Dallas is not the son of Derek Carr.
Dallas is not Derek Carr’s child, but rather the son of
The veteran quarterback felt a great sense of relief on February 14 when the Las Vegas Raiders officially released him.
Carr, who spent nine seasons with the team and finished with a 63-79 record, chatted over the phone with Raiders coach Josh McDaniels. They both wished the other luck and regretted that it did not work out.
Carr texted his older brothers, David and Darren, when it was finished.
“I thought, ‘Hey, I’m free!'” I’m at liberty! The youngest Carr remarked, “They were like, let’s go, let’s figure it out.” Thus, it was a time of relief. Do you want me to continue feeling bad about the choice after it has been made? No, I’m prepared for the following step.”
Less than a month later, on March 6, Carr signed a four-year, $150 million contract with the New Orleans Saints, rejoining former Raiders coach Dennis Allen, who had assisted in his 2014 draft selection.
Sunday marked Carr’s first start with the Saints. In a 16–15 victory over the Tennessee Titans at the Caesars Superdome, Carr completed 23 of 33 passes for 305 yards, one touchdown, and an interception. According to ESPN Stats & Information, he is the second player in franchise history to pass for 300 yards in his team’s debut.
After the game, Carr was beaming and making jokes about how much had changed since the Raiders’ 24-0 loss to the Saints at the Superdome the previous season.
He exclaimed, “That was unbelievable.” “I just had to start dancing when we scored that touchdown. That was fantastic. Man, that was absurd. Being on that side of things felt terrific. It wasn’t as enjoyable last year.”
A new chapter in Carr’s career began with his debut with the Saints, one that nearly never materialized as he began to doubt his path and passion for the game while playing for the Raiders.
“You give them your entire being for about ten years after falling in love with a place, and then all of a sudden, it’s gone,” Carr said to ESPN. Would you prefer to carry out the task elsewhere? Your heart is really there; you know that. You’re feeling conflicted and conflicted.”
Towards the close of the season, when the Raiders benched him for two games, Carr began to question if the 2022 campaign was his last. Feeling lost and angry, he watched his teammates play without him.
Carr remarked, “I wanted to be there for my guys.” “It hurt that I couldn’t accomplish that, but I’ve always stated that nobody gives a damn.” No one is interested in my feelings. This is an enterprise.”
His family knew that he had been harboring this frustration for some time. Sheryl, Carr’s mother, noted that by the end of his time in Las Vegas, she sensed a decline in his enthusiasm for football.
“To watch him kind of lose that excitement, like if he were saying, ‘I don’t know what to do, mom, I don’t know whether I want to play anymore,’ We were just upset, his dad and me,” Sheryl added.
During the months that separated those last two games and the Saints’ May OTAs, Carr had to rediscover his love for the game.
Carr’s wife, Heather, said the financial side of football has taken a toll. He was a player for six different coaches and three different general managers during his time with the Raiders, who moved from Oakland, California, to Las Vegas.
“We experienced so much upheaval; we could grow accustomed to a coach or players, and then they would depart,” Heather remarked. “I understand it’s the NFL business, but I believe that starting anew is the hardest part,” the speaker said.
By the end, Carr could also see that the Raiders were keeping one eye on a quarterback who might develop into a star and the other on maintaining him as the team’s face when they moved to Las Vegas in 2020.
He recalled talks regarding his possible replacement, saying, “There were several offseasons where I’d have a tremendous year, and they were like, ‘Alright, who are we going to draft?'” “To whom will we draft? “What are you discussing?” It’s making me crazy. As in, ‘Are you serious? Do you have the same movie that I do?
“Some of those things were annoying to me as a competitor, and when those queries weren’t answered, it was like I had to keep proving myself.”
His unadulterated affection for the sport he had grown up playing since boyhood was tempered by those things. Sheryl can still close her eyes and see him in different age groups, jumping, yelling, and high-fiving like a tiny child as he runs up and down the field.
His father, Rodger, instilled that love in him as well. At night, he would sneak the older boys past the gate and onto Fresno State’s field. While kicking the football around, they would daydream about what it would be like to perform in front of an audience.
Since they were young, they have simply adored it. Sheryl added, “And Rodger enjoyed spending time with them.” “I believe they work very hard to maintain that love for the game that he taught them both how to play and how to enjoy it.”
David and Derek would play at the same stadium years later, breaking records and eventually having their jerseys retired. At some point, all three of them would participate in football; Darren was a defensive lineman for the University of Houston and Bakersfield College.
Derek’s senior, David, was a Fresno State player from 1997 to 2001. He would bring his infant brother Derek to the stadium, put him on his shoulders, and sign autographs for the spectators, who soon developed a strong attachment to him.
Sheryl claimed that Derek would sign more autographs than David while standing on the ramp. “Everyone was vying for Derek’s signature. It was quite adorable.”
While the family was getting ready for supper, David went over all of his football knowledge with Derek.
When Derek made an audible at the line of scrimmage in sixth-grade football, he used some of that knowledge. After his team scored a touchdown, the coach benched Derek and spoke with Rodger about the matter.
Derek instantly made a strong argument against the original play, shocking Rodger by saying that his polite son had defied his coach’s wishes.
He informed the two men, “But it wasn’t going to work,” and then rattled off an idea David had given him.
The coach chuckled and then assumed his usual position.
Sheryl laughed, “He goes, ‘But Derek, you have to do what I tell you.'” “Derek knew more than they did at a very young age.”
As Carr grew older, things became more difficult. He wanted to simplify things when he became a free agent for the first time in his career.
The Raiders’ records for passing yards (35,222), touchdowns (217), attempts (4,958), completions (3,201), fourth-quarter game-winning drives (33) and most quarterback starts (142) are all held by Carr. He has four Pro Bowls of experience.
All the awards and accomplishments he had, but no Super Bowl. Now, all he needed was a location to win games, and the Saints offered a tantalizing opportunity to do just that.
“I’m searching for everything and anything that will provide me with an advantage.” Carr remarked, “I’m excited to make my imprint in the games here, setting records and leaving legacies, like we did with the Raiders.”
“Winning is the only reason I’m here.”
When Derek was searching for a possible landing place, he leaned on David for guidance. David told him to look at the larger picture: Had the organization regularly won over the last 15 years? Did they exhibit development?
Rodger provided various kinds of support for Derek, expressing excitement each time Derek was able to reduce the number of possible candidates.
Carr remarked, “It would be fun for him to know that information.”
Wide receiver Michael Thomas of the Saints was adamant that Carr accept a contract with the team, and Carr adored the thought of playing with him. In June, Thomas called their relationship “wonderful.”
Thomas remarked, “He’s a pro; it’s excellent for these young men to see [him] as the leader.” “Everything, simply observing him as soon as he enters the structure. Similar to how Drew Brees was. Like me, he is interested in winning. All he is is really well-behaved. He knows what he’s doing. He had a purpose for coming here.
The two showed off their relationship against the Titans, with Thomas collecting five passes for 61 yards.
After the game, Carr declared, “I love Mike.” “He is the best rival there is. And, whoa, I really appreciate our communication on game day. Man, it’s on a new level. He really reminds me of Davante Adams, a receiver for the Raiders, and how they play the game.”
But even before they played together, Thomas was sowing the seeds of communication. Carr claimed that he could hardly get him off the phone during their initial chats prior to him signing a contract with the Saints.
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Carr claimed, “It was difficult for me to ever think about anything else because every time I was talking to someone else, all I could think about was Mike messaging me. That’s because of the productivity that he’s had, the sort of player that he is, and how hard he works.” “I literally received a text from Mike when I visited the New York Jets that time.”
He cherished the fact that the Saints’ presentations centered on the team’s success or failure. Carr would not be the man carrying all the weight of the organization; rather, he would be simply another cog in the machine.
“‘Us’ was the constant. “Team” was the constant. “You have to do this or you have to do that” was never the message. stated Carr. “It was like, ‘We’re all in this together,’ from the top down, team mentality. We all fail when one does. Many say that, but they don’t actually mean it. I just said, “We’re all in this thing together,” because I could feel the difference here. We’re going out to try and prevail.”
The squad was able to offer him the same crucial pitch when he signed, and Saints linebacker Devin Davis, who joined the team in 2018 and almost instantly rose to the position of captain, stated he wanted Carr to feel the same way.
Davis remarked, “We simply want to offer him a safe atmosphere to come in and be him.” Carr could just go back to watching football.
“They said, ‘Just come here; I promise you.'” “We’ll assist you in reaching your destination,” Carr remarked. “You didn’t feel pressured to complete everything in one sitting. “We just need you to come add your value,” the entire crew exclaimed. I thought that was cool.
In the end, Heather was the one who shifted the balance. She realized right away that everything was going to work out during her first meeting with Gayle Benson, the owner of the Saints.
“My wife responded, ‘How could you not want to play for someone like that?'” after we sat down with Mrs. Benson. “She started to chat with us, and she was very lovely,” the way she treated her and the questions she asked. stated Carr. “Therefore, I firmly believe that meeting was the tipping point for us.”
Heather began searching for possible New Orleans homes after the Carrs’ visit was over. Carr attempted to warn her that he would need additional visits, but Heather remained unfazed, grinning to herself.
“It’s true, I swear,” she said to him. “I’m going to give you space to investigate, but I simply feel like we’re going to be here.”
This offseason, Carr had a slow transformation into a Saints quarterback, similar to his first-half performance in which he was intercepted and sacked four times.
Players would look to him as the leader since he was the starting quarterback, but he had to prove it. It was one thing to talk over the phone with his teammates, but true camaraderie would require time.
“He’s really comfortable now,” Saints quarterbacks coach Ronald Curry said. “I recall having that chat, ‘Don’t wait on them; you have to go to them,’ two or three weeks into the offseason. When you’re number one, eyes are on you. “Be authentic and fulfill your obligations.”
Carr extended an invitation to a number of his colleagues to come to Las Vegas for a workout and to get to know him and his family. Their perception of him changed from Derek Carr the quarterback to Derek Carr the person as a result of that trip.
Wide receiver Rashid Shaheed, who helped seal the victory with a 41-yard reception in the fourth quarter after scoring the team’s lone touchdown in the third quarter against the Titans, stated, “I felt like that was sort of the starting point of where we are today.” “I think we’ve come a long way since then, and that will only get stronger as the season goes on.”