Penn State’s Abdul Carter hosts youth football camp in North Philly, talks about draft potential

Abdul Carter was born about five minutes away from Aztec Field at Hunting Park in North Philadelphia.

As a kid, Carter played football for the North Philly Aztecs, created 30 years ago by Mitch Brown, one of the organization’s cofounders. Players like Kyle Pitts, a tight end for the Atlanta Falcons, and Deion Barnes, who had a standout career at Penn State and now coaches Carter as the Nittany Lions’ defensive line coach, have donned the Aztecs’ jerseys.

On Saturday, Carter got a chance to pay homage to his childhood team, hosting a camp for children ages 5 to 14 through his “INCRDBL foundation.” Carter’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, his father, Chris, Simon Gratz coaches, and many others helped facilitate the event.

» READ MORE: Abdul Carter’s star continues to rise at Penn State after position switch: ‘He’s a natural pass rusher’

“I never imagined me coming back and doing something like this,” Carter told The Inquirer before the camp started. “This was an opportunity for me to give back to my community. … I just want to come here [and] inspire some kids, so they can see what it looks like to be successful and know what it takes to work here and be great.

“My INCRDBL [foundation] means just doing things at the highest level. You can be an incredible football player and incredible at whatever it is that you’re doing in life, at the highest standard, just being the best.”

Carter was back at his old stomping grounds, in what his father says was “10 years in the making.” Carter and his 2011 North Philly Aztecs team made it to the Pop Warner Super Bowl, having gone undefeated up to that point.

With some help, Carter and the other coaches divided the kids by age and took them through several drills, which included working on their stop and start reactions, backpedaling, cone and footwork drills, among other activities.

“I’m thankful that the community is trusting us and coming out interacting with us,” Chris Carter said. “Trusting us to come and get this knowledge, come to the workout because the next future pro could be on the field right now like my son was.”

It’s been a busy offseason for the La Salle College High graduate since spring practices at Penn State have concluded.

After entering the spring at 250 pounds, Carter is now listed at 259 pounds as he prepares for his transition to defensive end from linebacker, where he was a first-team All-Big Ten selection in 2023. And the player whom Carter is drawing the most comparisons to — Dallas Cowboys pass rusher Micah Parsons — was a workout partner recently in New York.

“[I’m] just trying to learn everything I can to get all the technical stuff down,” Carter said. “I spent the week with Micah, I learned a lot from him, taught me the game mentally, physically. … He’s always willing to teach, he wants to tell me what it takes to get better and how he does what he does.

“He wants to see me be great.”

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Though Parsons made the transition at the NFL level, both he and Carter transitioned from being a linebacker to more of an edge rusher. It’s allowed Parsons to turn into one of the premier pass rushers in the game. But Carter has shown flashes of his pass-rushing speed over the last two years, collecting 11 sacks and 16 tackles for losses over 26 games.

Carter’s position coach, Barnes, played for the Aztecs, but the pair share another commonality: Both grew up on 11th Street in North Philly.

Barnes has played a key part in Carter’s position change, from practicing with NFL draft picks Adisa Isaac and Chop Robinson in the fall to spending the entire spring under Barnes’ tutelage.

“It is an honor that Deion Barnes, also a great Penn State player, is now coaching my son who’s also from the same neighborhood just two blocks away. It’s awesome,” Carter said. “It’s a dream. That’s no mistake, any of this — we all are living the dream.”

Carter added: “I will say how he’s helped me the most is how he teaches me the game, especially my mindset. Just how he pushes me to work, has pushed me to practice and holding me to a higher standard. It’s been great.”

Carter will be draft eligible in 2025, and while he’s yet to play the edge rusher position full-time, he aspires to have an NFL career.

Chris Carter says his son is a year ahead of schedule. Penn State coach James Franklin also said Abdul was ahead of schedule at the conclusion of the Blue-White spring game in his transition to defensive end — 2024 could be his biggest year yet.

“I’m just trying to work [to] be the best and be the No. 1 overall pick,” Abdul Carter said. “I’ll just put in all the work that I got to put in.”