Tennessee linebacker Arion Carter is turning a one-game NCAA suspension into a season-long charitable campaign for cancer research.
Carter was suspended by the NCAA after accepting a $427 flight from an agent after declaring for the NFL draft in late 2025, Fortune reported.
Under NCAA rules, a college football player pursuing the NFL draft cannot accept transportation or other benefits from a prospective professional sports agent. The NCAA treats transportation as a prohibited “material benefit.”
The NCAA’s reasoning is essentially about preventing agents from giving college athletes financial or other benefits that could influence their decisions about professional representation or eligibility.
Carter later withdrew from the draft after aggravating a foot injury that required surgery and returned to Tennessee for another season.
He had already disengaged from the agent and repaid him for the flight in January, but the NCAA suspension remained in place, Fortune reported.
His original two-game suspension was reduced to one game.
He missed Tennessee’s Sept. 5 season opener against Furman and is scheduled to return against Georgia Tech on Sept. 12, according to Fortune.
Carter has turned the suspension into a campaign supporting cancer-related causes, Fox News reported.
He plans to donate $427 for every tackle, $500 for every sack, $1,000 for every interception or forced fumble, and $5,000 for every defensive touchdown. The $427 figure matches the cost of the flight that led to his suspension.
The Chattanooga Times Free Press projected that Carter could donate more than $42,000 if he matches his statistics from last season.
The campaign has a personal connection for Carter because his girlfriend, Mariah Bryant, is battling breast cancer, Fortune reported. Bryant, an ICU nurse, was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer.
Carter is dedicating his senior season to supporting Bryant and raising money for cancer treatment in the Nashville area. He also shaved his head in solidarity with her.
Carter said he wants to “raise awareness” and “build a foundation that’s able to … have a nonprofit and give back to people in need and people who are going through tough times like my girlfriend,” according to Fortune.
Carter also told Fox News that his mother had wanted to create a foundation or nonprofit for women and girls. Seeing Bryant’s cancer battle firsthand helped motivate him to pursue that goal.
“It also goes back to my mom. She has always wanted a create a foundation, a non-profit for women and little girls,” Carter said, according to Fox News. “With my girlfriend, going what she’s went though over these last few months, and me seeing it firsthand, it just really touched my heart and made me have a different perspective.”
“I wanted to raise awareness and set up a foundation for cancer research and be able to do this. So, that was the origin of that.”
Carter also addressed the NCAA suspension, saying he viewed the situation as something beyond his control and wanted to use it to create something positive.
“I feel like some things you can’t control,” Carter said, according to Fox News. “I feel like you have to take everything with a grain of salt, not be too bitter about certain situations because there are rules at the end of the day. Even if the rules may not seem they are fair in a sense, I can’t control them.”
“This is another way for me to turn a negative into a positive and get the season started in a great way.”