INDIANAPOLIS– Whether he’s in State College, Miami or Indianapolis, Penn State DE Abdul Carter is never short on confidence, and the NFL Combine was no exception.
“I feel like I’m the best player in the country,” Carter told reporters at his Combine presser, “and the best player should be selected No. 1.”
These words line up with Carter’s past words and actions.
Check out this excerpt from November.
“The Heisman is the top player in the country, the best player in the country, and I feel like I’m that,” Carter said.
More than a month later, Carter made headlines with not his words but his actions, becoming one of few– if any– players to write “Darth Vader” on their eye black, which he did during the Orange Bowl against Notre Dame.
Nobody writes “Darth Vader” on their eye black is lacking in confidence.
Carter’s belief in himself has helped him to Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2024 and all-conference selections in each of his three seasons at Penn State.
That success has made him, in the eyes of some, the favorite to go No. 1 overall.
So, where does this confidence come from?
WHAT SHAPED CARTER?
Abdul Carter would record 4 solo tackles in Penn State’s loss to Oregon.
Two of the biggest things that shaped Carter into the player and person he is today are his father, Christopher, and his hometown of Philadelphia.
Carter’s father gave him a lot of his confidence, and having a squat rack in his living room growing up didn’t hurt, either.
“My dad, he trained me to be the best player I could be and not just being the best on the field but off the field,” Carter said. “Knowing all the work I put in, all the training I did, all the sacrifices I made, I know I’m the best.”
Philly is a city that, more than most, embraces fortitude, and Carter fits the mold.
“It’s my toughness, my grit, I feel like (those are) really the biggest things I can take from Philly,” Carter said. “It really made me into the man I am today.”
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Abdul Carter went to the Super Bowl with his father to experience one last year as an Eagles fan. His father got him a custom jersey. He said his toughness and grit comes from his Philly roots: pic.twitter.com/waqIglQyuT
— Zach Berman (@ZBerm) February 26, 2025
The bad news is, since Philly picks last in the first round, there’s virtually no chance of Carter going there.
The good news is that Carter’s father might get to go to another Super Bowl, this time watching his son play.
“If you look at all the great teams, all the great teams that won Super Bowls, they have that one standout great defensive player,” Carter said, “and I feel like I’m that.”
A TEAMMATE’s PERSPECTIVE
Penn State team captains Abdul Carter, Kobe King, Tyler Warren and Dom DeLuca ahead of the coin toss.
One of Carter’s teammates at Penn State, Kobe King, noticed his confidence right away.
“I would say his first day on campus, his first workout in the summertime, he was talking competitively to us,” King, a year ahead of Carter, said at his Combine presser.
We’ll leave the specific words to the reader’s imagination, but there’s a chance not all of them would be safe to print.
“He was telling us how good he was going to be, he was telling us how hard he was going to work, what he was going to do and he definitely showed that in the first workout and the first game that I saw him play,” King said. “Since the first day, he’s been one to dominate.”
King agrees that Carter’s self-assurance comes from how he was raised.
“I think his confidence just comes from his upbringing, it comes from his background, it comes from what kind of player he is,” King said. “He’s a dominant player. He wants to get better every day, he wants to grow, he wants to compete. We saw that the first day he came in. Great guy on the field, off the field, but he really just wants to show everybody that he’s the best.”
Whatever happens from here on in, Carter, a PA guy, has cemented himself as one of the best to play for his state school.
