Shocking Moment For Eagles Superstar in NFL Season Opener

Before the Philadelphia Eagles even got a single snap in the 2025 regular season, their best defensive player was at the center of what will almost certainly be the most controversial moment of Week 1.

NFL All-Pro defensive tackle Jalen Carter was ejected from the season opener after he appeared to spit on Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott as the teams waited on the field after an injury on the opening kickoff.

After Eagles fullback Ben VanSumeren sat on the field with an injury following the opening kickoff, Carter walked up to Prescott, the NFL’s highest paid player, and after a brief exchange a projectile could be seen flying from Carter’s mouth toward Prescott.

Carter was a first round pick (No. 9 overall) in the 2023 NFL draft and earned NFL All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors for the first time last season as he helped lead the Eagles to a Super Bowl victory.

The Cowboys went down the field on 6 plays for 53 yards capped by a short touchdown run by running back Javonte Williams for a 7-0 lead. The Eagles answered back on their first drive with a short touchdown run by quarterback Jalen Hurts to tie the score.

“This changes everything about the game plan for both teams,” NBC color commentator Cris Collinsworth said. “Everything the Cowboys had to plan for had to do with stopping Carter. Now they don’t have to think about that anymore.”

Social Media Melts Down After Ejection

As could be expected, the internet completely melted down after one of the more shocking starts to an NFL season in recent memory.

“Think how wild it is to spit on the QB Prime-time game, probably 25-30 manned cameras working the game,” The Athletic’s Mike Sando wrote on his official X account. “Two cameras assigned to the QB at all times when QB is on the field Sky cam likely also on him Game official is right there next to you. Like robbing a gun shop while unarmed.”

“Somewhere in America, at sometime this week, someone asked a Cowboys fan ‘you think they got a shot Thursday?’ and that Cowboys fan answered ‘(expletive), maybe if Jalen Carter forgets there’s a game.’ ” The Athletic’s Dave Helman wrote on his official X account, “and that guy feels like the smartest person alive rn.”

Carter One Of Favorites For NFL Defensive POY

Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski put Carter on a list of 5 NFL players who might be able to dethrone Denver Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain II as NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2025.

Carter would be just the second defensive tackle to win the award in the last 25 years. Former Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald won the award 3 times.

“In a world once dominated by Aaron Donald, the Philadelphia Eagles’ Jalen Carter is the closest thing to the retired three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year,” Sobleski wrote on June 1. ” … Carter is on the precipice … his explosiveness and movement skills for a 314-pound athlete are rare. They’ve been evident since before he even became a starter for an elite Georgia Bulldogs defense. Those traits have translated, and they’ll be on full display this fall when Carter transitions to the focal point of the Eagles defensive front.”

Star Trek Confirms A Harsh Truth About Spock

In its eighth episode, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds confirms a fascinating truth about Lt. Spock (Ethan Peck). Leonard Nimoy's Spock made his debut in Star Trek: The Original Series and went on to become one of sci-fi's most beloved characters. Strange New Worlds has offered even more insight into everyone's favorite half-Vulcan, by exploring his life before the events of TOS.

In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3, episode 8, "Four-and-a-Half Vulcans," Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) and three of his crewmembers transform themselves into Vulcans for an away mission. Seeing his crewmates as full-blooded Vulcans forces Spock to confront his own struggle to reconcile his human and Vulcan halves.

"Four-and-a-Half Vulcans" doesn't explore Spock's psyche as much as it could have, but the episode does confirm that Spock has at least one very un-Vulcan-like habit. When Number One (Rebecca Romijn) has to meet up with her Vulcan ex, Doug (Patton Oswalt), she asks Spock to accompany her. Una panics upon seeing her ex, suddenly claiming that she and Spock are married, and Spock effortlessly goes along with her lie.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Confirms Spock Lies All The Time

Despite the assertion that "Vulcans are incapable of lying," Spock lies regularly and for a variety of reasons. In "Four-and-a-Half Vulcans," Spock goes along with Una's ruse, partially because she's his superior and ordered him to, but also because he's her friend. Regardless, Doug sees right through the ruse, but rather than being upset, he's impressed with Spock's ability to "fully participate in a lie."

Unlike most Vulcans, Doug and his family have a particular fascination for humanity. Doug even tells Spock, "What I would give to be half the human you are." It's a sweet moment, considering how much Spock struggles with his human half, and he promises to share more about humanity with Doug in exchange for the Vulcan's help.

Doug still insists that "as a full Vulcan, [he] really cannot lie," but Star Trek has shown other full Vulcans, like Tuvok (Tim Russ) in Star Trek: Voyager, lie on multiple occasions. The truth seems to be that Vulcans are just as capable of deception as anyone else, but they rarely find it logical to blatantly lie.

Even when Spock lies, he often finds other ways to describe his deceptions, such as "exaggerations" or "omissions." Back in Strange New Worlds season 2's "Charades," Spock's mother, Amanda (Mia Kirshner), visited the Enterprise and helped him conceal his recent human transformation. This suggests that Spock's mother helped him perfect the art of lying, but he's always been willing to bend the truth.

Some Of Spock’s Greatest Star Trek Lies & Why

As a Starfleet officer, Spock regularly has to conceal confidential information or disguise himself as a human (or other alien) for away missions. Because of this, Spock lies numerous times throughout Star Trek: The Original Series. In one notable mission, in season 3's "The Enterprise Incident," Spock seduces a Romulan Commander (Joanne Linville) to help Captain Kirk (William Shatner) steal a Romulan cloaking device.

The Romulan Commander in "The Enterprise Incident" is actually one of the first characters to reference the fact that Vulcans supposedly can't lie. Spock confirms this to be true, which is in itself a lie.

Spock's ability to lie became a bit of a running joke in the Star Trek films, as he found various ways to justify and explain his reasoning. In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Spock gives a false status report to Admiral Kirk, knowing that Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalbán) is listening. When Saavik (Kirstie Alley) exclaims that Spock lied, Spock replies that he "exaggerated."

Spock lies multiple times in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, informing Starfleet Command that the Enterprise is experiencing engine trouble, which he describes as "an error" rather than a lie. Spock later tells the traitor Valeris (Kim Cattrall) that they will pretend their conversation never happened, which is "an omission," not a lie.

By the time of the Star Trek films, Spock has become an expert at lying, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds confirms it's a skill he has been honing for a while.