Tag: weston wallace

Jalen Carter bought Georgia walk-on’s meals with scholarship money

“The blessings I have from being on a full ride, I just wanted to help, and that was taking care of a brother,” Carter said.”

Georgia star defensive lineman Jalen Carter is a top prospect in the 2023 NFL draft after a dominant career in Athens.

In December, ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay said there were character issues with Carter.

“With Carter, there are some character issues. Does he get along with everybody. What’s he like to deal with in the locker room, those sorts of issues” McShay said on ESPN. “I know it’s early in the process, but I’m forewarning everybody out there. Carter is going to be a hot-button name when we talk about some of the intangible aspects. I think Pete Carroll (and the Seattle Seahawks) at No. 2, who has a long of history taking guys with questionable character and then developing them and having them work out, that would make a lot of sense to me.”

This was a surprise to DawgNation and Georgia players alike. Multiple Bulldogs, including graduate tight end Ryland Goede, spoke out on the supposed issues mentioned by McShay on ESPN.

Bruce Feldman of The Athletic dived deeper into Carter’s character by speaking with UGA’s Weston Wallace, a walk-on who transitioned from the offensive line to defensive line last season.

Walk-ons are not allowed to eat every meal for free like those players on scholarship, and when Carter found out, he responded in an inspiring way.

“Jalen heard about that. I’m the only walk-on in the defensive line room and he goes, ‘I’m not gonna let that happen.’ So he used his scholarship money to pay for me to get lunch every single day,” Wallace said.

“No one told him to do that. The nutritionist informed me about it. Had she not told me, I wouldn’t have known about it. And that’s what I like about it.”

Instead of speaking out against McShay’s comments, which could impact his draft stock, Carter said this when asked his response before the Bulldogs’ playoffs run.

“I did not take that any type of way,” Carter said. “I’m just trying to be the best teammate I could be. That’s it. It really didn’t affect me. I’m always a positive guy. I look at the positive side. I never look at the negative. I tried to stay away from that. And when it came out I really didn’t pay any mind to I just told my team let’s just keep going. Let’s just go to the playoffs and ball out.”

What Carter did for Wallace, while not intending for his efforts to be shared, along with how his Georgia teammates responded to McShay’s comments, should squash unsubstantiated concerns.

“The blessings I have from being on a full ride, I just wanted to help, and that was taking care of a brother,” Carter said.”

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Jalen Carter has ‘character issues’? Ask the walk-on teammate whose lunches Carter paid for.

The baseless talk of Jalen Carter’s character concerns got a lot of pushback from teammates, especially from Weston Wallace.

Georgia defensive lineman Jalen Carter is the consensus No. 1 prospect in the 2023 draft class, and the more you watch his tape, the more that’s clear. Carter is an absolute game-wrecker from every gap, and certainly on the field, you’re going to have to really try hard to find fault.

So, what some analysts and anonymous scouts like to do at that point is try to unearth alleged off-field stuff to make the process more “interesting.”

ESPN analyst Todd McShay did that in a circular way before the College Football Championship, in which Georgia thumped TCU, 65-7, with this bon mot:

“With Carter, there are some character issues. Does he get along with everybody? What’s he like to deal with in the locker room, those sorts of issues. I know it’s early in the process, but I’m forewarning everybody out there. Carter is going to be a hot-button name when we talk about some of the intangible aspects of it. I think Pete Carroll (and the Seattle Seahawks) at No. 2, who has a long of history taking guys with questionable character and then developing them and having them work out, that would make a lot of sense to me.

“That will be the big discussion. It’s not about his talent, his size or his explosive take off or finishing as a pass rusher, it’s about the character and do we want to bring that guy into the building.”

Well, Carter’s teammates were not at all happy about that speculation, and it turns out that Carter is as much a leader off the field. Weston Wallace was not entitled to free team lunches as a walk-on, which tells you one more thing about the NCAA’s byzantine policies. Carter, who used to go up against Wallace every day in practice before Wallace switched to the defensive line, found out about it, and he wasn’t going to let it continue, per Bruce Feldman of The Athletic.

“Jalen heard about that,” Wallace told Feldman. “I’m the only walk-on in the defensive line room, and he goes, ‘I’m not gonna let that happen.’ So he used his scholarship money to pay for me to get lunch every single day.”

As far as the “character concerns,” Wallace said that those were out of line.

“You honestly don’t know the guy if you think that,” Wallace said. “You can ask anybody on the team, whether it’s the O-line that he bullies every day out there. … Everybody thinks he’s an all-around great guy, and I think he’ll be great for any team that picks him.”

“The blessings I have from being on a full ride, I just wanted to help, and that was taking care of a brother,” Carter told Feldman.

Per Georgia defensive line coach Trey Scott, Carter’s generosity started a chain of help from other scholarship players to other walk-ons.

“That started a wildfire with some of our good players [who benefit from name, image and likeness rules] picking different guys in their position group to make sure they’re good, so they can eat every time we eat, just like you’re a scholarship player,” Scott said. “No one told him to do that. The nutritionist informed me about it. Had she not told me, I wouldn’t have known about it. And that’s what I like about it.

“Everyone is gonna do their own research. People have different ways they take information. But I know how he is within our organization, and at the end of the day, I like for my guys to have a little edge, so where people may determine as ‘character issues’ may just be a guy who has a little edge that may be laid-back. Because like I tell him, as long as you know who you are, it doesn’t really matter. I said, guess what? You have an opportunity to prove who you are every single day. That’s why he’s been able to keep it moving.”

So, maybe it’s time for people to stop taking unproven shots at players who have proven their leadership abilities, and pay more attention to what the prospects bring to the game. If Jalen Carter or any other prospect has legitimate character concerns, by all means make them part of the discussion. But do it with proof, as opposed to ground-level speculation with no actual basis in fact, all in the name of looking as if you have a bit of news nobody else has.

In this case, the lack of traction for McShay’s allegations says a lot.