Giants edge rusher Abdul Carter officially cleared the air Friday about his since-deleted tweet criticizing New York quarterback Jaxson Dart for introducing President Donald Trump at a political event earlier this month.

Talking after Friday’s OTA practice, Carter wasn’t apologetic for what he said. However, he made it clear it hasn’t affected his relationship with Dart.

“First off, I’m going to say that some things are bigger than football, and this is one of those things. Jaxson is one of our leaders. He’s the face of our franchise. He not only represents himself and what he does, but he represents all of us, and that goes for anybody who wears a Giants uniform,” Carter said.

“But if he chooses to align himself with a man like President Trump, it’s my responsibility based on what I believe and what I stand on to not only show my teammates that I’m against that, but to show the world.

“That doesn’t mean that we have to spread hate. It doesn’t mean that me and Jaxson hate each other or we have beef. I sit next to Jaxson every day, every team meeting. We’re close. We talk. As long as we make sure we’ve got the same goal as a team and our goals align, which they do, I feel like that’s all that matters. I just want to move past this.”

Dart introduced Trump last week at festivities supporting the campaign of Rep. Mike Lawler, who represents New York’s Hudson Valley in Congress and is running for a third term.

Dart’s presence and on-the-mic role at the rally sparked a reaction from Carter, the third overall draft pick in 2025 – the same year in which the Giants selected Dart with the 25th pick.

“Thought this (s-) was AI,” Carter wrote in a since-deleted post on X that showed the video featuring Dart’s introduction of the president. “What we doing, man?”

Dart, who also talked to the media on Friday, opened with a statement which shared his side of the story.

“This was a unique opportunity, being asked and given the opportunity to introduce the President of the United States,” Dart said. “My thinking was pretty simple, in the fact of, I’ve always loved this country. I have extended family members who have fought in wars. I have two uncles who have retired from the Air Force Academy and served themselves. And I even have a great-grandfather who served as the Secretary of the Treasury at some point.

“The president position has always been a position that I have a lot of respect in, regardless of political affiliation, regardless of political party. My intentions were just that.”

Dart added that some productive conversations amongst Giants players have come out of this situation.

“We have a real brotherhood. We’ve had a lot of honest conversations with each other, as a team, and I’d like to keep those things private between me and my teammates.”

Carter, who was seen embracing Dart during Friday’s workout, made it clear he isn’t looking for Dart to apologize.

“I don’t want him to say he’s sorry. Stand on what you believe in,” Carter said. “But it can’t be a problem when I stand on what I believe in. That’s all that matters to me. As long as we have that understanding, it’s all good.”

Backup quarterback Jameis Winston, a 12-year NFL veteran, shared his veteran perspective as for how valuable it can be for two guys entering their second seasons to come out the other side of something like this.

“I think these two young guys being resilient and showing that uncomfortable situations and coming to a, not a compromise, but coming to a position of strength, of authority, of the impact that they have, that we have as athletes with this platform to the world, is so good for them to experience,” Winston said.

“Because guys, they were drafted together. You don’t have a tighter bond than that. They sit next to each other in the team meeting room. That’s what we see in this world. Sometimes we try to normalize just opinions, people’s opinions. Everybody wants to jump on, oh, he said this, she did that, but we don’t normalize togetherness. We don’t normalize perspective. Everyone has that.”

–Field Level Media

Nationwide Mutual Insurance has agreed to a deal to purchase a 37% stake in ownership of the Columbus Crew, according to multiple media reports.

The deal was reportedly made at a valuation of $900 million. It still needs to be approved by MLS’ board of governors and is set to be finalized in the next few weeks.

Nationwide is buying 30% of the stake from Haslem Sports Group and 7% from the Edwards family. The Haslems, who also own the Cleveland Browns, were awarded an expansion NWSL team in Columbus last month for what was reported to be a record $205 million fee.

Nationwide and the Edwards family are also in the NWSL ownership group.

The Haslem and Edwards families took over operation of the Crew from MLS in 2018 for $150 million. Even with selling 30%, the Haslems will remain the majority owners with 40% of the ownership stake.

The reported club valuation for Columbus is a bit higher than a few other recent MLS franchise sales. Real Salt Lake and the NWSL’s Utah Royals were sold last year for just under $600 million, and Sporting Kansas City’s majority ownership stake was sold earlier this year at a valuation of $700 million.

–Field Level Media

Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Abner Uribe has been suspended one game and fined an undisclosed amount by Major League Baseball for his “inappropriate actions” in Tuesday’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Uribe has appealed the suspension, which means any disciplinary action is on hold until the appeals process has been completed and he will be available to pitch Friday when the Brewers open a three-game series against the host Houston Astros.

The suspension and fine come after the Milwaukee reliever made lewd gestures toward the Cardinals’ dugout in the eighth inning of Tuesday’s 6-0 win.

Uribe recorded an inning-ending strikeout with two runners aboard before making three crotch chops while facing the visitors’ dugout.

After the game, the 25-year-old apologized through an interpreter. However, he also pointed the finger at the Cardinals.

“Everyone here knows me and knows who I am, and knows I have a bit of a history of being emotional out there,” he said. “I think first I owe an apology to the Brewers. I owe an apology to my teammates, to my manager, all the bosses of the team. I understand that’s unacceptable, to go out there and react in a way like that.

“But at the same time, I don’t think it’s professional for their manager to be making signs towards our dugout saying that he’s going to be hitting guys,” Uribe said, apparently referencing actions he saw from Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol during Monday’s series-opening 5-1 win by the Brewers.

“There was an event that occurred during the practice (Tuesday), too, and I don’t think that was right. So, I have my teammates’ back always,” Uribe added.

When asked to elaborate on what happened during Tuesday’s batting practice, Uribe said, “I don’t have any comments toward that.”

Uribe is 2-2 with five saves and a 4.19 ERA in 21 relief appearances this season.

–Field Level Media