Jaxson Dart finished speaking, picked up the piece of paper he used for his notes and gave Abdul Carter a prolonged hug.
There were and are some complicated off-the-field issues for the Giants to sort out, but their two 2025 first-round draft picks — franchise building blocks — put aside Friday whatever differences they have with politics or world views to display a united front.
“That’s the kind of person I am, I’m a connector, I love making relationships, I love hearing everybody’s stories and being somebody people can rely on to be there for him,” Dart said after organized team activity practice No. 6.
“Most importantly, I can say I love every single one of my brothers, my teammates on this team. Regardless of politics, regardless of religious beliefs, regardless of anything that may be different between us. I think they know exactly what kind of person I am.’’
There was no talk of football on an afternoon reserved for addressing and cleaning up the residue from Dart’s activities one week earlier, when he introduced President Donald Trump at a rally at Rockland Community College in Suffern.
Dart described this as “a unique opportunity” and declared his “thinking was pretty simple” as far as accepting the offer. He said, “I’ve always loved this country” and explained that he has extended family members “who have fought in wars” and two uncles who are retired from the Air Force Academy.
“The president position has always been a position I’ve well respected regardless of political affiliation, regardless of political party and my intentions were just that,” Dart said.
Given the climate of extreme polarization that litters the political landscape, video of Dart’s Trump introduction attracted widespread reaction — positive and negative. Carter on his “X” account posted, “Thought this sh!t was AI, what we doing man.’’ The tweet attracted more than 50 million views before it was deleted and Carter’s next post stated he and Dart “are good” after having a conversation “as men.”
Carter followed Dart to the podium Friday and, like Dart, offered no apology.
“First off, I’m going to say that some things are bigger than football, and this is one of those things,” Carter said. “Jaxson is one of our leaders. He’s the face of our franchise. He not only represents himself and what he does, but he represents all of us, and that goes for anybody who wears a Giants uniform.
“But if he chooses to align himself with a man like President Trump, it’s my responsibility based on what I believe and what I stand on to not only show my teammates that I’m against that, but to show the world.
“That doesn’t mean that we have to spread hate. It doesn’t mean that me and Jaxson hate each other or we have beef. I sit next to Jaxson every day, every team meeting. We’re close. We talk. As long as we make sure we’ve got the same goal as a team and our goals align, which they do, I feel like that’s all that matters.’’
Dart said he and Carter “are one of the closer guys on the team with each other” and that “he’s my brother and I know I’m a brother to him.”
Head coach John Harbaugh made sure to use the outside noise and whatever inside unrest might fester to try to bring his first Giants team closer, promoting communication the first day the players were back together. Dart addressed the issue in a team meeting Tuesday. Carter was at the team facility that day but had a fever and was sent home, so he missed the meeting. Dart and team leaders Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Jameis Winston spoke.
“It was really a good opportunity for us as a football team to have these kinds of conversations around a real-life incident, something that comes up,” head coach John Harbaugh said.
“You don’t want to stand up there and just try to dictate some terms as a coach. You want to find out what the players think, how the coaches and players feel about it, and really mainly the players because, as I told them, it’s your team.
“They did a great job. I was proud of them. I was impressed by them. Couldn’t have asked for anything better.”
Harbaugh said he was alerted beforehand that Dart “was going to shake the president’s hand” and his reaction was, “Great, good for him.”
There were those in the Giants building who did not appreciate Dart, prior to introducing Trump, trying to turn the proceedings into a de facto Giants rally, addressing the crowd as “Big Blue nation” and pumping his right arm to initiate a “Go Big Blue” chant.
Harbaugh was asked about that but cut off the question.
“Look at it how you want. I respect that opinion,” Harbaugh said. “It’s not for me to judge. It’s not important. It’s not going to affect what kind of football team we are.”
Harbaugh politely cut off another question asking if he preferred Carter text Dart directly, rather than Carter posting on social media.
“I’m not worried about all that,” he said. “There’s a lot of ways to handle, there’s a lot of ways to communicate, there’s a lot of ways to talk. There’s a lot of ways to do things better. Certainly going forward, I’m sure we all learned, and that’s a good thing.”
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