The NFL can be so dumb at times. While college football is the greatest and dumbest sport on the planet, the NFL will often kick it into even higher gear. Look no further than the defining moment from the first game of the season on Thursday night. Seconds into Week 1, Philadelphia Eagles defensive lineman Jalen Carter was promptly ejected for spitting on Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.
As it turns out, the former Walter Payton Man of the Year and former Mississippi State star may have started it all. He apparently felt the urge to spit shortly before the first offensive play from scrimmage. Rather than spit in and around his linemen, he spat ahead in the direction of Carter. The former Georgia superstar felt insulted and returned fire. Per usual, the NFL officials only caught the retaliator.
Worst of all, it does not seem like Prescott has any interest in taking any accountability for his spit.
Dak Prescott shows no remorse for spitting in Jalen Carter's direction
After the 24-20 loss to the Eagles on Thursday night, Prescott took to the podium and offered this.
"I guess I needed to spit. I wasn't going to spit on my linemen. I just spit ahead."
For as much backtracking, posturing and self-prefacing as he did at the podium, Prescott looked guilty as sin. While it was patently stupid for Carter to react accordingly and get himself ejected from the game, he apparently did not do this unprompted. Carter is a guy who plays with emotion. It does not always help that the Eagles' football culture can often kind of lean into these sort of shenanigans.
Prescott is back in Dallas with one loss, away from a flock of angry Eagles fans who hate him a ton.
Dak Prescott on Spitgate. Says Jalen Carter was messing with Tyler Booker. “I guess I needed to spit. I wasn’t going to spit on my linemen. I just spit ahead.” Says he felt insulted Carter suggested he tried to spit on him. pic.twitter.com/zJcWmX4ob0
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) September 5, 2025
Just because Prescott said he was messing with rookie Tyler Booker does not mean we should buy it.
Dak Prescott looks guilty as sin for his role in Jalen Carter getting ejected
What this critical moment at Lincoln Financial Field may have hinted at is how the season may go for both the Cowboys and Eagles. Dallas was barely a playoff contender coming in. Now the Cowboys could be destined to be picking inside the top 10. It was a close call in Philadelphia, but the Cowboys once again came up short. As for the Eagles, maybe they are not making it back to the Super Bowl?
From a collegiate standpoint, this is just par for the course whenever the type different types of SEC Bulldogs get together. While it is easier to hate Georgia from a national perspective, Mississippi State is going through a rough patch program-wise. This felt very little brother coming from the Cowboys. Prescott is the starting quarterback for the NFL's most popular team, but this was still a horrible look.
Overall, it will be interesting to see what other potential fallout will come from this game and absolutely wild moment. If it were a lesser game featuring two nondescript teams, maybe Roger Goodell and the league office would have swept it under the rug? As far as if all parties involved will do the right thing, never trust the NFL. All these years later, we still have no idea what a catch even is.
For now, Prescott's antics only slightly counterbalance Carter acting a fool in a huge primetime affair.