“I play for them and I play for my team.” That’s what Jalen Carter thinks of his family and his Philadelphia Eagles team members. This 23-year-old defensive tackle out of Apopka, FL, has always been “focused” on “school and football.” And that’s what his mother thinks of her defensive tackle son.

His mother, Tonique Brown threw a tailgate party at his homecoming game in Tampa and brought 50+ family members along. Knowing his family was physically present at the game fueled the DT to cause fumble after fumble and disrupt the Tampa Bay offense. It would be interesting to know about the people who brought Jalen Carter so far in his life.

Who are Jalen Carter’s parents?

The Philadelphia Eagles DT was born to Tonique Brown and Jana Carter in the summer of 2001. His mother has a heart of gold not only because she would travel miles to throw a tailgate party for her son, but because she runs a daycare. Even Jalen helped his mom run the daycare from time to time.

“I was always around kids,” Carter said. “I was the biggest kid, so I would help move things around while playing with the kids so they could get tired for nap time.”  But this big kid grew up with football throughout his life. Thanks to his father, Jana Carter, who played football for the Florida State University. Unfortunately, we don’t know a lot about his father. We do know that he was raised by a single mother, though.

Carter, along with his mother do a lot of charity work around Apopka. There was a gruesome incident that happened back in October 2023 and Carter didn’t flinch at the thought of helping the people affected. There was a shooting at a Pop Warner football practice at Northwest Recreation Complex in his hometown. After hearing of two teenagers getting injured, he immediately called his mother and wrote a $5,000 check to help the mental health of those affected.

His mother presented the check at an event in Apopka. He’s organized his own youth football camps and Carter, along with his mother donated in a huge back-to-school giveaway. The mother-son duo gave away backpacks, school supplies, and food to the people not fortunate enough to afford them.

“I am very thankful for her,” Carter said. “Everything you have seen me do so far, my mom has been the main objective for it. She supports me every day, talks to me every day; she is doing what a good mother should do.”

The Carter family has seen its fair share of struggles but it’s their love for each other that’s keeping them united. That was clear during his homecoming game last year.

Jalen Carter gets a surprise from his family

Jalen loves the Hamburger Helper that his mother cooks. “I think it’s just the love. She calls me to come eat and when I got the plate it’s gone in a minute,” Carter said about his mother’s cooking when asked about his favorite meal. So, when her son was in Tampa, Mama Carter had to pay him a visit. Imagine what the tailgate would have been like for the 23-year-old.

“Everybody was calling,” Brown said. “They were like, ‘It’s his first homecoming game in Florida.’ I said, ‘OK, it’s so hot out here that I don’t want to do anything, but we have to do it.’ … Especially for my elderly and disabled family, they’re able to come to this local game without having to go through airports and different travels. So, it definitely means a lot.”

Just three weeks into his NFL career, she saw her son force 2 fumbles on the Buccaneers offense and tackle the heck out of them. So, what was the tailgate like? Well, if you’re a fan of southern-style barbeque, you’d know the food might have been lip-smacking. And who wouldn’t want candied apples and some cupcakes to go along with it?

All that’s worth having after a parent watches their child make such a huge difference at the biggest juncture of his career. There are a lot of stories about his parents and maybe in time, we’ll go through all of them. Until then, Jalen Carter would be “focused on football” to help Philly have an astounding season.