Giants' 1st-round pick Abdul Carter chooses No. 51 after headline-making search

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Abdul Carter tackled his first big task in the NFL — choosing a jersey number.

After a search that made some headlines, the New York Giants' first-round pick is wearing No. 51 with the team, which took the field for the start of its rookie minicamp Friday.

“I feel good,” Carter said. “I feel like it’s going to have to grow on me a little bit, but it’s feeling good right now.”

That came after Carter's request to wear the retired No. 56 of Lawrence Taylor was nixed by the Pro Football Hall of Famer, who was honored but urged the third overall pick of the draft to create a legacy with his own number.

“He has to be the player that he is,” Taylor told ESPN two weeks ago. “He can’t be another Lawrence Taylor. Well, he may be better than a Lawrence Taylor, who knows? But he has to make his mark. It’s up to him.”

Carter wore No. 11 at Penn State — but that number is also retired by the Giants in honor of quarterback Phil Simms. The two-time Super Bowl winner said during a recent interview with FanDuel that he was open to having Carter wear his No. 11, but Simms' family decided against it.

So that had Carter still searching for a number, which was finally revealed along with those of the rest of the Giants rookies shortly before minicamp practice kicked off.

“Pretty much what we had available,” he said. “It was a good number.”

And, perhaps not so coincidentally, the No. 51 combines the two numbers — 56 and 11 — Carter was considering the past few weeks.

“It’s pretty much set,” Carter said, indicating he won't be changing it anytime soon. “I’m just happy to be out here playing football. That’s all I’m worried about.”

It's also all the Giants are concerned about.

In Carter, they see a player who should be able to make an immediate impact on the field and complement a pass rush that already has Kayvon Thibodeaux and Brian Burns.

“Yeah, I feel like it really hit me today,” Carter said. “Being out here playing football, working with the guys, just being on the field, like, I’m here. I made it to NFL, but I’ve also got to keep putting the work in and working. But I’m loving it.”

Carter was originally a traditional linebacker during his first two seasons at Penn State before moving to defensive end last year. The move paid off as the 6-foot-3, 250-pound Carter’s athleticism and elite first step off the ball immediately made him one of college football’s most dominant pass rushers.

He led the country with 23 1/2 tackles for loss and had 12 sacks last season.

“My impressions of him is great,” said defensive tackle Darius Alexander, the Giants' third-round pick out of Toledo. “I like the way he moves. I like the way he plays. I like the way he approached the game, so me and him been talking a little bit. We’re going to definitely get out there.”

Carter looked comfortable throughout his first NFL practice, going through drills on defense and special teams. He then playfully danced to music playing in the background while talking to fourth-round running back Cam Skattebo on the side during breaks in the action.

“I like having fun out here,” Carter said. “When I’m out here with the pads on, with my helmet on, I feel like that’s where I’m at my best. I don’t know, I just fit in the most on the field, just being out here having fun.”

Carter also got a kick out of Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Strahan watching practice and then breaking down the huddle at the end. And something the former Giants defensive end said stuck with the young pass rusher.

“I would just say just speaking about the Giants history, knowing how much we’ve (won), knowing the history, the championships we’ve (gotten),” he said. “And I just want to be a part of bringing that legacy back. Just bringing that greatness back to New York.”

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New York Giants linebacker Abdul Carter (51) catches a football during the NFL football team's rookie minicamp, Friday, May 9, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

New York Giants linebacker Abdul Carter (51) slows to a stop after catching as pass during the NFL football team's rookie minicamp, Friday, May 9, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

Rookie New York Giants linebacker Abdul Carter (51) and quarterback Jaxson Dart (6) embrace after their first day of the NFL football team's rookie minicamp, Friday, May 9, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

Rookie New York Giants linebacker Abdul Carter (51) runs with a ball during the NFL football team's rookie minicamp, Friday, May 9, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

New York Giants linebacker Abdul Carter (51) poses after the NFL football team's rookie minicamp, Friday, May 9, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia bombed Yemen's port city of Mukalla on Tuesday after a weapons shipment from the United Arab Emirates arrived for separatist forces in the war-torn country, and warned that it viewed Emirati actions as “extremely dangerous.”

The bombing followed tensions over the advance of Emirates-backed separatist forces known as the Southern Transitional Council. The council and its allies issued a statement supporting the UAE's presence, even as others allied with Saudi Arabia demanded that Emirati forces withdraw from Yemen in 24 hours' time.

The UAE called for “restraint and wisdom” and disputed Riyadh’s allegations. But shortly after that, it said it would withdraw its remaining troops in Yemen. It remained unclear whether the separatists it backs will give up the territory they recently took.

The confrontation threatened to open a new front in Yemen's decade-long war, with forces allied against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels possibly turning their sights on each other in the Arab world's poorest nation.

It also further strained ties between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, neighbors on the Arabian Peninsula that increasingly have competed over economic issues and regional politics, particularly in the Red Sea area. Tuesday’s airstrikes and ultimatum appeared to be their most serious confrontation in decades.

“I expect a calibrated escalation from both sides. The UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council is likely to respond by consolidating control,” said Mohammed al-Basha, a Yemen expert and founder of the Basha Report, a risk advisory firm.

“At the same time, the flow of weapons from the UAE to the STC is set to be curtailed following the port attack, particularly as Saudi Arabia controls the airspace.”

A military statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency announced the strikes on Mukalla, which it said came after ships arrived there from Fujairah in the UAE.

“The ships’ crew had disabled tracking devices aboard the vessels, and unloaded a large amount of weapons and combat vehicles in support of the Southern Transitional Council’s forces,” the statement said.

“Considering that the aforementioned weapons constitute an imminent threat, and an escalation that threatens peace and stability, the Coalition Air Force has conducted this morning a limited airstrike that targeted weapons and military vehicles offloaded from the two vessels in Mukalla,” it added.

It wasn't clear if there were any casualties.

The Emirati Foreign Ministry hours later denied it shipped weapons but acknowledged it sent the vehicles “for use by the UAE forces operating in Yemen.” It also claimed Saudi Arabia knew about the shipment ahead of time.

The ministry called for “the highest levels of coordination, restraint and wisdom, taking into account the existing security challenges and threats.”

The Emirati Defense Ministry later said it would withdraw its remaining troops from Yemen over “recent developments and their potential repercussions on the safety and effectiveness of counter-terrorism operations.” It gave no timeline for the withdrawal. The UAE broadly withdrew its forces from Yemen years earlier.

Yemen’s anti-Houthi forces not aligned with the separatists declared a state of emergency Tuesday and ended their cooperation with the UAE. They issued a 72-hour ban on border crossings in territory they hold, as well as entries to airports and seaports, except those allowed by Saudi Arabia. It remained unclear whether that coalition, governed under the umbrella of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council, would remain intact.

The Southern Transitional Council’s AIC satellite news channel aired footage of the strike's aftermath but avoided showing damage to the armored vehicles.

“This unjustified escalation against ports and civilian infrastructure will only strengthen popular demands for decisive action and the declaration of a South Arabian state,” the channel said.

The attack likely targeted a ship identified as the Greenland, a vessel flagged out of St. Kitts. Tracking data analyzed by the AP showed the vessel had been in Fujairah on Dec. 22 and arrived in Mukalla on Sunday. The second vessel could not be immediately identified.

Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for the U.N. humanitarian office, urged combatants to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, like the port, saying any disruption to its operations “risks affecting the already dire humanitarian situation and humanitarian supply chains.”

Mukalla is in Yemen's Hadramout governorate, which the council seized in recent days. The port city is some 480 kilometers (300 miles) northeast of Aden, which has been the seat of power for anti-Houthi forces after the rebels seized the capital, Sanaa, in 2014.

Yemen, on the southern edge of the Arabian Peninsula off East Africa, borders the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The war there has killed more than 150,000 people, including fighters and civilians, and created one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters.

The Houthis, meanwhile, have launched attacks on hundreds of ships in the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, disrupting regional shipping. The U.S., which earlier praised Saudi-Emirati efforts to end the crisis over the separatists, has launched airstrikes against the rebels under both Presidents Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

Tuesday's strike in Mukalla comes after Saudi Arabia targeted the council in airstrikes Friday that analysts described as a warning for the separatists to halt their advance and leave the governorates of Hadramout and Mahra.

The council had pushed out forces there affiliated with the Saudi-backed National Shield Forces, another group in the anti-Houthi coalition.

Those aligned with the council have increasingly flown the flag of South Yemen, which was a separate country from 1967-1990. Demonstrators have been rallying to support political forces calling for South Yemen to secede again.

A statement Tuesday from Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry directly linked the council's advance to the Emiratis for the first time.

“The kingdom notes that the steps taken by the sisterly United Arab Emirates are extremely dangerous,” it said.

Allies of the council later issued a statement in which they showed no sign of backing down.

Associated Press writer Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report.

This frame grab from video broadcast by Saudi state television on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025, shows what the kingdom describes as a shipment of weapons and armored vehicles coming from the United Arab Emirates, at Mukalla, Yemen. (Saudi state television via AP)