Carter posts bond in Ga., returns to Indianapolis
Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter returned to the NFL scouting combine Thursday after turning himself in to police in Athens, Ga., on Wednesday night and posting a combined bond of $4,000 on charges of reckless driving and racing in relation to a fatal crash that killed a teammate and team staffer.
Carter, originally projected as one of the top players in next month’s draft, could lose millions of dollars if he drops from the top of the first round because of his alleged connection to the Jan. 15 crash that killed teammate Devin Willock and a recruiting staffer, 24-year-old Chandler Lecroy.
Police said in an arrest warrant that Carter was racing his 2021 Jeep Trackhawk against the 2021 Ford Expedition driven by Lecroy at the time of the crash. Willock was a passenger in the SUV Lecroy was driving.
Carter turned himself in at 11:33 p.m. and was released at 11:49 p.m., according to AthensClarke County jail records.
Carter issued a statement on Twitter after the warrant was made public Wednesday, saying he expects to be “fully exonerated.”
He said he intends “to make certain that the complete and accurate truth is presented. There is no question in my mind that when all of the facts are known that I will be fully exonerated of any criminal wrongdoing.”
The combine in Indianapolis has been abuzz with talk of Carter’s charges. And NFL teams will be seeking more information.
“We’ll track that, obviously,” Washington Commanders General Manager Martin Mayhew said Wednesday. “We have a company we work with on background investigations. We’ll work with that company. We have very thorough analysis of these guys’ background, especially criminal activity or criminal behavior or things like that.
“I don’t know what happened with him. I’m not saying he did anything wrong. But we’ll know what happened with him. We’ll find out.”
Carter has been projected to be drafted as high as No. 1.
PANTHERS: Jerry Richardson, the Carolina franchise founder and for years one of the
NFL’S most influential owners until a scandal forced him to sell the team, died. He was 86.
Richardson died Wednesday night at his Charlotte home, the team said in a statement.
Richardson became the first former NFL player to own a team since Chicago’s George Halas when he landed the expansion Panthers in 1993.
A former teammate of Johnny Unitas who caught a touchdown pass in the Baltimore Colts’ victory over the New York Giants in the 1959 NFL championship game, Richardson spent only two years in the NFL before venturing into the restaurant business. He used his championship bonus money to open the first Hardee’s in Spartanburg, S.C. — close to where he had attended Wofford College.
He went on to make his fortune in the restaurant business.
The Spring Hope, N.C., native spent years trying to persuade the NFL to put a team in the Carolinas, ultimately succeeding through a relatively original concept of funding a new stadium through the sales of permanent seat licenses.
BUCCANEERS: Tampa Bay informed veteran tight end Cameron Brate it plans to release him in the coming days, part of an ongoing effort to become salary cap compliant by the middle of the month, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
One of the franchise’s most improbable success stories, Brate, 31, could become a free agent or — more likely — retire. His release works out to a cap savings of slightly under $2 million.
MISC.: New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara and three other men pleaded not guilty Thursday in Nevada to charges they beat a man unconscious at a Las Vegas Strip nightclub before the NFL’S 2022 Pro Bowl.
Kamara appeared alongside Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Chris Lammons and co-defendants Darrin Young and Percy Harris in state court in Las Vegas. They could face trial July 31, according to the schedule set by the judge.
The four are each charged with a felony and a misdemeanor for allegedly punching, kicking and stomping on Darnell Greene Jr. of Houston during an altercation outside an elevator.