The start of Jalen Carter’s NFL career is off to a bumpy start before he even sets foot on an NFL field.
If you don’t recall, Carter turned himself into police in March in relation to a January car crash that left two people dead, one of who was his teammate at the University of Georgia and the other who was a staff member on the team.
He was booked for reckless driving and racing on highways/streets, which are both misdemeanors. He pleaded no contest and was eventually sentenced to probation for a year, 80 hours of community service, and a $1,000 fine.
Now nearly four months later, one of the people who survived the car wreck is filing a lawsuit against the Philadelphia Eagles rookie and the UGA Athletic Association, according to ESPN.
Victoria Bowles, who used to work for the University of Georgia football team as a recruiting analyst, filed the lawsuit in Gwinnett County, Georgia. She is accusing the university of negligence by allowing Chandler LeCroy, the staffer who was killed, to drive an SUV while she was working.
She also claims that UGA officials knew that LeCroy had multiple speeding tickets in the past and that she even received a couple of tickets that fall under “super speeder” violations in Georgia.
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The crash occurred hours after Georgia celebrated its second straight national championship with an on-campus parade. After the wreck, the athletic association issued a statement that said in part that “rental vehicles were to be turned in at the immediate conclusion of recruiting duties.”
“On the evening of the Championship Celebration, LeCroy told Ms. Bowles that she [LeCroy] had ‘permission’ to keep the SUV ‘until tomorrow,’” the lawsuit said. “Numerous text messages from recruiting staff supervisors to LeCroy, Ms. Bowles and other staff members show the Association’s statement is false. Recruiting staff were regularly informed they could leave their personal vehicles overnight at the Butts-Mehre football facility and permissively use Association rental vehicles through a specified cut-off date and time, unrelated to their assigned recruiting activity duties.”
Carter, who was drafted by the Eagles with the ninth overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, is being accused of leaving the scene before speaking to police, according to ESPN.
The Georgia Athletic Association released a statement shortly after the lawsuit was filed saying, “We are continuing to review the complaint, as plaintiff’s counsel elected to share it with the media before sharing it with us. Based on our preliminary review, we dispute its claims and will vigorously defend the Athletic Association’s interests in court.”
Carter’s alleged actions on that dreaded night are still coming back to haunt him. Prior to the draft, he was thought to be the best prospect in the entire draft and many thought he was going to be taken with the first overall pick.
But because of his poor showing during draft workouts and his legal troubles, he fell ninth to the Eagles. Now it’s unclear if this lawsuit will have any effect on his ability to go on the field, as the preseason starts in less than a month.