Derek Carr shares journey towards NFL dream

Entering his third season in the NFL, Derek Carr has already proved himself as a promising quarterback in the league. Drafted by the Oakland Raiders with the 36 overall pick in the 2014 Draft, Carr was forced to step in and take over a desperate Oakland team that was coming off of a 4-12 record. While a National Football League championship is a short term goal, Carr has much higher aspirations.

The Fresno State alumnus started his last three seasons in college. During those years, he threw for, 12,843 yards and 113 touchdowns. He was voted Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year two years in a row.

In his first season as a NFL quarterback, Carr started all 16 games but led the Raiders to a disappointing 3-13 record. He completed 58.1% of his passes for 3,270 yards and 21 touchdowns. He improved greatly in his second year in the NFL as he completed 61.1% of his passes and threw for 3,987 yards and 32 touchdowns.

At the end of his second year, Carr was voted into his first Pro Bowl and played on Team Rice. The Pro Bowl is played in Hawaii and is fan voted and once the players are selected, two captains take turns choosing their team. The two captains this year were Michael Irvin and Jerry Rice. Carr also played alongside with two teammates, Amari Cooper and Khalil Mack.

The dream of playing in the NFL was always a dream of Carr’s. With the help of his brother, David, Carr was able to make the dream of playing in the NFL a reality.

“It’s always been a dream of mine to play in the NFL,” Carr said. “Ever since I was little, if you asked me what I would do when I grew up, I would say be a professional quarterback. My brother played a big role in helping me through the NFL journey. You have to set your mind to it at a young age and work extremely hard to get there.”

Carr encountered many obstacles in his journey to the NFL, but his faith helped him remain positive and continues to shape his long-term future plans.

“I went to Bakersfield Christian High School. I didn’t worry about being at a smaller school; I don’t feel like anyone should worry about that, if you have the talent they will find you somehow, someway. My first season in college I went, 4-9. It was rough, but my faith helped me remain positive.”

Adjusting to a new environment can be a difficult situation for anyone. In his first season in the league, Derek Carr ranked 30th in passer rating and completion percentage. He finished 19th in the league in total yards and was tied for 13th in interceptions. Carr has realized that the higher level in which you play, the bigger role your faith plays.

“The higher I went up in the ranks the more important your personal life is.” Carr said. “Keeping your faith first and then your family is way more important than winning football games. But don’t get me wrong, I work really hard to win; that’s the competitive nature God has given me.”

As he gets further into his career, Carr hopes to improve himself on and off the field. Keeping his faith and family a priority are aspects that he hopes to maintain off the field.

“On the field every play can change or affect the outcome of the game,” Carr said. “You can get away with more mistakes in college; one mistake in the NFL can cost you the game. I hope to improve on making no mistakes on the field. I want to lead by example and speak up when I have to. Off the field, I want to keep my faith first by reading my Bible and seeking his (God’s) face daily and keep my family second, both of those ahead of my job, football.”

As a wife I am so proud of who he has become. I see how much he has grown spiritually just in the past few months. He really seeks God’s face each and every second of the day and it is truly amazing to have him as the leader of our household. I love that my boys have him as their dad to look up to and to learn from.–Heather Carr

Following the 2015-16 season, Carr went to Haiti for three days with running back, Latavius Murray of the Oakland Raiders. His interest is in making a difference in peoples’ lives including spending time with a pastor friend of the family, David George. George is a missionary that Carr has known since he was a child. They stayed at the orphanage of Love a Child where they got to play with the children, share Jesus’ love and spend time with them.

While they were there, they visited other villages, spreading the love of Jesus. Carr was really moved by what he saw and witnessed in Haiti. He was amazed with how the children and people have absolutely nothing. They may even eat mud just to fill their bellies, yet they praise Jesus with everything in them. The children at the orphanage hold a worship service on their own time every night.

Carr was amazed, seeing their love for Jesus and how they were filled with the Spirit. He said the people of Haiti were so joyful, it amazed him. He absolutely loved it there and cannot wait to go back and visit. While they do not know what they will do next, options include, helping with the construction of buildings.

Carr’s wife, Heather, is extremely proud of her husband and loves the father figure he his for their children.

“As a wife I am so proud of who he has become,” Heather said. “I see how much he has grown spiritually just in the past few months. He really seeks God’s face each and every second of the day and it is truly amazing to have him as the leader of our household. I love that my boys have him as their dad to look up to and to learn from.”

Heather admires Derek’s desire for success. No matter what it may be, Derek gives his all in everything he does.

“One thing I love about Derek is he never wants to be average at anything,” Heather said. “Everything he does he pours his heart into. I see this in his day to day life. The other day he had me laughing because he had made the bed and I realized what took him 10 minutes to do usually takes me two. When I commented on it he explained he was making it to the best of his ability, and it really did look PERFECT no wrinkles, nothing. With this said, I realized everything he does he really works at it with all his heart. What a lesson I learned from him just in this simple thing.”

Spring is in full swing and in a couple of months, football teams will be back at the practice fields, training for the upcoming season. Derek Carr and the Oakland Raiders will be one of the teams putting in hours of practice in hopes to have a successful upcoming season.

A special thanks to agent Tim Younger and Tony Gonzales of the Oakland Raiders for the NFL football pictures, Anthony Galavis and Fresno Bee photographers Craig Kohlruss and Eric Paul Zamora for the Fresno State photos and Heather Carr for helping to arrange the interview.

For another article on the Carr family, read: Alumna Heather Carr: life with professional athlete.

This writer can be reached via Twitter: @nick_leblanc1 and via email: Nick LeBlanc.