Potential No. 1 pick Jalen Carter did not appear at the NFL scouting combine’s Wednesday media session amid reports of his alleged involvement in a fatal crash that killed two Georgia football program members.
According to Fox’s Ralph Vacchiano, an NFL spokesperson said he remains in Indianapolis and was undergoing medical evaluations at the time that he was scheduled to speak to the media.
Multiple players in his defensive line workout group confirmed to Sports Illustrated that Carter was with the group for medical testing this morning. He was one of multiple defensive linemen in the group that did not make it to media availability this morning because their medical testing was delayed.
An arrest warrant was issued for Carter for reckless driving and racing, the Athens-Clarke County Police Department announced Wednesday. Both charges are misdemeanors, the department told Sports Illustrated. The statement from police came shortly after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Carter was at the scene of the Jan. 15 crash in Athens after first telling police that he was almost a mile away from the incident.
Georgia offensive lineman Devin Willock and staff member Chandler LeCroy were killed in the early-morning incident that occurred just hours after the Bulldogs celebrated their national championship victory with a parade. At the time, police reported the crash as a single-vehicle accident.
However, police now say that LeCroy and Carter, who were reportedly driving separate cars, were operating “their vehicles in a manner consistent with racing” after leaving downtown Athens. Police said that “both vehicles switched between lanes, drove in the center turn lane, drove in opposite lanes of travel, overtook other motorists and drove at high rates of speed, in an attempt to outdistance each other.”
Carter, a highly touted defensive tackle prospect who earned unanimous All-American honors last season, was not expected to work out at this week’s NFL combine and had already met with teams before Wednesday’s police announcement, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
