In the context of the legislated violence of an average NFL game, a defensive tackle getting tossed for spitting seems a bit like Al Capone going to jail for tax evasion.

And yet, if you want to start a real, honest-to-God fight in an NFL game, spitting on someone is probably a good way to go about it. Football players are prepared for hand-to-hand combat, for dishing it out and taking it back. There’s a social contract. But expectorations come with expectations in football, just like in real life.

In that regard, the NFL, the Cowboys and the Eagles were probably lucky that Philadelphia defensive tackle Jalen Carter picked a moment of non-action to spit on Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott.

“There are certain things you can’t prepare for until you’re in the moment, and you don’t know how you’re going to respond,” former NFL offensive lineman Kyle Long told me in a phone conversation. “For example, I have helped my running backs out of piles with the classic giving them a hand, and in helping them up, I’ve been kicked in the nuts by a linebacker. No matter how much you tell yourself you’re going to be ‘Chill Kyle,’ if you get kicked in the nuts, you’re going to respond a certain way. And whether it’s in the moment you respond and get your vengeance, or whether it’s six plays or 36 plays down the road, you can count on getting your revenge.

“But if you get spit on, that steps into another realm of disrespect that I haven’t experienced. I’ve never been spit on, and I can’t promise that in that moment that I would wait.”

You can punch, club and kick an NFL player, and they might pat you in the back after the game. But spit on a guy? It changes the stakes.

Spitting became an unexpected storyline on the NFL’s opening night this season, as Carter spat on Prescott in between the kickoff and the first play from scrimmage and was tossed from the game before it really began. Prescott had spit on the ground, seemingly in the direction of the Eagles defense, before confronting Carter about baiting one of his linemen. Then Carter self-destructed by spitting on Prescott and earning the quick hook.

Jalen Carter is ejected after an unsportsmanlike penalty. pic.twitter.com/T0P3PN6yTQ

— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) September 5, 2025

Typically, players just get fined for spitting, but this situation obviously called for more. Carter was tossed by referee Shawn Smith, who called the spit a “disqualifiable foul in the game” because it was “a non-football act.” There was no heat of the moment.

It was an epically stupid move by Carter.

If Smith didn’t kick him out, there would have been retribution during the game, as Long noted, and it could’ve devolved into an ugly scene. The teams don’t play again until Nov. 23, and I’m guessing Prescott’s offensive linemen will remember.

It was a story made for the social media age at a time when anyone with a 4K TV and a pause button could go all Zapruder film on the scene. Kramer, Newman and Keith Hernandez would have been proud of the work.

The Eagles still won 24-20, which meant nobody was happier than the man himself, who could apologize with a bit of a lighter load on his shoulders.

“That’s a mistake that happened on my side. Just won’t happen again,” Carter said in the locker room after the game. “I feel bad for just my teammates and the fans out there. I’m doing it for them. I’m doing it for my family, also. But for the fans, they show the most love; you heard them. To not be able to start the game, finish the game, it f—ed me up. We’ll get it better. It won’t happen again. I can make that promise.”

I don’t think Philly fans will hold it against him.

Carter came into the NFL under a cloud in 2023, which caused him to drop to No. 10 in the NFL Draft, and last year, he collected four personal fouls during the regular season, two of which earned him fines. He walks on a tightrope between acceptable violence and unprofessional behavior. This time, he crossed it. You have to wonder if he learned his lesson or if this is a warning sign.

With that context, Carter’s only punishment from a league perspective was losing a game check worth around $50,000 and the embarrassment of letting down his team. The NFL isn’t suspending him for Week 2, saying it considers his ejection as time served.

Long, who is an analyst on CBS’ “NFL Today+” show and a cohost for CBS Sports’ “Pushing the Pile” podcast, was surprised the league didn’t do more. The NFL has already declared it’s focusing more on sportsmanship this season, and the league is always obsessed with optics and offense. Having a defensive player spit on the Cowboys’ QB to open the season on national TV is as bad a look as bad looks can get.

Furthermore, if punishment is also aimed at being a behavioral corrective, is the NFL doing wrong by Carter by not sitting him for another game? Will he learn his lesson?

“I think the worst you can make a guy feel is to keep him out of games when he’s healthy and make his teammates look at him and be like, ‘How did you let that happen?’” Long said. “You can hit his pockets for 50 racks, but he’s going to make $50 million a year in two years. Make him stand by (chief security officer Dom DiSandro), make Big Dom put him in timeout.”

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

Though the Eagles won, the Florida Gators lost a game Saturday because a Florida player, Brendan Bett, spat on a South Florida opponent. The 15-yard personal foul helped the Bulls get in position for the winning field goal.

I try not to judge professional athletes for losing their composure. Their jobs are unlike ours. There’s a delicate balance they have to find to compete honorably. And I’m not one to moralize about a sport as violent as football. So that’s why I wanted to get the opinion of someone like Long, who was no stranger to absolutely losing his mind during NFL practices and games. He had to issue an apology or two in his day.

Smart and funny off the field, Long had to flip a switch mentally to play, and that caused him to short-circuit from time to time. And because he’s 6 feet 6 and over 300 pounds, that could be an issue. Could he identify with Carter here?

“I want to be sure to distinguish that Jalen Carter and I are nothing alike,” he said. “But at the same time, I can relate to wanting to become something else on the football field. Some guys can find it, some guys can’t. Some guys are so good and technically sound, they don’t need to be that guy, but I had to convince myself and try to believe I was convincing others that I was someone else. Whether or not people admit that, it’s a big part of the game. You want people to have their head on a swivel for you.”

Of course, now that he’s in the media, where he analyzes misbehavior instead of participating in it, Long had some “galaxy brain” thoughts on the whole situation.

“I think Dak is not a dummy, and I think everybody in the building in Dallas has Jalen Carter circled as a guy that we can get riled up,” he said. “And if he gets riled up, they have the potential to get him kicked out, and if he’s kicked out, then they’re down their most dominant defender.”

Though I don’t think it was a setup by the Cowboys this time, I do think Carter has put a target on his back for the rest of the season, which means opposing players will try to get him flagged, knowing the refs and the league are watching. And maybe that’s punishment enough.

(Photo: Matt Slocum / Associated Press)