to understand is that what we are is a collection of all of us together," Harbaugh explained. "And so, we need to understand really how we want to approach these things going forward."
What was Harbaugh's role in the conversation? He detailed that he didn't want to "dictate some terms as a coach" and tried to let the players steer the conversation.
In the end, he was happy with how the discussion went, and he believes the Giants will be better off from it.
"We had a good little meeting," Harbaugh said. "It wasn't real long, but it was to the point. The players established among themselves how they wanted to approach these kind of things part of the dialogue in our society. They did a great job. I was proud of them. I was impressed by them. Couldn't have asked for anything better. So, we're in a good place now and we're moving forward."
DONALD TRUMP: President says Jaxson Dart told him 'I love you, sir' at rally in new interview
Dart's introduction of Trump occurred at a campaign-style rally for Republican Rep. Mike Lawler in Suffern, New York on Friday, May 22. The 23-year-old quarterback gave a brief speech, led the crowd in a "Go Big Blue!" Giants chant and shared a handshake and hug with the president before leaving the stage.
Dart's appearance quickly went viral on social media. Then, the following morning, Carter seemingly questioned his teammate's decision to attend the event in a since-deleted post on X.
"Thought this (expletive) was AI," Carter wrote in a May 23 social media repost of Dart's introduction. "What we doing man."
Carter's social media post quickly garnered a great deal of attention. The response was polarized, with some criticizing the 22-year-old edge rusher for publicly airing a grievance with his teammate and other arguing the Penn State product had every right to speak his mind and react to Dart's appearance.
The response prompted Carter to eventually make a follow-up post that insisted he and Dart were "good" following a conversation between the two.
"Me & JD6 are good! We spoke earlier as Men. Yall can keep yall narratives," Carter wrote in an X post that has since been deleted while identifying Dart by his initials and jersey number.
Dart did not provide a public response to Carter's social media posts while they were live. He did, however, address his Giants teammates in a meeting on May 27, the team's first OTA practice after his introduction of Trump.
With that in mind, it would appear that the Giants' "locker room is fine," just as veteran offensive tackle Jermaine Eluemunor claimed May 23 in a post about the Carter-Dart feud directed at the Boston Globe's Ben Volin.
What Donald Trump said about Jaxson Dart at rally
Trump, who has been supportive of Harbaugh since the 63-year-old's departure from the Baltimore Ravens at the end of the 2025 NFL season, was effusive in his praise of Dart during the event.
"I want to thank Jaxson Dart," Trump said. "This is going to be a future Hall of Famer in my book. Thank you, thank you Jaxson. Lot of talent."
The president also referred to Dart throughout his speech when discussing his policy goals, including his desire to ban transgender athletes from competing in women's sports.
"I'm looking at Jaxson," Trump said. "I’d like to know, is there any woman in the audience that thinks they can tackle that guy? Because I'd like to meet you. I’d like to shake your hand. I don’t know. Jaxson, you think you can play against women OK?"
"Don’t get involved Jaxson," Trump added. "Don’t answer that question."
Trump also referred to Dart as a "beautiful guy" with "legs like tree trunks" during his speech and continued to heap praise upon the Giants quarterback in a recent interview with Fox News Channel's Lara Trump.
"I wish I looked just like Jaxson," Trump said. "He's this guy. I said, is he a male model or what? He's a handsome guy, like a beautiful guy, and a conservative guy."
USA TODAY Sports' Nick Brinkerhoff and Nate Davis also contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Giants 'in a good place' after Abdul Carter, Jaxson Dart spat over Trump rally
Continue reading...
