Rookie pass-rush extraordinaire Abdul Carter takes a timeout before the Giants’ season kicks off today to tackle some Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby.
Q: You’ve seen clips of Lawrence Taylor, right?
A: Yes sir.
Q: What stands out to you when you watch him on the field?
A: I say you could just see it in the way he plays. He’s relentless, the energy, the effort, he don’t care who’s in front of him. He feels like he’s the baddest player on the field, and I try to steal that.
Q: How would you describe your on-field mentality?
A: Definitely similar. I feel I’m the baddest player on the field. I try to play every play 100 percent, give my all, and let the results turn out.
Abdul Carter looks on prior to the Giants-Patriots preseason game on Aug. 21, 2025. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST
Q: Is there any one man that could block you?
A: Nah, I don’t think so (smile).
Q: How much did you enjoy being a spy at Penn State?
A: I enjoyed it a lot. Whatever my coaches needed me to do, I took it on and I did it to the best of my ability. It depends on the game plan, but if we had a QB who can run, I definitely don’t mind chasin’ him down.
Q: Jayden Daniels?
A: He’s a helluva player for sure. … I just want to play, honestly. I don’t really want to say too much about him. When we suit up Sunday, everything that needs to be said is gonna be said on the field.
Abdul Carter in drills during Giants practice on July 27, 2025. AP
Q: Are you a trash talker?
A: Not really.
Q: If some guy talks trash to you?
A: Oh yeah, if you talk trash to me then I’m gonna get activated, but I wouldn’t recommend talkin’ trash.
Q: Why is that?
A: It’s a lot that goes into it.
Q: Are you into psychological warfare on the field?
A: Oh yeah, for sure. … There’s obviously a physical side to the game, but a lot of people don’t really think or underestimate the mental side, and that mental role is just as important as the physical piece.
Q: Do you pride yourself on being an intimidator?
A: I feel like that’s something you can’t try to do, it’s either you’re an intimidator or you’re not.
Q: Are you an intimidator?
A: I’ll leave that to the people to decide.
Q: I’m going to give you different categories, where do you rank, 1-10: toughness?
A: Ten.
Q: Football intelligence?
A: Ten.
Q: Instincts?
A: Ten.
Q: Quickness?
A: Ten.
Q: Killer instinct?
A: Ten.
Q: You’re going to be elite then.
A: (Laugh).
Q: What is your definition of a “dawg”?
A: I would say a dawg is somebody who when times get tough, they keep their composure. It’s playing with the same intensity throughout the whole game no matter what’s going on, no matter if you’re up by 20 points or down by 20 points. A dawg is somebody, regardless of the situation, gonna keep playing the same way.
Abdul Carter embraces Brian Daboll during Giants practice on Sept. 3, 2025. Robert Sabo for NY Post
Q: How many dawgs are on this team?
A: We’re gonna find out this year. Everybody can say they’re a dawg, I can say I’m a dawg, but eventually everybody’s gonna get put to the test.
Q: Who do you think is more of a dawg, you or Malik Nabers?
A: We both. We come from the same boat, yeah (smile).
Q: Do you feel any pressure at all being the third-overall pick of the draft?
A: There’s always gonna be pressure, but I like to embrace the pressure, I don’t shy away from it, and I feel like under pressure is where I perform best.
Q: Who are quarterbacks you’re looking forward to sack this year?
A We got the Commanders Week 1 (Daniels). I’m focused on one week at a time.
Q: What is so great about a sack?
A: Shoot, that’s what we get paid to do. We get paid to sack quarterbacks.
Q: Could you give me an example of your mental toughness on the field?
A: I would just say taking every play one play at a time, whether it’s a good play or a bad play. It’s a four-quarter game, you can’t still be thinking about something you did wrong in the first quarter or a play that you did good in the first quarter, you gotta keep moving on. Every play is its own play, whether it’s good or bad you gotta move on from it.
Q: Can you give me an example of your physical toughness?
A: I feel that’s just a part of the game, you gotta be physically tough to play football. You’re playing against grown men, people who are trying to feed their families. I want to feed my family, I want to do all these things and provide, so you definitely gotta be physically tough.
Q: What drives you?
A: It’s a lot. I try to be grateful for all the things that I have in my life. I’m a real blessed individual, so I feel like that drives me, but also just throughout the day, throughout your week, you gotta find little things that drive you. It could be anything, just being happy to wake up in the morning. … It’s a lot of things that can drive you.
Abdul Carter at Giants practice on July 23, 2025. AP
Q: Is one of your drives to make No. 51 famous?
A: Oh yeah, for sure, definitely I want to leave behind my own legacy. Just having my own number, I feel like the number really chose me. Obviously I wanted different numbers but I ended up with this, so definitely want to create my own legacy in 51.
Q: What is the biggest obstacle or adversity you had to overcome?
A: I’ve been through a lot of adversity. … It’s a fine line between being good, being great, being elite, and I would just say staying consistent there. I was a great player in college my second year, I feel like that’s when I had to really figure out how I can go from good to being great to being elite. And I figured that out in my third year in college, that’s when I really put together my best season, and now, coming into the NFL, just being able to stay consistent, staying being great, being elite in the things that I do — my routine, how I study, how I prepare my body, things like that.
Q: What’s the difference between being great and being elite?
A: I would say work ethic. Whatever you put in is what you’re gonna get out. If you have something that you’re good at, you can’t just be talented. Like talent is not enough, it’s about the work that you put in.
Abdul Carter speaks to the media after Giants practice on Aug. 7, 2025. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
Q: Whatever comes to mind: Dexter Lawrence.
A: I feel he’s our anchor. He’s our best player, everybody looks to him. And then just the way he goes about his business in the building, I see how he works, the time he puts in, how detailed he is. I try to steal little things that he does in terms of how he is on the field in walk-throughs. You can see that no matter what it is, whether it’s full speed or in a walk-through, he’s being very detailed, very precise in what he’s doing.
Q: Brian Burns.
A: Another guy also like, if you come out to practice and you want to watch a guy and see how you should practice, Brian Burns is that guy to watch. He’s as freak of an athlete as anybody on the team, but at the same time he’s also working harder than anybody.
Q: Kayvon Thibodeaux.
A: What I’m hearing from like everybody about K.T. is how he’s grown, especially mentally. Since I’ve been here it’s been nothing but positive, staying after practice, in the meeting rooms, you could see he’s very detailed and asking his questions, so everybody’s putting the work in.
Q: What do you expect the on-field personality of this defense to be?
A: We’re gonna be relentless, violent. … I don’t really want to talk about it, I want to go out there and show it, but it just starts Week 1 this Sunday.
Q: Jaxson Dart.
A: I feel like ever since he’s been here from OTAs to camp to now, he keeps getting better in different areas, and I feel like when his time’s called, when his number is called, he’s gonna be ready.
Q: Russell Wilson.
A: Obviously he’s a vet, been doing this a long time. Just to see the way he can throw the Moon Ball, and it lands in a perfect place, that’s something that’s definitely cool to watch. I grew up, my favorite player was Marshawn Lynch, I used to watch the Seahawks a lot, so it’s cool watching him my whole life and now being on the same team with him.
Q: Who are your favorite defensive players?
A: I was a big Ray Lewis fan. All the great edge rushers — Von Miller, T.J. (Watt), Micah (Parsons), Myles Garrett … Kam Chancellor and the Legion of Boom. I enjoyed all those guys.
Q: Is Micah the closest you’ve seen to Lawrence Taylor?
A: I feel like the comparisons are hard to make ’cause obviously we played in different eras and different times, so it’s hard to say. But obviously Lawrence Taylor was the best in his era, and Micah now is in a different era, he can do a lot of things. … It’s hard to compare based on the time that we play in.
Abdul Carter is embracing the expectations around him. Noah K. Murray-NY Post
Q: What was your reaction when he was traded to the Packers?
A: I was surprised, honestly. I didn’t think the Cowboys would trade their best player. But I’m happy for him, he got paid, he got what he wanted. I’m really happy for him, that’s my brother.
Q: Do you cook?
A: Most of the times they have food here in the facility, so I’ll try to eat here, but I can cook, I like to make breakfast. Dinner I’m probably eating out.
Q: What do you make for breakfast?
A: I like bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches. I can make my own.
Q: What is your pregame routine on game day?
A: That’s something I’ve been trying to do this preseason. I had a pretty good routine in college, just trying to keep it consistent with that. Just making sure my hands are ready, my feet, just my whole body getting ready, especially my mind.
Q: Favorite Penn State memory?
A: I would definitely just say my last game playing Notre Dame in the playoffs, just playing with my brothers one last time, everybody laying their heart out. We ain’t got the job done, but just playing for Penn State, being at Penn State, I loved it.
Abdul Carter at Giants practice on July 23, 2025. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
Q: Three dinner guests?
A: My mom and my dad.
Q: Just two?
A: And my little sister.
Q: Favorite movie?
A: “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.”
Q: Favorite actor?
A: Jason Statham.
Q: Favorite actress?
A: Halle Berry.
Abdul Carter at Giants practice on July 27, 2025. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
Q: Favorite meal?
A: I like tacos, burritos, stuff like that.
Q: What are your personal goals this year?
A: I just want to win. I feel like with team success comes individual recognition, so my main thing is just winning games, and whatever comes with winning I’ll take.
Q: What do you think your emotions will be standing in the tunnel on Sunday a little before 1 o’clock?
A: I like to take a moment just to take everything … be where my feet are, just look around, look in the crowd, just take everything in one moment at a time. Obviously I’m in the NFL, it’s a big accomplishment and everything … but you can’t just go in there and not look around and take everything in. And after that, lock in on playing the game.
Q: What are you most proud of about what you’ve achieved to be where you are now?
A: Probably just my family, the things I can just do for my family. My mom, my dad, they took care of me my whole life, and now I’m able to take care of them. And them helping me get here, I didn’t get here alone, it’s not just by any chance I got here, so I’m really just thankful for all the people who helped me get here.
Abdul Carter at Giants practice on June 17, 2025. AP
Q: Describe your mother Tina for me.
A: I feel like she’s the nicest lady in the world … probably too kind. I love her more than anybody on the planet. I know she’s more than proud of me.
Q: And your father Christopher?
A: Same. I love him, too. I wouldn’t be here without him, he’s taught me pretty much everything I know in terms of football, how to be a man, how to train.
Q: He played football at Bloomsburg?
A: He was a D-end.
Q: Do you watch tapes of him?
A: Nah, it was back in the day, I don’t think they got any tapes, but from what I heard, he was the best player on the team.
Q: How big was he?
A: About 6-2. … I don’t know how much he weighed exactly, but I heard he was a bad dude.
Q: When he left prison, for a federal drug conviction, you were 8. What was that day like for you when he came back?
A: It was different for sure. I obviously visited him when I was a baby. I was 8 years old, it was like the first time I actually seen him as a man.
Q: What was that moment like when he came home?
A: From that moment on, ever since he came home, he’s been in my life. He made it his goal just to make sure he’s in my life teaching me how to be a man, keeping me away from bad distractions. Obviously growing up in Philly, it’s a lot of things that you can get into that’s not good. And I feel like that’s really the main thing, just keeping me focused, keeping me grounded in religion, keeping me out of the streets, putting me into football, training me, just being in my life consistently. … Once he got out, once I met him, we connected right away.
New York Giants linebacker Abdul Carter (51) reacts to a play against the New York Jets during the first half at MetLife Stadium on Aug. 16, 2025. Rich Barnes-Imagn Images
Q: What are your thoughts about Giants fans?
A: Just buy in. Stay with us whether it’s good, whether it’s bad. Let’s all just remain together. It’s gonna be a long season, but it’s gonna be a fun season, gonna have ups, gonna have downs. Just through it all just gotta be consistent.
Q: How much of an impact do you hope to make this year?
A: As much as I can. I want to do whatever it takes to help the team win. Whatever my coaches ask me to do, ask me to line up, whatever it takes to win that’s what I want to do.
Q: Your thoughts about playing on the big, bright New York stage?
A: I’m ready, I’ve been playing in bright stages my whole life, so I’m ready for this.
Q: Your message to Giants fans about Abdul Carter?
A: I’m just writing my story, I’m just getting started. I’m gonna leave my own legacy.
