Abdul Carter Had Such a Confident Answer When Asked About Micah Parsons Comparisons

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Giants’ rookie Abdul Carter has big expectations for his first year in the NFL.
Taken out of Penn State with the third pick in this spring’s draft, Carter is expected to be an immediate difference-maker for the Giants defense, and a franchise cornerstone for years to come.
Carter’s ability and versatility as a defender has often garnered comparisons to Cowboys’ standout Micah Parsons—comparisons made even easier by the fact that Carter essentially took over Parsons’s role (and No. 11 jersey) in the Nittany Lion defense.
But while Carter has plenty of love and respect for Parsons and his game, he knows he’s best off just trying to be the best him he can be.
“I learned a lot from Micah,” Carter told reporters on Sunday. “He took me under his wing, just starting at Penn State, wearing No. 11, that whole ‘ST1X C1TY’ tradition. But at the end of the day, I’m my own player. I’m going to be Abdul Carter.”
"I'm my own player, I'm going to be Abdul Carter"
— Giants Videos (@SNYGiants) July 27, 2025
Abdul Carter is asked about comparisons to fellow Penn State player Micah Parsons: pic.twitter.com/44K6ZiLnSr
While Carter will certainly make his own impression on the league, the comps to Parsons likely won’t be ending any time soon, given the two will see each other twice a season as NFC East rivals. Maybe we’ll get a great jersey swap out of it.
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Tyler Lauletta is a staff writer for the Breaking and Trending News Team/team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI, he covered sports for nearly a decade at Business Insider, and helped design and launch the OffBall newsletter. He is a graduate of Temple University in Philadelphia, and remains an Eagles and Phillies sicko. When not watching or blogging about sports, Tyler can be found scratching his dog behind the ears.