Raiders QB Derek Carr raw, emotional after big win in first game in Las Vegas
Tonight, I saw a different Derek Carr. No, I’m not talking about his performance in the game, although that was pretty special, too. I saw a different Derek Carr after the game. I don’t want to put my interpretation of his emotions on him, but I will say he had a genuine, raw emotion about him the likes of which I have not seen.
Most of the time when he speaks, he seems to be putting on a face. Perhaps the face he feels like the media needs to see from the quarterback of an NFL team. Perhaps the face he thinks his teammates need to see from their quarterback. Whatever it is, it seems like it’s a persona.
On top of that, he had long claimed to not let anything bother him and that his emotions never get too high or too low. That’s what quarterbacks are supposed to say and there were times you just didn’t quite believe it, but you never really saw it.
Monday night we saw it. It came in abundance. It was refreshing. And it had all the makings of a breakthrough.
Carr and the Raiders were counted out by most against the Saints. It was New Orleans who came in with one of the best offenses and defenses in the league and the Raiders who got in a shootout with a so-so Panthers team in the opener.
On top of that, it was the Las Vegas home opener. The first-ever game in the stadium. Carol Davis was lighting the Al Davis torch for the first time. On Monday Night Football. The emotions of the game must have been through the roof for Carr. And he won.
The embattled seventh-year quarterback threw three touchdowns and led the Raiders out of a 10-point hole twice to win going away 34-24. In so doing, he completed passes to 11 different receivers.
Then he sat in front of the media, probably exhausted and worn down to an emotional nub. Mustering all his energy, he had this to say.
“I think you guys know. Some of you guys know how much this place means to me,” said Carr. “I love being a Raider. I’m not going to ever play for anybody else. Love this place. This is home to me.
“The things that I grew up hearing from my dad about Kenny Stabler, my uncle telling me stories about when he played here about the guys, my dad showing me pictures of [brothers] David and Darren in Raiders jackets sitting on Santa’s lap. It’s been in our family for a long time and just like I told [Saints’ defensive coordinator] Dennis Allen after the game, I said ‘Thank you so much for giving me my chance.’ And I know he probably didn’t want to hear it, but every time I see him I tell him that. Because it means a lot to me.
“This organization means everything to me. They stuck behind me through some hard times. Through some times our team, we struggled, there’s no doubt about it. But when you get on the other side of things, to be 2-0 as the Las Vegas Raiders, that’s a pretty cool thing, you know?”
Carr’s energy wasn’t all just gushing about how much he loves the Raiders organization like some kind of award acceptance speech. It was a leadup of sorts to how personally he has taken those who doubted he would reach this moment.
Back in early August, Derek Carr said flatly that he is “tired of being disrespected.” It was a notable statement from Carr, but still, it was words. At the time we had no way of knowing if it was just talk or if there anything else behind it. There was.
Carr noted how back when the Raiders broke ground on the new stadium, he vowed that he would take the first snap in it. That, of course, was some two and a half years ago. And now he’s here to remind everyone who doubted him.
“It was a dream that I had. A lot of people didn’t believe it,” Carr continued. “The first day I moved here Tom Brady was on the front cover of the newspaper. You know what I’m saying? It just adds a little fuel to the fire when you can still be here and accomplish things that mean so much to you, you know what I mean? This is family to me, it’s more than football. There’s a place in every relationship from the top down. It means everything to me to be mentioned with Stabler and [Daryle] Lamonica and [Jim] Plunkett, Rich [Gannon], who I talked to. I can’t put it… I’m trying to say how much it means to me in words, but it’s hard to do. I love this place, love playing here, love our fans, and we’re on to New England.”
Gruden took his turn reminding everyone who doubted how committed he was to Carr and what he could do in this offense. Though Gruden simply reminded everyone of what he’s been saying about what Carr had accomplished despite a lackluster receiving corps.
“There’s a lot of people that make a lot of opinions on Derek and Derek’s performances and our relationship,” Gruden said after the game. “He had nine different flankers last year. Nine. I was here for four years [first stint] and we had Tim Brown every week for four years. We’ve had I don’t know how many different combinations on the offensive line, yet he threw for over 4000 yards and 70% and put us in a position to make the playoffs in week 15. This guy’s a great quarterback and we’re surrounding him with better players. And once our defense I think starts playing to their potential, he could even be better. But he does so much with the ball and without the ball and behind the scenes and I think Raiders fans should really be proud of him. I know I am.”
Carr and Gruden know it’s one game and if they don’t keep it up next week, this will be looked at as a fluke. But the look in Carr’s eyes isn’t nothing. And it didn’t look like a fluke. It looked like he found something in himself he didn’t even have in 2016. Something that only comes from struggle and redemption. And it could be a sign of good things to come.
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